Cormier’s use of themes in the book is one of the things which appeals to readers. He focuses on relationships and especially family relationships. It is obvious that Cormier believes that family and family values are very important and this theme is frequent throughout the novel. The theme of family defines the book as Cormier shows that holds together can withstand anything such as with the Jerome family, however with the Walker family, the members have fallen apart and have deteriorated. This is meant to appeal to responders as they can relate to the sense of family within the book, whether theirs has fallen apart or clung together as there are examples of both within the novel. The theme of relationships also can help the novel appeal to responders as they can associate it with the relationships they share with others. The novel explores many examples of both families and relationships between people and this appeals to responders and they can associate the novel with their own lives.
The opening of a book is an important part of making a text appeal to responders. The first scene hooks the reader with suspense as we read of the trashing and makes them aware of the violence of the text. Violent verbs are used to reinforce this theme and begin the idea of trashing and violence. This theme reoccurs throughout the novel. The theme is brought up again when the details of the trashing come up again and again and the trashing becomes a large part of the text and the actions of the characters as it is not only the house that has been trashed but the characters