The old man

Why is it that the old man stereotype always has them wearing a suit?
is it because they are too old school to wear anything else... back in there day they would run around the playground in suits or summin?
or maybe it is a representation of their death suit? that they are closer to death that the symbolism of the suit is a type or personal mourning?
The old man trope, is commonly used one, they are usually portrayed as grumpy, and slightly sadistic, trying to dissociate with the "youth" (anyone younger the 100 pretty much). they take pleasure in the nativity of everyone else and laugh at our misfortunes... in saying this though, they are rarely portrayed as evil or bad. in most cases "misunderstood" is the term coined for their behavior... i prefer senile personally.
But the old man CAN be portrayed a good, or turn good towards the end.... much like the hermit, the old man can in times of dire need, help the heroes of the story to overcome the challenge, and offer wisdom and all that jazz.

in hind-site the OLD MAN trope, is very similar to the HERMIT trope, with the main difference being their location.!

The Old Man normally resides in a awkward residential establishment... weather it be in a large retirement village full of petty arguments (sometimes very convenient mystery murder cases). in a normal suburb, being the only person on the street who refuses to do X and Y causing half his neighbors to hate him, and the other half to pity him. or in a very recent case (and slightly exageratted.. to good effect) living in a upcoming major developing residential district, full of massive steel towers and walls of glass, holding out against the big wigs of society. (UP in case you were wondering).

So the old man is always in a awkward space, they can be loved and hated very easily. never found to be evil. and mostly misunderstood. they can be HAPPY, and can be GRUMPY, but seem to be mainly wearing suits.
A old man takes his time, never rushes about, and does systematic and good work. The old people seem to have honed skills that come with the immense age wetehr it be reading, doig crosswords, playing the pokies, through to Woodcraft, aero-nautical engineering, and adventuring, they have talents that exceed their age. (oh and they have the talent of complaining).

The below images have all been taken from a Google Images search, and are in NO WAY my own work. These pictures are displayed here purely as inspirational material, to be anaylised and used in the thought developmental process. these pictures can easily be found by going to GOOGLE IMAGES and searching "old man"

This stereo type is certainly interesting,, especially when comparing it to the hermits attributes. as i aim to have a larger audience to view my work, the old man stereo type would have to be handled very very carefully, so to not customized to much toward the western outlook.. as age is a unviersal occurrence the the elderly and respected as a whole, it is a fairly safe trope to utilize, but the actual mental and character personality need careful sculpting and manipulation.