OTC Zimmerman 16 SP Group 1 PPT Theme

1. Theme
Dalyce Preator
Crystin Arnold
Baylee Vinson
William Meyers
Ozarks Technical Community College
ENG-180-W01 SP16
Zimmerman
March 17, 2016

2. What is a Theme?
• Theme is a top view of what the
story is about. The “moral of the
story.” The author can use many
of the elements of the short story
to emphasize and expand on the
theme.
• There are often themes that are
repeated and show up in many
works.

3. The Lottery
• In a small town every June, a grim
tradition keeps the corn growing.

4. The Lottery
• Theme: The needs of the many
outweigh the needs of the few, or
the one.

5. The Lottery
• Theme: Blindly following
traditions.

6. The Ones who Walk away from Omelas
• A near perfect world hides one true
terror.

7. The Ones who Walk away from Omelas
Theme: Justifying a smaller evil for
the happiness of many. The people
of Omelas know about the child that
is suffering and while some people
choose to leave, others stay. The
people that stay are trying to prove to
themselves that a town’s happiness
justifies the suffering of one child.

8. The Ones who Walk away from Omelas
Theme: Not everything is as it seems.
A perfect world doesn’t exist. The
people of Omelas knowingly let the
child suffer so they can be happy.

9. The Thing in the Forrest
Two young girls escape the Battle of
Brittan and face a “Blitz” of a
different kind.

10. The Thing in the Forrest
Themes: Destruction, Failure to
Escape War. Even though the young
girls were not in London while the
bombs were falling, they still faced
their own Blitzkrieg and had to live
with the aftermath.

11. “The Lottery” vs. “The One Who Walk
Away from Omelas”
• With both stories the main theme is that if you sacrifice one person in order
for the rest to prosper then the community or crops will reflect such.
• The stoning of one individual in “The Lottery” will allow the crops to grow
in plentiful
• Letting the child live below the town without the knowledge of love allows
everyone else to live happily in Omelas.

12. “The Lottery” vs. “The One Who Walk
Away from Omelas”
• The second theme that the two stories give us is that tradition will
overshadow basic human instinct.
• The Lottery had been occurring for many years and no one saw it as
problem to continue it.
• In the town of Omelas, for years everyone knew the miserable life that the
child who lived below the town led but because it was tradition for them to
leave the child alone

13. Wrap UP
After analyzing the three short stories there was one theme that all the stories
share. In each story a character gave up someone else for the greater good for
either another character or a whole group of people. In The Lottery and The
One who walked away from the Omelas the sacrifices go on for years and years
to keep their societies going even though it wasn’t a pretty way to keep it going.
The Thing in the Forest was one initial sacrifice of two mothers who sent away
their daughters to keep them safe. They didn’t even tell them why they were
sending them away still trying to shield them from the harsh reality around
them.