Theme can be tricky. Its ambiguous nature often makes it difficult to express, relegating it to a moral lesson that lies beneath the surface. But for your story to resonate, you need to find creative ways to bring that message to the forefront. One of the best ways to achieve this is to use your characters to reveal your theme.
One of the best ways to achieve this is by creating a storyline where your protagonist is unaware of their identity and the world around them. This not only generates intrigue but also immerses your audience in a captivating narrative. Every clue your main character discovers throughout their journey is simultaneously revealed to the audience, fostering an experience that deepens their investment in both the character and the story.
A prime example of a story that uses its protagonist to reveal its theme is The Truman Show. In it, we meet Truman Burbank, a young and idealistic man who wants to travel and see the world. However, he’s also a man who seems powerless to escape the confines of his hometown of Seahaven Island. As his story unfolds, we slowly begin to see that his world is not exactly what it seems.
Let’s explore how you can use your characters to reveal your theme by using The Truman Show as a case study.
Four Ways To Use Your Characters To Reveal Your Theme
Discovering The Self
Craft a protagonist and burden them with a lie that is not of their own making. This creates a character with an innate desire to understand the truth about themselves, which will inevitably drive their story and gradually reveal its theme.
Truman Burbank is an ordinary man who leads a rather mundane life. Aside from his fear of the ocean, he doesn’t struggle with the typical conflict associated with a positive change arc. Instead, the deception exists as an external force that prevents him from overcoming his fears and leaving his hometown. A lie that slowly begins to unravel through strange occurrences that he can’t explain.
Truman is conflicted by an identity crisis brought on by the lie he’s been made to believe. Thematically, he’s a prisoner seeking to break free. This resonates with us from the beginning, even if we aren’t exactly sure why. Truman’s journey of self-discovery is one we can relate to, creating intrigue and leaving us with the same questions that plague him as a protagonist. This is immersive storytelling at its finest.
Discovery Of The World
Place your protagonist in a scenario where their journey toward self-discovery requires them to uncover the truth about their world and its deceptive nature. Transform that world into an antagonistic force that opposes them at every turn.
This concept is beautifully illustrated in The Truman Show. As Truman begins to sense that something isn’t quite right about his world. He stumbles upon a radio transmission indicating that someone is following his every move. And when he attempts to use an elevator, he’s surprised to discover a backstage setup that shouldn’t be there.
The full lie is revealed when he meets the mysterious Sylvia, who attempts to explain that everything and everyone around him is a ruse. She urges him to find a way out of his reality and escape to the real world just before an unknown man, claiming to be her father, scoops her up and steals her away.
Truman’s identity crisis is compounded by a deceptive world that seeks to keep him blind to the truth. The thematic layers here all revolve around our innate need to know who we are and to understand our world. It reflects the elements of our own reality and the classic conspiracy theories that challenge our perception of what is real and what isn’t.
Desire For The Truth
Instill in your protagonist an insatiable desire to dismantle the lies they’ve been led to believe. Allow them to gradually uncover clues that will ultimately guide them toward the key arguments leading to your story’s truth.
Despite not fully understanding what is happening, Truman’s observations about the loop he is trapped in become too obvious to overlook. He begins to suspect that everyone is involved, even his wife Meryl. His obsession with escaping intensifies, but everything seems to conspire against him, preventing him from ever leaving Seahaven.
His need to break free ultimately causes Meryl to crack under the pressure, and in a moment of hysteria, she almost reveals the truth that Truman is actually part of a reality show—his entire life on display for the world to see.
The story masterfully reveals Truman’s need to escape the lie he’s been led to believe so he can discover the truth. It resonates with us because, although we, as an audience, are aware of what’s really happening, we empathize with Truman as a character, which fosters a desire for him to ultimately break free.
The Thematic Choice
As you bring your story to its climax, your protagonist’s journey should culminate in a choice between perpetuating the lie and accepting the truth. This decision should fully embody the theme and moral arguments of your narrative.
Truman’s story reaches its climax with his decision to take matters into his own hands. He leaves his home unnoticed and confronts his fear of the sea as he sails away from Seahaven, venturing into the unknown. The show’s creator, Christof, attempts to thwart his efforts, but Truman is resolute in his determination to escape, even if it means facing death.
Truman’s thematic choice ultimately leads him to discover the truth. The final scene is rich with thematic overtones that highlight Truman’s existence as the star of a reality show he never knew he was part of.
The last lines evoke powerful thematic and even religious questions. Christof’s lines are expressed visually and audibly as those of an almighty creator who has designed a world in which Truman could truly be happy. However, Truman is the consummate rebel who ultimately desires to be free to live in a world of his own making. This entire sequence serves as a masterclass in how to use your characters to reveal your theme.
Summing It Up
Understanding how to use your characters to reveal your theme starts with creating a protagonist that your audience can connect with. By placing them on a journey of discovery that reflects your audience’s experience of the story, you can generate the kind of intrigue that keeps them engaged throughout your entire narrative.
If The Truman Show suffers from one fatal flaw, it’s that it reveals the nature of the lie from the onset. The audience isn’t as in the dark as the story’s protagonist since we are let in on what’s happening from the beginning. Even the title of the movie is a dead giveaway. If the story had sought to keep this key element a secret from its audience as it did with its protagonist, I believe the power of the story would have been elevated exponentially. As it stands, it’s still a great example of how to incorporate a profound thematic revelation into a story.
I hope this article has given you some insight into how to use your characters to reveal your theme. What are some other powerful stories that feature this kind of thematic revelation? How do they inspire you? I’d love to hear about them. Stay motivated, and above all, keep writing!
Until next time,
