Winter Is ComingThis is a featured page

Will Thies WR 115 October 12, 2011 Rhetoric Analysis: A Song of Ice and Fire (focusing on A Game of Thrones) “Winter is coming, and when the Long Night falls, only the Night’s Watch will stand between the realm and the darkness that sweeps from the north. The gods help us all if we are not ready,” (542). A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R Martin is a New York Times best selling book series, the first of which being A Game of Thrones. In this story the words of a high born family known as the Stark’s are ,” Winter is coming,” (1037). In fact this quote is one that is said from many main characters and sub characters throughout the book. From character to character this old saying has different meanings. For some it means the coming of some great evil, to others it is the coming of grief and pain, but to those who do not fully heed its warning it is nothing but a common phrase for an oncoming season. I have chosen this quote from the book as my reflection for it connects well with the outer world of today and also is greatly intriguing within the book its self. The first book covers a year’s time and moves from multiple perspectives who are watching as a peaceful country turns to one shattered with five kings fighting for power over the realm. George R.R Martin wrote this first book in the series of A Song of Ice and Fire in a time of great fear. During the later years of the cold war George was hatching the ideas of this story and writing them down. The actual date that the first book, A Game of Thrones, was published was in 1996 (hard cover edition). This time of looming fear could very well explain why the quote, “Winter is coming,” pops up so much throughout the book. Along with that idea it would also explain why there are so many different meaning to the words, such as some people taking it as a warning for something greater then bitter cold coming over the horizon, but to others they chose to look at it and push aside the other things and see it as a simple literal phrase. This would relate to the time in which people he knew were either worried about what might be looming in the shadow of tomorrow, and how others simply chose not to see what was going on around them and just paid the danger no mind. The author had no problem writing about any detail in this story, whether it is sex or battle. In the story the author talks about such things as incest, rape, bastard children, and whores and shares his views on them I feel through his writings. For instance later on in the series A Song of Ice and Fire the bastard child ends up growing into a stronger character and becomes someone out of nothing. On the flip side the author frowns upon the love between a man and a ***** and shows what follies come from it; along with that the author shows how he has a distaste for incest in making it where the gods despise it and no good comes from it. When looking at the material within this book this is obviously meant for someone older who can not only read the words on the pages but comprehend/ understand what is going on. For example, I probably could have read these book years ago but I would not fully have understood what was going on let alone be able to think about some of the things going on with in the story and relate them to real life events or look on the words and pull out some greater meaning from them. But along with pulling in an older audience he also draws in people who might feel they cant accomplish much. Since Martin has multiple characters who start out low or are fighting against the current of the norm his story might easily draw in a crowd of people who like to see how underlings like the selves can exceed. The simple phrase “Winter is coming,” is a big deal in the book for its ominous warning and its foretelling of great danger. When not just looking at it as something in a book though it links with the world in a sense that constantly we are fearing some danger that hangs above are heads. In George Martins time when writing the story it was the constant threat of a nuclear holocaust; in the present times it is fear of further terrorist attacks or further bloodshed in far off countries or on our own. So when reading a worldwide popular book like this the meaning goes beyond the pages and connects to our lives and the everyday fears that we have just like the men and women within the novel. Works Cited George R.R. Martin. (1996) A Game of Thrones. New York, NY: Bantam Books. (1996-2010) A Song of Ice and Fire series. New York, NY: Bantam Books Wikipedia. (2011) A Song of Ice and Fire/ George R.R. Martin/ 1990’s/ 1980’s.


No user avatar
will_2142 		Latest page update: made by will_2142 , Dec 4 2011, 8:35 PM EST (about this update About This Update will_2142 Wasnt easy to read for some reason but i re copyed it and now it looks like it is formated in Word - will_2142


view changes
- complete history)
Keyword tags: A Song of Fire and Ice Book Book quotes Game of Thrones Novel Reflection Series Winter is Coming
More Info: links to this page

Threads for this page

There are no threads for this page.  Be the first to start a new thread.