Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Drago by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781936661756
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Published: 2012-06-26T04:00:00+00:00

Unchanging Seasons

Unlike the almost allegorical worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien and his contemporaries, which are imbued with unambiguous representations of good and evil, Westeros defines these concepts with more subtlety and realism, grounded in the fact that Winter is coming, and with it a host of horrors, making the very survival of society dependent upon inhabitants cooperating and acting for the benefit of the whole instead of pursuing more selfish or individualistic aims. As such, what is “good” in Westeros supports unity, and what is “bad” sows discord and disrupts chances for survival. Honesty, humility, honor, and other characteristics that allow people to work closely together without divisive conflict have value in this society.

Sorting through the issues of morality in A Song of Ice and Fire is not simplistic, especially since readers view the Seven Kingdoms through the flawed perceptions of its inhabitants, most of whom are too young to remember an actual Winter, and further filter these perceptions through our own biases. This does not mean that the world is amoral, or that characters do not engage in fundamental struggles to make right and moral choices. Through the destruction of some characters and the redemption of others, we see a cosmology at work in Martin’s world that is anything but relativistic or nihilistic.

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