Six Tropes that Guarantee I'll Read the Book.

my favorite tropes and imagery

Hello, and welcome back to another Flight Patterns post! This one is a little late because, honestly, college has been really hard. Between classes, homework, work, events, and making friends, I have been short of time and energy to write. But I am here to remedy that! 

In my classes, we have been discussing symbolism and range of reference. So I started brainstorming what symbolism and tropes I really enjoy in a book. Here are six tropes that are guaranteed to catch my interest.

1. Flight.

Whether airplanes or birds, I am entranced by the beauty and freedom of things that fly. “Flight" in books is often paired with metaphors of freedom and independence.

But characters who can fly often must choose between fleeing and staying when things get dicey, or struggle with picking themselves up after a fall or failure.

2. The Trickster.

The trickster is a character that can't be relied on much for anything except chaos. The trickster has a prevalent, occasionally dark sense of humor and likes mixing things up for the sake of entertainment.

This character is great for increasing the tension in a story (will he mess up things for the hero?) but his aptitude for managing chaos often is crucial to the climax, either through some clever plotting on the trickster's end, or through a callback to some earlier mayhem that ends up helping the hero or defeating the villain.

The trickster often goes through a dark night of the soul where they wonder if they have any worth, especially if they have messed up badly and/or hurt somebody. They sometimes will even renounce their trickster ways, to the sorrow of the other character (and the reader) who realize that, even though the trickster may be annoying sometimes, they really like him. In this character arc the trickster often recovers his sense of humor with an added level of maturity by the end of the story.

3. Puzzles and riddles.

What's a treasure hunt without a map or a mystery without a can of red herrings? 

Puzzles or riddles in a story are fun because I like to try to solve them myself as I'm reading.
They also add to the tension of the story, especially if there is a time limit involved or if they are trying to solve the puzzle before the antagonist does.  How the characters react to and solve the puzzles showcases the various character's strengths and weaknesses and often forces very different and possibly antagonistic characters to work together. (see more in point #5 about antagonistic characters working together.)

Examples include the Redwall books, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, and The Gollywhopper Games.

*disclaimer: this post includes affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase through these links, I may receive a percentage at no cost to you.

4. Found family.
On the topic of group dynamics, may I say I absolutely love the found family trope? The found family is where a group of characters, often with a wide range of ages and backgrounds, bond over something they share. They operate as a tight family unit, trusting and relying on each other even when they may not trust anybody else. 

[I discuss this more in my post on platonic relationships, which you can read here.]

5. The enemy of my enemy.

Nothing spells tension than having a mutual enemy as the only thing in common. This trope has the potential for betrayal and backstabbing. It also has the potential to speak messages of teamwork, tolerance, and forgiveness. 

In this trope, the protagonist or group of protagonists are forced to work with someone they don't like or trust, even a former villain or nemesis, to overcome a greater threat or achieve something that they can't alone. This could be because the antagonist has skills or knowledge that the protagonist needs, or they are forced to work together by a higher authority like a boss or teacher.

Most of the time, especially in this second scenario, the antagonist dislikes working with the protagonist as much as the protagonist dislikes working with them. And the chaos that ensues from this friction is very enjoyable to read.

6. Return of the king.

This one seems super obvious, but unfortunately it's often done in a way that's cheesy or shallow.

However, this has the potential to be a powerful theme since it can speak to the concept of the Lord's second coming. The return of the king is what makes all the characters' struggles, all the battles fought, and all the friends lost along the way, worth the steep price. This trope works well with themes of victory and redemption.

Do you have any favorite tropes you love in stories? what makes them so powerful? What was your favorite from this list?