THEME, SYMBOLS, ARCHETYPES, AND
MOTIFS
The differences and examples.
THEME
• The central idea or message in a work
• Do not use clichés to express theme: Love
is a double edged sword.
• Instead use something like: The dangers
of love and lust
SYMBOLS
• The use of one object to evoke ideas and
associations not literally part of the
original object
• Clock = time/life
MOTIF
• A phrase, idea, or event that through
repetition reveals a theme
• Used to reinforce the theme.
• In To Kill a Mockingbird, the motif of
small town Southern life of Macomb
reveals the goodness and pleasantness in
life
THE DIFFERENCES
• They are all kind of interconnected.
• The theme is the central message,
• A motif is an image, idea, symbol that
reinforces the theme, and
• A symbol is a thing that helps us
understand an idea or concept in a story.
EXAMPLES TO CLARIFY: THE GREAT GATSBY
• Theme: The decline of the American
dream in the 1920’s
• Motif: geography that is representative
of class
• Symbol: The Valley of Ashes = The
downtrodden poor
ARCHETYPE
• An abstract or ideal conception of a type: a
perfectly typical example
• Situational, setting, character, symbolic
• The quest
• Small town
• The mentor
• The color yellow
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• The Quest – The search for someone or something
to restore order and peace.
• Anthem
• Quest for knowledge
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• The Task – Something that must be done.
• Lord of the Rings
• Frodo destroying
the ring
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• The Journey – The hero confronts trials along the
way.
• The Odyssey
• The long journey
home fraught with
peril.
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• The Initiation - A character matures and takes
responsibility
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Jem and Scout both
find maturity through
their experiences.
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• The Magic Weapon - The hero has the ability to
use this to be successful in the quest or to prove
he or she is the chosen one
• King Arthur
• The sword in the stone
• Excalibur
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• The Unhealable Wound – A wound, physical or
psychological, that never heals
• The Lord of the Rings
• Frodo is stabbed by
the Morgal blade and
the wound never heals
completely
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• Death and Rebirth - Shows the circle of life
• The Great Gatsby
• James Gatz is reborn
into Jay Gatsby. Also,
Jay and Daisy’s love is
reborn after its death.
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• Battle of Good and Evil - Good ultimately
triumphs
• Night
• Nazis vs. the Jews
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity - A
character will have intuition and knowledge that
is better than those in charge
• The Catcher in the Rye
SITUATIONAL ARCHETYPES
• Nature vs. Mechanistic World - This has nature
as being good and technology as bad
• Fahrenheit 451