Themes Examples

Man vs Self: The Portrait of Dorian Gray - The main character had eternal beauty, and yet his indulgences, and his own painting, and it's destruction, led to his downfall 

Man struggles to understand divinity: The Happening- A former preacher, through the tragic loss of his wife, loses faith in God and the supernatural. 

Man vs Society: 1984- The main character is stuck in a totalitarian state, where criticism of government is being almost fully eradicated, and censorship is reaching even the mind

Crime does not pay: Bonnie and Clyde- In the end, both are killed because of their crimes.

Character overcomes thing to conquer:In the movie Another Earth, the main character has to overcome the 4 years of her life she served for involuntary vehicular manslaughter

Friendship depends on sacrifice: Harry Potter– All friends, in the last book, need to leave their families to defeat Voldemort and his minions, and Harry's friends also come to help avenge the death of Harry's parents.

Love conquers all – Titanic, since the two main characters overcome disapproval to satisfy their forbidden love

Death is part of the life cycle: Final Destination series, because after the characters evade death, they must die anyways, by the power of fate.

Sacrifice brings reward- character gives something up: El Topo- The main character, El Topo, gives up his morals and values, and goes to kill the 4 masters of fighting, to impress his female companion, who begs him to do this 

Humans have the same needs: love and care: Beauty and the Beast- Even though the Beast is a horrible monster, he was once a human, and still needs love.

Man v.s Nature: Castaway, because the main character is stranded on an island, and must learn how to survive.