Symbol for power
In the first chapter, it is mentioned that Jenny attacked the man who groped her with the scalpel she had in her purse. When the police discovered that she was the one who attacked the man, they took away her scalpel. Instead of getting angry for being accused of being a promiscuous woman, Jenny got angry because the police took away her scalpel. For her, the scalpel symbolized the power an education and a career gave her and by taking away her scalpel they police took away her poser.
Men are dangerous
One of the common motifs in the novel is the idea that men are dangerous. Jenny continues to claim that all men are dangerous and that women are better off without them. In fact, she goes as far as to claim that if women could somehow find a way to get pregnant without the use of a man, then all the men would be worthless.
Dead animals
One of the motifs found in the novel is the idea that Garp ends all his novels in the same way, namely by killing an animal. This becomes Garp’s signature and the narrator points that he continued to end his novels in the same manner.
The cut tongue
Garp mentions that his mother has a close friend who chose to willingly mutilate herself by cutting her own tongue. The reason behind this was because she wanted to show solidarity for a young girl who was raped and then mutilated by having her tongue cut out by her aggressor. The cut tongue also has a symbolic value and represents the fact the more than often, those who are raped feel as if they lost their voice and that they cannot make themselves be heard.
Everyone is having an affair
Anther motif in the novel is the idea that everyone is having an affair at some point in their lives. This does not mean that the person in question does not love their current partner anymore, it just means that they are looking for something more exciting and new. The character who has the most affairs is Garp who makes a habit out of sleeping with the family’s babysitters and with any woman he feels like he has a connection with.
