Symbolism of Peaches in ASOIAF

[Groat]

There was a thread a few weeks ago about Renly's peach, and the symbolism this was supposed to represent. The majority of responses were along the lines of "sometimes a peach is just a peach", which I found disappointing because I always thought peaches were very symbolic in the story. So I did some research and found some definite consistencies whenver peaches appear in the story. Peaches are mentioned several times and are always assoicated with sexual desire and more often than not are associated with death, either outright or foreshadowed. Specifically, whenever a character seems to give in to temptation, and partake in the eating of a peach, which would be a metaphor for doing that which they desire (which is sexual in most cases, but not all), it usually results in that character's death, whereas when a character refuses a peach, they haven't died (not yet anyways).

The first time peaches are mentioned is probably the best example the symbolism of them, and is during the conversation between Ned and Robert:

"You need to come south," Robert told him. "You need a taste of summer before it flees. In Highgarden there are fields of golden roses that stretch away as far as the eye can see. The fruits are so ripe they explode in your mouth-melons, peaches, fireplums, you’ve never tasted such sweetness.

...

"And the girls, Ned!" he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling. "I swear, women lose all modesty in the heat. They swim naked in the river, right beneath the castle. Even in the streets, it’s too damn hot for wool or fur, so they go around in these short gowns, silk if they have the silver and cotton if not, but it’s all the same when they start sweating and the cloth sticks to their skin, they might as well be naked." The king laughed happily.

So here we have the recurring themes associated with peaches that appear though out the rest of the series. We have the fruit, specifically the peaches, being used to describe how desirous the South can be, followed by a very lusty description of women in the South. Apart from the conversation taking place in the crypts of Winterfell and surrounded by death, there is a certain amount of forshadowing from this quote because Robert has been partaking in these "peachy" desires for some time, and is alluring Ned to partake is well. Ned eventually ends up going South with Robert, so he accepted the peach here, and both Ned and Robert end up dead.

The only other real example of peaches in GOT is in a Bran POV, and is a little unusual for the normal peach symbolism, but works as well:

He liked the deep, sweet ache it left in the muscles afterward. He liked the way the air tasted way up high, sweet and cold as a winter peach. He liked the birds

Here the peach that is used as a metaphor is a "winter peach". I like this because, while Bran is too young to have any sort of sexual desires, climbing for him is a desire that he loves, and so it is a "winter peach" for him, not a normal Southern peach which is more of a sexual metaphor. Again we have something that a character desires, and although Bran doesn't die from it, the accepts his "winter peach" which is climbing and ends up having his fall, goes into a coma, is paralyzed and almost dies.

Moving onto COK, we have more with peaches, the first being a quote with Dany and Jorah:

"I’ve brought you a peach, " Ser Jorah said, kneeling. It was so small she could almost hide it in her palm, and overripe too, but when she took the first bite, the flesh was so sweet she almost cried. She ate it slowly, savoring every mouthful, while Ser Jorah told her of the tree it had been plucked from, in a garden near the western wall. "Fruit and water and shade, " Dany said, her cheeks sticky with peach juice. "The gods were good to bring us to this place. "

There's a lot going on with this quote. First, we have a peach tree growing in what the Dothraki called the City of Ghosts, a city filled with bones and looks to be long dead. So again, we have a peach surrounded by death. The second layer here is Jorah, and his desire for Dany, and after this quote Jorah goes on to tell Dany about his second wife and that story. The story from Jorah is basically the "peach motif" in a nutshell. He finds a woman he desires, and accepts the peach, the woman, and marries her. Eventually things go wrong and Jorah must face either exile or death because of her. The third layer of this scene is from Dany's point of view, which is what the peach represents to her. In her mind, the peach and the peach tree are representations of a safe place, a place where her people can stay and where her dragons can grow. In this sense, Dany is being offered a peach of security and safety, something she strongly desires after her trek through the red waste. Dany however rejects this peach, and moves onto Qarth and her story from there. So while Dany accepts the physical peach, she rejects both the comforts of the city as well as Jorah himself later on, which is why she hasn't died from it.

