Symbols surrounding Sandor Clegane/"The Gravedigger"

[Jory Cassel]

I found the symbols and metaphors surrounding the Gravedigger to be rather fascinating, although more striking than others,

and as I did not find an existing thread dealing with this topic, I opened this one. Note that this is not meant to absolve the Hound of his crimes or to generally redeem him, this is only a possible interpretation of the terms used by Martin and their implications.

1. The Quiet Isle

This one is obvious, yet mentioned here for completion.

All his life, Sandor Clegane was surrounded by violence and war, the Quiet Isle however has stayed completely untouched by the war, as remarked upon,

putting Sandor Clegane in a place he has never been before, a place of total peace(fulness).

2. The Elder Brother

That one always struck me (and Brienne, too) as odd, as the Elder Brother is not old at all, and although "Brother" refers to his place in the Faith, the explanation for this name lies on the meta level:

Sandor's actual biological older brother, Gregor, is an epitome of death and destruction, completely lacking empathy, whereas this particular Elder Brother, despite his warrior-esque appearance, embodies the opposite: He is sympathetic, compassionate and understanding towards Sandor and most interesting: He is a remarkable healer and restores health, a severe contrast to Gregor. All these attitudes contribute to making the "Elder Brother" the caring, older brother Sandor never had.

3. The Gravedigger

3.1 Primarily, Sandor has basically been a gravedigger his whole life, as he has been putting people into their graves for quite some time now, he is/was a renowned Killer.

3.2 What a gravedigger literally does is digging graves, in order to put dead people to their final rest.

As we see Sandor digging graves to put the corpses from the Trident to rest, the metaphorical meaning is close at hand: The people Clegane has killed are floating about in his mind and troubling his conscience, just like the corpses floating down the Trident, and what he does in his current role as a gravedigger is putting them to rest at last, meaning that he is starting to come to peace with himself by regretting his deeds and eventually redeeming himself. (see the Elder Brother stating that it is mostly soldiers flowing down the Trident, yet sometimes a woman or a child/The Hound sobbing when Arya brings up Mycah before leaving)

From this point, we know that the fighting in the Riverlands is eventually going to stop, and likewise there wont be the need for more graves, temporarily at least, leaving Sandor coming to terms with his deeds as a possible conclusion.

And even if his "transformation" (see 4.) is still going on and not yet completed, the character change that occured up till now is already extraordinary:

"he's gone from being the reason a person goes to their grave - something that is troubling him much more than he let on in the early books - to someone who is the reason a dead person is given the honor of a burial." (jons nissa)

4. the lame leg

In a literary sense, a lame leg holds back the person suffering from it by preventing said person from running or walking, effectively holding back said person from performing any deeds. Furthermore, the "lame leg" holds back Sandor from continuing his walk down his path through life, leaving him stagnated until the "lame leg" is cured; until a change of character is completed.

Of course the possibility of a lame leg in a conventional sense, one that stays and can't be cured, can't be excluded, but as we know that this particular case stems from a cut to the leg, an eventual recovery is more likely and the festering wound described by Arya will heal, just as the festering guilt, eating him up from inside will cease.

[jons nissa]

nice analysis. i agree with your main points and really like your thoughts about him being a gravedigger all his life. what's interesting about that is it truly shows how his life has progressed. he's gone from being the reason a person goes to their grave - something that is troubling him much more than he let on in the early books - to someone who is the reason a dead person is given the honor of a burial. he's moved from being the cause of destruction to being the cause of honor. this does point to sandor coming back on the scene even though i love the idea of him remaining at peace in the quiet isles. it would seem sandor still has some work to do to complete his evolution into acting honorably.

[Mladen]

I agree with Nissa, nice analysis.

For Sandor, I have always been more interested in resurrection symbolism that led him on QI. He 'died' closely to the same place Lady died, we have dualism in Sandor/Hound nature, before that we had his horse being named Stranger, so this gravedigger imagery wonderfully fits into Sandor's storyarc.

