Narrative Research Paper

By: Jonathon Theys

Introdution

I first became interested in Game of Thrones when my friend Shiny recommended I read

the books. She said that I would enjoy the series. I was taken in after the first book and burned

through all five within a couple months which was pretty quick for me considering they have

close to 600 pages minimum each. The TV show actually started as I was finishing up the first

book so I decided I wouldn’t watch any episodes until I get done with the book, spoilers and all

that. I was drawn into the TV show as easily as the books, the depth that Martin writes in so

immersive and HBO did a fantastic job of portraying that through their show. I will be looking at

the comparison between the TV show Game of Thrones and several real world examples of the

internal conflict between two houses, Lannister and Stark. I’ll look at blood feuds in general,

how they start, and the rules surrounding them, real world cases of blood feuds both in the past

and happening today around the world, and an example of women leading their houses and

kingdoms which ended in disaster. In the end I will tie it all back to Game of Thrones and

explain how it connects.

Literature Review

Blood Feuds: Rolf Kusche (2014) goes into great detail on what blood feuds are, how they

can spread, and the effect on victims. Throughout history blood feuds have had many names

from vendetta and vengeance killing to family war or private war. Kusche describe a blood feud

as “The act of avenging a previous murder in order to terminate a conflict by re-establishing the

balance of honour and power” (Kusche, 2014). Blood feuds can start from a acceident and

escalate rapidly to the point when family members stay in their homes their entire life to protect

themselves since “homes are decreed off-limits for revenge killings” (DiGirolamo,2003). Some

causes for blood feuds have some rather minor origins. They can be set off by things like verbal

humiliation, spoiling fish catch, hair pulling, envy, incessant provocative behavior and death of

barrowed decoy pigion. (Kusche, 2014) All of these seemingly minor offences can lead up to an

attack and eventually a blood feud.

Rules of Blood Feuds: Because cultures with blood feuds that exist today are so honor

bound there are several rules one must observe regarding how one goes about a revenge killing.

As explained before homes are off limits, there considered a safe haven which is why most

people in feuds today lock themselves and their families inside. Some have been locked in for

close to forty years to save themselves from vengeful relatives looking for blood. Closest kin to

the murdered person was normally the one who had to do the killing. Those that could be

targeted had to be within the direct family of the murderer. Long ago father, brothers, or sons

were fare game while women and children are immune. Over the years however the laws have

been reinterpreted so now any direct family members may be killed as a part of the revenge

killing.

Modern blood feuds: A large number of my sources regarding blood feuds how origin

in Albania. A young man Engjell Pemaj and a girl Marsera both are trapped in their homes,

afraid of being attacked because of feuds their fathers started. Engjells father hit a motorcyclist,

killing him and while his father has been found innocent he still owes a debt of blood to the

family. Engjell’s father has fled the country but that has only put the focus on his son to be the

victim of the feud. The young girl Marsela have been trapped in her home her whole life because

he mother fears what will happen if any of them leave. She doesn’t even have a pair of shoes

because they are an unnecessary luxury. The government is trying to stop these attacks but has

been largely unsuccessful. Today around 500 families are involved in blood feuds and over 6000

children are confined to their homes as a result.

The War of the Roses: Author Laura Miller examines how Game of Thrones seems to be

heavily based off of the 15th century conflict called “The War of the Roses.” The War of the

Roses is a blood feud that involved two houses, York and Lancaster. This is similar to the

conflict between the Game of Thrones houses Stark and Lannister. The primary cause of the war

of the roses was conflicts about the succession for the king. This is also similar to the goals of the

two houses in the TV show. Both the Lannister and Lancaster were rich and the Starks and Yorks

were both from the north. The leader of the Lancaster’s changed from Henry the VI to his wife

Margaret of Anjou. This happened because of a mental illness that plagued the king and made

him unfit from rule which gave a chance for his wife to take control. In Game of Thrones Cersei

Lannister becomes queen of Westros after her husband dies in a hunting accident. Both of the

women had ambitions to keep their houses in power and started feuds for it. In the case of

Margaret of Anjou, it was a blood feud between the Yorks the caused the wars. For Cersei

Lannister, her attempts led to the death of Ned Stark, Lord of house Stark, can caused a war the

engulfed all of Westros called the War of the Five Kings. Surprisingly however, unlike Margaret,

Cersei managed to hold on to her power and keep her houses position intact whereas Margaret

was deposed after the wars. In subtext below I’ll explain why Margaret was deposed and make

comparisons between Game of Thrones and a play by William Shakespeare.

Place of Women: As Ann Lyon points out women in medieval times rarely had much

power or influence. Ever Queens were for the most part ignored for their husbands. An example

of this is Margaret of Anjou and house Lancaster. After his husband went mad and Margaret

took control the York’s planned to take control of the throne because she had not male heirs in

her line. The deal was to let Henry IV (the mad king) rle until he died and then the York’s would

take over. This was planned to prevent an all-out war between the two houses. Everyone agreed

to this deal except Margaret who instead went to war with the York’s over the throne. She

managed to kill York and hold the throne but after a time York’s son Edward IV came to power

and ruled as king in 1461.

Henry IV: Jim Beckerman compares the Shakespearian play Henry IV with Game of

Thrones. Looking at the two creations it’s easy to see that George R.R. Martin and Shakespeare

both got their ideas from the same thing The War of the Roses. The first thing that they have in

common is seven kingdoms. Both of them have a king who loses their power to their queen. In

the case of Henry IV madness takes him and Robert Baratheon dies on a hunting trip. Their

queens are passionate but for the most part inept and unsuited for controlling and maintaining

power. It seems strange that both these works of art take a piece form the old conflict but they

both manage to make it entertaining.

