Defining Theme in Storytelling: Literature and Film
Themes are the backbone of compelling stories, acting as the underlying messages that resonate with audiences long after the story ends. In cinema, themes are powerfully conveyed through both auditory and visual elements, offering a richer, multi-sensory experience compared to literature’s reliance on the written word. While literary themes are confined to the page, film themes leap off the screen, immersing viewers in the narrative’s core ideas. But before we delve into the unique ways film utilizes themes, let’s solidify our understanding with a clear theme definition.
THEME DEFINITION
What is a Theme?
A theme is the central, underlying message or idea that a story explores. It’s the overarching concept that the narrative is built upon, offering insights into the human condition, society, or life itself. To understand What Is Theme, think of it as the story’s stance on a particular topic. For instance, while love might be a topic, a theme could be the transformative power of love or the complexities of self-love before loving others. Themes serve to communicate profound messages about the issues confronting characters and the world they inhabit. Every event within a story, every character’s journey, should ultimately tie back to and illuminate the central theme.
Theme in Literature and Film: Core Concepts
- The Heart of the Story: A theme represents the story’s essence, its deepest concern, and what it’s truly trying to communicate beyond the plot’s surface.
- The Lesson or Moral: Often, a theme embodies the lesson or moral the storyteller intends for the audience to grasp. It’s the takeaway message that lingers after experiencing the story.
- Plot and Narrative as Vehicles: The plot and narrative structure act as vehicles that guide the reader or viewer toward the story’s theme. They are the means through which the theme is explored and revealed.
- Major and Minor Themes: Stories can be layered with complexity by incorporating both major and minor themes. Major themes are central to the narrative, while minor themes add depth, nuance, and support the overarching message. These themes often intertwine and enrich each other.
It’s easy to confuse themes with topics in everyday conversation. We often use terms like “love,” “war,” “death,” or “isolation” as if they are themes themselves. However, these are actually topics. The distinction is crucial: topics are subjects, while themes are statements or ideas about those subjects. Many, including writers and viewers, can mistakenly identify topics as themes without considering the deeper message or point being made about these subjects.
Personification examples to define theme.
Let’s focus on how themes are effectively used in cinema. Here’s a clear way to differentiate between topics and themes using popular film examples:
Example: Beauty and the Beast
- Topic: Vanity
- Theme: True beauty lies within, not in outward appearances.
Example: Good Will Hunting
- Topic: Friendship
- Theme: Genuine friends are catalysts for personal growth and healing.
Now, let’s examine a film that masterfully uses both major and minor themes to create a richer narrative.
Example: The Godfather
- Major Theme: Power corrupts and consumes even the seemingly powerful.
- Minor Theme: Family loyalty is paramount.
Often, the interplay between major and minor themes creates compelling drama. In The Godfather: Part II, the minor theme of family loyalty is tragically undermined by the dominant major theme of all-consuming power. This thematic conflict generates dramatic tension and narrative complexity, adding layers of meaning to the story.
Major Theme Examples
The Power of Major Themes
Major themes are the dominant, overarching ideas that drive a narrative. They are explored throughout the story, influencing plot, character development, and the overall message. One of the most enduring major themes in storytelling is the conflict between reason and faith.
A compelling example of this thematic conflict in television is the dynamic between John Locke and Jack Shephard in the series Lost.
Jack embodies scientific reason, relying on logic and empirical evidence. Locke, conversely, represents unwavering faith, trusting in the unseen and the inexplicable.
This fundamental difference in worldview creates a central conflict between the characters. This isn’t merely physical conflict; it’s a thematic conflict that delves into the core topics of the series. It operates on a deeper level than simple disagreements, resonating with the central questions the narrative explores. This also highlights the interplay between internal and external conflict, as their differing beliefs drive both their personal struggles and their interactions.
Characters, plot progression, production design, and dialogue all work in concert to communicate the essence of the topic and ultimately reveal the major theme.
Let’s break down key aspects of the Lost example to see how thematic communication works:
Characters
Jack is portrayed as a man of science, grounded in the tangible world. He’s energetic and driven by logic but can sometimes appear scattered or lacking a broader vision. Locke, in contrast, is older and more contemplative, embodying a sense of purpose and conviction rooted in faith. The very name “Locke” subtly alludes to the philosopher John Locke, whose teachings on empiricism and faith add a layer of subtext to the character’s thematic role.
Plot
The plot frequently places Jack and Locke in opposition, highlighting their conflicting beliefs. Jack often dismisses Locke’s faith as irrational, while Locke critiques Jack’s reliance on reason as limiting and blind to other possibilities.
