BarnettEnglish 25217 June 2000Common Themes throughout American Literature Many authors contributed to American literature between 1865 and 1914. Although these authors came from all over the country and lived different life styles, they still managed to include similar themes in their works. A theme is considered to be the main idea of the work, or a meaning behind the story. Within this period of American literature, three themes continued to emerge: the concept of true beauty, protection of nature, and perception versus reality.The first theme, the concept of true beauty is evident in “The White Heron” and “The Real Thing”. “The White Heron” presents a little girl torn between material items (money) or saving a heron. It isn’t until she climbs into the heron’s tree and sees its perspective of the world, that she decides it’s not worth the money to give the bird’s hiding place up. Within “The Real Thing” a photographer begins using a beautiful, almost perfect, couple to do his photo shoots. After a few comparisons to his other female model he realizes that the couple is not as perfect as he thought. The female model can allow herself to act and be something she’s not, creating a creative image. While the couple can only allow themselves to stand and look “pretty”. Each of the characters eventually comes to terms with the true meaning of beauty and it changes them both.“The White Heron” also advocates the second theme, protection of nature. The little girl becomes aware of the heron’s view and she is protecting nature by deciding to give in to the hunter and turn the bird in. Cochise writes in “I am alone” about the Spanish arriving and pushing them off their land. Although the Mimbreno Apache did not do anything themselves to destroy their land, the Spanish did reek havoc on it. Protection of nature is still a t...
