Is this Hamlet’s way of making conversation? Hey man – who’re you digging the grave for? Not, like, “Hi – you’re a gravedigger, what’s that like?”
I don’t know. It’s a funny question to ask. I’d wager most gravediggers don’t have a sense of who they’re digging graves for. I saw the guys digging my grandmother’s grave and I would bet a lot of money on them not having the slightest idea of who they were digging it for. I would bet that they could tell me its exact location and how deep they were meant to dig it for the box of ashes – but if they even knew her name I would be surprised. More like something like Position Q2 on the Northeast quadrant. That’s more likely.
Granted, my grandmother was buried, alongside my grandfather, in one of the biggest cemeteries in the country but still…I would never assume a gravedigger had knowledge of his grave’s future resident. And I wouldn’t start a conversation there. However – it’s good that Hamlet does, as it allows for some fun wordplay in the midst of a pretty dark tragedy.
The Hamlet Project 