Where does the power granted by a theme come from?
A novel that has a theme - that is, something to say, a message - has a weight to it that a novel without a theme cannot achieve. I'm sure there are those that might disagree with this, but I believe it is generally accepted as true.
With the above in mind therefore, where does this weight, or power, come from? Here's what I mean:
It is widely known that you should not preach to your reader, or come right out and express the theme (save in certain circumstances). This, unsurprisingly, leads to an amount of camouflage where the theme is concerned.
Every now and then, I will come across a novel that has overused this camouflage. The theme is so well hidden that I do not see it, sometimes until the novel is well over.
Here's my question: In books like this which over-hide the theme, is the power of the theme still present, even though the reader doesn't see it? Or does the reader have to see the theme in order for it to have an effect on the reading experience?
I ask because it can sometimes be difficult to keep the level of 'theme camouflage' in the comfort zone - that is, not staring the reader in the face, but still apparent enough to be seen. If, however, I can bury the theme as far as I want with no risk of losing the power it conveys, this job is made infinitely easier.
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In the case of a story I am toying with, the theme (or more accurately, the idea) I am trying to bring across has a bearing on the structure of the story, the plot and the different details I bring out or emphasise in different parts of the story.
Since these elements are determined in part by the theme, they should, in theory, cohere well together. Since all the elements of the story are driving at the same goal, they fit together as a whole while adding an additional layer on top.
In my mind, it is this coherence and layering that adds weight to a novel with a theme. I'm no writer but my wife is an artist and she has also said as much. To take a lesson from art, the message will have the most effect when it is implicit rather than explicit. How does the lighting and shading, the emotion in the brush strokes and the relationships between the different elements make us feel?
In the same way, the theme shouldn't come out in the writing but in the underlying structures. I suppose it is the same as the "show don't tell" motif; show the theme to the reader as it bubbles up out of your story, coming from everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. Don't give them blunt force trauma by making it too explicit.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/16832. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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At least part of why we read is to learn something --that doesn't mean the characters in the story need to learn something, and it doesn't necessarily mean a moral lesson. You might simply learn what it feels like to be put in an extreme situation, for instance.
Having a theme enhances this sense of learning, and without it, one may feel somehow cheated. On the other hand if the lesson is too explicit, clumsy, or at odds with the plot, that also feels like being cheated (out of an entertaining and believable narrative with its own sense of integrity).
In the case that the theme is subtle, the reader could a) miss it entirely, in which case the reader would probably have the same reaction as to a themeless book, b) perceive the theme subconsciously, which may lead the book to feel unexpectedly satisfying or c) discover it belatedly, which, for many readers would be a happy surprise, and a suggestion that the book is worth close study and/or repeated readings.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/16846. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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