Motif

Ann Gao B block Sight Motif in Oedipus Rex Through the development of the sight motif in the play Oedipus Rex, Sophocles reveals that people who are sighted can be blinded by their own ignorance and may not see things as clear as one who is blind. In the play, through the character development of Teiresias, a “seer: student of mysteries” (16) is it shown that the sight motif is used in the play as a symbol for knowledge. Teiresias can see the truth despite being physically blind. When…

Recurring motifs of ‘nothing’ and ‘never’ in both works suggest the insoluble cycle of madness. In The Raven, the mysterious raven flies in to the speaker’s room and replies, “nevermore” to whatever the speaker says. The bereaved speaker immerses in the concept of mortality after Lenore’s death; the speaker asks, “Is there- is there balm in Gilead? –tell me- tell me, I implore!” (CIT). The biblical allusion to ‘balm in Gilead’ suggests the speaker’s desperate desire for a relief from his pain.…

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, follows the Younger family through a short time period and addresses their dreams and hardships. The play is ripe with themes and motifs, a few major ones include poverty, race, and the power of dreams. As the setting of the play, the Younger family apartment holds many of these motifs within itself and carries its own symbolism as well. The small apartment began as Mama and her late husband’s, Big Walter, starter home. Mama tells Ruth in the play…

Dystopian literature is important because warns us of the possible future we as a society can potentially face, and sometimes informs us ways we could avoid it. There’s certain motifs in stories that can demonstrate information about parts of a dystopian societies.Two common motifs that fit “The Pedestrian” written by Ray Bradbury and “Back to the Future 2” directed and written by Robert Zemeckis. would be corporate control and a dystopian protagonist because both societies seem to be controlled…

Wiesel, recounts the oppressiveness of Nazi Germany in the inhumane treatment of many “undesirables”. As the author elucidates the situation, he has an assortment of motifs, such as night, to depict his life in the concentration camps. One of the most reoccurring motifs is night. In Night by Elie Wiesel, night, one of the several motifs in his account of the Holocaust, emblematizes the suffering, death, and religious hole in Elie. This is significant because Wiesel’s autobiography…

Motif Analysis In his 1922 novel Siddhartha, Herman Hesse utilizes the motif of water and rivers to represent Samsara, the divine cycle of rebirth driven by desire, and reveals his belief of independence and self-awareness as the path to enlightenment. In the novel, a river is mentioned when Siddhartha is at an enlightened point in his life, when his is following his own path and practicing balance. The story opens “in the sunshine on the river…”(Hesse 3) and in that scene Siddhartha is…

personal obligation and accountability, self-imposed or otherwise. In The Reader by Bernard Schlink, the motif of responsibility is presented in Michael Berg’s narration, applying differently as time progresses. Michael’s naive infatuation with Hanna as a young boy, the guilt as an adult he feels for loving her, and him coming to terms with their relationship later in life displays the evolution of the motif of responsibility in the greater context of Michael’s generation as they age in post-war…

The reader will have only the major motifs, and after motifs is the part of symbols. This part represents things used within the story that stand for or represented something important in character’s life. And there comes conclusion, This is a part that ties up the whole development of this paper,…

In the story of A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, several underlying motifs sometimes make up an almost subliminal, sometimes very obvious message of music, flight, and sin. These motifs are what I believe really make this story hard hitting and relatable for some of us. Music is apparent in how Stephen turns things into little songs like at the very beginning when Dante is threatening him. He repeats it in a quick cute little tune. He also sang when he was dancing with his mother and…

This essay will be discussing how the motif of sacrifice is used by Toni Morrison throughout her novel Sula (1974), namely the sacrifice of motherhood. Sacrifice is found in different forms in Sula; physically through self-mutilation, murder or suicide and also the emotional sacrifice of love. This sacrifice of love is shown primarily through the mothers in the story, through what they have had to give up to keep their children alive. The motif of sacrifice in Sula is most strongly…