If you’re reading a text with little focus on anything, the motif is the basic idea that comes from that text. It’s not anything too complex or deep.
Within a larger text, it is often used as the central idea on which everything else grows and develops alongside.
In addition to its function in narratives, it can also have various other symbolic and metaphoric meanings, each of which developing dimensionally throughout a narrative.
As such, motifs are significant because they can contribute to how a general idea shaped an entire document.
These ideas become themes when they carry more significance within the overall scope of literature or storytelling as opposed to simply being simple recurring images or symbols that originate from an author’s imagination.
The “theme” or “symbol” in this instance, however, does not need to be anything that is so obvious or visible to the eye.
There are many writers for whom it goes without saying that some central idea of their work is a motif. For example, many authors use the idea of a single tragic character who suffers at the hands of oppressive forces.
This motif is not something they have built up over the course of multiple drafts – they may have envisioned its centrality from the start.
It exists because they wrote it into each and every conscious moment, synopsis, chapter progression and plot point during their writing process; it has become as essential to their work as breathing itself.
What can a motif contribute to, or become, when it gathers larger significance throughout a text?
Well, the simple answer is that it becomes a theme. However, there is more to it than just this. Any motif can be expanded upon and used to help build your writing into something much greater than the sum of its parts.
This is true of all genres, even those with little to no movement in reality or logic such as fantasy or sci-fi.
If the author includes a unique and original motif present throughout their work, the phrase “themes of an abstract idea” or something along those lines can be attached to it.
A literary work may have a theme but its meaning is not known yet. It won’t become evident until the writer continues researching or even explores a bit deeper into their work.
At this point, you have to wonder whether it was truly important in the first place – but that’s for your readers to decide for themselves!
1. Biography
Every literary work can be said to have some form of a theme. For example, it might be the theme of life itself.
Or maybe it’s the theme of death and, more specifically, life after death. Both are themes because they are very strong ideas that carry with them great significance within a text.
2. Memes / General Concepts / Non-Specific Ideas
It would be impossible for every work to have a clear defined theme and still expect their readers to accept it as such.
A text may have a general concept or idea that is present in many of its pages but they will not always notice this as they read through the story and become completely absorbed in every word and image.
The theme of your work may feel like a motif to you and even be named as such but it won’t necessarily be evident to the reader.
A text that has no clear theme may not just be weak in thematics – it could also be criticized for being non-existent.
3. Strong Imagery
Themes, imagery or symbolism are not always easily distinguishable or obvious in a work.
Although they can appear vivid on their own, the author might prolong their appearance and make them important to their work simply to enhance their effects. For this reason, such images are often described as themes of an abstract idea because it is difficult to determine their true significance without reading even deeper into the text.
4. Unpleasant Memories
If you’re working with a particularly abstract idea, the theme of your work may still be completely vague and undefined to the readers.
However, it is generally easier for them to identify a main theme if it’s one that can relate to something unpleasant in their own life.
For example, if the text revolves around office politics, your theme might be “terrible office politics.” This motif can be used by both the author and audience alike to help them remember or understand this concept as they read through.
5. Ambiguous / Multiple Meanings
Themes can have many meanings at once and even many more subtly hidden meanings. They can also shift in meaning throughout a text.
This may make it seem like the author is referencing multiple themes or is changing the underlying theme of their work. For example, a theme in the beginning of your story may be “exploration” and another one could be “death and rebirth.”
As your work goes on, this theme might change to include concepts such as “mythology,” “cultures” and “enlightenment” before eventually settling down as a new concept altogether.
