The Naked King.

A story has to have a theme woven into it. It has to make a statement. I build a statement into all my stories. In “NAKED IN WEST UPTON,” My theme is to show who people really are. Take a group of soldiers. Train them in warfare. Make killers of them. Before sending them into combat, redress them in pink dresses. Take away their back packs, and replace these with a purses. Remove the black streaks of war face, and paint them with lip stick. Paint their weapons baby blue. Dressed as this, their effectiveness as soldiers will fade away. People dress to show what, and who they are. The whole town of West Upton goes naked. This is not a sexual theme, but one where the characters are forced to be who they truly are.
The little town of West Upton is a picture of the world as people really are beneath the camouflage of clothing. Words people use are like clothing. People make a statement by how they describe their self. “The Lord of York,” sound more important than, “The baker of James town.”
There was a story I read many years ago. It was pictured in the early 1800’s. A sailing ship was short handed. The ship stopped at an Island in the South pacific, and forced a native into service. To this native the sailing ship was like a space craft from a different world. To the crew, this native seemed like a stupid person. One night the ship ran upon a reef, and the men were force to swim ashore, leaving all food stuff, and water on the sinking ship.
One the native knew how to survive. He knew how to get fresh water, food, build a fire, and make shelters from the material at hand. Within a few days he was no longer looked upon as stupid…this was his element. The native became their leader.
If you were marooned on an Island, who would you want to be with…a broker from Wall Street, or an island native?
People are not who they are under their clothing. Characters, like real people must be viewed as naked…look to who they are, not what they appear to be.

How do you see people?