Motif

Etymology and Meanings of Literary Device Motif

Etymologically, the literary device of motif first occurred in Latin as motivus which means impelling. Later, it entered the French language in 1848 and transformed into a motif that means the main or dominating idea.

Grammatically, it is a noun and its plural is motifs. It means a recurrent thematic idea, or strand in fiction, or a poetry.

Definition of Literary Device of Motif

In literary terms, a motif is recurringly intervening ideas, having a symbolic significance in the course of the story. This could be an image, an object, a natural sign, a sound, or even a natural object.

Types of Literary Device of Motifs

There are several types of motifs. Some narratives present water, clouds, and even the sky as motifs, while others present musical notes. Generally speaking, a motif could be any of these types but not limited to only these.

1. An abstract idea
2. A material object
3. A natural object
4. A sound
5. A natural occurrence, event, incident, or phenomenon

Common Examples of Motif

Several things could be used as motifs. Most of the common ideas and things used in different texts as motifs are as follows.

1. Music in movies
2. Writing with a ballpoint
3. Walking aimlessly
4. Fishing to pass the time
5. Horse riding to search for meanings
6. Cattle
7. Birds
8. Gothic style
9. Natural elements
10. Environment

Literary Examples of Motif

Example # 1

From The Jungle by Upton Sinclaire

When that personage had developed a will of his own in the matter, Marija had flung up the window of the carriage, and, leaning out, proceeded to tell him her opinion of him, first in Lithuanian, which he did not understand, and then in Polish, which he did. Having the advantage of her in altitude, the driver had stood his ground and even ventured to attempt to speak; and the result had been a furious altercation, which, continuing all the way down Ashland Avenue, had added a new swarm of urchins to the cortege at each side street for half a mile.

This passage occurs in the popular novel of Sinclair, the Jungle. Although this passage shows a simple motif that is of language whether it is the mother tongue or second language, the novel shows several other motifs used in the narrative. It is corruption, poverty as shown here, and migration as the use of a second language shows that Marija is not a native American person.

Example # 2

From The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Many jocular comments followed, as did another onslaught of “ heil Hitlering.” You know, it
actually makes me wonder if anyone ever lost an eye or injured a hand or wrist with all of
that. You’d only need to be facing the wrong way at the wrong time or stand marginally too
close to another person. Perhaps people did get injured. Personally, I can only tell you that no
one died from it, or at least, not physically. There was, of course, the matter of forty million
people I picked up by the time the whole thing was finished, but that’s getting all metaphoric.
Allow me to return us to the fire.

Taken from the Book Thief, a novel by Markus Zusak, this passage shows the repeatedly occurring idea of injury and its association with the slogan of heil Hitlering. It clearly indicates that so far in this passage, this is a motif. However, overall, the book shows several other motifs that peep through its different chapters such as death, writing, fear, and night.

Example # 3

From The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini

A few months later, we used the advance for my second novel and placed a down payment on a pretty, two-bedroom Victorian house in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights. It had a peaked roof, hardwood floors, and a tiny backyard which ended in a sun deck and a fire pit. The general helped me refinish the deck and paint the walls. Khala Jamila bemoaned us moving almost an hour away, especially since she thought Soraya needed all the love and support she could get—oblivious to the fact that her well intended but overbearing sympathy was precisely what was driving Soraya to move.

This passage occurs in the Kite Runner, an unknown term in the west or the United States. Actually, a kite runner is a child who runs to catch the cut-off kites and fly them. In this novel, it is a recurring motif along with several others such as it is writing and love in this passage.

Example # 4

From Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

I likewise felt several slender Ligatures across my Body, from my Armpits to my Thighs. I could only look upwards; the Sun began to grow hot, and the Light offended mine Eyes. I heard a confused Noise about me, but in the Posture I lay, could see nothing except the Sky. In a little time I felt something alive moving on my left Leg, which advancing gently forward over my Breast, came almost up to my Chin; when bending mine Eyes downwards as much as I could, I perceived it to be a human Creature not six Inches high, with a Bow and Arrow in his Hands, and a Quiver at his Back.

This passage occurs in the famous satire of Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels. In fact, this passage shows different motifs apart from the entire travelogue. It shows body parts as he tells about everything else that he feels is tied to the land after the Lilliputians catch him. However, overall, this book has several other motifs such as size, politics, abstract emotions, etc.

Example # 5

From Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

“Having thus arranged my dwelling and carpeted it with clean straw, I retired, for I saw the figure of a man at a distance, and I remembered too well my treatment the night before to trust myself in his power. I had first, however, provided for my sustenance for that day by a loaf of coarse bread, which I purloined, and a cup with which I could drink more conveniently than from my hand of the pure water which flowed by my retreat. The floor was a little raised, so that it was kept perfectly dry, and by its vicinity to the chimney of the cottage it was tolerably warm.

This passage occurs in Frankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley. This shows the motif of a figure that constantly occurs in this passage. It becomes a motif as well as its main character. The second is the season that becomes hot and cold with the twists and turns in the narrative of Victor and the Monster.

How to Create a Motif

1. If you are reading a work of fiction or a poem, check what words, ideas, or things are repeating. You can use the same as a writer.
2. Create some specific motifs relevant to your characters.
3. Use them quite often including the tasks that could be performed or the tasks repeatedly mentioned.
4. Use them quite often and evaluate their importance in the story.

Benefits of Using Motif

1. Its use makes it easier to stress upon the main thematic idea.
2. It helps form secondary themes in the narrative.
3. It helps readers focus their attention on one character, idea, or point of persuasion.
4. It helps persuade the readers and the audiences.

Literary Device of Motif in Literary Theory

1. Motif is part of those literary devices/terms which are considered essential in narratology. The focuser and the narrator focus on specific motifs when the author wants to convey his/her message through such recurrent ideas or events.
2. Motifs are also important in cognitive stylistics for the stylistic critique of narratives or fiction writing. They let the readers/audiences have a peep into the psyche of the characters as well as the author.
3. Motifs, specifically, related to power and subjectivity, are an integral part of post-colonialism, specifically, the narratives written to depict colonialism and post-colonialism culture.
4. They are also part of indigenous studies, indigenous critical theory, and race critical theory to stress upon the idea of indigeneity and racial discrimination.

Suggested Readings

Bennett, Andrew, and Nicholas Royle. Literature, Criticism and Theory. Harlow, UK: Pearson, 2004. Print.

Baldick, Chris. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford University Press, 1996. Print. Freedman, William. “The literary motif: A Definition and Evaluation.” NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction. Vol. 4. No. 2. Duke University Press, 1971.

More from Literary Devices:

• Personification: Using and Critiquing
• Personification: A Literary Device
• Pathos: How to Use and Write One