Themes in Literature

What is the central idea or underlying messages of a book or piece of text?

Themes are rarely stated in the book, instead the reader must consider the plot, characters, setting to infer themes


For example, think about the Topic and Theme of the classic story Cinderella.
If you are describing the TOPIC, you might say it is a story about a poor girl who marries a
prince.

But if you are describing the THEME, it could be described as an example of karma or good
things happening to good people.

What is the theme in:

Tortoise and the Hare ?????

Wizard of Oz???????