Even better, maybe it does both. The lessons learned by the protagonist propel her character arc and illustrate her transformation for the readers, thus allowing the readers to learn those lessons as well. The idea of home has always been foreign to Harry, an orphan who struggled with his sense of belonging throughout the series.
Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. His thoughts and actions here show readers that the idea of home is worth defending, at any cost. All of this information from Merriam-Webster, Lakin, and Hague is a lot to digest. Why is theme important in novels and writing? Simply put: If a story lacks theme, the reader might not connect with it. What happens when that link is missing?
Theme helps a good story become a compelling one. Because these values are universal needs, longings and ideals they appeal to people on a visceral level and thus have been the thematic heart of many great stories. One of the most dramatic ways a writer can apply a theme in a story is in the character arcs.
In many stories, whether it be an adventure like Star Wars or a drama like Saving Mr. Banks , a lead character often changes during the story. How he or she begins the story is different from how he or she ends it.
This change is most often psychological, especially involving a change in the values and premises of the character. In Star Wars , for instance, Luke Skywalker is introduced as a boy with ambitions for adventure but as having low skills and experience. During the story of Star Wars , because of events, the influence of mentors, and especially because of his own thinking and choices, Luke changes so that by the end of the film he is a man who can fight the Empire and destroy the Death Star.
Luke has changed his ideas and self-attitude. The lead character in Saving Mr. Banks is P. Travers, the creator of the Mary Poppins books that Walt Disney has promised his daughters he will produce as a movie. But Travers, except for monetary problems, does not want to sell her book rights, especially to an animator. Saving Mr. Banks has two integrated main plotlines: The first, set in the present, is Disney struggling to persuade Travers to sell him the rights.
Both plots express the perceptively real and deeply personal theme, that Travers cannot live fully as an adult because she has not dealt with the issues of her childhood relationship with her dreamer and alcoholic father. Until Travers changes her premise about her father, she will never sell her story rights. As indicated in our discussion of Mr.
Banks , it is very often the ideas dramatized in a story especially in its character arcs that cause the greatest emotional reaction in an audience. This emotional response results when an audience understands and cares about the personal psychological adventure of a character changing his mind about something of vital importance to his life. Or, put more specifically: When a character struggles with a big choice between two big ideas or values.
Such a character most commonly makes his final intensely difficult choice often based on a great insight in the climax and so forever changes his life, often for the better. For example, we experience very strong emotions in Casablanca when Rick learns to trust and love again, in Pretty Woman , when Edward Lewis chooses love.
And we cheer in the climax of Saving Mr. A screenwriter can also induce the emotion of suspense in an audience through developing a theme. This feeling of anticipation draws an audience deeply into a story.
The first shot image in a film is sometimes called a theme shot when the writer or director has created a shot that is emblematic of the theme or meaning of the film. For example, in Pretty Woman , the opening shots are of protagonist Edward Lewis Richard Gere driving lost in the Hollywood Hills, taking wrong turns and hitting a dead end.
I'd only like to add a word of warning about starting a story with theme. The stories usually suck. They're preachy, awkward, self-conscious. Gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it. But a good story will always contain a theme, even if it takes an independent reader to identify it. A good editor can guide the author into a rewrite based on the theme that has emerged in the story. That's why I love the rewrite phase -- meaning miraculous shows itself. I'd largely agree with you.
The human story feels like it should always take pride of place, as that's what the reader will latch on to — however, there are occasions where great books take a macro idea and then find stories illustrate the author's ideas. Thanks for reading! Usually I discover my theme during the outlining process. I start by describing the MC's life and his moment of conflict, what unleashes his journey and mission.
When I describe the MC and one or two other characters, I get a hint of the theme, but I can only see it clearly while writing the early chapters of the first draft.
This is a wonderfully informative article, and it also helped me realize something about myself in regards to my writing and who I am as a person--a surprising and exhilarating thing to experience! Thinking back on my own writing, I recognized that the stories that mattered most to me were all exploring the same couple of emotions--and so is my current work in progress.
Many thanks for your interesting and useful article. I have one quibble. For me, the theme is what the book says about those issues, and therefore pretty much has to have a verb, e. But I think they need to identify for themselves with a fair amount of specificity what it is they want to say about that subject, and write their story accordingly. Thanks again for the article.
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