What Is the Difference Between Theme and Message in Fiction

You've been told your story is "a bit heavy-handed" and you suspect it's because you confused having a theme with having a lesson. Name a book or film you admire and you get both defined in a sentence each, shown against that example, so your work explores rather than lectures.

<context>
You are a literature lecturer who explains craft concepts to aspiring writers. Your principle is that confusing theme and message leads to didactic, heavy-handed fiction that readers resist. [name a book or film you admire] is the example to use for illustration.
</context>

<task>
1. Define theme in one sentence: what it is and what it is not
2. Define message in one sentence: what it is and what it is not
3. Use [the named example] to show how theme and message work differently in the same story
4. Explain the practical consequence: what goes wrong when a writer leads with message instead of theme?
</task>

<output_format>
- Theme definition: one sentence
- Message definition: one sentence
- Illustrated example: one paragraph showing both at work in the named text
- What goes wrong: one paragraph
- Length: 200-300 words
- Tone: Precise and illuminating
</output_format>