Delevoping the theme

The concept of theme can seem vague, so let’s make it more concrete. The theme is the lesson you want your story to teach. For discovery writers, fear not as you can work theme into your story after you’ve finished writing your first draft.

Let’s explore how theme guides the characters and the plot using the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Characters

The theme is used to sort the characters into three basic camps:

• Those that disagree with the theme
• Those that agree with the theme
• Those that are oblivious to the theme

However, characters have arcs. Many characters will move over the course of the story with respect to the theme. Let’s take a look.

The Disagreeable

If your first instinct was to slot bad characters into this camp, you’d be right. The bad folk will generally stick to this team. Of course, some good characters might join them in the end. On the bright side, some characters start out on the wrong side of the theme and redeem themselves in the end.

In The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), the obvious members of this team are Oogie Boogie and his team of Lock, Shock and Barrel. Their names are a pun derived from “lock, stock, and barrel” which is slang for *everything. *They represent greed, an insatiable desire for everything.

Likewise, Doctor Finkelstein starts out as a selfish character who doesn’t want to be left alone and keeps Sally as a prisoner. By the end, he has grown (a bit) to accept Sally’s independence because the doctor is no longer alone. In a typically twisted Halloween manner, he’s created a companion of himself by giving a body half of his brain.

But what about Jack Skellington? The film begins with Jack bored with one Halloween after another and when he comes across the other holidays he greedily decides to make a plan to take over Christmas.

For increased drama (that is, to make life difficult for your characters by introducing lots of obstacles) the main character usually starts on the wrong side of the theme. The main character’s weakness is that they do not accept the premise of the theme. The antagonist draws their strength in that they don’t embrace the theme.

Being greedy is a strength for Oogie Boogie as it allows him to manipulate others. Being greedy is a weakness for Jack because it disrupts other holidays and thereby makes Halloween less special.

Your readers will love you for having the main character start out wrong and having them end up right. If Jack had celebrated being the Pumpkin King, we wouldn’t have a story.

The Agreeable

There are characters that never waiver from their support of the theme. These are often referred to as mentors, but they could also be the best friends or romantic partners of the main character.

In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sally is part of this team. Her character, however, is very nuanced. Like Jack, she is trying to ‘escape’, but in her case it’s to be free to live her own life. Sally is shown as both generous when she leaves behind a gift basket for Jack and unselfish when she escapes Doctor Finkelstein by leaving behind her arm.

Santa (as Father Christmas) is an unshakable pillar of this team and Jack will be fully part of the team by the end of the film.

The Oblivious

There are some characters that are oblivious to the theme. Their purpose is to show how other characters change from embracing (or rejecting) the theme. The lack of growth in these characters isn’t a problem because they draw the dividing line between those who agree and those who don’t.

If you’ve watched *The Nightmare Before Christmas, *it may not come as a surprise that the Mayor is such a character. He’s a pure politician: in fact, he literally has two faces, one happy, one worried.

Members of this team often reach the end of the story in the same state they started. Unlike other characters, they don’t have an arc, they don’t thrive, they’re not even defeated.

Plot

Although theme is very character focused, it affects the plot by informing major narrative arcs and conflicts. The obstacles and challenges your main character faces should relate back to the theme. Each turning point in the story should further illustrate the theme and push the main character toward ultimately embracing it. Think of the theme as only being hinted at in the beginning of the story whereas by the end it’s driving every moment, every scene.

For example, if your theme is about the power of love in overcoming adversity, then the plot should be structured around the main character’s journey to finding and fighting for that love, overcoming the forces that try to tear them apart. The climactic moment could be a test of that love, where the lead has to make a choice that causes them to embrace the theme. Embracing the theme is often the epiphany that the main character has in the last third of the story.

Of course, theme can be more subtle and nuanced than a simple moral lesson. It can explore complex philosophical questions or delve into the human condition. In these cases, the theme may not have a clear-cut answer, but rather poses questions for the reader to ponder.

In *The Nightmare Before Christmas, *the theme is vaguely hinted at in the opening narration in the mention of the origin of holidays. For some reason, Disney decided not to go with Patrick Stewart’s opening narration that ended with noting the crash of two separate holidays: Halloween is the “nightmare” before Christmas, but the two holidays should never meet.

Throughout the movie, every bad decision Jack makes is a result of not embracing the theme. Often, Sally is there as a Greek chorus, singing lamentations because of her worry over Jack.

The villains of the movie gain their power by not embracing the theme.

So what is the theme of The Nightmare Before Christmas? Glad you asked!

Putting the Theme Together

If you’ve seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, you probably have your own ideas about its theme. There’s no single answer and you can state variations of a theme in many different ways.

At its very essence, the theme of the movie is don’t be greedy. Or, you should celebrate who you are and be generous with what you have.

Jack Skellington begins the story bored to death because he’s crafted another perfect Halloween. He wants more. When he stumbles across the other holidays he co-opts Christmas. Ultimately, he has an epiphany about his approach and saves Santa (and Christmas) from his own attempt to turn Christmas into Halloween and from the clutches of Oogie Boogie.

Sally begins the story wanting her freedom from Doctor Finkelstein but it quickly becomes apparent that her love for Jack and desire to protect Jack from the calamity of his own doing drive her forward. Sally’s desire for freedom and good are never greedy.

Doctor Finkelstein begins the story even greedier than Jack, wanting Sally to remain by his side forever. The doctor is not a truly villainous character, we can sympathize that he doesn’t want to be all alone. By the end he loses his greed by donating half of his brain to his new creation. This is a metaphor for being comfortable with himself.

Oogie Boogie and Lock, Shock and Barrel never lose their greedy desires. They always want more. In a way, Oogie Boogie can never be content with himself because he isn’t one person, he’s just a burlap sack filled with maggots.

Conclusion

Regardless of the specific theme, it should be central to your story, informing every important aspect of character and plot. When theme is woven into your novel, it transforms a good story into a great one because readers love making those broad connections.

Key points to remember:

• Theme splits characters into three teams: the disagreeable, the agreeable and the oblivious.
• The main character starts on the wrong side of the theme.
• The main character’s worst decisions (their weaknesses) come from being on the wrong side of the theme.
• The main character’s weakness is the antagonist’s strength and is central to the theme.
• The plot moves forward under the dual engines of the main character’s weakness and the antagonist’s strength. This is the yin and yang of theme.
• The main character will fully embrace the theme by the end.
• Like the main character, other characters can change teams over the course of the story.