The Good Soldier Motifs

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Motifs and Symbols Found in The House of Mirth and The Good Soldier Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth and Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier contain strong motifs and symbols, which are used successfully in the conveying of an idea or belief in each novel. Both authors are successful in using these literary devices by relating and making events represented by each symbol and motif dependent on one another - this can be found in both Ford and Wharton’s novel. The Good Soldier ecompasses motifs that are closely related to the act of lying. This can be observed with August 4th. Ford associates this date with important events of the novel. Therefore, anything that occurs on this date has great significance to the plot. Ford’s use of this motif …show more content…

Wharton’s use of this motif reveals information concerning Lily Bart’s character and how frivolous and incautious she is. Throughout the novel, Lily not only gambles away her money, but she gambles with respect to her love life as well. This can be seen in Book I of the novel - in order to be accepted and belong in her “circle” of wealthy individuals, Lily gambles away most of her money by playing bridge. Due to the fact that Lily is not as wealthy as the others within her circle, she cannot afford to lose the amount of money she has lost. This results in her downwards spiral, which she does not have the ability to recover from. The motif of gambling is also present in Lily’s love love. This is seen by her never accepting any of the bachelors that are interested in her - she is continuously waiting for a better and wealthier option. This motif is present throughout the novel, especially in Book I. This is due to the fact that Lily is wealthier in the first book than she is in the second book, and it is due to Lily’s belief that there is a better bachelor available. Lily’s belief is more prominent in the first book than it is in the second book due to the results of her gambling and her desperation for marriage in the second book. Lily’s loss of money results in her gambling on the stock market. However, this gamble results in her further loss of money and her eventual desperation to marry a wealthy bachelor. The act of gambling is found often throughout The House of Mirth and is closely related to Lily. The occurrences of this motif are all dependent on Lily’s initial act of

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