Motive Meaning
Motive Definition & Usage
A reason or cause for an action, especially one that can explain a behavior or a decision.
Examples
- "The motive behind her decision to leave was never fully understood."
- "Police are still investigating the motive for the crime."
- "His motive for donating the money was purely philanthropic."
- "She had a hidden motive for helping him, which only became clear later."
- "The motive behind the sudden change in policy remains unclear."
A recurring theme or idea in a piece of music, usually associated with a particular character or event.
Examples
- "The composer used a simple motif to represent the character's struggle."
- "In Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the four-note motive is iconic."
- "The musical motive was repeated throughout the opera, symbolizing fate."
- "She noticed how the motive evolved in the final movement."
- "The motive was played softly in the background, hinting at something ominous."
Cultural Context
The word 'motive' has Latin origins from the word 'movere', meaning 'to move'. It has evolved over time, particularly in English, to denote reasons for actions or behaviors in both everyday language and specialized fields like psychology and criminology. In music, it refers to a small musical idea that can be developed throughout a piece.
The Unsolved Motive
Story
The Unsolved Motive
Detective Sarah Blake had been working on the case for weeks. A well-known businessman had been found dead in his office, and everything pointed to an inside job. As she stood in the dimly lit office, the room seemed to hold a thousand unanswered questions. The businessman had no known enemies, no obvious financial troubles, and yet he was dead. What was his motive for making the fatal decisions he had made in his final days? Her first thought was that it might be a simple robbery gone wrong, but as she examined the papers on his desk, something didn't sit right. The killer had left no signs of struggle, and nothing valuable had been taken. The motive seemed elusive, hidden in plain sight. But then, Blake's mind began to race. What if the motive was tied to something personal? Perhaps an affair, or a secret deal gone bad? Meanwhile, in the world of classical music, Blake's sister, Emma, had been working on her own project—a symphony that used a recurring musical motive to represent the theme of fate. The idea was simple: a short, sharp melody would repeat at key moments, evolving as the story of the symphony unfolded. Blake often found comfort in her sister's music, knowing that, like a musical motive, every case had its own theme that would eventually reveal itself. Little did she know, the pattern in Emma's symphony would soon mirror her own investigation. The more Blake analyzed the case, the more she realized that the truth lay hidden within the repetitive clues, just like the musical motif in Emma’s composition. It was all about uncovering the right motive. After days of piecing together the facts, Blake finally found the truth. It wasn't about money or betrayal—it was a hidden motive tied to a family secret that had been buried for years. The killer had been someone close to the victim, someone who had been hiding in the shadows of the businessman’s life, much like a musical motive lurking just beneath the surface. In the end, Blake solved the case, not by chasing the obvious, but by understanding the deeper motive that had been concealed all along, much like the development of a musical theme that gradually emerges in a composition.
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