[Jory Cassel]

thanks,

jons nissa - I like the following evaluation very much, I'll put it in the opening post if you don't mind.

he's gone from being the reason a person goes to their grave - something that is troubling him much more than he let on in the early books - to someone who is the reason a dead person is given the honor of a burial. he's moved from being the cause of destruction to being the cause of honor.

mladen, I'm still thinking on possible Stranger-interpretations, but I'm hesitant posting something there since interpretations in this case would be largely story-immanent and the Stranger motive itself is that complex, again.

The closeness to the place where Lady was put to death never occured to me at all, great catch, but now that I'm aware of it: wouldn't the Nymeria-parallel be more befitting here?

First, Arya abandons Nymeria, a rather tame pet-wolf there, though unwillingly, and said wolf then becomes the ferocious leader of a pack of wolves, and close to that precise place, exactly the opposite takes place, Arya leaves a wild beast (aka the Hound), again with ambivalent feelings, and said beast then found again and becomes "tame".

[Danielsnag]

I really love the parallels between Gregor and Sandor through their respective 'resurrections'. Their stories are so intertwined at this point I will be disappointed if they don't fight.

[Mladen]

The closeness to the place where Lady was put to death never occured to me at all, great catch, but now that I'm aware of it: wouldn't the Nymeria-parallel be more befitting here?

It works better with Lady. You have two dualisms - Lady/Sansa and Sandor/Hound. Just like the Sansa's wolf died there, Hound died too. Gravedigger is Sandor but not Hound anymore... And with all symbolism about death it works better way with Lady.

[Morienthar]

Brilliant analysis.

[Jory Cassel]

It works better with Lady. You have two dualisms - Lady/Sansa and Sandor/Hound. Just like the Sansa's wolf died there, Hound died too. Gravedigger is Sandor but not Hound anymore... And with all symbolism about death it works better way with Lady.

I never considered including Sansa and Lady as one at that point, but the duality here is thrilling, so would you say that the death of Lady started change Sansa's character or triggered her change as part of her died there? Would you care to elaborate?

[jons nissa]

I never considered including Sansa and Lady as one at that point, but the duality here is thrilling, so would you say that the death of Lady started change Sansa's character or triggered her change as part of her died there? Would you care to elaborate?

i think it's the death of ned that starts the change in sansa's character. it remains to be seen what may have changed or died with lady's death. however, i think everyone agrees that the hound takes the role of protector that lady would have held while he is in king's landing with sansa.

[Mladen]

I never considered including Sansa and Lady as one at that point, but the duality here is thrilling, so would you say that the death of Lady started change Sansa's character or triggered her change as part of her died there? Would you care to elaborate?

With Lady's death, one part of Sansa died too (also we have to consider the idea that Lady was price for Bran's life), but as for Sansa, she lost part of herself at Trident. She became weaker to other predators. Lady's death is important moment for Sansa's story, and it changed Sansa to powerless and unprotected. You could even argue that Lady would protect Sansa from herself.

[Karmarni]

I agree with your analysis, Jory Cassel. I hate to take this completely OT, but since Sandor Clegane is one of the more fascinating characters to me, your mention of symbols got me thinking. His character has plenty of symbolism, one specifically addressed in the books, which is what is a knight, are there ‘true knights’? But in addition to that, I see the following. Again I know my post is a little OT, but I’d like to expand the idea to get a fuller picture. Please forgive me!

1. SCARS

The first scarred person we meet. Yet at the current point in the story, most of the main characters carry scars, whether seen or not. Tyrion (no nose), Jaime (no sword hand), Sansa (beaten, mentally), Cersei (mentally plus shorn), Arya (mentally), Jon Snow (burned hands and whatever he may have now), Bran (broken legs), Davos (fingers), Brienne (scarred cheek), Jorah (branded), Daenerys (barren?).

2. BUTCHER

As the guard dog of the Lannister children, The Hound kills a child, Mycah, the butcher’s boy. Later says “they’re all meat, and I’m the butcher.” After saying he will kill Lady, Ned says, “She deserves better than a butcher.”

3. DOG

King Robert: “Get her a dog, she’ll be happier for it.”

“I wish I had a good mean dog,” said Arya wistfully. “A lion-killing dog.”

Elder Brother: “Wolves are nobler than that... and so are dogs, I think.”

