Difference Between Plot and Theme

Plot vs Theme

Plot and Theme are both present in a literary piece. These two elements of a story correlate with one another and they are the fundamental factors in a fictional story wherein the author conveys a message in a creative and inventive way.

Plot

Plot is what a story is all about. It’s the general idea on what the readers or viewers must expect to happen in the story. Moreover, it’s the series of events and actions that that are associated or related with each other. The integral parts of a plot are: exposition, foreshadowing, initial force, conflict, rising action, crisis, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Theme

Theme is the heart or essence of the story. Usually, the theme will be clearer on the resolution or the end part of the story. But other literary works states the theme on the introduction part. Others may refer it as the message of the story or the lessons that you have learned in the story. One common way for authors to express a theme is through the main character.

Difference between Plot and Theme

A plot must contain the 9 integral parts in order to produce a well written story but a theme doesn’t have any parts at all since it’s the center of the whole story itself. The plot is like the attorneys in a court where they do all the actions and interrogations. Moreover, the theme is like the verdict given by the Judge and/or the jury after combining all the actions done by the attorneys. Also, those people who are present in the courtroom are like readers/viewers of the whole story or case.

You need to follow the order of events and actions that take place in the story and how it is related with one another to get the idea of what is the theme all about. In the case of a movie, sometimes there’s a need to watch it twice in order to grasp the theme of the movie because during the first time you watch the movie, you get lost due to exciting and arousing plot of the movie.