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Book Analysis: The Buried Giant

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The Buried Giant Essay THE BURIED GIANT: WISTAN Abhijit Naskar, a world known neuroscientist once said, “Progress of the human society is predicated upon the proper functioning of a key element of the human mind, that is reasoning.” The novel, The Buried Giant written by Kazuo Ishiguro, is set in the 5th century, where two neighboring villages, the Britons and the Saxons peacefully coincide. Axl and Beatrice, a couple of Briton heritage, leave town to go on a journey to find their son, whom they have little to no memory of. Along the way, they meet a Saxon warrior, Wistan, a boy who wants to become a warrior, Edwin, and the nephew of King Arthur, Sir Gawain. Wistan, a native Saxon who went to training camp with Britons, is furious with Lord …show more content…

He can only slay Querig if he kills her protector, Sir Gawain, so they fight and Wistan is victorious. When Sir Gawain is lying on the ground, Beatrice asks if they can bury him. In response to Beatrice’s question, Wistan says, “‘He was a kin of the hated Arthur...yet I’ll not leave him to the crows. Rest assured, mistress, I’ll see to him, and may even lay him down in this pit, beside the creature he so long defended’” (Ishiguro 292). This is a good representation of how Wistan thinks before he acts because he runs by a code of honor. In spite of the fact that Sir Gawain is a knight of the hated Arthur, he decides he needs to bury Sir Gawain and stay true to his promise. Wistan’s tone is forgiving and he acknowledges that Sir Gawain didn’t do anything to personally hurt him. Wistan wants justice for the slaughter of the innocent but he understands Sir Gawain was doing what he thought was right. When Wistan stated, “‘I’ll not leave him to the crows...lay him down in this pit, beside the creature he so long defended,’” it showed imagery. You could tell he didn’t want to be cruel and allow Sir Gawain 's body to be ravaged by wildlife. Ishiguro used descriptive words so that the reader could visualize what was happening. Wistan is rational about his decisions, which shows his capability of holding in

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weapon”(329) in order to defend his pride. Before Arthur can put the axe to use, Gawain asks if the “melee may be [his]”(343), because “[the] folly befits not a king”(359), and modestly claims to be “the weakest…and of wit the feeblest”(355).

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In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight there are many archetypal figures influencing Gawain’s growth as a hero. Gawain must deal with many characters throughout his journey, these dealings reveal many sides of his character and tend to his moral growth. He learns many things from different aspects of the journey but he learns the most from the interactions with the characters. A number of characters in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight play key archetypal roles in the perfecting of the hero’s moral development. The temptress’ actions of seduction towards Gawain as the Lady of the castle, take place over three days, and are three trials Gawain must go through to prove his moral standing.

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The main theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the journey to maturity of Gawain, the hero. During the passage, Gawain goes through three tests on his development. First, Gawain shows courage and resourcefulness when he volunteers to take the Green Knight’s challenge instead of Arthur doing so. Second, Gawain shows authority, self-restraint, and integrity when he denies the sexual endeavours of the lady of the house. Lastly, Gawain shows bravery when he faces death by keeping his meeting with the Green

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Beowulf’s Vengeance It is a fair night in Geatland, and Beowulf is celebrating his victory over Grendel's Mother in the mead hall Higlac built for his nephew. The mead hall is named The Court of Champions. "Let us celebrate my nephew’s great accomplishments of ridding the Danish people of their hideous creatures!" Higlac exclaims as he raises his mead cup to his subjects. Higlac by far was one of the fairest kings the Geats have had, after raids he gave each member a portion of the loot and made sure that everyone in the clan was cared for.

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The paradox of Christ also raises the stance that there is nothing wrong with the imperfection and contradictions viewed while reading this poem. Most interestingly, the paradoxical Pearl poet added at the end of this poem, “HONI SOIT QUI MAL PENCE” (Part IV, L. 2531) otherwise translated as; “evil be to him who evil thinks” (page 64). This sentence adds further validation to the story of Sir Gawain by inserting background of King Edward. In conclusion, Sir Gawain and the green knight present a contradiction which teaches the reader a simple truth, which many often forget. We as humans are not perfect, however that does not mean we are

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In response to the taunting of the Green Knight, Sir Gawain says, "I shied once: no more. You have my word," (272-273). Gawain, like all natural man, shied away once from the Knight's sword as a defensive reflex, but he quickly shakes off any cowardice and announces to the Green Knight that he was caught in a moment of doubt. From there he goes to say that he ultimately is no coward, but rather a noble and courageous knight of the roundtable who is devoted and loyal to King Arthur. He is more than willing and prepared to take what is coming and preserve the honor of his people, as well as his own.