Now moving onto to everyone's favorite peach, Renly's:

Renly ’ s hand slid inside his cloak. Stannis saw, and reached at once for the hilt of his sword, but before he could draw steel his brother produced ... a peach. "Would you like one, brother?" Renly asked, smiling.

Once again there is a lot going on with this scene. We have a peach in the center of a parly between to opposing armies, so we have a peach, yet again, surrounded by death. For Renly, he has no problems accepting the peach presented to him. The peach to Renly is all about desire, with little to no regard for the consequences. He seeks to be king because of his relationship with Loras, whom he desires. He believes he should rightfully be king because of the desires of the people, and he feels that Stannis should accept the fact that people don't love him nor want him as king. The peach for Renly is everything he desires, gaining the love of the populace, and being with the man he loves, Loras. All of his motivations can be traced to desire, sexual and other, and he accepts the peach, eats it, and dies from it.

Stannis on the other hand, is almost the complete opposite. By all acounts, Stannis finds pleasure in nothing, and his motivatoins are driven by tradition, law, and honor. This is almost comical because not only does Stannis refuse the peach offered to him, he is mystified by it as well.

"Renly offered me a peach. At our parley. Mocked me, defied me, threatened me, and offered me a peach. I thought he was drawing a blade and went for mine own. Was that his purpose, to make me show fear? Or was it one of his pointless jests? When he spoke of how sweet the peach was, did his words have some hidden meaning?" The king gave a shake of his head, like a dog shaking a rabbit to snap its neck. "Only Renly could vex me so with a piece of fruit. He brought his doom on himself with his treason, but I did love him, Davos. I know that now. I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother’s peach ."

The concepts of desire and lust are so foreign to Stannis, he simply cannot comprehend his brother's "peach" or its purpose.

Moving onto SOS, we see whores actually called peaches at the brothel in Stone Sept, the Peach, where Arya and Gendry spend an evening while traveling with the BWB. So we have young and buxomy whores being called peaches, and later we hear the story about Robert staying at the peach during his rebellion and emerging during the Battle of the Bells. So we have the traditional lust and desire of the peach, as well as the peaches being surrounded by death at the battle. My favorite part of this scene is Gendry refusing the peach, Bella:

"I’m named Bella," the girl told Gendry. " For the battle. I bet I could ring your bell, too. You want to?" "No," he said gruffly. "I bet you do." She ran a hand along his arm. " I don’t cost nothing to friends of Thoros and the lightning lord. " "No, I said."

I really like this because Gendry refuses the peach offered to him, and by doing so it probably saves his life. Those who partake in incest are cursed by the gods, and Gendry refuses.

The only other reference to peaches in Storm is Stannis thinking of his brother again, but the imagery is very appropriate:

Renly and his peach. in my dreams I see the juice running from his mouth, the blood from his throat.

The next time peaches come up with any real relevance is in DWD, and this is from an Asha chapter:

When she made him try a bite, the juice ran down his chin, and she had to kiss it clean. That night they’d spent devouring peaches and each other, and by the time daylight returned Asha was sated and sticky and as happy as she’d ever been. Was that six years ago, or seven? Summer was a fading memory, and it had been three years since Asha last enjoyed a peach. She still enjoyed Qarl, though.

So we have the comparison again of peaches with sexual desire. In this instance Qarl is the peach for Asha, the man she desires. What's interesting about Asha is that while she accepts a sexual relationship with Qarl, she also thinks:

She would have married Qarl, and gladly, but she was Lord Balon’s daughter and he was common- born, the grandson of a thrall.

I think this is important because in this sense Asha refuses the peach and so does not die from it. The peach memory is right before the Northmen led by Stannis attack Deepwood Motte, so again we have foreshadowing of death associated with the peach.

