I believe a powerful motif in 4000 Miles would be one of disconnect. I choose this word because I believe every character has their own way of being disconnected with something or someone or has a disconnection with themselves. For example, I believe Leo is all of the above. He is disconnected from the world when he goes on bike rides for long periods at a time, he is also disconnected from his parents, and disconnected from reality because he believes he is connecting to his girlfriend when she believes they are so disconnected that they need to break up. For vera, we can see a disconnection between her and ginny, they only ever call each other and never just go see each other face-to-face. This personal disconnect pulls them away from each other. Vera also has a disconnect with her memory. She seems to always be forgetting the words she wants to use and instead using the word “Whatamacallit” to trigger her memory. We see that the motif of disconnecting is seen throughout moments between characters and is clearly expressed in the dialogue of the play.
I like the idea of disconnection as reoccurring throughout this play. Especially, the example of Leo's bike trek. Although, I think one could also see connection as well. That is the development of connection, at least. Leo starts the play at Vera's only planning to stay a few days...However, that changes as he becomes connected to the community and Vera, specifically.
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