Theme of Breaking Night

The theme of Breaking Night is that one can chose their future and its not already set in stone. I realize this when I was reading the book and the main character Lizzy thought, "What else wasn't set in stone? I wonder what other opportunities there were out there for me." This was just after she had gotten her first "job" (because her parents didn't provide for her) and realized she didn't have to always be hungry. She could be different than her family. She didn't have to live from pay check to pay check in a small dirty house. She could save her own money and make a better life for herself. I think that it is amazing that understand this at 9-years-old with barely any education because most kids don't even think about their future at 9. This theme is very applicable to life because a lot of times people think they have to live a certain way or do as their parents do but they don't. Somethings may just be fate but there are many decision you can make to affect what will happen either positively or negatively.

The theme of this book was introduced oddly early because usually you don't really see the full theme until much later in the book. It was nice introduce it early but now it feels like you sort of can predict the rest of the book. The setting has really helped to enhance the theme, though, because every few pages Lizzy talks about her "agonizing hunger" and how filthy and poor she was. The way they describe her house and neighborhood gets you out of the typical setting for a book so it really helps to show how shes going to change her future to get out of all of it.

I found this famous poem by Robert Frost about choosing your future because I thought it had a similar theme to the book with the way they are both saying how you can choose your path that leads to your future.

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost 1874–1963 Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.