Character and Structure: The Answer is Theme

A Three Act Structure Defined By The Hero’s Relationship With The Theme

Theme: A proposed argument, e.g. “There’s no place like home,” “It is better to love and lose than never to have loved at all,” “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In this sense, “theme” could actually be referred to as “The Answer.”

In Finding Nemo, the theme could be stated as: “Sooner or later, you have to let your kids go and hope for the best.”

Act One: The hero is unaware of the theme. Even though he doesn’t know it, it’s his ignorance of The Answer that is the reason his world is either unhappy, unstable, unfulfilled, chaotic or all of the above. After all, it’s not circumstances that upset a character. It’s the manner in which they react to them.

Marlin, having lost all of his children but one, is obsessed with protecting Nemo. This obsession is a manifestation of his ignorance of theme. This ignorance has led to unhappiness; in response to the parental smothering, Nemo tells his father that he hates him.

Note that Marlin thinks his problem is that a barracuda ate his wife and 399 other kids. It’s an understandable mistake. Even so, tragic circumstances are still, well, merely circumstantial. It’s Marlin’s choices (all motivated by his ignorance of theme) that are causing the real problems.

Act Two: As the hero begins to confront obstacles and/or the antagonist, he begins to gather experiences that hint at the existence of The Answer.

When thinking about the second act, it helps to define the purpose of the experiences the hero will have. My suggestion is that the purpose is to instruct the hero in the ways of The Answer, or theme. Consider the wise old turtle who directly demonstrates the theme to Marlin (letting children take risks in order to grow). Consider Dory, whose character has made peace with risk and the possibility of failure. Consider the jellyfish minefield, which requires Marlin to take a risk in order to succeed.

It’s that last kind of scene that’s particularly powerful. Circumstances force the protagonist to behave as if he understood The Answer, and the resulting success is too compelling to deny.

Act Three: Armed with faith in The Answer, the hero commits to a final course of action, no matter the cost. The matter of faith is essential; the hero must believe first in order to receive the reward. Once the hero risks it all to live The Answer, order is restored and stability returns.

Marlin is faced with a choice at the end of his adventure. He’s found Nemo, but Dory is trapped in a fishing net. Only Nemo can save her. In order to truly reach Themehood, Marlin must prove his faith in The Answer. He risks his own son in an act of faith by allowing Nemo to rescue her. Once Marlin passes this final test, it’s clear that he truly believes The Answer. Order and happiness are restored, and the tragedy of the film’s first scene is overcome. In the epilogue, Nemo tells his father that he loves him.

This perspective can provide a useful sense of limitation when crafting sequences for a story. After all, you could write practically anything on page 48, but you’re trying to write the right thing. And when readers say “this scene/character/moment feels inorganic to the story,” what they really mean is “this scene/character/moment is disconnected from the development of the theme.”

And what that means is that no matter how clever or original or thought-provoking the material is, it’s ceased to be about something. When that happens, return to your Theme.

At least…that’s my Answer. Hope it helps.