Answer and explanation:
When it comes to literature, theme can be defined as the message behind the literary work, the idea or meaning the author wishes to convey, be it in a direct or in an indirect way. In narratives, the theme is developed through plot events, which are everything that takes place between the introduction and resolution of the conflicts presented. The characters’ actions, thoughts, and dialogs contribute to advance the plot and support the theme. They are the means through which the author will pass his message on to readers.
Let’s briefly analyze the short story “The Story-Teller”, by Saki. The theme is a criticism to the way adults try and teach children about the importance of being good and well-behaved. To develop such theme, the author chooses a very specific group of characters: an uptight aunt, her uproarious nephew and nieces, and a sarcastic bachelor. The characters are placed in a train wagon, where the sense of confinement makes the children bored, the aunt nervous, and the bachelor annoyed. Such environment, combined with their personalities, generates the perfect conditions for the conflict to begin.
Since the children won’t sit quiet, their aunt decides to tell them a story about a well-behaved girl who was saved by the adults who very much admired her goodness and obedience from being killed. As we can see, the aunt’s action and words very much set the cornerstone for the theme. They provide the necessary fuel for the author to begin his burning criticism of the purpose of children’s story that have a moral lesson. The children’s actions and words develop the theme even further when they choose not to accept such lesson. They question their aunt:
“Wouldn’t they have saved her if she hadn’t been good?” demanded the bigger of the small girls. It was exactly the question that the bachelor had wanted to ask.
The author provides us with a bit of insight as to what the bachelor is thinking. Now readers already know the bachelor and the kids think in a similar way, since they fail to see how the fact of being good is the reason why the girl is saved.
It is funny to notice that the aunt is portrayed as an innocent adult in this context. Even though she has a noble purpose – she wants the kids to learn how to behave with propriety in social situations -, she uses a most deplorable method to achieve it. Her own mind is more naïve than the children’s as she believes a mere story will be enough to show them what life is all about.
The bachelor, on the other hand, is the character that best develops the theme. He decides to tell the children his own story. It is about a girl who ended up devoured by a wolf as a result of her good behavior. As it turns out, the children love the story. The bachelor serves the purpose of criticizing the aunt’s perspective in life as well as her approach to teaching it. He conveys the idea that goodness isn’t everything in life, that being too good will only harm you. His story also shows that children are much more interested in a more truthful approach instead of an idealistic one, since they love his tale.
In short, after analyzing this story, we can note how the characters, their actions, words, and thoughts serve as a means to develop the theme. It is through them that the author conveys his message. The events and conflicts are the base on which their decisions are built.
