FACULTY OF APPLIED COMMUNICATION

(FAC)

PCI0015

ENGLISH FOR CREATIVE PURPOSES

ONLINE NOTES

Theme

FOSEE , MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY (436821-T)

MELAKA CAMPUS, JALAN AYER KEROH LAMA, 75450 MELAKA, MALAYSIA.
Tel 606 252 3594 Fax 606 231 8799
URL: http://fosee.mmu.edu.my/~asd/
PCI0015 English For Creative Purposes

THEME

The theme is the core of meaning in the story. If we 'dive' under the surface of the story
and find what we believe is the writer's real intention, what the story is really about, we
are probably getting close to the theme. Whenever we are to interpret a piece of text, a
novel, short story, a poem, etc., we must read it carefully, often several times, and then
ask ourselves - What is this really about? What is the author's real intention with this
text? Does the text have any general message, a 'deeper' meaning, indicating something
'beyond'? If you are not able to give a good answer to this, you shouldn't go ahead
interpreting the text. If you do - you'll just end up with a bag full of empty words and
phrases.

In Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men' we meet two farm hands, George and Lenni, and follow
them through their life and problems at a Californian ranch. Just writing a story about
these two guys was obviously not Steinbeck's main idea. He was rather motivated by the
daily life of mid-western farm hands in general to introduce one (or several) plot(s) to
illuminate the theme.

What is 'Of Mice and Men' really about, then? What is the theme?

One suggestion might be that the story is really about some kind of dream. Perhaps it is
really about the 'American Dream' - or - perhaps about the kind of dream that we all must
have in order to survive, the kind of dream which never (or seldom) comes true??
Or - perhaps you find the theme of the story to be something else ?!

The novel 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell may just be read as an exciting story about
some animals taking over a farm. If you, however, start asking the questions mentioned
above, you are trying to find the theme of the novel.

This might give answers like:

- Animal Farm is the description and criticism of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and
how political ideals collapse, giving way to tyranny, written by a disillusioned Socialist.

- Animal Farm is about revolutions in general + the broken promises, etc. mentioned
above.

- The theme of Animal Farm is to show how absolute power eventually corrupts people.
Etc.

Theme exists when:

1. The author has attempted to record life accurately, or
2. When he has introduced an idea which the story illustrates.

There are several features of a theme:

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PCI0015 English For Creative Purposes

1. It is a statement. A question is not a theme, nor is a one word idea such as

"motherhood" or "patriotism."
2. The theme is a generalization about life. Characters' names are not mentioned.
3. The generalization must not be too large. Words such as "always," "every" and
"all" are not usually used in themes; instead, words such as "some," "sometimes,"
"could," or "may" are used most often.
4. The theme must account for all the details of the story, and it must not be
contradicted by any detail in the story.
Sometimes a piece of literature has more than one theme. Most probably the
easiest way to discover the theme of a story is by completing the following
statement:

In the (story, novel, play, poem) ___________________________________, the author

______________________ wants us to understand that _________________________.

Anything which will complete this sentence and is a general statement about life is the
theme. However, the theme cannot be a part of the plot. There is no wrong answer if you
can defend your statement with the events which occur in the text.

Example: In the movie The Wizard of Oz, the director wants us to understand that home
is the most important place to be

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