Memorial Headstone Tropes in Fiction

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Thom_Sanders]Thom Sanders
Headstones and gravestones are synonymous with mourning, loss and death in our culture, so it's unsurprising that we see them so frequently in films, on television, or read about them in books with such frequency. They can show us details about a character's life, remind us of the situation the character finds themselves in or give us an insight into a character's sense of loss. So, what are some of the tropes that keep cropping up for gravestones or memorial headstones again and again in the fiction we consume?
A favourite of war or fantasy films is the piece of wood, carved with a person's name, stuck in the spot they're buried. If characters are trekking a long way from civilisation and the worst happens, they'll make a headstone out of whatever is around. This often demonstrates how difficult life has become for the protagonists, but is also an excellent way of demonstrating the sense of loss and respect that they have regarding the person's death.
Crying by a gravestone is another theme that we frequently see, and we understand it as the character losing somebody close to them. This can be done at the start of a film so that we already know the character is dealing with loss, or can be after another character dies, giving us a window into the emotions of the protagonist. There is an additional variable to this trope, as we often see it coupled with a war memorial or field of gravestones from one of the world wars. This instantly tells us that the character was likely involved in the war and they are probably crying over friends they lost there or memories of their part in it.
Large, ornate gravestones are often a symbol of wealth or power in films and can be, especially when they're adorned with pillars, be a symbol of a dead patriarch. You'll often see these show up in films involving the mafia, or in films in which the protagonist's father dies. In the latter, the protagonist is likely to have felt distant from his father and the large, ornate headstone represents the dominance that the patriarch still holds over the character's life, even though he's dead.
There are plenty more tropes related to gravestones, and we haven't even touched upon horror film tropes, but this is a decent start. Pay attention in films you watch from now on and see if you notice any of them popping up.
This article was written by Thom Sanders on behalf of AK Lander, who provide a variety of [http://www.aklander.co.uk/shop/index.php]granite memorial designs and [http://www.aklander.co.uk/products.html]granite headstones.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Memorial-Headstone-Tropes-in-Fiction&id=6702204] Memorial Headstone Tropes in Fiction