Motifs
motif (n) - a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc. in a literary work
Writers use motifs to enhance and reinforce theme(s)
Some motifs in pieces you may be familiar with…
To Kill a Mockingbird: Gothic elements supernatural occurrences, gloomy and haunted settings, full moons, and so on…
Maycomb is a common, quiet, predictable, slow, Southern town… however, strange things (Gothic) hap pens
There’s a snowfall in mild Maycomb and the children build a snowman… using mud when the run out of snow…
Tim Johnson – the mad dog in January
The Radley Place…dark and creepy
Halloween Night – dark and scary
The motif of Gothic elements (dark, creepy occurrences) create tension in the novel and serve to foreshadow the troublesome events of the trial and the death of Tom Robinson.
Another motif in TKaM… songbirds
The family name Finch
“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Songbirds reinforce the theme of innocence
Motifs to look for in Macbeth…
1. Visions and hallucinations…
The hallucinations motif reinforces the theme of supernatural interferences…
2. Weather and Nature
The motif of weather and nature reinforce the unnatural nature has been thrown out of order
3. References to clothing and garments
The motif of clothing and garments reinforces that what we see on the surface is not necessarily what lies underneath…
4. Blood
Blood is one of the most- often used words in Macbeth
The motif of blood reinforces the guilt of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
5. Sleep
References to sleep suggest… peace… one cannot sleep if one is not at peace
Sleep can also refer to “eternal sleep” the play is filled with death
6. References to the number three
Why would the number three be important??? Could refer to the three fates Could refer to the presence of God versus evil
7. References to gender
What does it take to be a man? References to gender suggest… Are men more inherently evil? Can a woman be ambitious and not lose her femininity?