ThemeDalyce PreatorCrystin ArnoldBaylee Vinson

William MeyersOzarks Technical Community College

ENG-180-W01 SP16Zimmerman

March 17, 2016

What is a Theme?

• Theme is a top view of what the story is about. The “moral of the story.” The author can use many of the elements of the short story to emphasize and expand on the theme.

• There are often themes that are repeated and show up in many works.

The Lottery

• In a small town every June, a grim tradition keeps the corn growing.

The Lottery

• Theme: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.

The Lottery

• Theme: Blindly following traditions.

The Ones who Walk away from Omelas

• A near perfect world hides one true terror.

The Ones who Walk away from Omelas

Theme: Justifying a smaller evil for the happiness of many. The people of Omelas know about the child that is suffering and while some people choose to leave, others stay. The people that stay are trying to prove to themselves that a town’s happiness justifies the suffering of one child.

The Ones who Walk away from Omelas

Theme: Not everything is as it seems. A perfect world doesn’t exist. The people of Omelas knowingly let the child suffer so they can be happy.

The Thing in the Forrest

Two young girls escape the Battle of Brittan and face a “Blitz” of a different kind.

The Thing in the Forrest

Themes: Destruction, Failure to Escape War. Even though the young girls were not in London while the bombs were falling, they still faced their own Blitzkrieg and had to live with the aftermath.

“The Lottery” vs. “The One Who Walk Away from Omelas”

• With both stories the main theme is that if you sacrifice one person in order for the rest to prosper then the community or crops will reflect such.

• The stoning of one individual in “The Lottery” will allow the crops to grow in plentiful

• Letting the child live below the town without the knowledge of love allows everyone else to live happily in Omelas.

“The Lottery” vs. “The One Who Walk Away from Omelas”

• The second theme that the two stories give us is that tradition will overshadow basic human instinct.

• The Lottery had been occurring for many years and no one saw it as problem to continue it.

• In the town of Omelas, for years everyone knew the miserable life that the child who lived below the town led but because it was tradition for them to leave the child alone

Wrap UPAfter analyzing the three short stories there was one theme that all the stories share. In each story a character gave up someone else for the greater good for either another character or a whole group of people. In The Lottery and The One who walked away from the Omelas the sacrifices go on for years and years to keep their societies going even though it wasn’t a pretty way to keep it going. The Thing in the Forest was one initial sacrifice of two mothers who sent away their daughters to keep them safe. They didn’t even tell them why they were sending them away still trying to shield them from the harsh reality around them.