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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Motifs
Explanation and Analysis—Machines:
A prominent motif running throughout Civil Disobedience is the opposition of true humanity to machines and machinery. For Thoreau, an individual who forfeits their own conscience in obedience to the state might be thought of as a sort of machine, and the state a complex system of machinery like those introduced to the United States during the Industrial Revolution. Of those men who “serve the State,” Thoreau writes:
The mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, &c. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well.
Related Themes:
