Gender
Gender is a key theme in many of Svava's stories. Her protagonists are often women who find themselves wrapped up in a conflict between their own desires and what is expected of them by others. Her female protagonists also often struggle to assert themselves and prioritize their own needs, due to the same expectations. Svava writes about mothers and wives, showing how women are often seen in relation to their roles and what they can give to others, rather than as individuals. For this reason, her female characters are often nameless.
Materialism and consumerism
Another theme seen across Svava's stories is materialism and consumerism. She writes about the shift Icelandic culture has undergone in recent history, with a greater emphasis on materialistic values such as wealth and status. This is an idea explored in "The Lodger," where a wife and husband are struggling to keep up with their neighbors financially.
Sacrifice
Svava suggests that in society, women are required to constantly sacrifice their own interests for other people, whether it is their parents, husbands, children, or even strangers. It is a strange form of sacrifice because Svava suggests that women are not always entirely aware they are doing so, but are so caught up in what is expected of them that they don't think about it.
Sacrifice is explored quite literally in "A Story For Children," where a mother sacrifices her heart and brain for her children, symbolizing the necessary sacrifice needed to become the "perfect mother" according to societal norms and expectations.
