![]() □ To discover more books, head to Reedsy Discovery, our dedicated platform for readers and reviewers! 6. No single friendship is the same, and the same is true of their literary representations. In such stories, friendship is also thematized for its absence, its tensions, shortfalls, and failings. It remains a common theme for books that deal with young adulthood, coming-of-age narratives, and even later life, as titles like Teddy Wayne’s Apartment, Zadie Smith’s Swing Time, Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life and Carolina de Robertis’ Cantoras show. In books for young readers, friendship is commonly praised for its selflessness and camaraderie. Childhood friends are often at the heart of children’s classics like The Secret Garden or Charlotte’s Web. Friendshipįriends, it’s often said, are the family we choose for ourselves - and the bonds we have with them are just as complex, potentially tense, or heart-warming as familial bonds. Whether the theme is used to show that human nature is inherently lonely, to criticize dependence, or to argue that loneliness is a societal privilege ( A Room of One’s Own-style), these are stories that never fail to be deeply affecting. Is there anything more writerly (or typically associated with writerliness, anyway) than the image of a lone, isolated scribe visible inside a lit window at night, typing away into the dark? Or (let’s face it) the loner in school, symbol of misfits all over? From the famous alienated high schoolers in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Catcher in the Rye to more recent bestsellers like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, there’s no shortage of loners, isolated misfits, or content-to-be-alone introverts in literature. □️□ Check out some more book recommendations about queer identity over on our list of the best LGBT books ! 4. ![]() This is also a theme connected to the way society impacts the way we perceive ourselves and others. For some writers, literature is a place to try and answer that question for themselves or the group they identify with for others, it’s a place to dismiss the need for labels and embrace a self that exists at the intersections of various groups. George by Alex Gino) and mental health diagnoses like in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, who we are is one of the fundamental questions we must face. From representing one’s ethnic or racial identity (Brit Bennet’s The Vanishing Half and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, for example) to gender identity (e.g. Questions of identity and the labels that come with them are powerful animating forces in much of literature. Got your power dynamics sorted but not sure how to structure your story? Download our free template on book development. Regardless, the element of power remains central. Sometimes the focus is power’s corruptive abilities, sometimes it’s the exchange of power between oppressive states and individuals, sometimes it’s simply the power of dreams. Martin called A Song of Ice and Fire) and classics like George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the concept of power has fueled countless literary projects. From dystopias (Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy, for example) to fantasy (like that other famous trilogy The Lord of the Rings, or that little-known series by George R. Like you might see anytime you turn on the news, power (or the desire for it) makes people do crazy things. Whether you’re looking to identify common themes or searching for the right kind of inspiration for your next writing project, this list is just what you need. ![]() Here, we’ll be focusing on broader thematic concepts, with some examples of how themes are being used. ![]() ![]() That’s not to say that works which share a common theme tackle it in the same way - indeed, the beauty of themes in literature is that they can be approached from multiple perspectives that offer different thematic statements (in other words opinions on said themes). It’s no wonder, then, that certain themes come up again and again across the spectrum of literature, from novels and short stories to poetry and creative nonfiction. By nature, literary themes are broad and universal. ![]()
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