I also did a little research on peaches in literature and general peach symbolism. I found that peaches could mean anything from original sin of Eve with the apple and temptation, to longevity and immortality in life, to being a type of protective talisman. Peaches originally come from Asia, and were not known to Europeans until after the middle ages, and were mainly used in art paintings originally. I think Martin takes a much more contemporary, pop-culture view of peaches by associating them with sexual desire as he does. Also, I'm not sure if this was intended, but I'm strongly reminded of the Wheel of Time series, where peaches are actually poisonous fruits that kill anyone who eats one. I see Martin as a hybrid of these 2 concepts, with peaches in ASOIAF being both delicious and tempting, but also poisonous if you accept them.

Anyways, sorry about the giant wall of text everyone, but I just found this all very interesting. Let me know your thoughts. Also, I did not quote everytime a peach is referened. There are a lot of references to facial hair being called peach fuzz, and some other times where peaches are referenced, but sometimes I think a peach is just a peach, and not every scene has deeper symbolism.

[Corvo Attano]

There are too many peach-based threads..

[Moon-Pale Maiden]

I love this post. Interesting and insightful. I had myself wondered why fruit was always described in such sensous detail, especially with regard to the juice running down faces, etc. I could never put my finger on it, but you have.

Eating a ripe peach is akin to abandoning yourself to your pure enjoyment without temperment which can lead to risky behavior and death. The whole theme is moderation vs. temptation. Eve reaches for the forbidden fruit and becomes cursed. In Westeros, the forbidden fruit is the peach and characters who give into the temptation of the forbidden fruit must pay the consequences.

When I started to read further, I noticed there are descriptions of other fruit, pears and pomegranites and blood oranges.. you could spend an hour at least trying to read into all, but one thing that stands out is the description of the overripe blood oranges plopping on the ground while Doran sits silently staring out into the pools at the water garden. Doran is crippled with gout and very slow and deliberate in his rule, some would say, hesitant to act or make bold moves. Here he is watching children enjoy the pools, full of life, while overripe blood oranges fall uneaten and wasted all around him. It seems to symbolize life not lived; opportunities not taken, the antithesis of passion.

[Not a kneeler]

I notived the frequency of betrayal associated with peaches. When Robert talks of the peach orchards in the south, just before then I think, Robert has made a joke about Ned hiding KIngs under the snow which any of us who buy into the R+L=J theory find hilarious. But, at the same time, Ned is betraying his king by hiding that. If Robert knew about Jon he would kill him.

Next we have Bran enjoying a peach just before he betrays his mother by climbing which he promised his mother he would not do.

Jorah offers Dany a peach, but he is sending messages to King's Landing about her.

Then there's a referral to the peach fuzz on Lancel's head. We all know what Lancel did. Several things, in fact.

Every time peaches are mentioned someone is betraying someone, or their principles, or something. On the few times when no betrayal is apparent we find out about it later.

Note to self - in the next book, look for peaches.

[Malgarroth]

I could eat a peach for hours...

Sorry, had to quote Face-Off there, I couldn't resist.

But it highlights the point however vaguely about peaches being connected to sexual desire and temptation.

Very insightful post, kudos. Something to think about.

[A Crow Come Over]

There was a thread a few weeks ago about Renly's peach, and the symbolism this was supposed to represent. The majority of responses were along the lines of "sometimes a peach is just a peach", which I found disappointing because I always thought peaches were very symbolic in the story. So I did some research and found some definite consistencies whenver peaches appear in the story. Peaches are mentioned several times and are always assoicated with sexual desire and more often than not are associated with death, either outright or foreshadowed. Specifically, whenever a character seems to give in to temptation, and partake in the eating of a peach, which would be a metaphor for doing that which they desire (which is sexual in most cases, but not all), it usually results in that character's death, whereas when a character refuses a peach, they haven't died (not yet anyways).

