What is a Theme? (Cinderella Edition)

Theme. But what is the theme? Theme is the lesson the author wants us to learn from the story. Themes tell us what we should or should not do to ensure happiness and success in our own lives. But how do we find this elusive theme? Well, observe what the characters in a story say and do. Pay very, very close attention. And afterward, ask yourself what were the consequences of those actions. Some consequences are good and some consequences are bad. That will lead you toward the theme of the story. So let's see an example using a familiar fairytale. But first, a few ground rules about the theme.

Themes are complete sentences, always. Never would just one word. And themes never contain character names, not ever. A theme is true for everyone, young and old, rich or poor, black or white, doesn't matter. If it doesn't, it's not truly a theme. But back to Cinderella. So let's look at this story first. Let's get started. We have a beautiful girl, sweet, and charming, but being treated like a slave. We have a stepmother and stepsisters. All three are very, very wicked, very wicked. We have a prince. We have a ball that the beautiful girl wants to go to. We have the wicked stepmother and stepsisters trying to stop her at every turn. We have a fairy godmother, the ultimate hookup. See? So Cinderella gets to go to the ball and she meets the prince. Love, at first sight, is a beautiful thing. She has to run away at midnight because everything's gonna become un magic, and she leaves behind her glass slipper.

The wicked stepmother tries to stop her from trying on the glass slipper and preventing her from becoming the actual wife of the print. Surprise, surprise that doesn't work. And when it's all said and done, Cinderella and the prince live happily ever after. Seems pretty simple, right? Wrong. Cinderella has lots of themes. I mean, they're all throughout the movie itself. Let's start with nothing that is impossible with teamwork. It's a complete sentence. It can apply to anyone in any situation. And it contains no character name. Plus, I can back up this theme. In the movie, Cinderella's little mice friends and bird friends actually hook up together. To make her address and she can go to the ball. Mean they're cutting with scissors, and the little blue birds are flying around. It's just teamwork out the walls. And the consequence is that a beautiful dress is made at the end. Nothing is impossible with teamwork. I mean, these are singing mice.

They shouldn't be able to do this. And how about true love will always win in the end, complete sentences, no character names, and can apply in every situation. So even though the wicked stepmother and the wicked stepsisters who by the way are complete haters, try to stop Cinderella at every point in turn. She's still ended up with her one true love. True love will always win in the end. Don't be cruel or bad things will happen to you. A definitely true, complete sentence, that has no character names and can apply to anyone. Long story short, these two haters died alone, probably eaten by their cats because they were so mean to Cinderella throughout the entire movie. Enough said. We could keep going, but I think you're getting the picture. Let's review. A theme is a lesson that the author wants you or us to learn from a story.

Themes are always complete sentences, themes never include character names. And. I think it's true for everyone. Young or old, rich or poor, black or white, tall or short doesn't matter if it doesn't apply to everyone and it's not a true theme. To find the theme, observe what the characters in the story say and do. And ask yourself, what were the consequences of those actions, were they good or bad? And that will lead you to the theme of the story. So the next time you find yourself reading a book or listening to the words of a song, or watching a movie, pay very close attention to those characters. Look to see what they say and what they do. Ask yourself what are the consequences of those actions. And see if you can find the themes.