# Art and Creativity in Short Fiction

> Theme guide for Short Fiction by Voltairine de Cleyre.

The struggle to create and express art is a central theme, seen in the musician who cannot master her instrument, the Chain Gang's spontaneous song, and the yearning to capture fleeting beauty before it is lost.

## Where it surfaces

- [The Chain Gang](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/chapters/the-chain-gang): The spontaneous, collective singing of the chain gang is portrayed as a transcendent, untaught art form—'Music itself, a master-presence'—that emerges from the depths of human suffering.
- [The Reward of an Apostate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/chapters/the-reward-of-an-apostate): The narrator's former life was one of secret, ecstatic worship of beauty and art, stored in the 'wonder-house' of their brain, but this creative capacity is lost after their apostasy.
- [To Strive and Fail](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/chapters/to-strive-and-fail): The protagonist's desperate attempt to play the zither and capture the inner song represents the struggle to express artistic vision.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/themes/art_and_creativity
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_55_se/themes