The first time peaches are mentioned is probably the best example the symbolism of them, and is during the conversation between Ned and Robert:

So here we have the recurring themes associated with peaches that appear though out the rest of the series. We have the fruit, specifically the peaches, being used to describe how desirous the South can be, followed by a very lusty description of women in the South. Apart from the conversation taking place in the crypts of Winterfell and surrounded by death, there is a certain amount of forshadowing from this quote because Robert has been partaking in these "peachy" desires for some time, and is alluring Ned to partake is well. Ned eventually ends up going South with Robert, so he accepted the peach here, and both Ned and Robert end up dead.

The only other real example of peaches in GOT is in a Bran POV, and is a little unusual for the normal peach symbolism, but works as well:

Here the peach that is used as a metaphor is a "winter peach". I like this because, while Bran is too young to have any sort of sexual desires, climbing for him is a desire that he loves, and so it is a "winter peach" for him, not a normal Southern peach which is more of a sexual metaphor. Again we have something that a character desires, and although Bran doesn't die from it, the accepts his "winter peach" which is climbing and ends up having his fall, goes into a coma, is paralyzed and almost dies.

Moving onto COK, we have more with peaches, the first being a quote with Dany and Jorah:

There's a lot going on with this quote. First, we have a peach tree growing in what the Dothraki called the City of Ghosts, a city filled with bones and looks to be long dead. So again, we have a peach surrounded by death. The second layer here is Jorah, and his desire for Dany, and after this quote Jorah goes on to tell Dany about his second wife and that story. The story from Jorah is basically the "peach motif" in a nutshell. He finds a woman he desires, and accepts the peach, the woman, and marries her. Eventually things go wrong and Jorah must face either exile or death because of her. The third layer of this scene is from Dany's point of view, which is what the peach represents to her. In her mind, the peach and the peach tree are representations of a safe place, a place where her people can stay and where her dragons can grow. In this sense, Dany is being offered a peach of security and safety, something she strongly desires after her trek through the red waste. Dany however rejects this peach, and moves onto Qarth and her story from there. So while Dany accepts the physical peach, she rejects both the comforts of the city as well as Jorah himself later on, which is why she hasn't died from it.

Now moving onto to everyone's favorite peach, Renly's:

Once again there is a lot going on with this scene. We have a peach in the center of a parly between to opposing armies, so we have a peach, yet again, surrounded by death. For Renly, he has no problems accepting the peach presented to him. The peach to Renly is all about desire, with little to no regard for the consequences. He seeks to be king because of his relationship with Loras, whom he desires. He believes he should rightfully be king because of the desires of the people, and he feels that Stannis should accept the fact that people don't love him nor want him as king. The peach for Renly is everything he desires, gaining the love of the populace, and being with the man he loves, Loras. All of his motivations can be traced to desire, sexual and other, and he accepts the peach, eats it, and dies from it.

Stannis on the other hand, is almost the complete opposite. By all acounts, Stannis finds pleasure in nothing, and his motivatoins are driven by tradition, law, and honor. This is almost comical because not only does Stannis refuse the peach offered to him, he is mystified by it as well.

The concepts of desire and lust are so foreign to Stannis, he simply cannot comprehend his brother's "peach" or its purpose.

Moving onto SOS, we see whores actually called peaches at the brothel in Stone Sept, the Peach, where Arya and Gendry spend an evening while traveling with the BWB. So we have young and buxomy whores being called peaches, and later we hear the story about Robert staying at the peach during his rebellion and emerging during the Battle of the Bells. So we have the traditional lust and desire of the peach, as well as the peaches being surrounded by death at the battle. My favorite part of this scene is Gendry refusing the peach, Bella:

I really like this because Gendry refuses the peach offered to him, and by doing so it probably saves his life. Those who partake in incest are cursed by the gods, and Gendry refuses.

