Lesson 2: Elements of Fiction
Themes
Themes are the basic idea of the story. For this lesson we will be discussing my article I wrote about themes.
Suggested Reading Assignment
(1) Read the article titled "Themes." http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3056...
Recycled Themes
Just as story ideas can be recycled, themes can be too. For example if you have a theme dealing with good and evil, you can have two women who are friends, but one woman may develop other friendships that lead her in a different direction--a direction of criminal activities. The other woman could be going in the direction of helping others learn how to overcome their trials.
Another example could be about a criminal and how he wants to straighten out his life. He meets another person whom he likes and receives help from.
Relationships that deal with the theme of good and evil can be recycled into all kinds of stories with different characters and circumstances.
According to Patricia Highsmith in her book, Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction, "a writer has a theme or a pattern that he uses over and over again in his novels. He should be aware of this, not in a hampering way, but to exploit it well and to repeat it only deliberately." (pg. 138) Some writers want to use the same theme in different novels, but they would use different characters, settings, and plots.
One theme that she has been used over and over in her novels is the theme of "relationship between two men, usually quite different in make-up, sometimes an obvious contrast in good and evil, sometimes merely ill-matched friends." (Highsmith, pg.138) This type of theme can be used more than once. I have written short stories about children and their experiences with pets. One theme was about a child who had to put his puppy too sleep. He was given another puppy, but he had a difficult time accepting the new puppy. As a result of the puppy coming up to him, the child began to accept the puppy. Almost all of my stories have a pet involved because I have dogs and hamsters and enjoy them.
Themes May Not Appear
Later on, she mentions that "[themes] cannot be sought after or strained for; they appear." (Highsmith,pg. 139) Sometimes writers may start writing their novels and may not know what point they want to make. As they begin their novel, it becomes evident that they are trying to get across a certain theme to their readers. Sometimes they might end up with a different theme than they thought of in the beginning.
In my book "Strange Happenings," I have changed my themes a few times before I decided on the particular point I wanted to make. My story has two themes. The story is basically about Christy and Megan, who are identical twins. Megan isn't as secure in her self-image as Christy is. Megan isn't sure that she can do things like Christy. Throughout the story, Megan and Christy experience all kinds of interesting obstacles. When the climax happens, Megan begins to realize that she can do things on her own.
Another theme is the idea that something good comes from something bad. Even though the girls are experiencing different trials, they begin to realize that something good will happen, and it does. More than they realized in the beginning.
