Symbolism In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

When looking through stories and poems of the past, one tends to find symbols or themes within the story that set it apart from stories of its own time and even the modern stories of today. Throughout the Middle Ages, imagery defined poems and story’s alike. Story’s such as the poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, contain diverse symbol’s that express a mood or a character trait through color or the shape of the object. During the time that this poem was written, readers, young and old alike, could have easily picked up on the references made about color. Reading these same poems and stories from the Middle Ages in modern times become difficult because of the vast culture differences between modern and past societies. A peculiar symbol

It relies on the reader to decipher the symbolism to draw conclusions on the context of the meaning. The meaning of the pentangle, as defined in the story, represents Sir Gawain’s virtues and is referred to have resemblance to King Arthur’s Round Table. Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain character is challenged by several tests. Despite these tests, Sir Gawain remains loyal to his morals and given virtues. Today, in modern society, staying true to your morals is crucial in all aspects of life. Children and young adults today are one of the most vulnerable aspects of society, naturally soaking up information broadcasted on television, radio, and social media. This can create a false sense of critical thinking and a false view of the world can lead to the growth of an unconstructive member of society. These negative effects of society put the ultimate pressure on parents. Teaching and raising a child from start to finish is a challenging task. Although Sir Gawain was not challenged with the responsibility of raising a child with the presence of outside factors such as television in the Middle Ages, people during the Middle Ages knew that your given name was you staple. Your name represented your responsibility and trustworthiness toward other people as well as the virtues you carried with you day to day. Simply tarnishing your name could put you and your family into a world of mockery and possible financial instability. In the poem, Sir Gawain exercises the morals of staying true to his word by meeting the Green Knight for what Sir Gawain thought would be his final encounter of his life. Although the Green Knight did not end Sir Gawain life during their face off, the poem did present his moral of staying true to his word, showing that Sir Gawain himself is a man worth