BRAN’S GROWING POWERS AFTER his FINAL POV in ADwD

[evita mgfs]

On 3/26/2016 at 10:40 PM, Wizz-The-Smith said:

Hi Evita!  So many good posts!  Thanks for your new thoughts/essays as always.  And by the way a wonderful conversation with Ravenous Reader, very enjoyable reading. 

I had my eye on the mist for sure, and the Mercy chapter is full of such text, so loved your thoughts in this post.  I will have to make a list of notes with all the evidences you/we have come up with, the list grows.  That said, I think there are some possibilities in Arya's two chapters after Bran III ADWD, 'The Blind Girl and The Ugly Little Girl' that suggest Bran/BR's presence in the elements. 

From The Blind Girl...............

She could tell that the fog was thick from the clammy way her clothes clung to her and the damp feeling of the air on her bare hands.  The mists of Braavos did queer things to sounds as well, she had found.  Half the city will be half-blind tonight.

The mist was thick again, perhaps not quite Mercy standard but thick nonetheless.  And the fact it does queer things to sound I thought may pique your interest with all you've posted about George playing with such techniques.  But it is the 'half the city will be half-blind tonight' that really caught my attention.  At first I thought this screamed of only BR, with the mist insinuation and half-blind reference, but on another glance is there a clever play on words here? 

If the mists cover the whole city[?] and only half the city is half-blind [Bloodraven] does these leave room for another presence in the other half? [Bran?]  This is perhaps looking too much into the text, but hey, I thought it worth a post, and I do think we should looking for multiple opportunities of a presence to look for possibilities of training going on.     The half-blind certainly sounds like BR, yet possible hints of Bran to come.

Another thing that grabbed my attention was when Arya was on her way to Pynto's she passed many an establishment and thought..................

'Each place had it's own sound too................then......................The Foghouse was always crowded with polemen off the serpant boats, arguing about gods and courtesans and whether or not the sealord was a fool'   

I wonder if the polemen were debating the gods sending the fog?  I assume the Foghouse is a refuge of sorts when the fog is too thick for the polemen to ply their trade?  It must be a pain in their.......... Anyway, the word association in the same sentence between the Foghouse and the gods was enough to make me ponder. 

To keep to the elements, onto 'The Ugly Little Girl'.......................

When at last day came to Braavos, it came grey and dark and overcast.  The girl had hoped for fog, but the gods ignored her prayers as gods so often did.  The air was clear and cold, and the wind had a nasty bite to it.  A good day for death, she thought.  Unbidden, her prayer came to her lips.  Ser Gregor, Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling, Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Queen Cersei.  She mouthed the names silently.  In the House of Black and White, you never know who might be listening.

Another mention of grey even with no fog/mists, yet another mention of fog and gods in the same sentence, but no actual mist/fog.  Yet we as 'Bran's growing powers' followers could be instantly drawn to the next line a 'cold wind with a nasty bite.'  Sounds rather harsh, but with all we have researched this has to be considered as a possible substitute for the fog in this instance, and in fact a 'biting wind' is has a possibility of that Stark/Direwolf presence about it, and therefore, maybe Bran? It is certainly privy to her 'silent prayer', whether a presence heard the prayer or not, the Mercy chapter is very interesting off the back of it.  And then the little textual teaser that 'you never know who might be listening.'  Again with all we are looking for this is a provocative line, who is listening indeed?      

Finally, once Arya is positioned to take out the old man we get some familiar text......................

She did not intend to enter.  Instead she perched atop a wooden piling twenty yards away as the blustery wind tugged at her cloak with ghostly fingers.  Even on a cold grey day like this, the harbour was a busy place....................  A red priest swept past, his scarlet and crimson robes snapping in the wind.

So as Arya eyes her target the lack of mist/fog is replaced by the 'blustery wind that tugs at her cloak with ghostly fingers.'  This is of course almost the same text as George used to describe Bran in the wind when 'pulling Theon's hood with ghostly fingers.  This is all very cool, how far can these powers potentially go?  

There is also another grey reference, and interestingly the wind snapping around a red priests robe.  We have seen the wind playing with Mel's robes as well in Jon's chapters, perhaps nothing but again maybe worth noting.  Anyway, I think these thoughts are worth consideration and fit well with what you've found surrounding the mist/fog/elements.   

There is obviously a lot more in these chapters, but your Mercy/mist post had me thinking.  I will continue to search, and I have plenty to read and reply to in the meanwhile.  Thanks as ever for your hard work!      