The only other reference to peaches in Storm is Stannis thinking of his brother again, but the imagery is very appropriate:

The next time peaches come up with any real relevance is in DWD, and this is from an Asha chapter:

So we have the comparison again of peaches with sexual desire. In this instance Qarl is the peach for Asha, the man she desires. What's interesting about Asha is that while she accepts a sexual relationship with Qarl, she also thinks:

I think this is important because in this sense Asha refuses the peach and so does not die from it. The peach memory is right before the Northmen led by Stannis attack Deepwood Motte, so again we have foreshadowing of death associated with the peach.

I also did a little research on peaches in literature and general peach symbolism. I found that peaches could mean anything from original sin of Eve with the apple and temptation, to longevity and immortality in life, to being a type of protective talisman. Peaches originally come from Asia, and were not known to Europeans until after the middle ages, and were mainly used in art paintings originally. I think Martin takes a much more contemporary, pop-culture view of peaches by associating them with sexual desire as he does. Also, I'm not sure if this was intended, but I'm strongly reminded of the Wheel of Time series, where peaches are actually poisonous fruits that kill anyone who eats one. I see Martin as a hybrid of these 2 concepts, with peaches in ASOIAF being both delicious and tempting, but also poisonous if you accept them.

Anyways, sorry about the giant wall of text everyone, but I just found this all very interesting. Let me know your thoughts. Also, I did not quote everytime a peach is referened. There are a lot of references to facial hair being called peach fuzz, and some other times where peaches are referenced, but sometimes I think a peach is just a peach, and not every scene has deeper symbolism.

well done sir, definite connection

[Groat]

I love this post. Interesting and insightful. I had myself wondered why fruit was always described in such sensous detail, especially with regard to the juice running down faces, etc. I could never put my finger on it, but you have.

Eating a ripe peach is akin to abandoning yourself to your pure enjoyment without temperment which can lead to risky behavior and death. The whole theme is moderation vs. temptation. Eve reaches for the forbidden fruit and becomes cursed. In Westeros, the forbidden fruit is the peach and characters who give into the temptation of the forbidden fruit must pay the consequences.

When I started to read further, I noticed there are descriptions of other fruit, pears and pomegranites and blood oranges.. you could spend an hour at least trying to read into all, but one thing that stands out is the description of the overripe blood oranges plopping on the ground while Doran sits silently staring out into the pools at the water garden. Doran is crippled with gout and very slow and deliberate in his rule, some would say, hesitant to act or make bold moves. Here he is watching children enjoy the pools, full of life, while overripe blood oranges fall uneaten and wasted all around him. It seems to symbolize life not lived; opportunities not taken, the antithesis of passion.

Thanks Moon-Pale Maiden, and thanks to everything with the nice sentiments. I always viewed the food that is repeatedly brought up as kind of erroneous and superfluous, just Martin adding a bit of fluff to the story, but I really think there is a lot of symbolism with all the food types he mentions, so looking up different fruits and meats could be a very interesting exercise. I loved what you said about Doran and the blood oranges, very cool. I think 2 other food types that merit some looking into would be lemons, both Sansa and Dany see lemons as symbols of childhood and innocence, as well as boars. Boars seem to come up often on military campaigns, and the ultimate alpha male Robert was slain by a boar. Plus boars attack unlike any other animal; they don't bite or scratch, they gore with a phallus shaped tusk.

[Lady Arya's Song]

Groat that was very well done! Definite connections!

Here is another character that might be marked for betrayal and death

Spoiler below

The boy was half in love with her, she knew. He fears me, he wants me, and he worships me. (Melisandre looking at young Devan)

Devan's cheeks and chin were dusted with blond hair, a fuzz that would have shamed a proper peach.

[The guy from the Vale]

This reminds me of when someone pointed out that whenever someone feasted on a boar during the books, there was a shift in power. Cersei ate the boar that killed Robert; Roose feasted on boar before heading for the Twins; boar was also served during the purple wedding. In an interesting reversal, a boar ate the entrails of a dead pit fighter when Drogon landed in the fighting pit. Jon thinks of Borroq moments before getting stabbed.

