Motif

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, nature has been greatly emphasized and acts as a tool to help the reader gain a better understanding of the novel. Specifically, the ocean motif allows the reader to grasp the essence of the story as it represents the flow of life. Early in the novel the ocean is a source of pleasure and hope, but as the story unfolds the ocean takes on a more ominous tone. Early on, the ocean seems “friendly,” providing a sense of hope for a safe rescue. The…

novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda must find her voice after a terrible situation changes her life. The author shows the reader how Melinda grows and changes throughout the novel using the tree motif. By examining the use of the tree motif at the beginning, middle, and end of the book, we’ll see how it symbolized Melinda’s character and her growth. In the beginning of the novel, Melinda is all alone due to the incident that happened. She’s been suffering and…

The world is not black and white, but as gray as the smoke from a gun ripping through races dividing them. In Toni Morrison’s short story, Recitatif, there is a constant division of races specifically between blacks and whites. Within this story you learn of two young ladies named Twyla and Roberta growing up whilst the civil rights movement is occurring; and as time goes by racism effects these young ladies more and more until they start to fuse into the racism. In Morrison’s Recitatif she…

The Grapes of Wrath is a renowned American classic written by the author John Steinbeck, a man who lived during the time of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. The title was discovered by his wife, Carol, in a popular song called “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe. Encompassed by two major, reoccurring themes, the book depicts tales that demonstrate man-to-man brutality and the companionship of people during times of great struggle. He illustrates these intense topics with…

POLITICAL GRIEF The great leader unexpected, expires in his sleep, and the preparations for his funeral have begun Funeral parade, eulogies, etc. There is a policy of mourning where the people are ranked in accordance with their station in life. The high officials are located in the rear, yet in elevated seating. They may prefer to weep are not. This may be that they show power to control their emotions, and thus the reason of the high positional seating. They are the strong wall that remains…

the tiny, dwarflike boy who is the only reason Johnny believes in God. Owen is a major spiritual character and his actions have direct correlations with those of Johnny’s. Throughout his life, Johnny’s views and feelings are constantly changing. The motif in A Prayer for Owen Meany of Thomas Hardy’s quote “Nothing bears out in practice what it promises incipiently” is of major significance in…

writers wrote songs about the worthlessness and repercussions of warfare; for example, Edwin Starr and his song “War”. In his song, Starr’s lyrics often coincide with themes from Tim O’Brien’s book, The Things They Carried. Throughout the book the motif of mortality and death are constantly suggested. When Starr sings the lines, “War can't give life it can only take it away”, it is representative of the threat and expectation of death hanging over the soldiers in O’Brien’s…

Sometimes, people hurt the ones closest to them obliviously because love warps the human mind and naturally makes people unaware of others they may affect. In the Elizabethan Era romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare uses the motif of nature to reveal how love can drive people to behave unpredictably and hurt others they care about. When people fall in love, their unthinkable words surprise those around them, even the one that they love. Lysander’s words, “Not Hermia,…

The Motifs of Amy Tan in “The Joy Luck Club” Often, Tan writes about struggling mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese- American experience. In Amy Tan’s novel “The Joy Luck Club,” she cultivates her life throughout the novel by illustrating connections between the characters in the novel and her own life. Equally important, Tan is the daughter of two Chinese immigrants, this is where her inspiration for writing about these differences comes into play. Tan and her own mother had…

There are so many themes, symbols, and motifs in the story “Of Mice and Men”, written by John Steinbeck. Although, the one that stood out to me was the motif of strengths and weaknesses. These are things that people are very familiar with and can relate to because we all have some of our own. Sometimes we do not even realize what they are, but when people read about other’s strengths and weaknesses it opens their eyes. And when people feel they can relate to the story or even with certain…