Paragraph

“What You Pawn I Will Redeem” has themes and morals that teach how to be a better person. A big theme in the story is to put others before yourself. Jackson Jackson needed to save money to buy back his grandmother’s regalia, but he used his money for others instead. “‘I’ve got twenty-five dollars I can spend. Bring us all the breakfast you can, plus your tip’” (Alexie 44). A moral in the story is good things happen to good people. Instead of helping himself, Jackson helped others with his money. However, in the end he still got his grandmother’s regalia even though he did not have enough money to buy  the regalia.

“Take it,’ he said, and held it out to me.

“I don’t have the money.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“But I wanted to win it.”

“You did win it. Now take it before I change my mind” (Alexie 45).

Theme vs. Moral

When analyzing texts there is often a misconception of what represents a theme or a moral. Many readers believe that the theme of a story is synonymous with the moral, however, often times it is not. The moral of a story is traditionally a lesson that can be learned from the actions of the characters or the result of a series of events that took place in the story. These lessons are often quite simple; for instance, in the childrens story of  “The Tortoise and the Hair” by Aesop the moral of the story would be: never give up even when the odds are against you; this is a lesson that children learn growing up because it can be applied to their everyday life. Another way to think of the moral of the story is something that could be considered a universal truth; a lesson that applies to the incidents within the story and also to peoples everyday lives. Themes, as opposed to morals, do not usually represent universal truths, instead, they are more complex and, often times, much subtler than morals. Themes, generally, only pertain to the specific instances in the story and how these instances show the reader something. This something isn’t necessarily a lesson, it could be a question, idea or a statement. Going back to the story of “The Tortoise and the Hair”; the theme would be slow and steady wins the race. The author doesn’t necessarily state this within in this children's tale, however, throughout the story it is hinted at. This fundamental story, although very rudimentary, can be applied to other, more complex, pieces of writing; because of this, this children's tale serves as a great starting point to demonstrate the difference between the moral and theme of a story. In other stories, this fundamental difference between the theme and the moral can become more convoluted and harder to grapple with, however, the important thing to remember is that there is still a difference. 

This Is How You Grow

The moral of the argument is that themes are not concrete pavements or cement sidewalks, they are the roads not traveled by and twisting trails in the back of the woods, all different and unique to themselves.  Digging deep to find what an author is trying to say is part of a learning process, and breaking the cycle of cliches is just one way to expand in this process.  Too often we get quarantined into simplistic ideas that we have seen in other texts, but by looking deeper into the text, we can find more insightful messages that  the author sends. By creating more insightful responses, we grow as a person, a student, and as a writer.

Theme Vs. Moral

Moral and theme are distinctive literary terms, yet people in the United States have trouble distinguishing between the two. "The Story of An Hour" by Kate Chopin, "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" by Sherman Alexie, and "Guests of the Nation" by Frank O'Connor demonstrate that themes are central ideas such as specific political and social issues. These short stories also incorporate morals relating to karma, fate, and society. While morals are lessons that people can apply to themselves, themes are main ideas unique to the stories. While themes usually have no affect on the reader, morals from stories and experiences may guide a person's life.

 

Theme vs Moral Paragraph

“Guests of the Nation,” a short story by Frank O’Connor, has a simple moral, but a very complex theme.  The moral of the story, reflected in the horrible things that the main character is forced to do, is that it is important to think before you do something that someone tells you to do, and that what seems wrong to you is usually wrong.  The story, however, explores a much broader and more complex theme, a theme about war and all of its gruesome realities.  The author describes in much detail the horrible things that war makes the soldiers do to good people.  When Hawkins is killed, the soldiers were forced to watch him painfully die, “We all stood very still, watching him settle out in the last agony” (O’Connor 24). These soldiers watched someone who had done nothing wrong live out his last moments in agony, adding to the theme of war and hardship.  We see two people get executed due to orders given by a higher power.  Once again, the theme and the moral are separate entities, although similar, the moral is much more specific.  This is an important thing to keep in mind when reading literature.

Themes Versus Morals Conclusion

     The morals of the aforementioned stories were not particularly profound. The morals were to always speak up for one’s beliefs, not to count the chickens before they hatch, and to live life to the fullest. However, the themes make the readers stop and think about what they have read. In the examples the themes were war and the inner challenges soldiers have to deal with, the institution of marriage and its effects on a woman’s mental health, and the struggles of the modern Native American. There is a clear difference in weight between the two. The author spends time thinking about his theme and allows the reader to decide what he or she thinks about a topic. The moral, on the other hand turns out to be fairly random. The theme is intentional while the moral is a byproduct of the story. 

Theme vs Moral in "What You Pawn I Will Redeem"

As illustrated in the short story, "What You Pawn I Will Redeem", by Sherman Alexie, moral and theme are two completely different literary devices. Throughout the narrative, Jackson Jackson, the main character, is on a quest to earn 1000 dollars to reclaim his grandmothers regalia. Finally, he wins the family heirloom back, and we are led to believe that the moral of the story is that the only way to get something is to work hard for it. Alternately, community, is a recurring theme, shown when Jackson Jackson states, “Indians like to belong, so we all pretended to be cousins” (Alexie 37). This is exhibited not only by the Indian community that is ever present, but in other characters such as Mary and Officer Williams, who are charitable and kind to Jackson Jackson in his journey. Many people often confuse the constant theme with the resolution oriented moral of a work of literate because of their similar but slightly different definitions.

Themes Vs. Morals

Morals and themes are as different as vegetables and cake. A moral is defined as something pertaining to right and wrong, while a theme is defined as a dominant idea. Morals can be reduced to snappy one-liners that people tend to gravitate towards, just as people choose to eat delicious cake. However, themes are more difficult for people to wrap their minds around and require a thorough exploration of the ideas in a text, just as vegetables require more effort to eat than cake. The short stories "Guests of the Nation," "Story of an Hour", and "What you Pawn I Will Redeem," by Frank O'Connor, Kate Chopin, and Sherman Alexie, all showcase the differences between themes and morals.

Themes vs. Morals

Within the context of short story writing, themes and morals are often used interchangeably. However, their synonymity is in actuality a common misconception. Morals teach generic life lessons that one infers from the plot, e.g. just behaviour, the merits of generosity, etc. On the other hand, themes are applicable to varying stories; they are analogous or representative of a bigger idea. The three short stories discussed in class  - “Story of an Hour,” "Guests of the Nation," and "What You Pawn I Will Redeem” - adeptly illustrate the contrast between comprehensive themes and idealistic morals.

Theme vs. Morals

The theme of the short story, "The Story of and Hour" by Kate Chopin is not a classic moral. In this work, the theme is that a woman who loses her loving husband is not necessarily a grieving widow. At the time it was written this would have been extremely controversial. We know this because in the text, the narrator states that, "An yet she had loved him... sometimes. Often she had not." She's not free, now that her husband is dead, because he was oppressive, it was simply because she didn't really love him.