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The theme of a story is what the author has to say
about life, about human beings, through his or her story. There are a variety of
ways that the author may communicate the theme: a wise, main character may state it
in the story; a first person narrator may insert it; or the actions and events of the
story itself may reveal it. A story may have more than one theme, and different
readers may understand them differently.
A theme is frequently an observation about
human beings. It goes beyond a statement of "Life is hard." It might
build on that and become "When life is hard, we [meaning people] ....."
Do what? Are what? A theme is not about what the particular
characters in the book did; instead, it's about what people in general might do. In
Cinderella, the theme is not "Cinderella is good, so she wins her
prince." It might be "Good people win in the end," or "Dreams do
come true."
The author has made choices in the way s/he
wrote the story in order to make the theme clearer. By examining some of those
choices and considering the alternatives available to the author, you may find it easier
to identify the theme. As you consider (don't write) your answers to the
list of questions below, ask yourself, "What is Caldwell trying to tell me about
life?"
Who is Hugh Miller and why does the story begin with a description of
him?
How would the story have been different if it had been told from Cora's
point of view? Why wouldn't the author have written it from her point of view?
What is he trying to get you to feel?
What is the mood of the story in the first page or so? When does
it change? How does it change? Does it change again later? If so, when
and how? Why would the author have chosen to begin with one mood and change to
another instead of keeping one mood throughout the story?
What could Caldwell mean in his title, "Masses of Men"?
How do you think Caldwell wants us to feel about Cora? How does
she seem to feel? What could he have done to change our feelings about her one way
or another? Why doesn't he?
Why does Caldwell make Cora sell her daughter's body instead of her own?
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