    

HELLO AGAIN, WIZZ-THE-SMITH!  THANKS FOR ANOTHER AWESOME CONTRIBUTION!

Hi Evita!  So many good posts!  Thanks for your new thoughts/essays as always.  And by the way a wonderful conversation with Ravenous Reader, very enjoyable reading.  

I had my eye on the mist for sure, and the Mercy chapter is full of such text, so loved your thoughts in this post.  I will have to make a list of notes with all the evidences you/we have come up with, the list grows.  That said, I think there are some possibilities in Arya's two chapters after Bran III ADWD, 'The Blind Girl and The Ugly Little Girl' that suggest Bran/BR's presence in the elements. 

From The Blind Girl...............

She could tell that the fog was thick from the clammy way her clothes clung to her and the damp feeling of the air on her bare hands.  The mists of Braavos did queer things to sounds as well, she had found.  Half the city will be half-blind tonight.

The mist was thick again, perhaps not quite Mercy standard but thick nonetheless.  And the fact it does queer things to sound I thought may pique your interest with all you've posted about George playing with such techniques.  But it is the 'half the city will be half-blind tonight' that really caught my attention.  At first I thought this screamed of only BR, with the mist insinuation and half-blind reference, but on another glance is there a clever play on words here? 

If the mists cover the whole city[?] and only half the city is half-blind [Bloodraven] does these leave room for another presence in the other half? [Bran?]  This is perhaps looking too much into the text, but hey, I thought it worth a post, and I do think we should looking for multiple opportunities of a presence to look for possibilities of training going on.     The half-blind certainly sounds like BR, yet possible hints of Bran to come.

·        I never thought of Bloodraven’s powers manifesting themselves as far as Bran’s, but I think that is because Leaf tells us so much of him has gone into the tree, which to me means that Bran, by default, is absorbing all that once was – and is – Bloodraven.  Which makes me think that Bran is sharing what we have learned is BLOOD OF THE DRAGON?????  Does that even make any sense?

·        If this theorizing is true, then Bran WILL be able to ride – or at least warg – a dragon!  Even though everyone is looking for the shared blood of wolf and dragon, or ice and fire, in Jon Snow, it may actually be BRAN who will have blood of the dragon through his mystical communication with the last greenseer!

·        More later!

[evita mgfs]

On 3/23/2016 at 6:03 PM, ravenous reader said:

beautiful thread, evita mgfs!  Have read some of your posts elsewhere, and always enjoy them  (I had actually wanted to comment on some of your interesting thoughts regarding Jaime's karmic/poetic justice in relation to Bran ('Take my hand...') in one of the other threads, before it was removed...).  Regarding this thread, I don't have much to add apart from a few associative leaps that sprung to mind as I was reading!  Not having commented on a 're-read' thread before, and being relatively new to the forum, I'm not sure whether my observations are appropriate here; I tend to think 'out of the box,' so I may be inadvertently 'breaking' some 'rules'...(you will have to orient me, should you feel these observations would be more relevant elsewhere), since I will link several texts and passages rather imaginatively-- moreover, I will not directly discuss Bran, though the astute reader will be able to identify that the themes developed here do follow on from previously-raised and -discussed ones, and indeed do have a bearing for Bran and those close to him:

The 'grey-fog/death/curtains/masks/deception/fraudulence/mummery' motif reminded me of three famous quotations from elsewhere in the literary canon, drawn from sources as diverse as the Bible, Shakespeare, and that great poetic mystic 'seer' William Blake:

Thus, there is a hitch in human perception itself -- at once obfuscating and revealing; an opening and a closing; redemptive and damning -- preventing us from discriminating effectively, while at the same time paradoxically allowing any discrimination (of details, of understanding, of sifting the 'light' from the 'dark,' 'good' from the 'bad, the 'true' from 'the false,' all the false dichotomies etc., i.e. of the potential for 'sense-making' itself) at all to take place.  The images you highlighted, some of which I've selected below, vividly outline this darkly scintillating paradox:

The sinister aspect of these motifs is recapitulated elsewhere, for example in the images which crowd upon Catelyn's consciousness as she rides up to face her fate, at once keenly ignorant and on some level dimly aware of the horror riding up to meet her, in an evocative text which I shall unpack below:

Pregnant with significance, there is much to elaborate, so I will highlight only a few key moments: 

