“Literature is a luxury, fiction is a necessity” (Chesterton, 2014). G.K. Chesterton, an English writer, emphasizes how literature and fiction plays an important role in culture and society. With literary artworks, people form different parts of the world can share and express his/her idea as a form of entertainment and self-gratification. In literature, there are different genres, such as fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama etc., that have been part of our society. Of all the genres, fiction is a literary artwork that uses imagination to tell a story that is partly or entirely not true to life (Kennedy & Gioia, 2013a). With fiction, the theme is one of the important key elements of the fundamentals in writing stories. A theme is, “whatever general idea or insight the entire story reveals” (Kennedy & Gioia, 2013b). In the fictional stories, A Rose for Emily and The Storm, the theme emphasizes how love and hate can have a great impact in the lives of people.
In the cycle of life, humanity is predestined to fall in love with each other. How does one know if he/she is in love? According to Theresa DiDonato (2014), there are numerous indicators that a person might be in love (“How Do You,” 2014). First, “you’re addicted to this person” (DiDonato, 2014). Second, “you really miss this person when you’re apart” (DiDonato, 2014). Third, “you’re sense of self has grown through knowing this person” (DiDonato, 2014). In A Rose for Emily (1931) and The Storm (1898), the characters,