A universal theme is defined as an idea that applies to everyone regardless of cultural differences. Universal themes are ways to connect concepts across all disciplines, without a thought to the variety of unique cultures. In literature, a universal theme can be perceived as a central insight that many works try to display. The fictional novels To Kill a Mockingbird, Whirligig, The Outsiders and the short story The Fall of Man are all works that demonstrate the countless examples of popular universal themes. One of these universal themes entails being able to see the world from other people’s perspectives. Another includes how innocence is destroyed through contact with evil. The last message consists of how going through losses and hardships …show more content…
It is never easy to admit making a mistake, but it is a crucial step in learning, growing, and improving oneself. A story from Genesis entitled The Fall of Man similarly depicts this concept. It describes the rise of humanity through the loss of moral sense, making it an allegory. This work describes the process that every generation of people goes through as they mature into adulthood. Adam and Eve were blindly following the expectations of God, which represents the conflict between parents and children. The barriers were broken when they could not resist the temptation of eating the fruit causing the realistic world to thrust into theirs. This represents how one may build up a head of steam and are eager to step outside the set boundaries and start to develop their own goals and ethics. Similarly, in the fictional novel Whirligig, Brent goes on an adventure and finds an unexpected sense of adulthood. When Brent watches Emil sketch and jot down notes, Emil tells him how both of his parents are teachers and explains how teachers live forever through their students. The author then states, “Brent suddenly [thinks] back to Miss Gill, the mediator in Chicago, and her saying that the effects of an act traveled far beyond one’s knowledge… Everything we [do] - good, bad, and indifferent- [sends] a wave rolling out of sight. He …show more content…
The path to reaching resilience lies in working through the emotions and effects of hardships and painful events. From difficult circumstances one may endure comes a new sense of life. In the fictional novel The Outsiders, Ponyboy experiences abouding experiences with tragedies and losses. Ponyboy reflects, “That [is Darry's] silent fear then—of losing another person he [loves]. I [remember] how close he and Dad [have] been, and I [wonder] how I could ever have thought him hard and unfeeling. I [listen] to his heart pounding through his T-shirt and I [know] everything [is] going to be okay now. I [have] taken the long way around, but I [am] finally home. To stay” (pg. 84). This passage explains how, despite the traumatic events Ponyboy endures, he reevaluates what is most important to him and copes with the losses he experiences. He turns the losses he experiences throughout his life into triumphs. Through the traumatic events came a new Ponyboy. Furthermore, in the fictional novel Whirligig, as Brent continues to spread the whirligigs throughout the country, each whirligig brings a new sense of happiness to different families. One placed in San Jose has a significant impact on an elderly woman and her granddaughter. She explains to her granddaughter, “What I saw you should never dream. But I can also tell you that all those that died want that we should have a life with
Mistakes can seriously impact the people who make them; however, the effects are not always negative. In the book, Whirligig, by Paul Fleischman, a teenage boy named Brent is the new kid in town and he faces some major problems with his peers. After being pushed around, treated like a pawn, and utterly rejected, Brent tries to commit suicide by taking his hands off the wheel of his moving car. Although Brent’s attempt is not successful, his actions still have a tragic ending- Lea, a young, kind, beautiful girl, is unlucky enough to be in the car that Brent crashes into. The car accident results in Lea’s death, but also the start of Brent’s magical journey of redemption. Brent’s task is to travel to the four corners of the country, build and display whirligigs, and keep Lea’s spirit alive. Though Brent may not realize it, the trip does influence him in many different ways, one major change being Brent’s newfound ability to create strong relationships with a variety of people that he meets during the course of his adventure. Throughout Brent’s journey, Paul Fleischman uses the people that Brent interacts with to portray the idea that friendships can be formed regardless of personality type, race, and age.
Every book has a theme, a main idea that is carried throughout the story, and most novels have more than one. Main ideas are threads that weave the story together. Ideas like friendship or love often are used to tell the story. Witness by Karen Hesse has an obvious theme of racism; however, love, hate, and sacrifice are woven into the plot with sacrifice being the most important.
An idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art of literature can be referred to as a “Theme”. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly. Theme is an important part of fictional stories. Several themes are presented in the novel to kill a mocking bird. One of the reoccurring themes in to kill a mockingbird is courage.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme plays an important role during the course of the novel. Theme is a central idea in a work of literature that contains more than one word. It is usually based on an author’s opinion on a subject. The theme of innocence should be protected is found in conflicts, characters, and symbols. In To Kill a Mockingbird, a conflict that connects to the theme that innocence should be protected is the death of Tom Robinson.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, this theme of deluding oneself rather than admitting a painful truth is shown through the town of Maycomb itself, Mayella Ewell’s internal and external struggles in dealing with her feelings for Tom Robinson, and how Jem refuses to believe that the world he grew up in turns out to not be what he had imagined.