4. FIRE

Dondarrion – Sandor survives the flaming sword and the judgement of R’hller. Has faced fire three times in the series – initial facial burns, Blackwater, R’hller.

At Blackwater, is in three sorties – boards the ship ‘Prayer’.

5. MERCY

Teaches it to Arya and then begs for it from both her and the Elder Brother.

6. SANDOR (name)

From Martin’s Armageddon Rag: “whereas Sander meant “defender of mankind” or some such bullshit, with all the militarism and sexism that implied.”

7. ROMANTICISM – the Cloak, the Song, the ‘Kiss’

Leaves his cloak (of protection) and the ‘unkiss’: ““I could keep you safe,” he rasped. “They’re all afraid of me. No one would hurt you again, or I’d kill them.” He yanked her closer, and for a moment she thought he meant to kiss her.”

What the song is about – from Martin’s The Hedge Knight, on Florian and Jonquil: “It was a good show, sad and sweet both, with a sprightly swordfight at the end, and a nicely painted giant. . . . Jonquil and the dragon and all.”

His pledge – “A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he’ll look you straight in the face.”

8. STRANGER

Cersei, on Sansa: “She is not dead... but before I am done with her, I promise you, she will be singing to the Stranger, begging for his kiss.”

Without a horse, one is no longer a knight. But his horse, Stranger, is at the Quiet Isle, still mean tempered and not gelded.

9. THE HELM

Sandor wins his joust at the Tourney of the Hand against Jaime. Jaime’s helm is caved in, unable to remove it.

Whoever wears Sandor’s helm is now ‘The Hound’.

[Lady Arya's Song]

Lovely analysis Jory Cassel

One thing that jumped out at me from your OP. Sandor as gravedigger giving honor to dead people. I love the symbolism about Sansa, Lady's death and Sandor the Hound's death. But I also think he is symbolically linked to Arya who is now washing dead bodies and giving them an honorable death as " no one". Sandor is such a wonderful character. I love how Martin has written his story line to link so beautifully with Sansa and also Arya.

Sandor was the surrogate protector for Sansa in KL. He also fulfilled that role with Arya in the Riverlands however, Arya had a hole in her heart and was full of anger, rage, fear and revenge due to loss of her mother and family. The one issue I have with Sandor is that he did not protect Arya from herself. When she killed the boy in the Crossroad inn. My hope is that Sandor is also the key to Arya's healing. He is the only other character that knows what Arya has gone through and the dark road she has taken. I would love for his character to also be the key to restoration of Arya. She needs the same healing that Sandor is experiencing at the Quiet Isle.

[Jory Cassel]

I agree with your analysis, Jory Cassel. I hate to take this completely OT, but since Sandor Clegane is one of the more fascinating characters to me, your mention of symbols got me thinking. His character has plenty of symbolism, one specifically addressed in the books, which is what is a knight, are there ‘true knights’? But in addition to that, I see the following. Again I know my post is a little OT, but I’d like to expand the idea to get a fuller picture. Please forgive me!

No need to apologize for collecting symbols, that's not ot, it's what this thread is about, to collect symbols connected to Sandor Clegane and their interpretations. Many of the points you name aren't symbols but motives, though, (re)surfacing throughout the story ;)

The Dog/Hound symbol is probably the most obvious one throughout the story, Sandor is a human equivalent to trained hunting dogs we get to see several times, deadly, well-trained and utterly without the possibility to decide on his own. This parallel culminates when Sandor, the dog, hunts Mycah through the woods like a savage animal and later presents his corpse like prey.

In the end however, his obedience is not without limits, as he refuses to beat Sansa and finally deserts, just like an abused dog running away from its owner.

Despite not being physically abused, there is a limit as to how much he can be used and abused, like a tool for despicable purposes, sending him into the fire while ignoring his history with it is the final display of indifference and ignorance towards him, scaring him just like a "regular" dog is scared of flames.

I've also seen an interesting point made somewhere stating that being in the presence of the Lannisters, who ruthlessly play and use people, reduces them to animals; Sansa "the little bird", Sandor Clegane "the Hound" and Arya, the "wolf girl" or Tywin leaving foraging to "goats" and "dogs".

