Common Themes
- Birth - life after loss, life sustains tragedy
- Death - death as mystery, death as a new beginning
- Heroism - false heroism, heroism and conflicting values
- Escape - escape from family pressures, escaping social constraints
- Love - love sustains/fades with a challenge
- Journey - most journeys lead back to home
- Coming of age - boy becomes a man
- Patriotism - inner conflicts stemming from patriotism
- Peace and war - war is tragic, peace is fleeting
Finding a Theme in Two Steps
1. When you finish reading a book, ask yourself to sum up the book in a single word. For example, a single word for the book Little Red Riding Hood could be deception. Deception is the subject of the book.
2. Next, stretch that single word into a message: innocence can lead to deception. This is a theme for Little Red Riding Hood.
Symbols Can Be Clues to Your Themes
Literature is an art, and the beauty of art is that it can be interpreted differently by everyone. The message of a fiction book is much like the message of a beautiful painting. It is not something that is stated in a particular sentence and easily located; it is something that is comprehended upon reflection.Sometimes an object such as a bridge or a large body of water will appear over and over in a book. The object could actually be a symbol or motif which represents or sheds light on the theme.
If you notice that an object does seem to be a strong and meaningful symbol in a book, try to determine any possible deeper meaning of that object.
A bridge represents a crossover or change, doesn't it? If you notice a few bridges, and you notice that your main character is going through a big change, you can be sure that the bridge is being used as a symbol.
When you decide upon a theme, make sure to use examples and quotations from the book as you write the book report, to prove that the theme is important. Remember, as long as you have evidence to back up your theme idea, you're on the right track.
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