The universal themes that are used in the story are racism and better the young.”And mothers and fathers, if it is too late for you, think of your children. Make it safe so they don't have to run away, for I want for you and your children what I had.”( Baker, 83) These themes are universal because both talk about things that has happened multiple times. Like better the young. We want the young to be the greatest generation and not make the mistakes we had made. The children of each generation need to be better than the last generations. The other theme racism. Racism was back then and it is now. The theme talks about the racism in the past and in the present and in the future. Racism will be the theme for lots of things in the present but also
Now with over 15 million copies in print translated into forty languages, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is highly regarded as a masterpiece of American literature. It stands strong beside bestsellers such as “The Joy Luck Club,” “The Catcher in the Rye,” and “Huckleberry Finn.” But what, one may ask, are the similarities between these chartbusters?
Published in 1960 and won Pulitzer Prize later, To Kill a Mockingbird is a semi-autobiographical book by Nelle Harper Lee and a classic in American literature. An extraordinary work and probably the most widely read book about racism, it represents the battle of justice and prejudice, goodness and evilness which prevails in humanity from a little girl’s point of view. It covers a span of three years during which both Maycomb, the small town, and people there, especially Scout Finch and her brother Jem underwent significant changes.
“Earth people will beat out any other intelligent life-form in any and all competitions” is a theme, but “good always beats evil” is one too. “Once upon a time . . . ” stories have themes too, except they are more one-dimensional. For example,... ...
Ponyboy and others know subconsciously that they need to hammer away. Through dreadful living conditions, family issues, and the deaths of friends, they just chip away until they can’t no more. When the end is there in the distance they all lean on each other and support the others. Ponyboy and his family endure through the thick and the thin. S.E. Hinton shows this so perfectly and inspires the rest of the world to do so. At the end of the day, the reader can understand how important it is to persevere through
One of the widely recognized controversies in American history is the 1930s, which housed the Great Depression and the post-civil war, the ruling of Plessy versus Ferguson and the Jim Crow Laws, and segregation. While textbooks detail the factual aspect of the time there is only one other literature that can exhibit the emotion experienced in the era. To Kill a Mockingbird is the acclaimed novel that displays the experiences of the South, through inequality and segregation, social class differences and the right to fairness. The novel’s experiences are narrated through a grown Scout, who appears as a little girl in the novel, offering her innocent views on the happenings in Maycomb County. The most observed aspect of the novel is race and racism; with Tom Robinson’s trial being the prime focus of the novel, the issue of race is bound to be discussed throughout the novel is race, racism and segregation; with Tom Robinson’s trial being the focus of the novel, the issue of race is heavily represented throughout the novel. With Mockingbird being a common book among English Language Arts and Literatures classrooms, the topic of race is bound to surface amid a young, twenty-first century group of student of students with the inevitability of this discussion, the question remains on how to approach the conversation as an educator. As an educator, one should seek to establish the context of the times, prepare the students for the conversation and examine the other characters and situations similarly to race. Educators must also be introspective before examining their students’ feelings, so that they are not surprised by their emotions and can also express their feelings to their students. The discussion should target a goal, one of examin...
Symbolism. Why is it important in a novel? Why do authors incorporate symbols into their writing? Symbolism aids the reader in understanding what the author wants to portray. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, she writes about the racism in a small town in Alabama named Maycomb set in the 1930’s and about two children growing up and learning that their town is not as perfect as they thought. The theme topic appearance versus reality helps to get a better understanding of the symbols used in the novel and that you should not judge something by their appearance, you should judge by the reality of what it is. “As Atticus once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it.” (Scout page 77) In her novel, there are many symbols throughout the narrative that relate to the theme topic appearance versus reality. Harper Lee writes symbols into her novel, such as the snowman, Mrs. Dubose’s Camellia flower and Dolphus Raymond’s Coca-Cola bottle to help reinforce the theme topic of appearance versus reality throughout the novel.
Alfred Hitchcock developed his signature style from his earlier works The Lodger and Blackmail. These films were the framework for his signature films later on. His themes of “an innocent man who is accused of a crime” and “the guilty woman” were first seen in these two films and are repeated throughout Hitchcock’s cinematic history
What is innocence? Innocence can be defined in several different ways that include freedom of guilt and sin, total honesty, or lack of worldly knowledge. The story To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during the 1930’s in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Loss of innocence is the main theme that is depicted throughout the story. The first way this theme is shown in the story is through the trial of a black man by the name of Tom Robinson. In addition, this theme is shown through two men named Atticus Finch and Arthur “Boo” Radley. The final way loss of innocence is shown in the story is through Scout, Jem, and Dill as they see all the chaos and the morbid experiences that occur in the world around them. The story of all these people describes
Determination and a strong connection with the natural world can uphold a person's sense of hope. Throughout the book The Outsiders it is demonstrated that through being confronted with arduous situations Ponyboy and the gang using determination and courage establish a sense of hope through each other. As shown in “no rival gangs only socs and you can't win against them no matter how hard you try” it displays that Ponyboy at the opening of the story does not believe anything can change therefore he has disbelief in hope. However after encountering two socials Cherry and Marcia they