Q1 English BM: A Dance With Dragons
I am reading the book A Dance With Dragons, by George RR Martin, part of the series A Song of Ice and Fire. The location I have chosen to recreate is called “The Twins.” It is a large bridge that spans a very large river, with a tower at one end and a fort at the other. It is the home of a major House, or family in the book, called the Freys. It is the site of a very infamous event in the series, called the Red Wedding. In it, several major characters are attending a wedding in The Twins, and Lord of the Freys betrays the major character, and kills him and several other major characters, along with hundreds of other people at the wedding. The major character who is betrayed was previously at war with another house, and had been allied with the Freys, but the changed sides in the war and betrayed the people at the wedding. In the setting of book, it is an ancient custom that when someone eats or drinks in your home, they are protected by the laws of hospitality. The Lord of House Frey betrayed those ancient customs, which made his betrayal much more surprising, and made it one of the most significant events in the series.
The main setting in the book is a continent called Westeros. There is a feudal society in Westeros, where peasants answer to the Lords of the castles they live near. Those Lords answer to one major Lord of the area they live in, and those Lords answer to the King. Every noble, or Lord, belongs to a “House,” or family. The castle that belongs to that house is passed down from father to son, unless some outside event were to take those lands from them. Houses are very important in the series, because people have to be loyal to their own family. However, the Red Wedding was something many Freys knew about, and many were not happy to do what they had to do. However, they did it anyway. This raises that question about whether or not you should follow your family in everything they do, whether or not you disagree with it. In the setting of this book, nobles have to depend on their family much more, because without them they would most likely just be a peasant, or soldier. In today’s world, however, it is much easier to get by without your family, because you don’t depend on them for as much as you did in the setting of this book. Because of this, it is difficult to answer this inquiry question because of the different setting. The Lord of the Freys most likely thought that he did what he had to do to end a war. I think for him, taking the lives of about a hundred people was worth it to save the lives of the thousands of people who may have died in the war if it were to continue. I think the book does help answer my second inquiry question, because how far you would go to what you think is right depends on what you think is right, when you decide that what you think is right outweighs what you have to do. Honor is something found a lot in the series, some people don’t value it, while others do. I think that honor is important, but if it gets in the way of “the greater good” as you may see it, it should not be valued as highly. I don’t think Lord Frey valued honor that much, because what he did by disobeying the laws of hospitality was extremely dishonorable, so I don’t think it held much sway for him. The book raises many other questions about morals, or ethics, but I think that the three I chose are the most important, and the majority of the issues in the book revolve around them.
Comments
No comments have been posted yet.
Log in to post a comment.