Everything on a Waffle

How do i analysis the theme?

The theme is faith or don't give up

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Instinct and Faith

This is one of the narrative's primary themes, defining the essential intentions and experiences of the central character (Primrose) who, in spite of all evidence to the contrary and the often negative opinions of those around her, continues to have faith that her parents are alive. This thematic also defines her journey of transformation, in that she begins the narrative in a place of desperately clinging to her instinctive faith (as, perhaps, her parents desperately clung to the dinghy that saved their lives) and ends in a place of having that faith rewarded (as her parents' faith is rewarded by being rescued and eventually returned home). The question of how people experience instinct and faith also manifests in Primrose's experience with the other characters, most of whom are asked about whether they've ever (to paraphrase Primrose) trusted their instincts and who, for the most part, respond with affirmative answers that support Primrose in her struggle to maintain her own faith. In short, the narrative repeatedly and consistently makes the thematic suggestion that having, maintaining, and acting upon a faith defined by instinct is ultimately both positive and rewarding. The clarity of this thematic statement is heightened by the contrasting portrayal of Miss Honeycut, who acts in clearly calculated, manipulative and self serving ways that leave her, at least in Primrose's view (and probably in the reader's) ultimately unhappy. It's important to note, meanwhile, that a key component of the novel's exploration of this theme is how it's tied to its second primary theme - the value of being oneself, in many ways a way of acting and believing entirely defined, albeit to individual degrees, by how much instinct for/faith in oneself one actually has.

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