Fundamental question to consider when studying literature, or when studying any form of art: Why should we care about characters or events that are fictional and not real?
What fiction provides: | What fiction does NOT provide: |
• entertainment / excitement | • lesson / moral |
• personal connection / outlet | • message from author to reader |
• experiences beyond our lives | • policy / solution |
• emotional investment | • how to live / what to do in real life |
• historical or cultural insight | |
• social awareness | |
• something to take away |
To summarize, what fiction provides is theme, any idea or concept central to a work of art. Even though the plot—the physical, literal events of a story—is fictional, the theme is very much relevant in the real world.
For instance, the Harry Potter series contains numerous details—spells, potions, magical creatures—that do not portray the world in which we live. However, the fictional plot of Harry Potter offers depictions of love and death which are certainly important, meaningful aspects of our world.
In other words, the theme connects a fictional story to our world. Ask yourself, What can I find in this story that is meaningful in real life? There is NO single right answer to this question. Even the same idea can be expressed in different words or phrases. Any aspect of life that concerns us humans and is implied by the plot can be considered a theme. A literary work does NOT explicitly state its themes; instead, it uses the plot to show its themes.
Since a literary work conveys multiple themes, perhaps the best way to approach literature is to identify two or three overarching themes and examine the ways in which key characters, scenes, and symbols link to these themes.
This type of critical thinking leads us to literary analysis. The first time you read a literary work, you are focused on tracking the plot; in order to analyze the themes and the ways that the themes are portrayed, it is essential to read the literary work for a second or even third time.
List of common themes
Basic Themes | Emotions | Aspects of Life | History and Society |
good vs. evil | heroism / sacrifice | morality / ethics | gender / feminism |
love | underdog story | truth / knowledge | race / colonialism / imperialism |
death | violence / survival | freedom / justice | dehumanization |
family / friendship | revenge / betrayal | repression | religion |
war | isolation / alienation | corruption | totalitarianism |
loss / suffering / tragedy | identity / culture / crossing boundaries | technology / modernization / industrialization | |
memory / trauma | fate vs. free will | progress vs. tradition | |
desire for power / loss of control | search for meaning | social class | |
other emotions: e.g. guilt, fear, anger, lust, depression | coming of age / loss of innocence | materialism / consumerism / mass media | |
sexuality | objectification / commodification | ||
American Dream |
Depictions of themes in works of fiction
Harry Potter
Death
The Harry Potter series explores the theme of death, specifically the fear of death which exists in all humans, even in those who are capable of using magic. The Philosopher’s Stone can extend life indefinitely while wizards who fear death can choose to become ghosts when they die. Voldemort creates Horcruxes to prevent death while the Hallows represent the way Harry accepts death as a natural course.
Love
Understood by only a few characters, the reason that Harry as a baby survived Voldemort’s attack is the love of Harry’s mother. Her love, a force described to be more powerful than conventional magic, became a powerful protection. In contrast, Voldemort is the product of a love potion rather than of true love; since his mother died in childbirth, he has never experienced love and cannot comprehend its significance.
Coming of age
The seven-year journey of the series depicts Harry’s coming of age. He first enters Hogwarts as an eleven-year-old who knows very little about the world of magic but gradually matures as a young adult who experiences all sorts of dark secrets and dangerous situations. The climax of the final novel exemplifies his growth, as Harry confronts Voldemort with the wisdom of having faced death.
The Avengers
Sacrifice
Throughout its film series, Marvel highlights the sacrifice of superhero characters. At the end of The Avengers, Tony Stark intercepts a nuclear missile heading for Manhattan and carries it to outer space, despite the unlikelihood of his own survival. Similarly, Steve Rogers crashes a plane full of Hydra weapons into the Arctic in Captain America: The First Avenger. The climax of Doctor Strange portrays the titular character allowing himself to be killed over and over again by Dormammu.
Technology
After seeing weapons manufactured by his company in the hands of terrorists, Tony Stark abandons the weapons industry to develop technology that can help and protect people instead. The result is his Iron Man suit, as depicted in the film Iron Man. The time machine in Avengers: Endgame once again exemplifies the power of advanced technology as well as the responsibility that such technology places on its users.
Ethics
A question about ethics emerges in Captain America: Civil War when civilians are killed in a conflict involving the Avengers, challenging the justification of the superheroes’ actions. Avengers: Infinity War examines the notion of utilitarianism: maximum gain for the largest number of people as justification in ethical decision-making. In this regard, Thanos seeks to eliminate half of the life in the universe so that the remaining half will prosper.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Race
The setting of To Kill a Mockingbird, Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s, is fraught with racial discrimination. When it is announced that Atticus will defend a black man accused of raping a white girl, many of the townspeople become hostile towards Atticus. During the trial itself, even though Atticus presents concrete evidence of Tom Robinson’s innocence, the jurors are seemingly unable to forsake their biases, and Tom is sentenced guilty.
Loss of innocence
At the beginning of the novel, the narrator Scout is just six years old and does not usually comprehend the gravity of the events happening around her. In contrast, her brother Jem, who is four years older, begins to perceive social injustice. He cries when Tom Robinson is sentenced guilty, realizing that racism has caused the conviction of an innocent man. Thus, the novel presents the loss of innocence of Jem, no longer a naïve child.
Religion
Religion holds significant value for the citizens of Maycomb, but the novel reveals a sense of hypocrisy. The “foot-washing Baptists” denounce Miss Maudie’s flowers as a sin while Mr. Radley, also a Baptist, irrevocably scars his son, who becomes a recluse known as Boo Radley. While Maycomb citizens readily criticize Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitism, they fail to recognize their own rampant discrimination of the black population.
Animal Farm
Totalitarianism
Animal Farm is a criticism of totalitarian regimes in real life, specifically of the Soviet Union. After overthrowing the dictatorial rule of the farmer Mr. Jones, the pigs led by Napoleon take over the farm and oppress the other animals. Information is strictly controlled as Squealer spreads the propaganda that living conditions have dramatically improved since the revolution. In this way, Orwell stresses the danger of totalitarianism.
Social class
Even though Mr. Jones has been banished, the farm is still marked by a repressive social class. The ruling class is the pigs while the sheep portray an ignorant public, blindly obedient to the pigs. The hens, the cows, and Boxer the horse represent the working class whose living standards have not improved, contrary to the pigs’ propaganda. Despite a change at the top of the hierarchy, a harsh, despotic system remains.
Betrayal
The revolution originated from the ideology of Old Major, who taught that “All animals are equal.” However, in the years following the revolution, the pigs grow to resemble humans, walking upright, carrying whips, and drinking alcohol. As they socialize with neighbouring human farmers, the pigs declare that “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This turn of events depicts a betrayal of the other animals.