Throughout Lost, the topic of reason versus faith is a driving force, propelling the story forward and shaping character decisions. Ultimately, the series takes a definitive stance on this topic, culminating in a powerful and impactful theme about the balance, or imbalance, between these two fundamental human approaches to understanding the world.
Minor Theme Examples
The Nuance of Minor Themes
Minor themes are secondary, yet significant, ideas that enrich a story’s complexity. While not as central as major themes, they add layers of depth, providing further commentary on the human experience or specific aspects of the narrative’s world. To appreciate the effective use of minor themes in film, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is an exemplary study. The film is saturated with topics such as conformity, chaos, sexuality, repentance, and the nature of good and evil.
One prominent minor theme in A Clockwork Orange is the inescapable pressure of conformity. This theme is subtly yet consistently communicated through various cinematic elements, including wardrobe, props, and plot developments. But what are some other examples of minor themes at play in the film?
Topics that aren’t central to the primary message of the story often contribute to minor themes. In A Clockwork Orange, sexuality is a significant minor topic that Kubrick explores with deliberate and provocative imagery. Let’s analyze a scene from the A Clockwork Orange script to understand how Kubrick constructs this sexual theme visually.
Minor Theme Examples • A Clockwork Orange
Consider a scene where the protagonist, Alex, encounters the “Cat Lady.” Kubrick’s choice of props in this scene is striking. A sword fight involving a Beethoven bust and a phallic statue is intentionally jarring and symbolic.
What’s the purpose of these highly specific, unusual props? They serve to establish a minor theme of carnal, masculine domination. The props visually represent a crude and aggressive form of sexuality.
When this scene is brought to life on screen, the thematic message is amplified visually. Beyond the statues, the setting is adorned with paintings of nude women. This is clearly a space saturated with overt sexuality.
When Alex, representing violent and criminal sexuality, invades the Cat Lady’s overtly feminine space, the conflict becomes thematically charged. His act of violence against her, using a phallic object (implicitly represented by other props and actions), becomes a visual metaphor for male domination, forcefully communicating this minor theme.
Theme Meaning
Unveiling Theme Meaning: Schindler’s List
Cinema possesses a unique power that literature lacks: the ability to tell stories through a blend of visuals and audio. This offers directors a vast spectrum of tools to convey theme meaning in uniquely impactful and emotionally resonant ways.
It’s crucial to remember that themes aren’t explicitly stated; they are carefully planted by the writer and director and then inferred by the audience through the intricate weaving of plot, dialogue, and production design.
A powerful theme communicated primarily through filmmaking techniques is the theme of senseless tragedy, profoundly illustrated by the “girl in red” in Schindler’s List.
Let’s examine how director Steven Spielberg utilizes color in costuming, character detail, audio, and plot to establish the topic of tragedy and communicate its thematic weight.
Theme Examples in Film • Schindler’s List
Every directorial choice Spielberg makes in the “girl in red” sequence is deliberate, from camera framing and audio cues to color grading. What is the overarching topic? Death and mortality are undeniably present. However, the central theme of this scene is more acutely focused on the loss of innocence amidst horrific events and Oskar Schindler’s (Liam Neeson) growing sense of guilt and moral awakening.
How do we infer the theme of loss of innocence? It’s constructed through the masterful use of filmmaking elements. Spielberg employs emotionally evocative music, then juxtaposes it with the harsh sounds of gunfire, creating a jarring contrast.
Visually, the vibrant red coat of the young girl stands out starkly against the monochrome palette of the film, drawing our attention to her. She becomes a symbol of lost innocence, representing the countless victims of the Holocaust.
When skillful filmmaking converges with a sharp script layered with subtext and theme, cinematic masterpieces are born.
Later in Schindler’s List, Spielberg subtly reinforces the theme of loss of innocence. The red coat reappears, this time on a pile of discarded clothing, signifying the girl’s death and the irreversible loss of innocence.
How is this thematic resolution communicated? Through the culmination of film production elements: plot, dialogue, and props. Many interpret Schindler’s poignant line about his Nazi pin – “This pin… two people. This is gold… two more people. I could have gotten more people out… I could have gotten more”—as a direct reference to the girl in red. He realizes the immense value of each individual life and his regret at not doing more to save them, symbolized by the unforgettable image of the girl in red. A well-crafted theme should permeate a story from beginning to end, and few films integrate themes as powerfully and effectively as Schindler’s List.
UP NEXT
Exploring Conflict in Storytelling
Conflict is the engine of narrative, whether it’s internal struggles or external battles. No theme can be effectively communicated without conflict, as demonstrated by our examples from A Clockwork Orange and Lost. In our next article, we delve deeper into the concept of conflict, providing a clear definition and insightful video examples.
