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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.

Home 

The notion of “home” comes up over and over throughout Nomadland. Early on, Fern rejects the notion that she’s homeless. “I’m houseless,” she distinguishes. One of Fern’s Amazon coworkers shows off her tattoo which says: “Home. Is it just a word, or is it something you carry within you?” Fern and Linda May visibly resonate with this message, and they embody this ideal by their decision to live on the road. We see a variety of homes in the film, from the vans of Fern, Linda May, Swankie, and Dave, to the houses of Dolly and James. Chloé Zhao challenges the traditional idea of home by showing the ways in which the characters living out of their vans still work to create the feeling of home by renovating their van interiors and fostering community among fellow nomads. The Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR) gathering, though it may happen once a year, is a sort of temporary neighborhood for the nomads. Once a year, they gather around the campfire, trade belongings, and cook meals for each other much like neighbors may interact in the suburbs with block parties and yard sales. They have each other’s backs, and Fern forms lasting friendships through her fellow RTR participants. Even when Fern stays with Dave at his son’s house, she eventually slips out to sleep in her van because it is her home, her familiar safe place where she’s most comfortable. In Nomadland, home is redefined as sentiment, rather than a grounded place, and something that can be created wherever you are. 

Death 

Death is ever-present in Nomadland as Fern wrestles with the grief of losing her husband while also encountering the reality of mortality through other characters she meets. Fern is reminded through Swankie to make the most of the life she has before Swankie’s eventual death from terminal cancer. Later, Bob Wells reveals to Fern that he lost his son to suicide, and he empathizes with her grief in losing her husband Bo. Fern’s inability to let go of Bo is something she carries with her through most of the film’s runtime, but it’s her final willingness to move on with the hope that she will be reunited with her husband in the future that leaves her a transformed person. Death is the vehicle by which Zhao navigates Fern’s deep internal conflict with her past, and its presence further emphasizes the nature of life’s transience.  

Sunrises and Sunsets 

A vast majority of the outdoor scenes in Nomadland take place during the time around sunrise or sunset, making the viewer acutely aware of the passing of days and the rapid pace of time. Some of the film’s most visually breath-taking sequences occur during these golden hour periods as Fern breezes through an entire year of her life on-screen. The sunsets remind the audience of life’s preciousness, especially since many of the characters are in their senior years. And with each passing day brings new challenges, such Swankie’s failing health, the birth of Dave’s grandson, Dave’s sudden diverticulitis, and Fern’s van engine failure, to name a few.

On the other hand, the sunrises offer the hope of a fresh start, which mirrors Ferns decision to change the trajectory of her life by becoming a nomad in her retirement years. 

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