Sandor was the surrogate protector for Sansa in KL. He also fulfilled that role with Arya in the Riverlands however, Arya had a hole in her heart and was full of anger, rage, fear and revenge due to loss of her mother and family. The one issue I have with Sandor is that he did not protect Arya from herself. When she killed the boy in the Crossroad inn. My hope is that Sandor is also the key to Arya's healing. He is the only other character that knows what Arya has gone through and the dark road she has taken. I would love for his character to also be the key to restoration of Arya. She needs the same healing that Sandor is experiencing at the Quiet Isle.

Though this is offtopic; he was in no position to prevent her from stabbing the squire, so the only thing you could blame him for is urging Arya to finish him of. But I don't really hold this against him, sure he could not know that she had killed before, but her killing the squire was in perfect accordance with the Stark-philosophy, "who passes the sentence should swing the sword": When Arya stabbed him in the stomach, she condemned him to death, so it is up to her to carry out the sentence.

(I'm neglecting Arya's age here, as we know this wasn't the first person she's killed, plus Clegane is not one for sugarcoating, it would not befit him to do it for Arya)

[brashcandy]

Nice OP. The Quiet Isle may be a place of peace (how long will this last?), and Sandor is receiving needed rest and 'healing' there, but I don't know if he's genuinely at peace in terms of his own personal fulfilment, and Stranger's unruliness is probably the strongest hint of that. In terms of the symbols connected to his identity, I believe the two most important are the bloody cloak and the Hound's helm, and the continued reference to both in the story suggests that whether he likes it or not, he still has unfinished business to take care of.

[Le Cygne]

Sandor definitely has some unfinished business. And for a chatty guy who once said all a man needs is wine or a woman and named his horse Stranger to end up mute, celibate, and praying all day, doesn't quite seem like a fitting end. Nobody changes that much.

Also agree, Sandor didn't do anything wrong at the inn, Arya chose to stay and defend him, and she did so pretty vigorously. He wouldn't have gotten out of there alive without her, I don't think.

Nice OP and symbolism. Had to add some more dog symbolism, I like the way the author ties all of these together across the books, also another hint that it's Sandor, Dog is a big dog, too:

The archer looked at him a long while before he said, “You’re Joffrey’s dog.”

“My own own dog now. Do you want the water?”

...

“Does your dog have a name?” asked Podrick Payne.

“He must,” said Meribald, “but he is not my dog. Not him.” The dog barked and wagged his tail. He was a huge, shaggy creature, ten stone of dog at least, but friendly.

“Who does he belong to?” asked Podrick.

“Why, to himself, and to the Seven. As to his name, he has not told me what it is. I call him Dog.”

...

On the upper slopes they saw three boys driving sheep, and higher still they passed a lichyard where a brother bigger than Brienne was struggling to dig a grave...

The gravedigger lowered his head. When Dog went to sniff him he dropped his spade and scratched his ear.

[Black Mike Secret]

Nothing to add other than this was a great analysis. Really enjoyed reading it as well as many of the responses. The Elder Brother/Gregor thing never crossed my mind before now. Can't believe I missed it.

[Jory Cassel]

Nice OP. The Quiet Isle may be a place of peace (how long will this last?), and Sandor is receiving needed rest and 'healing' there, but I don't know if he's genuinely at peace in terms of his own personal fulfilment, and Stranger's unruliness is probably the strongest hint of that. In terms of the symbols connected to his identity, I believe the two most important are the bloody cloak and the Hound's helm, and the continued reference to both in the story suggests that whether he likes it or not, he still has unfinished business to take care of.

Couldn't agree more. No matter what preferences he has, he will have to play a role still, but when he leaves the QI, he won't be his former self, in many aspects, yet he probably will come to regret his deeds and come to terms with who he actually is before that. I can see now how point 3. was a bit misleading in this regard.

(I am hoping that his return will be connected to either Robert Strong or Sansa, as he is probably one of the few people knowing of LF's deceit and who are able to expose him, but that's not analysis anymore, just wishful thinking on my part..)

Sandor definitely has some unfinished business. And for a chatty guy who once said all a man needs is wine or a woman and named his horse Stranger to end up mute, celibate, and praying all day, doesn't quite seem like a fitting end. Nobody changes that much.