Enter the conversation

The main idea I have been focusing this paper around is honor within houses and

family’s in the TV show Game of Thrones. When looking at the sources I chose it might be

confusing why I choose them but they are all connected. Families will get into deadly blood

feuds with each other in an attempt to restore honor and pride to the family name. It’s all about

the legacy and what others think of the family. The parents have to prove to their children that

they are strong enough to protect them but also show that the children that they must do things in

a similar fashion when they rule the house. As with the case of the Lancasters and York’s, a

family will go to war with another to keep power they have gained. Similarly the Lannister will

cause a war that will engulf the entire realm if it means ruling over it and protecting their dark

secrets. The Lannister’s, Starks, Baratheon’s, and Tyrell’s will put everything they have on the

line to either hold onto power or to take it and reveal the enemy for what they are. It works to a

better degree for some than others. The blood feud between the Starks and Lannisters is a great

example of the need to protect honor and family. When Ned Stark confronted Cersei about a

truth that could bring terrible dishonor to her house and family and possibly lead to their exile or

execution she took over the city watch of kings landing, hand Ned arrested and subsequently

executed. The truth got out but House Lannister managed to hold on to power with more troops

and control over King’s landing. However the execution of Ned Stark lead to the uprising of the

north, followed by the previous kings two brothers both raising armies to fight each other, the

Lannisters, and the north for rule of the seven kingdoms. And if that wasn’t bad enough Pyke, a

beaten down but resilient kingdom is Westeros, also up rose to claim the north as their own.

Each one of these armies had their own king and their own claim and the conflict was named the

War of the Five Kings. This is important because it shows what a family is willing to do to keep

their legacy strong, avenge a murdered loved one, or take back what they think is there’s for

honor and pride. All of this fighting erupted from a swing of an axe and the roll of head

orchestrated by Cersei Lannister. These actions also intensified the feud between the Lannister’s

and the Starks. What started off as a simple dislike for the other family erupted into an all-out

war. But Cersei herself is the blame which seems to mirror her real life counterpart from the

War of the Roses Margaret of Anjou. Both of them tried to keep their family in power and legacy

in check ended up with terrible consequences. Cersei’s vanity also doesn’t help in the situation

where balance has to be restored to a destroyed kingdom but that’s for another time. Unlike

blood feud today and in the past there are no rules to what you can do in the Game of Thrones

figured world. Some, like Ned or his children, feel honor bound to only avenge those that can

fight back. Ned’s son Robb refused to kill two Lannister boys his army capture because they

were too young to cause his family any harm. When one of his banner men killed the boys

anyway to avenge his own sons death Robb had no choice but to kill him for ignoring a direct

order. The Starks are only content with killing the people responsible for the injustice like

Cersei, Joffery, Jamie, or any other Lannister that may have had a hand in the act. The Lannister

however have no rules when it comes to the feud. Joffery ordered the deaths of all the bastard

children of his father because they could have threated his rule and used as ammunition by the

Starks, most of them were babies or young boys. Jamie pushed Bran, a boy of ten out a window

to keep his incest with Cersei a secret. The Lannisters will do whatever they can to harm the

Starks and anyone who could be used by the Starks to threaten them with no remorse for their

actions.

Conclusion

The extent families will go in Game of Thrones to stay in power, keep their secrets to

themselves, and to protect their own pride and honor is incredible. They are willing to start a war

to keep their secrets and let the countryside burn if it means they’re protected, they’ll sort the rest

out when their enemies are dead. Pride is what causes blood feuds both in the world and in the

real world such as pride of your family with Margaret and the War of the Roses. The

unwillingness to give up and fight for you power and family is admirable and like blood feuds in

places like Argentina where they still rage today despite governments trying to intervene. But

feuds can be ugly things leading to years of fighting and hiding to stay safe. A solution for that

kind of problem is hard to find as the family of the victim cries out for blood of those that

wronged them.

Works cited

Associated Press (March 3, 2013) Albania cracks down on blood-feud killings

Retrived from:

http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/144D1CF896D04178/0FA5ADE2

800A15A8?p_multi=KVNB&s_lang=en-US

Rebecca DiGirolamo, Natalie O'Brien, MATP (November 24, 2003) Blood feud forces

asylum-seeker into hiding. Retrieved from:

http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/0FF031B9DDCEBEC1/0FA5AD

E2800A15A8?p_multi=AUSB&s_lang=en-US

THOMAS BREY (July 23, 1989) BLOOD FEUDS: DEADLY TRADITION STILL

GOING STRONG IN YUGOSLAVIA. Retrieved from:

http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/10612919DA5AF386/0FA5ADE2

800A15A8?p_multi=JHNB&s_lang=en-US

Jim Beckerman (May 29, 2012) PARALLEL KINGDOMS. Retrieved from:

http://infoweb.newsbank.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?

p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=13F1487F32B5088

8&p_docnum=2&p_queryname=2

Ann Lyon (2006) the place of Women in European Royal Succession in the middle Ages.

Retrieved from: http://uncc.worldcat.org/title/the-place-of-women-in-european-royal-

succession-in-the-middle-ages/oclc/1430437807294?referer=brief_results

Rolf Kuschel (February 26, 2014) KILLING BEGETS KILLING: HOMICIDES AND

BLOOD FEUDS ON A POLYNESIAN OUTLIER Retreived from:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/27864498 .