Theme? I Can't Even Think of a Title!

Theme? I Can't Even Think of a Title...
by
Becci Davis

I sat down to write this column feeling all smug and secure in what I thought was my understanding of theme. Theme is the moral of the story, correct? That's all it is, right? That's pretty easy to understand. After years of writing however, I know better than to write on a topic without researching it first.

So, I began searching through my plethora of writing references and resources for a definitive answer. Silly me, I thought it would be a simple task to define theme. I was surprised at the lack of information about theme. What few references I did find didn't even agree on a common definition. So, how am I supposed to write a column about something on which the experts don't even agree?

Well, here's what I found.

There is a general definition of theme in Writer's Inc, A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning published by Houghton Mifflin Company: "Theme-is the statement about life a particular work is trying to get across to the reader. In stories written for children, the theme is often spelled out clearly at the end. In more complex literature, the theme will not be so clearly spelled out." Okay, I'm still voting on the moral of the story meaning here.

Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing states: "The story's controlling intention must never be thought of as wholly interchangeable with its theme." Yes, that's ALL that it states-not much help there.

If all else fails, try good ol' Webster, right? "1 a: A subject or topic of discourse or of artistic representation; b: a specific and distinctive quality, characteristic or concern."

At this point I began wondering, what's the difference between theme and premise? They sound basically the same given these definitions. So, if they both communicate the story idea, is there really any difference?

Premise, as defined in Handbook of Short Story Writing has three elements. It contains character, conflict and resolution (outcome) and is a one line explanation of your story.

In researching the definition of premise, I stumbled across this interpretation of them. In the book, Making A Good Script Great by Linda Seger, theme is defined as the visual imagery and details used to show your story premise.

Bingo. Now we're getting somewhere.

Ms. Seger goes on to explain using the movie Witness as an example. In the opening few minutes the audience hears no dialogue but there is a slow, lyrical rhythm to the background music. The camera spans over wind touched fields of grain as they spill towards a house of uncomplicated design. Inside the camera shows us a solemn gathering of people dressed in subdued color clothes of simple design. We then see the sad faces of those gathered in a simple ceremony-a funeral. In this opening scene we are introduced to the movie's theme-the theme of community.

In contrast, we then meet John Book in his environment: fast-paced, dirty streets, the flash of metal badges, the brute power of man, and the violence of guns. It's noisy, confusing, hectic, cold and self-oriented in the city train station. Among the total chaos we accept as normal city life, the camera focuses in on the Amish boy and his gentle, innocent understanding of the world. It is shattered in a heartbeat with the simple but destructive firing of a gun. His life is forever changed. In that moment, there is no community.

The plot: man vs man; for John Book, there is also some man vs self

The Premise: Is there truly a "perfect" community for mankind?

The Theme: Community comparison and contrast of details between two very different cultures-one of city and self and one of country and community. It is in the details we see and feel the theme: the contrast in clothing, the comparison of lifestyles, each character's self-definition of values, employment, beauty, life and even death.

Theme can even be something as simple and wonderful as a book about a quilter with each chapter titled with a favorite quilt block.

Theme: the visual imagery and details you use to show premise. A central representation or portrayal of idea through details and objects.

I think I finally understand theme. The work is truly in the details.

Becci Davis is the romance fiction guide for About.com, author of two nonfiction books and a commentator for National Public Radio. She is currently employed as a literacy teacher and encouraging tomorrow's writers to weave the threads of theme into their work.