World Literature The Use of Force by William Carlos Williams - The central theme of The use of force by William Carlos Williams is to questioned readers as to whether it is ethical to use force or violence against someone for their own well being and if it is OK for the person being aggresive to enjoy the screams and pain of the person they are hurting. An Episode of War by Stephen Crane - This story tells of a lieutenant who gets injured during the Civil War. Throughout the work, Crane examines various themes, including shame, the brutality of war, and the insignificance of humans. Moonlight by Guy de Maupassant - The moonlight is representation of romance, perfect setting, love and affection The Last Judgement by Karel Capek - The theme in the story is judgement and punishment. This literary term connects to the story because Kugler committed many crimes and after his death he was judged. His judgement was either the path of heaven or hell. The Fly by Katherine Mansfield - The central theme of The Fly is death. Death is combined with other themes, including grief, forgetting, and survival. In the end, all plot points lead toward death In Exile by Anton Chekov - The point of this story seems to be that the exiled man should accept his fate and forego desire, or the expectation of happiness. Araby by James Joyce - The main theme in ''Araby'' by James Joyce is disillusionment. Joyce depicts childhood as filled with excitement, fun, and imagination. The narrator of the story believes these feelings will carry into his budding adulthood, but instead, he is disillusioned. The Innocent by Graham Greene - Analyzes the themes of naivety and innocence in graham greene's the quiet american, which contrasts with the reality and crudeness of the vietnam war. Flight by John Steibeck - innocence, coming of age, resilience, hardship, struggle, escape and loss The Horse Dealers Daughter by D.H Lawrence - doubt, reliance, connection, desperation, escape and security. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemmingway - A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is an exploration of existential concepts like loneliness and nihilism, or a doubt in the existence of the greater meaning of things. The Lagoon by Joseph Conrad - loyalty, love, bravery, and remorse. Loyalty: Arsat's brother personifies loyalty, sacrificing himself so that Arsat may be happy with Diamelen. This devout loyalty to Arsat comes from the common bond the two share as brothers. Children Are Civilians Too by Heinrich Boll - in this setting, Böll creates the theme of escaping reality through Actions of the POW in the prison with the guard, interaction with the Russian girl he sees, and interaction with the city he is in. The New Dress by Virginia Woolf - main themes of this story are social class, loneliness, poverty, and insecurity. Incense in the Lab Victor Barnouw A Long Day’s Dying William Eastlake - themes of brotherhood, family, and making meaning in life. Six Feet of the Country by Nadine Gordimer - The story show instances of racially motivated oppression and unfairness through the marriage between the two main characters. Gordimer writes a story that parallels the failed marriage to a failure of society in terms of physical separation, mental separation and inequality. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is a story about what happens after Gregor Samsa becomes an insect overnight. One of the main themes of the story is isolation. After this remarkable metamorphosis, Gregor begins to feel alienated from his family. Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - In Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon by Gabriel García Márquez we have the theme of conflict, humility, greed, generosity and pride. Les Miserables Victor Hugo - The themes of Les Misérables are concerned with social issues in 19th-century urban France. Victor Hugo uses Les Misérables to deliver critiques of wealth distribution, the justice system, industrialism, and republicanism. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - Tradition vs. Revolution - Femininity and Womens Roles Love Emotion and Repression Food and Cooking Violence and Abuse Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe - themes of revenge, substance abuse, remorse, delusion, pride, and freedom create a chilling story and possibly give us a glimpse into the author's mind. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo explores six core themes: revenge, justice and God's will, happiness, love and redemption, identity, and the domestic and the foreign. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - The story follows a young prince who visits various planets, including Earth, and addresses themes of loneliness, friendship, love, and loss. Despite its style as a children's book, The Little Prince makes observations about life, adults, and human nature. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain - Adventure, exploration, and discovery are central themes in the American experience. It is at the core of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Tom is an adventurer, an explorer, and a thrill-seeker, driven by his imagination and sense of nobility. Huckleberry Finn by Charles Dickens - Friendship, freedom, and adventure—The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is about the journey of a boy named Huck through the Mississippi River as he frees himself from his abusive father by faking his own death and as he helps free his new-found friend Jim who is a slave escaping from his master. