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Ever read a story where the plot appears to be at odds with what the novel is really about? The plot and the theme are two different things, but one cannot survive without the other. The underlying message will never get across without an interesting story to carry it through. And a plot is nothing without a great theme – it’s like a house without foundations. Without a theme, the story feels flimsy and insignificant. The story will fall down.
What is the Theme of a Story?
Ian McEwan’s Atonement is a message about the dangers of innocence as the story describes the sexual hypocrisies and the horrors of war surrounding a group of middleclass people in Britain; Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner would appear to be about two boys taking part in an annual kite running competition before the troubles in Afghanistan. In fact, the kite running is incidental and so is the big politics of the time. The story is really about an incident that occurred between two small boys. It is about finding redemption.
Theme and Plot in Fiction
The theme might not always be clear when embarking a novel; it might become more apparent as the story progresses. If a good theme does not emerge by this point, the story is in danger of falling down. I had to make sure a great theme comes through in my novels. And thankfully, one did so by the end of Falling Awake.Falling Awake is a disquieting tale told from two viewpoints: a voyeur and an exhibitionist. Gemma, the latter is not a natural performer but a desperate single mother who is faced with homelessness. She performs visually-pleasing and suggestive routines called Domestic Bliss for an unseen voyeur, Luke, to earn her house back.
Theme of Domestic Bliss
It soon becomes apparent that Luke suffers chronic insomnia. He pays to watch Domestic Bliss unfurl through his window to alleviate his dreaded wakefulness. The question presents itself what made him that way? What is the cause of his insomnia? His contempt for life hints at an unsavory secret. The reader is kept guessing on what this secret might be until the end. But although erotica is one of the key features of the novel, Falling Awake is not really about erotica.
Love Story Theme
Domestic Bliss is a metaphor for the ‘shiny’ things in life, such as lip-gloss, mobile phones, handbags, Gucci shoes, facials, designer clothes, sports cars, a KFC and a movie every weekend. The aesthetically pleasing may arrest us for a while; we only have to glean through as glamour magazines such as Cosmopolitan or walk down the high street to find ourselves diverted by eye-catching adverts that tell us what we need to be. But take away a basic need, and these surface values become nothing.
Hierarchy of Human Needs
The Important Things in Life
In my story, the main character, Luke is getting ahead of himself, and he knows it. As can be seen from the following excerpt, Luke tries to blur the boundaries between a basic need (sleep) with a less important need (erotic appreciation).
Domestic Bliss became the slumber his actual slumber refused to be. Luke fancied that he had cheated sleep; that his three-hour trance was like pseudo-sleep. Could he make the claim that he was sleeping six hours now, instead of three, an amount that bordered on normal? The idea did not buoy him as it should.
A man could survive without food for longer than without sleep and Domestic Bliss, sadly was a mere frill Luke wished were more. His actual source of sustenance was one without redeeming features: filthy water for the thirsty, rotting meat for the starving, and in the case of sleep, a functional three-hour coma interposed by the sensation his skull had taken a sledge-hammer.
Sinister Story Theme
We can see from this that without a basic need, such as food, water or sleep, the aesthetic becomes unimportant. Our values change and the dynamics of society could take a fundamental shift if this need were taken from everyone. The things taken for granted become the focus of our attention.
The differences between the two performers of Domestic Bliss, Gemma and Charlene reflect what is important and what ‘appears’ to be important. Charlene is a natural performer; she is elegant, tall and has all the moves. For this reason, she is given the star role of the operetta.
Gemma, by contrast is shorter, more compact and does not possess the grace that her partner has. Being a mother, her body also exhibits the rigors of life. Being less ‘glamorous,’ she is given the role of Charlene’s groomer, the scrubber who serves the starlet.
Theme of Falling Awake Novel
But as the story unfurls, we begin to see that Charlene’s physical perfection satisfies only the aesthetic. Gemma is not meant for the spotlight, yet could it be she holds the key to the very thing that Luke needs?
Very often, the theme to a story will differ to what the story appears to be about. Atonement and The Kite Runner are just two examples. Falling Awake describes erotic scenes, but the story is not really about eroticism or voyeurism. The underlying theme is how something aesthetically pleasing cannot satisfy a deeper need. Maslow's model can be referred to here. More often, this more important thing remains invisible until it is taken away.
Falling Awake Charles J Harwood
Copyright is asserted © 2012
Other themes relating to this novel
Unique experience of an insomniac
Understanding gambling addiction
Cynic's view of office politics and business planning
Physical sensations of being in debt
Other articles
What if human behavior could talk
References:
Maslow, A.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review
Photo credit: Riley (Wikimedia Commons 2013)
Diagram CJ Harwood
This underlying message becomes clear when looking at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (see diagram). Only on satisfying the lower tier, can the individual think about the next one up. In other words, only after satisfying our need for food, can we think about safety and security.
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