The themes in The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun definitely have a political bent to them, but they also have appeal to deeper human ideas about truth and deception. In particular, the series of stories in the book are about the old Chinese way of thinking that led to the Chinese revolution in 1911 that introduced a republic.

The character of Ah Q tends to never admit that he has ever lost, even when he does. This is about criticizing the old Chinese character for pretending to always be victorious, even when falling behind the West badly in terms of power and wealth.

Another episode you could write about in your assignment related to theme is at the end of the book when Ah Q is caught up in a robbery that he plans to be a part of, but sleeps through. He tells himself that it’s a revolution when it isn’t. Eventually, he’s blamed for it, even though he didn’t even participate. This connects right to the theme of the 1911 Revolution in China. In other words, the Revolution barely changed anything, and it was more a robbery than just a political uprising. The uneducated were caught up in it but didn’t really understand what was happening as well.