Also agree, Sandor didn't do anything wrong at the inn, Arya chose to stay and defend him, and she did so pretty vigorously. He wouldn't have gotten out of there alive without her, I don't think.

Nice OP and symbolism. Had to add some more dog symbolism, I like the way the author ties all of these together across the books, also another hint that it's Sandor, Dog is a big dog, too:

Love the connection here, both dogs belong to themselves now, yet they stay with the faith, one with Merribald, the other one on the Isle. And just as Dog protects Merribald, Sandor protected both Sansa and Arya.

Another interesting point (which surely has been mentioned before, but since the Inn-situation came up, I'm still mention): The Inn at the Crossroads.

Considering how his story continues up to now, these are actually the crossroads of Sandor's life, of all the decisions he could've been making when encountering his brother men - from trying to sell out Arya in a last, desperate attempt to ingratiate himself with his former masters again over yielding and hoping for his life to fleeing and evading the confrontation - he chose to protect Arya and he chose to forsake his brother once and for all - true, Gregor wouldn't have treated him kindly anyway, probably even killed him or delivered him to KL - yet he crossed the rubicon for good when he attacked his brother's men.

[brashcandy]

(I am hoping that his return will be connected to either Robert Strong or Sansa, as he is probably one of the few people knowing of LF's deceit and who are able to expose him, but that's not analysis anymore, just wishful thinking on my part..)

It may not be so much wishful thinking, actually :) If you carefully follow Martin's set-up from the first book, an interesting picture emerges concerning these speculations.

Love the connection here, both dogs belong to themselves now, yet they stay with the faith, one with Merribald, the other one on the Isle. And just as Dog protects Merribald, Sandor protected both Sansa and Arya.

Yes, and we also have Sansa associated with dogs throughout the story; first with the "get her a dog" comment by King Bob and her subsequent interaction with The Hound. Following on that is the bond she forms with the old dog at the Fingers, and later on in the Eyrie we read of her "worrying at it like a dog at some old bone." And when she's descending to the Gates of the Moon, the noise of barking dogs is one of the sounds she is looking forward to hearing in the lively environs of the Vale.

[Wisenan69]

Fantastic! You guys are great! This analysis adds so much to the Hound/Sandor character now that I just started my third ( or fourth) re-read. It is amazing how many layers George has piled up on his characters and how much our love/hate/disdain for them changes as we attempt to discover their true nature. These forums are truly an eye opener to me. Thank you!

[muffinpoodle]

:agree:

3. The Gravedigger

3.1 Primarily, Sandor has basically been a gravedigger his whole life, as he has been putting people into their graves for quite some time now, he is/was a renowned Killer.
3.2 What a gravedigger literally does is digging graves, in order to put dead people to their final rest.
As we see Sandor digging graves to put the corpses from the Trident to rest, the metaphorical meaning is close at hand: The people Clegane has killed are floating about in his mind and troubling his conscience, just like the corpses floating down the Trident, and what he does in his current role as a gravedigger is putting them to rest at last, meaning that he is starting to come to peace with himself by regretting his deeds and eventually redeeming himself. (see the Elder Brother stating that it is mostly soldiers flowing down the Trident, yet sometimes a woman or a child/The Hound sobbing when Arya brings up Mycah before leaving)
From this point, we know that the fighting in the Riverlands is eventually going to stop, and likewise there wont be the need for more graves, temporarily at least, leaving Sandor coming to terms with his deeds as a possible conclusion.

And even if his "transformation" (see 4.) is still going on and not yet completed, the character change that occured up till now is already extraordinary:
"he's gone from being the reason a person goes to their grave - something that is troubling him much more than he let on in the early books - to someone who is the reason a dead person is given the honor of a burial." (jons nissa)

It also forces him to confront the sort of man he was and things he did. He is used to dealing out death, but not using to dealing with the dead. By seeing it from the other side he can confront his violence and come to terms with what it means, gaining closure and a new perspective to inform his actions in the future.

I agree with something a friend of mine says about Sandor, that he will have to choose between Gregor or Sansa. He can seek vengeance on his monster of a brother, or he can be at Sansa's side. He can't have it both ways.