Motifs - Horby Response

Every time we see Nena in Conduct of Life, she’s hidden, or covered. This portrays her clear fear that fills this poor girl. This strong and powerful image resonates with the audience because it is that powerful. The first time she’s introduced, she is wearing an “overlarged uniform” and then “gets away from him and crawls to the left” (51).  Later on Orlando enters the room thinking that she has escaped, when in all actuality she is hiding behind the boxes. Another time he assaults her, she’s fully dressed.  Her hidden body through her clothes and physical form is a recurring motif that represents and reflects her fright.

For the film motif, I’ll go with a broad and general one.   In the show Dexter, there’s a recurrence of Harry Morgan, Dexter’s dead father.  For those of you who don’t know what the show is about, it follows the life of Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for Miami Metro Homicide during the day and a vigilante serial killer by night, meaning he only kills those who are guilty of killing an innocent person but got away with it.  Harry enters the scenes when Dexter is questioning himself, and Harry attempts to lead Dexter onto the right path and follow “the code” in order to keep him out of trouble.  It’s easy to bring back Harry every now and then in order for Dexter to realize that he’s a monster and needs to control himself and stay true to what he is actually supposed to do.  The character development and evolution takes a while and after seven seasons, it’s still going on. Therefore if it were in a play or script, it wouldn’t have the time needed to really expand the life (or afterlife, rather) of Harry Morgan.