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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
Introduction
Explanation and Analysis—Breeding and Heredity:
Throughout How the Other Half Lives, Riis focuses on the idea that evil, or immoral behavior, can be passed down genetically from parent to child. This fixation on heredity occurs as a motif throughout the text, as early as the introduction:
If it shall appear that the sufferings and the sins of the "other half," and the evil they breed, are but as a just punishment upon the community that gave it no other choice, it will be because that is the truth.
Related Themes:
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Swarms and Hordes:
Throughout the book, Riis uses animalistic, demeaning language to describe tenement residents, more often than not speaking about them as a large, threatening group as opposed to as individuals with agency and identity. This imagery of the "swarms" or "hordes" of impoverished immigrants is so widely used in Riis's work that it becomes a motif, one he employs as early as the introduction, mentioning the "question" of "how to lay hold of these teeming masses in the tenements." He also uses the term "herd" in Chapter 1 to describe crowding in cities, noting that many other overcrowded cities were far less crowded than New York:
Unlock with LitCharts A+The utmost cupidity of other lands and other days had never contrived to herd more than half [the people who lived in New York tenements] within that same space.
Related Themes:
Chapter 15
Explanation and Analysis—Breeding and Heredity:
Throughout How the Other Half Lives, Riis focuses on the idea that evil, or immoral behavior, can be passed down genetically from parent to child. This fixation on heredity occurs as a motif throughout the text, as early as the introduction:
Unlock with LitCharts A+If it shall appear that the sufferings and the sins of the "other half," and the evil they breed, are but as a just punishment upon the community that gave it no other choice, it will be because that is the truth.
Related Themes:
