English Literature Study Guide: Major Themes and Analysis

TL;DR

• Most English classes assign the same classic novels and plays — knowing the major themes puts you ahead
• Literary analysis isn't about saying what happened — it's about exploring WHY the author made specific choices
• The most common essay topics revolve around themes, symbolism, character development, and author's purpose
• This guide covers the big five: Great Gatsby, 1984, Hamlet, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Lord of the Flies

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If you're taking an English literature class, there's a very good chance you'll encounter at least one of the "canon" works — those novels, plays, and poems that seem to show up on every syllabus from high school AP English through college lit courses.

The thing is, these works are assigned repeatedly because they're rich with meaning. There's a lot to analyze. That richness is great for English majors who love digging into texts, but it can be overwhelming for students who just need to write a solid essay and move on.

This guide breaks down the most commonly assigned works — the themes, characters, symbols, and essay angles that come up again and again. It's not a substitute for reading the books (you should definitely do that), but it'll give you a framework for understanding them.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Basics

• Published: 1925
• Setting: Long Island and New York City, summer of 1922
• Narrator: Nick Carraway (first person, retrospective)
• Genre: Modernist novel, social criticism

Major Themes

The American Dream (and Its Corruption) This is THE theme of the novel. Gatsby represents the ideal of the self-made man — he starts with nothing and builds a fortune. But his dream is hollow. He didn't earn his money honestly (bootlegging), and his goal isn't wealth itself but Daisy — a symbol of status and acceptance by old money society.

The novel argues that the American Dream is fundamentally flawed because it equates material wealth with happiness and virtue. Gatsby's death — alone, his parties empty, his dream unfulfilled — is Fitzgerald's verdict on the promise of limitless reinvention.

Class and Social Stratification The novel divides its world into distinct classes:

• Old money (East Egg): Tom and Daisy Buchanan — born wealthy, careless, protected
• New money (West Egg): Gatsby — wealthy but not accepted
• No money (Valley of Ashes): George and Myrtle Wilson — trapped, used, discarded

The tragedy is that no amount of money moves you from new money to old money. The class system is rigid despite America's mythology of social mobility.

Illusion vs. Reality Gatsby reinvents himself completely — new name, new past, new persona. His parties are spectacles of illusion. Even his love for Daisy is more about a dream of Daisy than the actual person. The green light across the bay represents this perfectly: it's always visible but never reachable.

Key Symbols

• The Green Light: Gatsby's dreams and aspirations, always just out of reach
• The Valley of Ashes: The dark underside of wealth, the people crushed by capitalism
• The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg: The loss of spiritual values, an empty god watching over moral decay
• East vs. West Egg: Old money vs. new money, inherited privilege vs. earned wealth

Essay Topics

• Is Gatsby admirable or delusional? Argue your case.
• How does Fitzgerald use Nick as an unreliable narrator?
• What does the novel say about the possibility (or impossibility) of reinventing yourself?
• Compare Gatsby's dream of Daisy to the American Dream more broadly.

1984 by George Orwell

The Basics

• Published: 1949
• Setting: Oceania (totalitarian superstate), Airstrip One (London), 1984
• Protagonist: Winston Smith
• Genre: Dystopian fiction, political satire

Major Themes

Totalitarianism and Control The Party controls every aspect of life: information, history, language, thought, even love and family bonds. Orwell shows how totalitarian governments maintain power not just through force, but through the manipulation of reality itself.

Language as a Tool of Power Newspeak — the Party's engineered language — is designed to make rebellion literally unthinkable by removing the words for it. If there's no word for "freedom," can you conceive of freedom? Orwell argues that language shapes thought, and controlling language means controlling minds.

The Manipulation of Truth "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past." Winston's job at the Ministry of Truth is rewriting historical records to match current Party claims. The novel shows how easily objective truth can be erased when power is concentrated.

Surveillance and Privacy "Big Brother is watching you." Telescreens in every room, Thought Police, children trained to report their parents. The complete elimination of privacy creates a society of fear and self-censorship.

Key Symbols

• Big Brother: The face of totalitarian power (possibly not even a real person)
• The Paperweight: Winston's fragile attempt to preserve beauty and the past
• Room 101: The ultimate tool of conformity — using your worst fear to break you
• Newspeak: The weapon of linguistic control

Essay Topics

• How does Orwell show that control of language is control of thought?
• Is Winston a hero or simply someone who failed at rebellion?
• Compare 1984's surveillance state to modern surveillance technology.
• What is the significance of Winston's diary as an act of rebellion?

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

The Basics

• Written: ~1600
• Setting: Denmark, Elsinore Castle
• Protagonist: Prince Hamlet
• Genre: Tragedy, revenge play

Major Themes

Indecision and Action Hamlet's central problem: he knows what he should do (avenge his father), but he can't bring himself to do it. His famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy isn't just about suicide — it's about whether it's better to act or to endure. Hamlet overthinks, delays, and philosophizes while the body count rises.

Appearance vs. Reality Almost nothing in the play is what it seems. Claudius appears to be a legitimate king but is a murderer. Hamlet pretends to be mad (or is he?). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pretend to be friends but are spies. The entire play asks: how can you know what's real?

Mortality and Death From the ghost in Act 1 to the graveyard scene with Yorick's skull to the mass death in Act 5, the play is obsessed with death. Hamlet's arc is partly about coming to terms with the inevitability and equality of death — kings and jesters all end up as skulls in the ground.