• Here, the figure looming (at once painted as lifelike and ghostly) over proceedings is 'The Twins' also known as 'The Crossing,' perhaps an ominous reference, in the sense of the bridge in actual fact representing the final crossing for Cat and Rob and Grey Wind (the latter who momentarily budged/'balked' at that bridge, mournfully howling at that fatal threshold to no avail...in the end, the direwolf's words were indeed so much grey wind, wasted as his communication was on his dazzled and deaf human counterpart; unlike Jon who heeds and is in tune with his direwolf, Rob is, at this point, lost...)-- which ironically coincides with no crossing at all in that they were barred, despite the elaborate plans they had conceived for the(ir) future/s, from proceeding further in this war and in this life -- the drab and dizzying watery world of fog and mirages constituting a reference to the passage of the dead across the river of the Underworld, mirroring the mythological motif you referenced:

• On some level, as I mentioned, Catelyn seems to be unnerved by the greyness and turbulence of the elements, presaging the trap into which they are swimming, ineluctably swept along as they are by the rising tide of all their fatal choices and their consequences ('Roslin caught a fine fat trout...').  Interestingly, since her encounter with Bran's would-be assassin, and having witnessed the otherworldly symbiosis between her fey son and his wolf-savior-summer-shadow, it is Catelyn - a Tully, adherent of the new gods -- who has grown in her ability to read behind the world at face value and sense/see/respect the portentous signs abounding the bounded world -- usually a Stark/old-gods talent.  In contrast, both Rob and Ned fail to embrace their 'wolf' with fatal consequences, while Catelyn, the fish, becomes more and more 'she-wolf,' as Jaime observed!  Ironically, it is Catelyn who time and time again entreaties Rob to respect and heed his wolf's sacred message.  Sadly, it is Catelyn, she who once felt estranged from the weirwood at Winterfell, who grows luminously closer to the heart of the old gods, the further away from Winterfell she travels, as she nears death at the river.  Perhaps her insight here at the crossing specifically is also partly due to her watery, fishlike, quicksilver, mercurial nature; Riverrun her spiritual home -- from which every Tully draws his/her life, and to which every Tully must symbolically and literally return in the Tully death-rite -- is after all also built on another critical crossing.  In this light, the pathos of the shadowy banners, impossible to distinguish in the fog (of war) as friend vs. foe ('the rain made it impossible to distinguish colors and devices'), announcing her fate, 'hanging like so many drowned cats,' echoes not only Arya's 'in the fog all cats are grey...in the fog all men are killers,' and Jon's/Melisandre's 'daggers in the dark,' but also Cat's immediate fate, being hanged/almost decapitated and then tossed into the river, to become, literally, 'a drowned cat.'
• Finally, a note on the mummer's farce.  As you underscored, illustrating the point with numerous fine examples, there is a recurring motif in the saga of the fluidity of identity, which to some extent can be manipulated ('playing the game' or 'acting the part') -- but on another essential level (to reiterate our earlier stated paradox) is intrinsic to the given parameters of what it means to be human at the interface of the unknown, which includes the indeterminacy of both other people and other forces working beyond human comprehension/apprehension.  The shifting nature of identity includes a proliferation of various guises such as: shapeshifting, skinchanging, warging, greenseeing, flame-reading, shadowbinding, masquerading as another, wearing faces false and true, characters such as parrots, mockingbirds, patchfaces, jinglebells, dragons-true-and-false, etc.  In the particular passage I quoted, the Freys are described as wearing coarse, hidden, false faces which are difficult for Catelyn to place/read ('the face she saw beneath his hood...), yet nonetheless, or perhaps on account of this inscrutability, menacing (...was fleshy, broad and stupid' [the irony being that the Starks and their banners, from the perspective of their enemies and the readers, on a re-reading retrospectively, are the ones who, in this context, are easy to read as the 'thick, stupid' ones here walking into a trap like lambs, not wolves, to the slaughter). One of the faces is bearded (facial hair obscuring the features); another looks 'constipated,' hinting at some foul corruption currently withheld from view, but threatening imminent expulsion.  Continuing the 'slipping-the-skins/clothing' metaphor further, the Freys and their henchmen make an appearance, wrapping their treacherous selves in 'heavy cloaks of thick, grey wool' (hinting at the lack of transparency and therefore potential 'shadiness' of their intentions) which are at the same time described as 'thin skins' (implying these tenuous coverings, though 'thick,' may be removed at will, to reveal the 'sharp tongue' lurking behind the veil)...Indeed, this is exactly what transpires at the 'false nuptials' of the Red Wedding (can any nuptials in Westeros ever be anything other than 'false,' I wonder...but, I digress!)  The portcullis is raised as if in welcome (more like a guillotine), the party enters (more like being devoured by the iron jaws of the gate, as it consumes them and presages the 'bloody feast' to come); the curtain goes up on the mummer's farce (even the musicians -- fittingly called 'the players' -- are Lannister/Bolton assassins in disguise).  Then, 'with scarcely a moment's respite, they began to play a very different sort of song,' the music transitions into the more somber, menacing tones of the 'Rains' of Castamere (while outside the hall, the rains lash like furious tears, together with Grey Wind lashing in furious futility to free himself from his bondage; 'Lord Walder raised a hand, and the music stopped, all but one drum. Catelyn heard the crash of distant battle, and closer the wild howling of a wolf. Grey Wind, she remembered too late.') The music has stopped, its message crystal-clear now.  Thus, the farcical tragedy/tragic farce enters its final act, culminating in the sharp onslaught (as sharp as Walder Frey's sharp, remorseless tongue) of quarrels and daggers unleashed without mercy (in this respect, it is interesting that the word 'quarrels' is used instead of 'arrows,' representing both the 'quarrel' as arrow as well as the 'quarrel' as disagreement/falling-out with Walder Frey -- quarrels thus a suitable consequence of the quarrel which precipitated them).  As the curtain goes up, the veil is lifted -- and the curtain comes down on Cat, Rob, Grey Wind and the rest. 'The players in the gallery had finally gotten both king and queen down to their name-day suits,' signifying that the coverings are coming off, the 'grey' ones are 'showing their true colors,' and that color is red in tooth and claw.  All artifice aside-- leaving only naked silence and shattered illusions, amidst the only one true sound -- the lone cry of an abandoned wolf. 

