Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: A Fall from Grace

Every day we interact with objects, places and sensations that affect the way we think and feel. This can be used to the writer’s advantage by planting symbols in the reader’s path to reinforce a specific message, feeling or idea.

Look at the setting and the character’s state of mind, and then think about what you want the reader to see. Is there a descriptive symbol or two that works naturally within the scene to help foreshadow an event or theme, or create insight into the character’s emotional plight?

In Nature:

A fallen bird’s nest
Rock slide
A broken tree top
A crumbled cliff face
Mudslide
Flooding caused by a beaver dam…

In Society:

A decorated cake upside down on the floor (fallen)
A store sign crashing to the ground
Abandoned buildings
A church confessional
Building demolitions
Crumbling landmarks (statues, iconic historical sites/buildings, etc)…

These are just a few examples of things one might associate with A Fall From Grace. Some are more powerful than others. An abandoned, crumbling mansion is a strong symbol, and likely will not require reinforcement. However, a fallen nest may not foreshadow a fall from grace on its own.Let the story’s tone decide if one strong symbol or several smaller ones work the best.

Symbolism is a universal language that can add great depth and meaning to your story.

So you can reap the full benefit of this powerful tool, we’ve expanded the entire collection by 70% and integrated it into our online library at One Stop For Writers. Each entry comes with a long list of ideas for symbols and motifs, and we’ve included popular symbolism examples from literature and movies, as well. These entries have also been cross-referenced for easy searchability across all our other thesauri. To see a free sample of the updated Symbolism and Motif Thesaurus along with our other collections, pop on over and register at One Stop.