Corruption and Moral Decay "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." Claudius's murder of his brother poisons everything: the family, the court, the kingdom. The corruption spreads outward, ultimately destroying innocent and guilty alike.

Key Symbols

• Yorick's Skull: The universality of death, the end of all pretension
• The Ghost: Conscience, duty, the haunting weight of the past
• The Play-within-a-play ("The Mousetrap"): Art as a mirror for truth, a test of guilt
• Ophelia's Flowers: Madness, lost innocence, communication through symbolism when direct speech is dangerous

Essay Topics

• Is Hamlet's delay a character flaw or a philosophical stance?
• How does Shakespeare use the "play within a play" to explore the nature of truth?
• Compare Hamlet's response to his father's death with Laertes' response to Polonius's death.
• Is Hamlet actually mad, or is his "antic disposition" entirely an act?

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Basics

• Published: 1960
• Setting: Maycomb, Alabama, 1930s
• Narrator: Scout Finch (adult looking back on childhood)
• Genre: Southern Gothic, coming-of-age

Major Themes

Racial Injustice The trial of Tom Robinson — a Black man falsely accused of raping a white woman — is the novel's central event. Despite overwhelming evidence of innocence, Tom is convicted by an all-white jury. The novel shows racism not as individual prejudice but as a structural system embedded in law, society, and everyday life.

Moral Courage Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson knowing he'll face social ostracism and threats. His courage isn't physical (though he does face a mob) — it's moral. He does what's right even when it's deeply unpopular. "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."

Loss of Innocence Scout and Jem begin the novel as innocent children who believe the world is basically fair. Through the trial and its aftermath, they learn that injustice is real, that adults aren't always right, and that the world is more complicated than they imagined.

Empathy and Understanding "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." This Atticus quote encapsulates the novel's central moral lesson.

Key Symbols

• The Mockingbird: Innocence (Tom Robinson and Boo Radley — people who do only good but are destroyed or marginalized by society)
• Boo Radley: The fear of the unknown, the gap between reputation and reality
• The Radley House: Mystery, prejudice based on fear and rumor

Essay Topics

• How does Scout's perspective as a child narrator affect the reader's understanding of racism?
• What does the mockingbird symbolize, and who are the "mockingbirds" in the novel?
• Is Atticus Finch a realistic hero or an idealized figure?
• How does Lee show the relationship between education and prejudice?

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Basics

• Published: 1954
• Setting: Uninhabited tropical island
• Protagonists: Ralph, Jack, Piggy, Simon
• Genre: Allegory, dystopian

Major Themes

Civilization vs. Savagery The central tension. Ralph represents order, rules, and democratic governance. Jack represents the pull toward violence, power, and primal urges. Without adult authority and societal structure, the boys descend into savagery. Golding argues this darkness isn't learned — it's inherent in human nature.

The Loss of Innocence These are children, and they become murderers. The novel tracks their transformation from civilized schoolboys to violent savages. Ralph's tears at the end — "for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart" — summarize the novel's devastating conclusion.

Power and Leadership Ralph leads through consensus and reason. Jack leads through fear and charisma. The novel explores why authoritarian, emotion-based leadership often defeats rational, democratic leadership — especially under stress and fear.

The Nature of Evil Simon's encounter with the Lord of the Flies (the pig's head) reveals the novel's central insight: "The beast" isn't an external monster. It's the evil within each person. "Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!"

Key Symbols

• The Conch Shell: Democratic authority, civilization, order (its destruction = the end of civilized society)
• The Beast: The boys' inner savagery, projected outward as an external threat
• The Lord of the Flies (pig's head): The embodiment of evil and human darkness
• Piggy's Glasses: Science, reason, intellectual clarity (used to make fire = knowledge serving survival)
• The Signal Fire: Hope of rescue, connection to civilization

Essay Topics

• Is Golding arguing that humans are inherently evil, or that evil emerges from specific conditions?
• Compare Ralph's and Jack's leadership styles. What does their conflict reveal about human society?
• What is the role of Simon as a character? Is he a Christ figure?
• How does the ending (rescue by a naval officer) change the meaning of the novel?

General Literary Analysis Tips

How to Write About Literature

1. Make an argument, not a summary — "The green light symbolizes Gatsby's dream" is a summary. "Fitzgerald uses the green light to show that the American Dream is inherently unreachable" is an argument.

2. Use quotes as evidence — Short, embedded quotes are better than long block quotes. Always explain what the quote means and why it supports your point.

3. Analyze author's choices — Don't just say what happens. Ask WHY the author made this character do this, set this scene here, used this image. Literature is deliberately crafted.

4. Consider multiple interpretations — The best literary analysis acknowledges that texts can mean different things. "While some scholars read this as X, the evidence more strongly supports Y because..."

5. Connect themes across the text — Show how a theme develops from beginning to end, not just in one scene.

For detailed guidance on writing literary analysis, check out our guide on how to write a literary analysis essay.

Using AI for Literature Study

AI tools like Gradily can help you:

• Understand difficult passages or archaic language
• Brainstorm essay angles you might not have considered
• Check whether your argument is logically consistent
• Generate practice essay questions for exam prep

But your analysis must be your own. AI can explain what a symbol typically represents, but your essay should argue what it means in the specific context of the work and why that matters. That's where critical thinking — your thinking — is essential.

Literature rewards re-reading, discussion, and careful thought. The more you engage with these texts, the more you'll see in them. And the stronger your essays will be.