I think there's a lot of value trying to decode the food code in these books. The peach and boar examples seem to be the most obvious, but there might well be others... one idea was that of Lemoncakes symbolizing innocence and naiveté.

[Penguin king]

On the subject of eating peaches, T.S. Eliot's 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' contains the line 'do I dare to eat a peach?' and Eat a Peach was the title of a 1972 double album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band. There is also some internet speculation that eating a peach is a metaphor for Cunnilingus.

Not sure if any of this ties in with GRRM's symbolic use of the peach, but if figure it's worth mentioning.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

This looks like my kind of thread.

[A Crow Come Over]

I notived the frequency of betrayal associated with peaches. When Robert talks of the peach orchards in the south, just before then I think, Robert has made a joke about Ned hiding KIngs under the snow which any of us who buy into the R+L=J theory find hilarious. But, at the same time, Ned is betraying his king by hiding that. If Robert knew about Jon he would kill him.

That quote is one of the most mis-represented lines in the whole series, he said the PEOPLE were hiding in the snow, not Kings.

[The guy from the Vale]

Yeah, but people hiding from Robert under the (name of) Snow is still pretty funny and makes only sense in the context of R+L=J regardless.

[The Mother of The Others]

Women use apples to tempt you into disaster, men tempt with the peach. It's such a manly fruit that it's seen as a socially acceptible tool of seduction by other men. It is known.

[Fire Eater]

ASoS Cat's description of dead Willem Lannister:

The blond boy had been trying to grow a beard. Pale yellow peach fuzz covered his cheeks.

AFfC Cersei's description of Lancel:

To call it peach fuzz would have given insult to the peach.

This foreshadows Lancel's death, which will be at the hands of Robert Strong in Cersei's trial by combat.

Arya being addressed in ASoS:

"Well aren't you a pretty little peach?"

This foreshadows her association with death.

I think it fits with that peaches are a summer fruit, think along the lines of whom Cat called "the knights of summer" who were dying like flies with winter approaching.

[team wench]

I see the point of peaches and sexual desire/temptation/treason/death.

Peaches might as well symbolize the falling into temptation(whatever it is your desire) = death

Only the ones who are pacient will get their desire fullfilled, not the summer children/knights who rush into death, but the one`s who are preparing themself to survive the winter. As Sansa rejecting the pomegranate.

[Fire Eater]

Only the ones who are patient will get their desire fulfilled, not the summer children/knights who rush into death, but the one`s who are preparing themselves to survive the winter. As Sansa rejecting the pomegranate.

Won't argue with that, the summer children are like Achilles, going to war to achieve their glory only to meet their doom. Arianne clearly shows the characteristics of a summer child.

[A Crow Come Over]

We must now crack the food code, what does lamprey pie mean?!?!?

[Ser Pollo Loco]

I notived the frequency of betrayal associated with peaches. When Robert talks of the peach orchards in the south, just before then I think, Robert has made a joke about Ned hiding KIngs under the snow which any of us who buy into the R+L=J theory find hilarious. But, at the same time, Ned is betraying his king by hiding that. If Robert knew about Jon he would kill him.

Next we have Bran enjoying a peach just before he betrays his mother by climbing which he promised his mother he would not do.

Jorah offers Dany a peach, but he is sending messages to King's Landing about her.

Then there's a referral to the peach fuzz on Lancel's head. We all know what Lancel did. Several things, in fact.

Every time peaches are mentioned someone is betraying someone, or their principles, or something. On the few times when no betrayal is apparent we find out about it later.

Note to self - in the next book, look for peaches.

I think you might be on to something, Pycelle mentions peaches when talking to Eddard about the book with all the family descriptions (he knows the truth), and Sansa eats peaches when Joffery sets her aside and Tyrion eats them at the wedding

[Ragnorak]

Groat, wonderful job. Nothing to add just wanted to thank you because I'm sure this will be helpful in numerous reread threads.