What are the motifs in By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho?

Breaking the glass is a motif in the story. In the pages where Pilar asks her friend to knock a wine glass off the table, she is trying to get her friend to make the symbolic gesture to show that he is ready to change his life and be with her. Though a glass is inexpensive, it has enormous symbolic value. People are taught as children to be careful with glass, not intentionally breaking it. The glass is representative of the Catholic church, of the priests, and every other body of authority that controls masses.