Leviathan Theme

[samlovesspace]

I recently read a book called Leviathan, and at the same time in my english class we began discussing "theme". My teacher told us that there is one main theme in a novel, and that it can be completely summed up in one phrase, or even one word. Is this really always true?
In the book Leviathan, the underlying theme I notice is war, but how can you put all of the elements of war into one phrase? The book has steampunk (fictional) take on word war one, and my personal opinion is that there is more than one important theme to be talked about in world war one.

[bounty]

hi sam---I might be going off in a different direction than what you are looking for but, im in disagreement with your teacher in this regard. themes are pretty subjective and most stories are full of layers and complexity--both of those things mitigate heavily against the "there is one main theme in a novel" position.

by the way---are you talking about hobbes' leviathan?

[Whifflingpin]

That would be very interesting, if Hobbes' Leviathan had a steampunk take on World War 1.

[bounty]

ah good point---don't know how I missed that one!