What a nature theme is
A nature theme is an idea about the relationship between people and the natural world that a work develops over its length. The natural world can be a peaceful refuge, a source of danger, a mirror for a character’s feelings, or something that humans are damaging. Nature as a theme is more than nature as scenery: the work is saying something about what nature means or how people should relate to it.
Common nature themes, with examples
The following categories are widely used when discussing literature. Many works fit more than one.
Nature as beauty and spiritual renewal
Romantic poets of the late 18th and early 19th centuries often treated nature as a source of moral and emotional healing. William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” (1798) describes how remembered landscapes give comfort in busy city life. In the United States, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Nature (1836) and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1854) treat the natural world as a place of insight and simplicity.
Nature as a mirror of feeling
Writers often shape the weather or landscape to match a character’s mood, a technique sometimes called the pathetic fallacy, which is closely related to personification. A storm may arrive during an argument, or spring may coincide with a character’s hope. In Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), the wild moors are frequently read as an expression of the characters’ passions.
Humans against nature
Survival stories place characters against a harsh environment. Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” (1908) follows a man traveling in extreme cold in the Yukon; the story is often read as a lesson about the limits of human confidence. London’s The Call of the Wild (1903) and Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952) also test characters against natural forces. Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (1851) is another frequently cited example, with the whale and the sea as forces the characters cannot control.
Nature as indifferent or fate-like
Some writers present nature as neither kind nor cruel but simply unconcerned. Thomas Hardy’s novels often use landscape this way. Egdon Heath in The Return of the Native (1878) is described as an ancient, enduring place that outlasts the people on it.
Loss, damage, and conservation
More recent works focus on environmental harm. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) is a nonfiction book that raised public concern about pesticides and is often cited as an early influence on the environmental movement. Contemporary novelists and poets also write about climate change, extinction, and the effects of industry; in school settings this is often grouped under “ecocriticism” or environmental literature.
Nature as setting versus nature as theme
Ask these questions to tell the difference:
- Does the work return again and again to the natural world, or does it appear once as background?
- Do characters change because of their relationship with nature?
- Does the text make an argument, directly or indirectly, about what nature is worth or what humans owe it?
If the answer is yes to the second or third question, nature is probably functioning as a theme. For a look at how setting fits with other story parts, see short stories with literary elements.
Words that describe nature
If you need vocabulary for writing about this theme, these ten words are a start:
- serene
- rugged
- lush
- barren
- untamed
- verdant
- bleak
- majestic
- fragile
- teeming
For more on building a setting from specific detail, see scene setting examples. Choose words that match the text: “serene” suits Wordsworth’s remembered landscapes better than it suits London’s frozen Yukon, where “unforgiving” would fit.
Books and poems to start with
If you are asked which books everyone should read, there is no single correct list. For nature themes specifically, a manageable set might be:
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau (essays)
- “To Build a Fire” by Jack London (short story)
- “Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth (poem)
- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (novella)
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (nonfiction)
Specific natural images can also be studied on their own; see island symbolism in literature and lilac symbolism in literature.
How to write about a nature theme
- Name the stance. Does the text present nature as healing, threatening, indifferent, or endangered?
- Collect evidence. Track imagery, verbs used for natural forces, and how characters respond.
- Notice change. Does the portrayal of nature shift between the beginning and the end?
- Link nature to character. How does the environment reveal or alter someone’s identity? Compare identity crisis in literature for related ideas.
- Write a theme statement as a sentence. For example: “In ‘To Build a Fire,’ London suggests that confidence without humility is dangerous in the face of nature.”
Frequently asked questions
What are some examples of themes in literature?
Common themes include love, loss, coming of age, justice, power, identity, and the relationship between people and nature.
What are 5 books everyone should read?
No list is definitive. For this topic, Walden, The Old Man and the Sea, Wuthering Heights, Moby-Dick, and Silent Spring are often suggested.
What are 10 words that describe nature?
Serene, rugged, lush, barren, untamed, verdant, bleak, majestic, fragile, and teeming are some options.
What are the 7 literary elements and their meaning?
Lists vary, but a common one is plot, setting, character, conflict, point of view, theme, and tone or style. Our article on short stories with literary elements explains each with examples.