Most Common Themes in Literature

man vs. nature

*Man is always at battle with human nature. *Nature is at war with each of us and proves our vulnerability. *People are out of place in Nature and need technology to survive. *People are destroying nature and themselves with uncontrolled technology. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen is an example of this.

Man Struggles Against Societal Pressure:

*The Mankind is always struggling to determine if societal pressure is best for living. *These include characters who know how society says they should live, but feel society's ideas are not what makes them happy. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Maze Runner by James Dashner. (Most dystopian literature)

man vs man

*man's struggle with his fellow man. An example of this is Back Panther, and the Star Wars movies.

Human Beings All Have the Same Needs:

Book after book asserts that rich or poor, educated or dumb, all human beings need love and other basic needs met. We are more alike than different, and we all need the same things. This theme is seen in The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas.

Crime Does Not Pay:

The idea that honesty is honored, and criminals will eventually be caught. Crime and Punishment and "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe are two stories written on this theme.(Any crime TV show)

Love is the Worthiest of Pursuits:

The idea that love conquers all, appealing to the romantic side of us. Twilight by Stephanie Meyers and The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks are examples of love stories.(any romance novel)

The Capriciousness of Fate:

Greek tragedies fit this category. Often, there is a major reversal of fortune. It could be from good-to-bad or from bad-to-good. Cinderella is a reversal of fortune story, but has a happy ending. In film, we have seen this theme at work in Pretty Woman. The common element is that there is some force guiding the person's life over which he or she has no control.

The Big Trick:

In this one, someone or some group of people intentionally trick someone else. Rumplestiltskin and Little Red Riding Hood are in this category. Stone Soup is an old story in which several men trick the inhabitants of a village into providing them with food. This theme was evident in Ratatouille a movie by Disney.

man vs himself

Internal struggle within some's own mind... good vs. bad...should I do something or not?(angel on one shoulder-the devil on the other). Tangled: She is constantly struggling with leaving her mother/ tower.

Yin and Yang:

Just when you think life is finally going to be easy, something bad happens to balance it all out.

Death is Part of the Life Cycle:

Literary works with this theme show how death and life and intricately connected. Examples of this are "Pay it Forward", Lovely Bones, The Lion King, The Fault in our Stars, and Harry Potter.

Man Struggles to Understand Divinity:

Mankind tries to understand and make peace with God. Examples are: I am Legend and The Truman Show

Overcoming Adversity:

Many books laud(praise) characters who accept a tough situation and turn it into triumph. Brave, The Princess and the Frog are examples of this theme.

Love and Friendship:

Romeo and Juliet is a classic love story, as is the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen, and The Fault in our Stars by John Green all describe love and friendship. The films Dirty Dancing, Dear John, and The Ten Things I Hate About You are also love stories. The ending may be happy, sad, or bittersweet, but the main theme is romantic love. Also included in this theme is platonic love--friendship--like in the movies Footloose, Hairspray, and My Girl. All Romance novels, whether straight or gay, fit into this category. All "buddy films" like Bend it Like Beckham, Bring it on, and Legally Blonde fit into this category.

Sacrifices Bring Reward:

Sacrifices and hard work pay off in the end, despite the challenges along the way. Most sports novels have this theme: Remember the Titans is an example of this type of theme.

The Importance of Family:

Sacrifices for family are honored and explored, as are the family bonds that survive adversity. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Outsiders by SE Hinton are stories written with this theme.

Loss of Innocence:

Sometimes called the "coming of age story," this most commonly introduces an "innocent" character to the evil or complexity of the real/adult world. In literature, we might look at The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In film, we might look at The Breakfast Club, Brave, The Sandlot, and Now and Then.

The Noble Sacrifice:

The sacrifice can be for any reason except self--a loved one, an enemy, a group of people, the whole of humanity, a dog--but the bottom line is that the protagonist sacrifices himself or herself in an effort to save others. In literature, this is demonstrated in the story of Jesus in the New Testament and Katniss in The Hunger Games. This theme is used is used in the films Glory, Armageddon, The Green Mile, and in just about any war movie where the hero dies gloriously.

Revenge:

The subject is obvious, but the outcome differs. Sometimes the outcome is good, like in the novel The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Sometimes the outcome is bad, as in Princess Bride and Moby Dick. Other movies based on this then are I Know What You Did Last Summer, V for Vendetta, and Paranormal.

The Great Journey:

This follows a character or characters through a series of episodic adventures as they travel. It may be a sad story or a happy story, or it may even be comedic. Huckleberry Finn, Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, and The Odyssey are good examples. In film, this theme can be seen in Shrek, The Lord of the Rings, and The Lion King.

Friendship is Dependant on Sacrifice

This is the idea that you can't have friends if you don't act like a friend. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli and Charlotte's Web by EB White are examples.

The Fall From Grace:

This theme shows us people going where only God should go, doing what only God is meant to do, or attempting to do something that human beings should never do. This is always followed by misfortune, whether it is the direct result of their action or an act of God. We see this in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and we have seen it at work in the film Jurassic Park and also The Truman Show.