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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—Gesticulation:
Throughout the story, repeated moments of miscommunication—especially accompanied by various gesticulations—form a motif. Take, for example, when the story describes the signalman's third encounter with the ghost:
“What does it seem to do?"
He repeated, if possible with increased passion and vehemence, that former gesticulation of, "For God’s sake, clear the way!"
Then he went on. "I have no peace or rest from it. It calls to me, for many minutes together, in an agonised manner, 'Below there! Look out! Look out!' It stands waving to me. It rings my little bell – ”
Dickens emphasizes the power and yet insufficiency of gestures and body language as a form of communication. Although the ghosts catch the signalman’s attention, they are ultimately incapable of properly warning the signalman. Rather than providing clarity, the ghost’s gesticulations incite further feelings of guilt, helplessness, and distress, as demonstrated here:
“When it first stood under the danger-light,” he went on, putting his dark hair back from his head, and drawing his hands outward across and across his temples in an extremity of feverish distress, “why not tell me where that accident was to happen – if it must happen? Why not tell me how it could be averted – if it could have been averted? When on its second coming it hid its face, why not tell me, instead, 'She is going to die. Let them keep her at home'? If it came, on those two occasions, only to show me that its warnings were true, and so to prepare me for the third, why not warn me plainly now?”
By only conveying part of the message or warning, the use of gesticulations mirrors the incapability to understand and control the vast forces of death and industry. The narrator often describes the signalman’s gestures as confusing as well. This emphasizes the man's mysteriousness and the narrator’s inability to take control of the signalman’s fate. Overall, Dickens's motif of gestures as a source of confusion and miscommunication highlights the futility of both the signalman and the author’s efforts to grasp what's really taking place.
Related Themes:
