Student Question

What is the theme of "Good Girls are Bad News"?

Quick answer:

1) Good girls are Bad news is the title of a novel written by Subhatra Sen Gupta. It is a story about how two teenage girls get involved with a gang of criminals in America and how they change their lives forever. But the book can be very well analyzed in terms of the theme 'Change'. The theme is definitely present throughout the book and hints are present through out the story. In this way, you may analyze this novel from various aspects such as characters, setting, plot development and so on. 2) Analyzing a book from various aspects such as characters, setting, plot development & themes can help you to give more depth and detail to your essay.

Expert Answers

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If its the title by Subhatra Sen Gupta then look for evidence of a 'change' theme. Go through all the story lines and pick out any special moments where a decision or change of some sort is imminent. This might be a pivotal moment where a character has to make a lfe changing decision or  a point in a story where it changes direction to take the character along another path. Think about Robert Frost's poem 'Road Not Taken' and wonder about other likely scenarios and outcomes. Or go back and look at a character's past. Has she taken a different route, made different decisions from others. How did that affect her future life, friends, family?

Also take the storylines character by character, pinpointing places where early decisions or life choices changed the character's personality for ever. What were the stimuli, causes or triggers for that and how are they coping? Look at Joyce's story 'Araby' for inspiration and comparison. His character is a boy who undergoes a 'right of passage' into a new realisation on an evening trip to a market, so adolescence might be a good area to look at as this is always a time of great upheaval, body changes, mood swings and family strain. Do the characters accept change, resist it or initiate it themselves and what are the consequences?

Look at culture too, because that obviously changes over the years. Has it been traumatic for the characters to adapt? Look for dialogue or thoughts to display this, and use them as quotes. All in all I think you will have plenty of material there for a good analytical piece if you work with depth and detail ! Good Luck!

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