Parallel Behavior

[Tonberry]

Hey all. This is my first post. If I run afoul of any board mores, please lemme know.

Without further ado, I'd like to talk about one of GRRM's literary techniques that he uses to invite comparison. He provides us with many situations that are quite similar, and we as readers can then try to puzzle out the purpose of the parallel. Enough of the abstract. Look to the following two parallel situations.

The first scene takes place when the Drogo's warriors are conquering the Lamb Men.

Dany saw one boy bolt and run for the river. A rider cut him off and turned him, and the others boxed him in, cracking their whips in his face, running him this way and that. One galloped behind him, lashing him across the buttocks until his thighs ran red with blood. Another snared his ankle with a lash and sent him sprawling. Finally, when the boy could only crawl, they grew bored of the sport and put an arrow through his back. -Daenerys 7

The parallel scene takes place in the report about the raiding of the Riverlands.

"They rode down my 'prentice boy," said a squat man with a smith's muscles and a bandage around his head. He had put on his finest clothes to come to court, but his breeches were patched, his cloak travel-stained and dusty. "Chased him back and forth across the fields on their horses, poking at him with their lances like it was a game, them laughing and the boy stumbling and screaming till the big one pierced him clean through." -Eddard 11

We can read these scenes together to observe one of GRRM's regular themes--wartime excess (particularly by men who make a game out of violence). But more importantly, I think we're meant to see the Dothraki and the Mountain's men as comparable forces. The way that our text's perspectives present the Lannisters and their cronies as antagonists and the Dothraki as protagonists may leave the thoughtless reader open to unfair bias. Here we have a grim reminder that our Dothraki friends can be as heartless and cruel as the Mountain's men. Furthermore, I believe that we are invited to draw a comparison between the leaders of these men, Gregor and Drogo. These men both conduct unnecessarily cruel raids on defenseless people and tolerate the quoted behavior from their warriors. Although we typically see Drogo through the eyes of Dany, who is typically treated with compassion, when he is in combat, he is as hard at heart as arguably the cruelest villain we've encountered thus far in the story.

 

Another parallel I've observed has to do with the way in which war councils are conducted. The first scene takes place when Tyrion sits in on his father's war council.

Lord Tywin Lannister turned his face to study Ser Gregor. Tyrion saw a glimmer of gold as the light shone off his father's pupils, but he could not have said whether the look was one of approval or disgust. Lord Tywin was oft quiet in council, preferring to listen before he spoke, a habit Tyrion himself tried to emulate. Yet this silence was uncharacteristic even for him, and his wine was untouched. -Tyrion 9

The parallel scene takes place in Robb's council.

Many of the lords bannermen wanted to march on Harrenhal at once, to meet Lord Tywin and end Lannister power for all time. Young, hot-tempered Marq Piper urged a strike west at Casterly Rock instead. Still others counseled patience. Riverrun sat athwart the Lannister supply lines, Jason Mallister pointed out; let them bide their time, denying Lord Tywin fresh levies and provisions while they strengthened their defenses and rested their weary troops. Lord Blackwood would have none of it. They should finish the work they began in the Whispering Wood. March to Harrenhal and bring Roose Bolton's army down as well. What Blackwood urged, Bracken opposed, as ever; Lord Jonos Bracken rose to insist they ought pledge their fealty to King Renly, and move south to join their might to his.

"Renly is not the king," Robb said. It was the first time her son had spoken. Like his father, he knew how to listen. -Catelyn 11

 

We learn here that both Tywin and Robb conduct their war councils in the same way. We observe that all of the family and bannermen have the opportunity to speak their minds, share plans, and embarrass themselves in turn while the leaders remain mostly quiet, but offer the occasional word to steer conversation. The advantages of this format are obvious. The leader never looks like a fool, all potential strokes of genius are given the opportunity to be heard, grievances are expressed (so they may not fester), and the leader has the final say on what course of action will be taken.

I believe that two character parallels are on display here. First, we are given the obvious parallel of Tywin and Robb. Both leaders know what they are doing. Robb is only a kid, and he only recently was given any real power. It makes sense for readers to be skeptical of his ability to lead. For Robb's initial success against the Lannisters to be at all credible, GRRM needs to establish Robb as a character with real leadership chops. In this scene, he comes off as mature, wise, and calculating, and the obvious parallel to Tywin, who is at the foremost of our cast of characters in these same qualities, lends Robb some real cred. This will not be a lopsided contest between an experienced general and a green boy, but between calculating commanders who make the most of the capable and incompetent men and women who surround them.

The second character parallel is almost as striking. We see Tyrion observing his father's customs, dissecting them, and learning from them. Elsewhere in this scene, Tywin remarks that Tyrion is learning from him. It is one of Tywin's rare expressions of praise for his younger son. Likewise, we see that Robb has learned from his father, Ned. Not only has he been riding with different lords as Ned used to invite the folks of Winterfell to his dinners, but Robb has also decided to conduct his war councils in a way he must have learned from his father. These scenes show us that Tyrion and Robb, although not carbon copies of their fathers, have been mature enough to emulate capable models.

 

So, please let me know if I've missed anything with these two parallels. Also, I invite you to delve back into your texts to find comparable parallel scenes and to explain to us what you think they mean!