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Liza’s headstone represents friendship and compassion. In her lifetime, Liza was accused of being a witch, so instead of being buried in the graveyard alongside other community members, she was buried among criminals in the unconsecrated Potters’ Fields. Even more humiliating than this, the villagers didn’t give her the basic respect of marking her resting place with a headstone. Marking a person’s burial site with a headstone implies that they’re worth remembering, so in denying Liza a headstone, the villagers implied that her life was meaningless and unremarkable.
Several hundred years later, this indignity still bothers Liza’s ghost. Bod is moved by this and sets out to procure a headstone for her—as her friend, wants to cheer her up and make her happy, but more than that, he also wants to emphasize how much he values and respects her. Although Bod isn’t able to purchase an actual stone headstone for Liza, the glass paperweight he finds and paints with Liza’s initials is nevertheless meaningful for her. In fact, it’s perhaps even more meaningful than a standard headstone would have been; the makeshift headstone came directly from Bod, so it’s imbued with his respect and compassion for her.
Liza’s Headstone Quotes in The Graveyard Book
The The Graveyard Book quotes below all refer to the symbol of Liza’s Headstone. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4 Quotes
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Got no headstone,” she said, turning down the corners of her mouth. “Might be anybody. Mightn’t I?”
“But you must have a name?”
“Liza Hempstock, if you please,” she said tartly. Then she said, “It’s not that much to ask, is it? Something to mark my grave. I’m just down there, see? With nothing but nettles to show where I rest.” And she looked so sad, just for a moment, that Bod wanted to hug her.
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When Bod meets Liza Hempstock, the witch buried in Potter’s Fields, she’s hesitant to introduce herself and is upset that she was buried without a headstone to mark her resting place. Liza’s emotional outburst suggests that identity matters just as much to the dead as it does to the living. Had Liza been given the basic respect of a headstone, visitors to the graveyard would be able to acknowledge Liza’s identity and life by reading her name and an inscription on her headstone. Her headstone would give someone a sense of who she was in life and help people form Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis.
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Liza’s Headstone Symbol Timeline in The Graveyard Book
The timeline below shows where the symbol Liza’s Headstone appears in The Graveyard Book. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
The girl says there is—she was drowned, burned, and buried without a headstone. Bod is impressed. The witch sits down with Bod and says that they came for...
(full context)
...name. Reluctantly, she introduces herself as Liza Hempstock. Liza sadly says she doesn’t have a headstone. Bod heads back into the graveyard and vows to find Liza a headstone. He decides...
(full context)
...and calls for Liza. When she appears, Bod asks her what she wants on her headstone. She says she’d like an “E” and an “H,” but she doesn’t care about dates....
(full context)
...at all. In a small voice, Bod says he was trying to get Liza a headstone. Liza says this is the first nice thing anyone’s done for her in centuries. She...
(full context)
