For this chapter, I was really interested in the section that used O’Connors example to explain how theme is often subliminal and subject to perspective, but if the writer knows their theme, then the audience will receive it. Also, how to still have guardrails on how much the writer gives away to the reader. This I found to be especially important because as much as the writer wants to keep an audiences reception in mind, the audience will always have their opinion. It is not up to the writer to market and sell a story that drones on about the theme and why it matters. No one would read it when part of reading stories is interpreting them based on our own understanding and lived experience. Therefore, like the chapter says, the only job of the writer that they can control is how the theme is presented. If it is presented clearly and thoughtfully, the audience will receive it regardless of their perspective on the work as a whole. Theme must got hand in hand with telling a story. Think of the story as a maze with the theme at its center, the individual cannot access the theme without experiencing the story.
Journal #13 (WRT-312)
