What is the theme?

This is a deceptively simple question. A theme, in short,
is the main idea of a story. However, you have to keep in mind that stories, especially
good ones have many themes, and some of the best stories have two or more themes that
may even compete with each other. In this way, it leaves the reader to decide for
himself or herself what the theme is. Let me give you an
example.

In the tragedy, Antigone,
there are many themes. On the one hand, loyalty to family is a theme. This is why
Antigone wants to bury her brother even at the expense of the law of Creon. Creon, the
ruler of Thebes does not want anyone to buy Polynices, the brother of Antigone, because
he attacked the city.

 On the other hand, there is a theme
of obeying the laws of the land. So, what should a person do? This is not an easy
question. So, here is an example of many themes and in this situation there are two
themes that oppose each other.