Stories don't just have characters, oftentimes an object is thrown in (Such as the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings). These objects ultimately bow down to moving the characters or the plot forward (Again such as the One Ring). Objects can also be used to tell something about the characters or their development (How they grow as a person through the story.), like surrounding a character with skulls says that the character is evil. Surrounding him with flowers accomplishes the opposite. One of my favorite examples of this is the weapon favored by Drago Bludvist in How to Train Your Dragon 2. If you skip to 1:22 in the video you can see that Drago's weapon is a Bullhook. Bullhooks were used in real life to subjugate elephants by beating them mercilessly and savagely hitting the males where it hurts, so much so that it was not uncommon for older elephants to cower in fear just at the sight of one. Today, they are outlawed, but the weapon is a perfect reflection of Drago's own personality. He works through fear and intimidation.
Another good example is the Arkenstone in The Hobbit. The Arkenstone is the heirloom of Thorin's house, and when he cannot take it back, even though he has succeeded in taking back all the treasures of Erebor, it drives him to madness. He becomes consumed with the "Dragon-sickness", so much that it eventually leads to his death. The Arkenstone is a manifestation of his greed.
No comments:
Post a Comment