by Dr. Diana Stout

The motif is an important literary device used in film and literature to deepen meaning.

A motif is an object or idea represented through an action or an object and is repeated throughout the story. The motif creates tension, deepens emotion, and is often well-remembered. Overall, the theme and motif work together. While the theme is a message that comes out of the story’s main idea, the motif is a symbol that visually embodies and supports the theme.

Motif use in film

Remember the little girl’s red coat in the black and white film of Schindler’s List? The red color symbolizes blood, and with a little girl’s coat colorized, the symbol further represents innocence. Because we see her several times, the coat becomes a motif, supporting the theme of innocent blood being spilled.

In Top Gun, there are multiple motifs, including his best friend’s dog tags. When Goose dies, Maverick hangs on to them tightly, wanting to quit, thus following Goose out of service. Then later, Maverick talks to the tags wanting Goose to tell him what to do, and then near the end of the story, Maverick throws the tags into the ocean, releasing Goose, thus forgiving himself.

Using multiple motifs

The movie, Out of Africa, presents many motifs. A few of them are:

• Karen’s possessions – so many in the beginning, so few at the end; how she learns to let go.
• Coffee crops – trying to grow a crop not natural to Africa, the meaning behind the crop’s growth and then its loss in the ultimate destruction of fire replicates her own journey there.
• Water – how she tries to corral and control it, yet lets it go in the end by allowing it to flow naturally again.
• Karen’s hair – so precise in the beginning, then goes totally wild—like Africa. She becomes less precise in multiple areas.
• The true Romance – she tries to contain it, to put a name to it. Then, is forced to let it go.

(To read the paper I wrote about these motifs and others in detail and what each means, click here.)

Motifs with multiple meanings in literature and film

In Wuthering Heights, the moor’s beauty and wildness duplicate the characters’ struggles, especially Catherine and Heathcliff’s.

In the Hunger Games, the Mockingjay is first seen as a sign of camaraderie and hope; then, as a sign of united rebellion. Before the contest, she uses the bow and arrow to hunt for food. Later it’s her weapon of choice in the game both to secure food and as security against her enemies. Later, the bow and arrow are used for security and rebellion, securing freedom for the people.

Jane Austen uses walking as a motif in many of her books.

In the 1995 movie, Persuasion, Anne Elliot is walking when she experiences an injury, which mimics the emotional injury of her feelings for Captain Wentworth, especially as she overhears him talking about her. In the end, when Anne and Wentworth finally face each and kiss, a large group of noisy people are walking past them. Among the crowd are clowns, a band, a juggler, and someone on stilts. It’s a circus. As Anne and Wentworth walk arm in arm in the opposite direction, they’re leaving the circus life they’ve endured over the last decade behind them.

Exploring motifs in opposition

The dandelion in my book, Grendel’s Mother, represents both death and infinite life.

• As a young girl, she plucks a dandelion seed ball out of the ground and blows on it. Quickly, her mother chides her, saying, “You dance with death.”
• The second time, it’s late at night and she’s in the forest alone. Once again, she plucks a dandelion with a seed ball out of the ground and blows on it. She’s grabbed from behind to find that it’s her love interest who chides her about being out in the woods late and alone. When he leaves, she finds a second seeded dandelion and blows on it with a horrendous event following immediately. Weeks later, with the event uncovered, she’s removed from the community via a dragon who instead of destroying her, ends up rescuing her.
• Years later, her son, Grendel, while giving her a seed ball dandelion, holds it up to her face and blows on it, dispersing the seeds all around her. Immediately, she recalls her mother’s warning.

In the end, she acknowledges she is very much like the dandelion—hardy and unable to be erased.

Motifs can come from any object:

• Weather
• Animals
• Food
• Modes of transportation & pathways
• Plants
• Household goods: teapots, mirrors, door, clocks, etc.
• Light & darkness
• Language
• Colors
• Music & Art
• Societal rules & tools: money, meetings, the law, etc.
• Buildings

Final thoughts

When crafting a story and you find the protagonist handling an object, consider how it can be used to represent change, growth, a downfall, moods, feelings, events, speech, friendship, and so forth.

Find ways to turn the ordinary into a motif, by which to deepen the story and the main character.

In doing so, your story and its main characters become memorable.

When thinking about a favorite story, can you name any of the motifs that were used?

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About Dr. Diana

Some content from this blog comes from the Motif element page in the just released book, Dr. Diana’s Toolkit for Better Writing: Proven Tips and Tricks for Every Writer, Every Field. More examples were added here to provide more illustration.

This new resource book is a practical, no-fluff guide packed with proven tips, tricks, and real-world strategies to help every writer—creative, business, or academic—write clearly, confidently, and effectively in any field, any genre.

An award-winning writer, Diana is a screenwriter, author, former English professor, and indie publisher, writing in multiple genres. Her split-in-time psychological thriller, Harbor House: Deadly Intentions, will be published November 18, 2025.

To learn more about Diana visit her website at sharpenedpencilsproductions.com.

Top Image by Goran Horvat from Pixabay