THEME AND SYMBOLISM THESAURUS

BETRAYAL



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HELPFUL TIP:

Your story's theme is its central message to readers and can be reinforced with specific symbols and motifs pulled right from the setting. Additionally, symbols woven into a scene can underscore your character's emotions, establish mood, and even generate conflict. Explore your story theme thoughtfully and use associated symbols to do more with less.
THEMATIC STATEMENTS THAT MAY APPLY TO YOUR STORY:
Secrets are meant to be shared.
No one is loyal all the time. 
The person most hurt by betrayal is the one who does it.
Those closest to us can do the most damage.
You can never really trust anyone.
Forgiveness of a betrayal does not mean forgetting that it happened. 

LIES (ANTI-THEMATIC STATEMENTS) YOUR CHARACTER MIGHT BELIEVE:
I can't trust anyone again.
No one is trustworthy.
I deserve this because I was stupid enough to put myself in this position.
It's better to be alone than risk being betrayed by someone close to me.
If I'm loyal to them, they'll be loyal to me.
Anyone else in my position would have done the same.
I had no choice.
It's not my fault they trusted the wrong person.
I don't deserve forgiveness for what I did.

CHARACTER TRAITS TO SUPPORT OR CHALLENGE THE THEME:

WOUNDS THAT MAY SHAPE A CHARACTER'S PERSPECTIVE:

CREATIVE WORKS THAT EXPLORE THIS THEME:
Julius Caesar
The Kite Runner
The Bible story of Samson and Delilah
Atonement
Something Borrowed
Dangerous Liaisons 

NATURAL SYMBOLS FOR THIS THEME:
Black widows
Insects eating their mates
Spider hatchlings consuming their mothers
Scorpions preying on one another
An injured pack mate being left behind
An ill insect being forced out of a nest or hive
Usurpers within a pack or herd
A strangler fig choking another tree
Poisonous plants (belladonna, oleander, nightshade)
A rabid animal attacking one of its kind
Cannibalism

HUMAN & SOCIETAL SYMBOLS FOR THIS THEME:
A knife or dagger
Friends turning their backs
Judas Iscariot, Marcus Brutus, Benedict Arnold and other famous traitors
Medea
Double agents
Poison
Snakes
Thirty pieces of silver
Being "thrown under a bus"
The breaking of a meaningful keepsake
An affair
Former friends and lovers
Runaway brides
Home-wreckers
A child suing his parents for emancipation
Someone serving as a witness against a loved one
A bug or hidden microphone
A police sting operation
Undercover cops
Snitches and rats
A family pet turning vicious
Mothers not protecting their children from abuse

SYMBOLISM EXAMPLES IN STORIES:
Stockings (Death of a Salesman)