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities themes include self-sacrifice, resurrection, hope, and death. Symbols like fire, shoemaking, the guillotine, and the Marquis de Evrémonde, enhance these themes throughout the novel. The book tells a story of family relationships and betrayal during the Revolution. The Road Not Taken by Rober Frost - The main theme of "The Road Not Taken" is making choices. You will make many choices in your life, and those choices can come with many different thoughts about what could have happened if you had chosen differently. The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus - The main message of "The New Colossus" relates to immigrants' hopes and dreams of better lives. The Statue of Liberty stands as a welcoming guide to the "huddled masses" and "those yearning to be free." She is a symbol of peace, comfort, and compassion. Because I could not stop for death by Emily Dickinson - The main theme of 'Because I could not stop for Death' is death and immortality. In this poem, the poet describes how she visualizes death and what's its role in her life. Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare - Shakespeare uses repetition throughout "Sonnet 18" to help emphasize the themes of love, beauty, art, and immortality. He also uses figurative language such as personification to give the sun human characteristics such as an eye and a complexion. This helps to bring the poem to life. Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylog Coleride - The major theme of Kubla Khan is the effects of the dream of the romantic and mysterious on the poet's mind or the whole being. Then, there is the theme of man's interaction with nature and the power of the poet's imagination. The imagery and symbolism of the poem, as discussed above, strongly bring out these themes. The Second Coming William Butler Yeats - “The Second Coming” presents a nightmarish apocalyptic scenario, as the speaker describes human beings' increasing loss of control and tendency towards violence and anarchy. Harlem by Langston Hughes - The poem exemplifies the negative effects that oppressive racism had on African-Americans at the time. These negative effects include being weighed down by shattered dreams as well as by violence. Another theme is injustice. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe - the effects of death on the living, such as grief, mourning, and memories of the deceased, as well as a question that so often torments those who have lost loved ones to death: whether there is an afterlife in which they will be reunited with the dead. Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley - The major theme behind "Ozymandias" is that all power is temporary, no matter how prideful or tyrannical a ruler is. If by Rudyard Kipling - The main theme of Rudyard Kipling's 'If—' is Victorian-era stoicism. This theme is present throughout the work along with some important themes such as being human, success, failure, life, strength, and self-control. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s Day? By William Shakespeare - The stability of love and its power to immortalize someone is the overarching theme of this poem. And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou - A major theme of “Still I Rise” is the need to defy oppressive social expectations. This theme emerges through the speaker's tone more than her actual words. Machinal by Sophie Treadwell - suppression of women, freedom from societal expectations, and mechanization and industrialization, Long Day’s Journey Into the Night by Eugene O’Nell - The plot of Long Day's Journey into Night focuses on a dysfunctional family trying to come to grips with its ambivalent emotions in the face of serious familial problems, including drug addiction, moral degradation, deep-rooted fear and guilt, and life-threatening illness. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - The major themes of A Raisin in the Sun include dreams, pride, money, race, and family. Each character in the play demonstrates at least one of the themes through their interactions with other characters. Angels in America by Tony Kushner - Homosexuality Prophets and prophecies Progressivism, conservatism and change Fantasy, escape and tragedy The clash between people and principles Hamlet by Willliam Shakespeare - friendship, madness, and revenge. The Importance of being earnest by Oscar Wilde - marriage, class, social expectations, and the lifestyles of the English upper class. Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht - war as business virtue in wartime capitulation maternity A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams - the ambiguous nature of sexuality, the betrayal of faith, the corruption of modern America, the over-arching battle of artistic sensitivity against physical materialism. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller - Denial, contradiction, and the quest for order versus disorder comprise the three major themes of Death of a Salesman. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett - Humor and the absurd Waiting, boredom and nihilism Modernism and postmodernism Time Humanity, companionship, suffering and dignity.
