101 TIWIK #42: Subject, Symbolism & Theme With Jesikah Sundin

I have to admit: Theme is my biggest weakness in writing. If I have themes in my books, it is entirely by mistake. I even have a silly superstition that if I dig around too deeply in the themes in my writing, I will ruin them somehow.

In light of that, I’ve invited the illustrious Jesikah Sundin, Author of Legacy: The biodome Chronicles to guest post on Theme. Take it away, Jesikah!

Life’s journey is one gigantic thematic rush after another. No wonder it is a flavorful ingredient in story craft. It drives readers and writers alike to dig deeper and explore self and the world around them. The philosophical questions whir and vibrate as the mechanics of answers are sought, examined, and judged upon the moral landscape of each individual’s personal experience.

And yet, theme is also a universal truth. An equation with a known value that transcends culture, traditions, and geography, the very reason our minds are capable of absorbing such subtly without effort, even if we are unaware of the literary osmosis.

So what is theme?

In literature, it is the central idea the story explores, what the story is about on a philosophical level, what it means.

I love theme. I love it so much most of my jobs have revolved around the various definitions of theme from being a wedding/event coordinator, an educator, to my present job – writer/author.

My debut novel, Legacy (The Biodome Chronicles #1), was a thematic delight to pen. Every finger clicked and clacked away on the keyboard with enjoyment as I crafted my message and infused it into every aspect of world building, character development, and storyline.

More on that later 😉

First, let’s examine theme’s close cousins: subject and symbolism.

SUBJECT

Put simply, subject is literally what the story is about. Think of it like going to school. The education experience is loaded with many classes, but they still fell within the core subjects of history, science, mathematics, and language arts (generally speaking). The class may have been about the Napoleonic Wars, or the rise of the Labor Unions, but the subject was still history.

Same is true in literature. Stories portray plots, settings, and a varied cast of characters in constant motion. But regardless of how the novel is spun and woven, it should still reflect a subject. The famed Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is about love, and so is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. They are two completely different tales of woe, but about the same subject.

Novels often reflect multiple subjects, with several major and minor topics. Romeo and Juliet also features the subjects of family and revenge, whereas The Fault in Our Stars discusses cancer and identity.

In my novel, Legacy, the five predominant subjects explored are: 1) life cycles; 2) community; 3) identity; 4) love; and 5) family.

SYMBOLISM

The “subject” of symbolism encompasses the beautiful and, at times, rough terrain of metaphors and similes. It is the stuff of poetry, song lyrics, corporate icons, social media, and the man formally known as Prince.

The easiest definition, well, at least to me, is the idea that symbolism is a universal image that becomes something greater than what it actually is on the surface.

For example: Emoticons. Love them. Hate them. They are everywhere. Why? They are easily understood symbols of happiness, anger, confusion, sorrow….the list goes on. On the surface they are just artistic punctuation. Universally, it is accepted as something greater.

Throughout literature, certain symbols appear over and over again. Black represents bad, white represents good. A rose represents love, passion, romance. Rain is the imagery of sadness, and a sunny, clear sky is often present when everything is going well.

Legacy is rich with symbolism. As my novel explores the cycles of life, family, and community, I use trees and leaves as symbols, even down to the names of my characters — Leaf and Willow Oak Watson. My other character, Fillion, only wears black, dyed his hair black with a bright blue streak, and has a room that is entirely black except for his bright blue guitar. He is symbolically black and blue, emotionally bruised and injured. His symbolism is tied to identity and love.

THEME

So, what is theme? Well, it is not the subject and it is not the symbolism running throughout the story. It is a bit more abstract and ponders a philosophical question that may or may not be resolved. Simply, it is the message the author is communicating to the reader.

The subject is what the story is about; theme is what the story means based on the subject(s) discussed; and symbolism reflects the subject and/or theme. Savvy?

Some stories present obvious themes with obvious answers. And some stories present themes that require the reader to form their own convictions and truths. And some do both.

Common themes in literature are “the son becomes the father” (Star Wars), “love is sacrifice” (Lord of the Rings), “coming of age” (Harry Potter). The list is like the numerical value of pi – goes on forever.

