Themes, Symbols and Motifs

The Shawshank Redemption

THEMES

The main idea or message of a literary work.

A universal truth

A significant statement a story is making about society, human nature, or the human condition.

Theme is not the subject of the work but instead is an insight about life or human nature.

THEME = IDEA

Common Themes

•How justice and injustice are decided

•What it means to be a hero or antihero

•What it means to be a survivor

•An individual’s experience with alienation or despair

•What the future holds

•Love and hate

SYMBOLISM

•A person, place, thing, or idea that stands for something else. They are used deliberately to reinforce meaning.

•For example, a sword may be a sword and also symbolize justice.

•A symbol may be said to embody an idea.

Symbolism cont...

A symbol may have more than one meaning, or its meaning may change from the beginning to the end of a literary work.

Personal: a meaning uniquely associated with our experiences

Contextual: a private meaning created by an author

Cultural: a meaning uniquely influenced by our culture (ex/ dogs represent faithfulness in China, but impurity in Indian/South Asian cultures

Universal: a meaning that is given to a thing by most people and cultures (ex/ lions represent deity, power and courage in many cultures)

How many symbols can you associate these images with? (Don’t limit yourself to just objects. Think about shapes, colors, and parts of each image as well)

MOTIFS

•A motif differs from a theme in that it can be expressed as a single word or fragmentary phrase, while a theme usually must be expressed as a complete sentence.

•A recurring image, word, phrase, or action that tend to create unity within a literary work.

•Be aware that it is sometimes difficult to determine the difference between theme, motif and symbolism.

Examples of Motif

Clothing Seasons Colors

Death Supernatural Adversaries Extraordinary Animals Wishes

Magical Objects Magical Powers Deep Sleeps

Witches Trickery Illness

Consequences of Greed Flowers/plants

Beautiful Princess  Foolish or Dimwitted Hero