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Even though he knows that the consequence of the action is severe, he is ready to face them. The pact that the Green Knight suggested is that whoever cuts his head is going to face the same thing in a year, and most likely encounter his death. Despite this, Sir Gawain moves ahead to demonstrate his commitment through his generous act of saving the King (Beauregard, 146). Friendship is demonstrated in the poem also as Gawain

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In the lines above it is seen that the Green Knight’s head had completely been severed yet he remains unshaved, it is clear now that Gawain has been deceived. Gawain continues to keep his word even though his journey is lonely and dangerous. “ […] Sir Gawain, Gods servant, on his grim quest, passing long dark nights unloved and alone […] With no friends

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Gawain, who had struck a deal with the lord to surrender all things he received during his stay in the lord’s dwelling, fails to do so in the name of self-preservation. The lord’s wife gifts Sir Gawain a green sash rumored to protect its possessor from physical harm. Gawain, recalling his inevitable meeting with the Green Knight, decides to contradict his agreement with the lord and “hid[es] it away from all hands and eyes” (Line 1875). His decision blatantly violated the chivalrous code, “failing a moral test in agreeing to hide the girdle from the husband, with whom he has the prior arrangement to exchange winnings” (West 9).

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Being merciful is showing God’s dealings with mankind and is a quality of God. Bertilak refers Gawain to being a knight worthy and has no equal. Bertilak exclaims that he was sent on this task to find Gawain and see what he is about. The revelation after the Bertilak spares Gawain’s life and knowing about the girdle all along leads Gawain to truly embrace his flaws and humility for the first time and in so doing to find atonement and a more stable base for Christian behavior than the rule-based chivalry of Arthur’s court. “Sir Gawain And The Green Knight” shows Christian ideas and shows behavior towards everyone.

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Gawain cannot redeem himself by blaming others, but does it anyways. He was supposed to be the epitome of chivalry and purity, but blames a single woman, the lady of the manor, on everything that he started. Gawain was the one to agree to the Green Knight’s challenge, not a woman who told him to. He took on the lord’s bets, without the ladies saying anything to him. Gawain’s pride and misogyny showed that he could not complete, or even start a path to redemption.

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The bitter feud continued until Hrothgar avenged Hathlaf’s death when he “sent ancient treasures through the ocean’s furrows to the Wulfings” The most notorious perpetrator of wergild was Unferth, who is told by Beowulf that he will “suffer hell’s fires.” The Anglo Saxons also strongly believed in the idea of comitatus, or loyalty to the king. This idea was so

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In Ray Bradbury’s book Farenheit 451, it is illegal to own books, and society deems people who “think” and “question” unfit and those people are wanted by the government. In the novel, Bradbury ironically pictures firemen as a group of men who create fires, and the people who “think” and “question” are killed. In this book themes of conformity verses individuality, importance of remembering and understanding history, and freedom of speech and the consequences of losing it. These three thematic ideas are major factors that contributed to how the society’s everyday life is executed.

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Morgan Le Fay creates this challenge to test Arthur’s knights and how strong their principles are. Gawain meets this challenge and ultimately succeeds,

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The epic poem “Beowulf”, translated by Burton Raffel, focuses on a hero by the name of Beowulf who goes on a quest to rescue King Hrothgar and his people from an egregious monster by the name of Grendel. This Anglo-Saxon tale gives insight into the values and beliefs of the people from whom the story originated. Their war-centered ideology and views on loyalty and courage were the principles that the Anglo-Saxon culture was founded upon. While warfare was a focal point in their lifestyle, it was far from a savage, barbaric state of fighting. Honor and prestige were bestowed upon those who died during battle and selflessness for fellow warriors was a fundamental belief.

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