Theme

Kallie Bilyeu, Richard Coble,

Shannon Tolbirt, and Zach Wilson

What is Theme?

When we question what a story means, we are searching for it’s theme.

Theme is defined as, a general idea or observation conveyed by a piece of work.

Theme is the key topic of a work. It is what the author wants the reader to get out of the story.

The idea behind the story There are a few passages like fables, fairytales, and folktales, that

explicitly state there themes. However, most passages must ultimately “earn” their theme. They earn there theme by bringing a basic statement to life through things like characters, plot, setting, symbols, and narration. The theme usually develops indirectly through the reappearance of a specific idea.

Theme is sometimes confused with the plot. However, the difference is that theme refers to the idea or concept that is behind the story, while on the other hand plot refers to the actions that occur during the story.

Overview of “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas”

In Omelas, the town in which the story takes place, the town must sacrifice a child each year. Though the sacrifice is not a death sacrifice, some may still view it as cruel.

The sacrifice involves the child being isolated from the town in a closet that is available to be displayed to those who wish to see it. The child is fed only a half a bowl of food a day while also being left naked sitting in it’s own waste.

The town’s happiness relies on this sacrifice to take place. The people are free to leave if they wish but may not experience another town as happy as Omelas.

As foreshadowed by the title, some people decide to leave and this brings to light the short story’s theme.

Theme of “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”

The theme from this story is very evident and can be quite controversial.

The story makes the reader wonder if the people who decide to stay in Omelas, who know of the of the child, are evil or guilty of wrong-doing.

It also makes the reader wonder if the ones who leave are better people.

The great thing about the lesson to be learned in Omelas is the fact that the story allows the reader to decide for themselves if the citizens are being reasonable or truly evil.

It also allows the reader to determine for themselves if the ones who leave are more righteous individuals or unable to understand the sacrifice the way the ones who stay do.

Themes in “The Lottery”

~Tradition~ The village blindly follows tradition, every year they repeat the

same morbid tradition of stoning someone to death.

They think the other villages that have stopped the tradition are full of young fools.

They want to keep the black box even though it is falling apart because it is part of their tradition and there are pieces of the original black box.

The villagers would rather follow tradition than change and not stone someone to death for the sake of their crops.

“Family and Loyalty” In “The Lottery” the villagers show that they have a strong sense of

family. They gather together at the meeting place as a family.

The head of household (usually the oldest man) does the first draw.

When Tessie, the main character, learns that it is her family that will have to draw again, she instantly attempts to make her family larger by adding other family members that do not live in her household.

Ironically, the family members of the person to be stoned are still in line with rest of the villagers to throw the stones.

“Following Rules”

In “The Lottery” the villagers follow all the rules. They all line up at the same time in the same place every year.

They each pick a piece of paper and the one who picks the one with the dot gets sacrificed.

Tessie on this important day had broken the rule, she was late. This is an important village tradition and Tessie made a joke. A few villagers laughed just to be polite, but Tessie had still broken these rules.

The villagers all followed the rules, Tessie did not; and in the end Tessie was the one that was stoned.

Each Stories Themes Represented in Our Society The major theme represented in these

two short stories is the sacrifices each town makes each year for their town’s happiness.

As stated in previous slides, the town Omelas sacrifices a child each year and the town in “The Lottery” sacrifices a randomly chosen citizen each year for the continued growth of the town’s crops.

This presents a major question: Are the sacrifices made by the towns in these stories justified?

The answer to this question can truly be subjective but there are some key points to take note on.

Sacrifices in Our Society

Many people in our society go through each day without even recognizing the sacrifices made each and every day just like the citizens in Omelas.

These sacrifices are no worse or better than the ones made in the stories.

For example, in the Vietnam War, our country forced younger American male citizens to fight in the war.

In fact, each 18 year old male is required to register for the draft in America.

This is no different than the sacrifices in “The Lottery” and Omelas.

Justification of the Sacrifices

The truth is that each individual has the option to leave both of the towns.

Since the individuals choose to stay and live in these towns, they are justifying the sacrifices for the reward they bring.

In the story “The Ones Who Walk Away form Omelas”, there are mentions of the people who choose to leave the town because they personally do not believe the sacrifices are ethical.

Finally, the themes in these stories focus on whether these sacrifices are justified. In the end, the sacrifices can only be justified by your own personal beliefs. The stories allow each individual to choose for themselves whether sacrifices are able to be justified.

Closing Ideas

In the end, it is important to note that the theme of a story is very important.

It puts a point into reading a story not just for entertainment but also for a lesson to be learned or idea to be thought of.

Each theme in these stories is based on sacrifices of a local citizen for the good of the rest of the town.

This theme is very controversial and make deciding which is right or wrong very hard to decide.

As this presentation ends, we hope that everyone will try and identify the theme of each new story you read after watching this presentation.

Works Cited

Mays, Kelly J., ed. Norton Into to Literature (shorter). 11th ed. N.p.: Norton W.w. & Company, Inc., 2008. Print.