Motifs in Literature
Motif: In a narrative such as a short story, novel, or movie, motifs are recurring topics, contrasts,
colors, objects, symbols, phrases, literary devices, or places that can help to develop and inform the
text’s major themes. (Note: This definition is an altered and abbreviated version taken from the
Wikipedia.com article entitled “Motif”)
Some Examples:
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The motif as a recurring or prominent idea or topic throughout the work: this idea or topic is the
central idea behind a theme found in the text (e.g. love, marriage, courage, money, big-game
hunting, etc.)
o Example 1: in The Bean Trees, a motif is “mothers & daughters,” a concept that
underlies/supports a central theme in the story
o Example 2: in the play Hamlet, “revenge” is a motif, but the moral message that
Shakespeare includes in Hamlet about revenge is a theme
o Example 3: being “super” in The Incredibles
o Example 4: “Magic” in The Lord of the Rings
o Example 5: burial traditions in the play Antigone
o Other Examples of ideas or topics as motifs: marriage, divorce, money, romantic love,
death, fate, chance, loyalty, etc. are all commonly used motifs in literature
contrasts: images or instances of light/darkness, images or instances of death/life, (e.g. super vs.
ordinary in The Incredibles)
color or the absence of color: a certain color that appears throughout a story
o Example 1: In The Sixth Sense, red is a motif that is found throughout the film
o Example 2: In the novel Oracle Night, the color blue is a motif used in “the blue team,”
Grace’s eyes, and the blue notebook
o Example 3: In The Great Gatsby, the green light on the dock
an object or thing that occurs throughout a story
o Example 1: vegetables in The Bean Trees
o Example 2: In Hamlet, young Hamlet’s black clothes that he wears throughout the story
o Example 3: the Poster of Big Brother found everywhere in the novel 1984
a recurring symbol found within a story
o “water” in A Streetcar Named Desire (e.g. when Blanche repeatedly takes a bath or
Stanley gets put in the shower by his friends to cool him down)
a slogan, saying, or phrase used throughout the story
o Example: The slogan “Big Brother is Watching You” used in the novel 1984
o Example: In The Prince of Tides, the short repeated dialogue that Tom Wingo uses with
his sister Savannah after a prolonged absence of time: Tom: “Name the poem you wrote
in honor of your family.” Savannah: “The History of Auschwitz”
o Example: “May the Force be with you” in the Star Wars saga is a motif highlighting the
benevolent nature of the “force”
a literary device
o Example: a specific metaphor, simile, or other device used repeatedly in the story
a place that is featured throughout the story
o Example: The gallows in Hawthorne’s famous work The Scarlet Letter