Often, readers of literature may confuse the difference between the theme and the moral of a short story or novel. The true difference between the two is easy to understand. The moral may be the product of a story’s theme, but the theme itself isn’t a moral. The best way to look at these two ideas is to approach the theme as the subject of the piece and to approach the moral as the author’s message. A theme can be represented in a few words that sum up what the author wants you to think about when reading the piece. Importantly, a piece of a literature that has a clear theme won’t always have a clear moral or even a moral at all. These two aspects of literature are often thought to act as one; however, themes aren’t morals.
In “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe the theme of the story is clear, while the moral of it is cloudy and perhaps non-existent. The short story follows the thought process of a man who plans and executes the murder of an older man with whom he lives and takes care of. Just as the killer thinks he has gotten away with the murder, the police arrive and ultimately the killer feels so much guilt and paranoia that he confesses his crime to the unsuspecting police officers.
“They heard!—they suspected—they knew!—they were making a mockery of my horror!—this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision!* I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die!—and now—again!—hark! louder! louder! louder!
“Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed!—tear up the planks!—here,
here!—it is the beating of his hideous heart!”
(Poe 82)
The theme here is easy to understand; Poe wants you to consider impulses, mental stability and guilt. Accompanied by this clear theme there is no definite moral. There is no grand revelation here on principles of the human condition, only a story that does not end in a way that provokes progressive, righteous or ethical thoughts. A man was murdered, and his killer imprisoned because he confessed.
On the other hand, the story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan has both a clear theme and moral. The story begins in the early childhood of the main character, a young girl plagued by her mother’s obsession to turn her into a prodigy. We watch her progression through life as her mother attempts to force passion upon her. Tan wants you to explore certain emotions and ideas when reading this story. These themes include relationships, pressure and will power.
“You want me to be something that I'm not!" I sobbed. "I'll never be the kind of daughter you want me to be!"
"Only two kinds of daughters," she shouted in Chinese. "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!"
"Then I wish I weren't your daughter, I wish you weren't my mother," I shouted.”
(Tan 218)
In this passage the main character refuses to give in to her mother’s pressures. In her choice not to become a “prodigy” the reader is exposed to the true moral of this story. One interpretation being that you can’t change yourself for the satisfaction of someone else when it makes you unhappy.
There are stories in which the theme is clear, but the moral is highly up to interpretation. This is the case in “Guests of the Nation” by Frank O’Connor. This is a story with an intense moral conflict. O’Connor describes the struggle experienced by two soldiers who befriended enemy soldiers whom they were holding prisoner. In the end, the main characters are forced to let the men be executed. This does not take away from the fact that they men understood one another and were, in a sense, close. O’Connor wants you to investigate themes of friendship, duty and the conflicts created when these two realities interact. At the scene of the execution, O’Connor writes,
“I wouldn't, not if I was to be shot twenty times over. I wouldn't shoot a pal. And Belcher wouldn't - isn't that right, Belcher? "
"That's right, chum," Belcher said, but more by way of answering the question than of joining in the argument. Belcher sounded as though whatever unforeseen thing he'd always been waiting for had come at last.”
(O’Connor 23)
“I don't remember much about the burying, but that it was worse than all the rest because we had to carry them to the grave.”
(O’Connor 25)
In a perfect world the main characters would have refused to kill their friends and the moral would be precise, unfortunately this is not the case. The reader is left unsatisfied in terms of a moral, unable to understand what principles the author wanted to display through the character’s betrayal of their friends out of fear.
Themes are not morals and these two concepts, in fact, work independently. A theme is what the author wants the reader to consider, or the subject and is more necessary for following the plot of a story. A moral, on the other hand, is made up of lessons on principles and creed. The moral is the message that you, the reader takes away from a piece of literature. Being able to understand that theme and moral are two separate ideas allows you to gain a deeper understanding of the material and allows you to formulate informed thoughts and opinions.
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