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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
Key Examples in Jasper Jones
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Literary Allusions:
Charlie has been a voracious reader ever since his father started sharing books with him. While some of the literary allusions Charlie makes are especially noteworthy, Chapter 1 makes it clear that the allusions are also meaningful on the whole as a motif:
[My father] gave me a leather-bound stack of Southern writers to start with. Welty, Faulkner, Harper Lee, Flannery O’Connor. But the biggest portion of the stack was Mark Twain…
As he laid them gently on my desk, my father told me…that Twain was as wise a counsel as any, and that if every man read at least one of his books at some time in his life, it would be a far better world for it.
He pressed his thumb on my cowlick, as he sometimes did, and ran his hand through my hair and smiled.
Related Themes:
Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Brick:
Charlie is overtaken with dread in the aftermath of Laura's death, a feeling that he repeatedly describes as a metaphorical brick in his stomach. One instance of this motif occurs in Chapter 2, while Charlie sits in his bedroom thinking about Laura's surviving sister:
Unlock with LitCharts A+This dread is lousy. When it hits, it’s like someone has turned the dial that controls gravity. Everything sinks hard and cold and fast. It winds you. It’s that same feeling, that same sad panic you confront when you can’t sleep, when your mind wanders and you remind yourself, for no reason at all, that you’re going to die one day...And in that act of knowing, something rushes inward and twists at your heart and you can’t breathe right. The knowing, it’s a cold kiln for this brick. It’s stuck firm. It’s not going anywhere.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Factitious:
At the end of Chapter 2, Charlie remembers a time when Jeffrey encouraged him to be more confident and creative in his storytelling. In the memory, Jeffrey introduces an oxymoron that turns into an important motif in the novel:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Conviction, Charles. You could do with some. Look at Dickens! He got away with murder! And don’t get me started on Cheeses Christ and all that zombie resurrection bollocks. Now, there’s a twist ending that’s hard to sell. He’s dead, he’s dead—no, wait, who is that crawling out from behind that rock? Noooo, it couldn’t be! Oops, wait—yes! He’s alive! Hello, Zombie Cheeses! He’s back!”
“Sir, with respect, that seems a little cynical.”
“It’s not cynical if it’s factitious.”
“Factitious? That makes no sense. It’s not even a word.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Snow Dome:
Throughout the novel, Charlie sees his snow dome (what American readers might know as a snow globe) as a metaphor for the stifling effect Corrigan has on its residents. One instance of this motif occurs in Chapter 5, when Jasper talks about religion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Somethink else I could never understand,” he says, “is how people, ages ago, could look up at the moon and still reckon the world was flat. Flat, Charlie. See, that’s what I mean by people thinkin they’re the center of things....Everyone was convinced it was orbiting round them, not the other way round. It’s crazy. Like they were living in the middle of one of them snow domes. You know, the ones you’re supposed to shake up.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—Snow Dome:
Throughout the novel, Charlie sees his snow dome (what American readers might know as a snow globe) as a metaphor for the stifling effect Corrigan has on its residents. One instance of this motif occurs in Chapter 5, when Jasper talks about religion:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Somethink else I could never understand,” he says, “is how people, ages ago, could look up at the moon and still reckon the world was flat. Flat, Charlie. See, that’s what I mean by people thinkin they’re the center of things....Everyone was convinced it was orbiting round them, not the other way round. It’s crazy. Like they were living in the middle of one of them snow domes. You know, the ones you’re supposed to shake up.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Golightly Voice:
Throughout the novel, Charlie periodically notices a strange voice Eliza affects, almost as though she has a posh accent from somewhere other than her native Corrigan. In Chapter 8, Charlie connects the dots between this motif and Eliza's frequent allusions to Breakfast at Tiffany's:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Every so often, when she’s particularly low or sad, or thinking on horrible things, that curious accent of hers returns. But I think I understand it now. I’ve seen the film. I know the flippant and frivolous manner, the snips of scenes. The Golightly voice, it’s a wily vice. Eliza WishArt. So I don’t ever say anything. I let it pass.
Related Themes:
