In a post on Writer Unboxed, Kristin Hacken South addresses how writers can tackle complex themes in their fiction. “Memorable stories often revolve around one big idea, commonly known as the theme,” South writes. “I envision it as the broth in which the story stews, the skeleton on which the story hangs, the night skies in which the constellations shine.”
Generally, the theme conveys a central truth and gives structure and direction to your plot. In Price and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion, Jane Austin explores how each of those weaknesses stands in the way of love. Some themes in recent novels include:
- “What constitutes a lasting friendship?” – Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin
- “What is the price and reward of sisterhood?” – The Once and Future Witches, Alix Harrow
- “How is truth warped by the goals of the narrator?” – Trust, Hernan Diaz.
However, sometimes our central question may be true but too simple to engage a reader over the course of a novel or film. Robert McKee stresses the importance of contrast in exploring theme. Beginning with the thematic truth – the answer to the central question – McKee recommends establishing a contrary truth that takes the theme to its extreme opposite.
Then, McKee recommends a second contrary truth, a compromise such as an incomplete truth or a truth inaccurately applied. Fourth comes what McKee calls the negation of the negation. In this corner, characters may pretend to exemplify the theme but without truly living by it and thereby failing to earn its benefits. In other words, a negative disguised as the good demonstrates that the true theme is the right one.
In the end, by exploring opposing themes, you can drive home the answer to the central question you posed, and leave the reader with a strong idea of your point.
