The main theme of The Machine That Won the War is a machine, called the Multivac. Yet it is found out the machine really did not win or even help out in the war, ironically contradicting the title. The results were just being doctored by John Henderson, the main character, and his superior, Jablonsky, to make it seem the machine actually won the war.
The main theme or character of The Story of an Hour is a person, unlike The Machine That Won the War, named Louise Mallard. Louise learns at the beginning of the story her husband died in a car crash. She is saddened to hear about his death,