The trick I use for picking out themes in a story (or even developing one) is to ask a question using the main subject and then replying with a complete answer:

What is the cycle of life? (subject)

The cycle of life states that in order to live, something must die.

Now cut off the re-phrasing of the question and you get: In order to live, something must die. Ta-da! Theme.

Notice that although themes are philosophical questions pondered throughout the story, they are often presented as statements.

Here’s a couple more:

What is the cycle of family heritage and power? (subject)

The cycle of family heritage and power is often shown when the son becomes the father.

The son becomes the father. (theme)

What is an expression of love? (subject)

An expression of love is sacrifice.

Love is sacrifice. (theme) 

In Legacy, the main theme through the series is “in order to live, something must die”, which is then explored through the subjects of life cycles, community, identity, love, and family. Symbolically, the subjects explored in this theme are represented through trees, leaves, and the colors black, gold, and white.

Theme should spur questions, which then spurs even more questions, and begs the reader to ponder the philosophical possibilities through the lens of their moral code, education, environmental factors, personality, and life experiences.

What must a society give-up so that a community may thrive?

What part of ourself dies so that another part may live?

From generation-to-generation, what remains and what goes?

A good theme will provide the multi-layered foundation to structure plot and characters. In fact, books that are often declared complex and layered tend to be theme driven or theme heavy.

I leave you with a passage from Legacy, in which the main character, Willow Oak (aka Oaklee), is lying beneath a giant willow oak tree (her namesake), following the unexpected death of her father. This passage is central to the entire series and perfectly illustrates how theme encapsulates the story subjects and inspires symbolism:

Orphaned. No parents, no relations within the community besides her siblings, and no one else to claim her as their kin beyond the walls. Was this how the leaves felt? Did they feel abandoned by the tree to forge a new life with their sibling leaves? Did they feel despair when they crashed, hitting bottom after their free fall? Did they feel like her? Disconnected, and suddenly sensing how small she was compared to the firmly rooted enormity that was once her life?

Opening her eyes, she watched a single leaf, perfectly golden, spiral right above her in a death dance. The leaf softly landed on her heart as if sensing the ache, a bandage for the open wounds. It was as if the tree understood the pain, extending a piece of itself in compassion to help her heal. Oaklee cherished the gesture, kissing the golden tribute, and then pressed it against her heart while closing her eyes once more. Nature gave a beautiful gift of thanks for receiving her mother and now her father, so it could flourish and live on, the cycle of life complete.

The motto of New Eden floated back to her mind: “In order to live, something must die, but death makes way for the resurrection of new life. This is the law of nature’s closed-loop system.” Enclosed inside a world within a world, a society born of science, she accepted the natural laws that governed their culture. Each one was reflected in the legacy her community was building for the ages to come. They were an experimental colony for Mars, an earth-based biodome civilization emulating the future of interplanetary homesteading. Did the outside world understand the law of a closed-loop system? Or was their biosphere and community too large to reflect this truth?

Were you able to identify the subjects, theme, and symbolism?

What are literary themes you enjoy reading or drawn to write? I would love to hear from you!

Jesikah Sundin is a sci/fi – fantasy writer mom of three nerdlets and devoted wife to a gamer geek. In addition to her family, she shares her home in Monroe, Washington with a red-footed tortoise, two gerbils, and a collection of seatbelt purses. She is addicted to coffee, laughing, and Dr Martens…oh, and the forest is her happy place.

LEGACY is the winner of the Winter 2014 Chanticleer Book Reviews Great Beginnings Cygnus award for SciFi/Fantasy and the 2014 National Indie Excellence Finalist Book Award for Science Fiction.

This is Jesikah’s debut novel, and she looks forward to filling bookshelves with more novels to come, including Books Two and Three in The Biodome Chronicles, ELEMENTS and GAMEMASTER.

Visit her site here.

Jesikah’s post on Theme has inspired me to examine the subjects and themes in Dream of a Vast Blue Cavern! Stay Tuned for 101 TIWIK #43:Examining Themes in My Own Work

This post is part of a series of 101 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Wrote My First Book. Start reading the series at the beginning. 

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