RAVENOUS READER:  I have completed addressing your MARVELOUS reply, and I hope I have provided you with much and more to chew on.

Oh, I was away in the wilderness for the weekend, and no internet connection!  I do have more to address in this post of yours, regarding the portcullis, but I have to go through my notes!  I have a theory about the windows and the doorways I am sure you will devour with your direwolf/cat’s teeth!

Again, your writing and analytical thought are awesome!

• Finally, a note on the mummer's farce.  As you underscored, illustrating the point with numerous fine examples, there is a recurring motif in the saga of the fluidity of identity, which to some extent can be manipulated ('playing the game' or 'acting the part') -- but on another essential level (to reiterate our earlier stated paradox) is intrinsic to the given parameters of what it means to be human at the interface of the unknown, which includes the indeterminacy of both other people and other forces working beyond human comprehension/apprehension. 

• This is definitely on point, and even though I want to use Arya to exemplify “the fluidity of identity”, a tool she has at her disposal that permits her to play the game and act her part, other POV characters wear false faces from day to day, not only when they wish to remain anonymous while committing a crime and not only when they set foot on a stage before an eager audience.

• I imagine we could make a case for all of Martin’s characters masquerading as another persona at times – some even take new names, wearing disguises/costumes, following a script, and/or seeking their true selves.

The shifting nature of identity includes a proliferation of various guises such as: shapeshifting, skinchanging, warging, greenseeing, flame-reading, shadowbinding, masquerading as another, wearing faces false and true, characters such as parrots, mockingbirds, patchfaces, jinglebells, dragons-true-and-false, etc.

·       An impressive list of pseudo identities that I will need to bookmark for reference when I am inspired to write about such thematic elements.  I promise to cite YOU as my source for the material.

 

·         In the particular passage I quoted, the Freys are described as wearing coarse, hidden, false faces which are difficult for Catelyn to place/read ('the face she saw beneath his hood...), yet nonetheless, or perhaps on account of this inscrutability, menacing (...was fleshy, broad and stupid' [the irony being that the Starks and their banners, from the perspective of their enemies and the readers, on a re-reading retrospectively, are the ones who, in this context, are easy to read as the 'thick, stupid' ones here walking into a trap like lambs, not wolves, to the slaughter). One of the faces is bearded (facial hair obscuring the features); another looks 'constipated,' hinting at some foul corruption currently withheld from view, but threatening imminent expulsion. 

 

 

·       Again, I think of Gatsby, and I am referencing passages from
AGoT to illustrate:

·       Guests at Gatsby’s parties often had strange names that define them as “unsavory” individuals who attend parties with or without invitation, such as Rot Gut Ferret. Here we have “Eon Hunter”, who is nearly crippled with gout and even older than Jon Arryn – an “eon” older - yet he is present “hunting” Lady Lysa to be his wife. A hunchback mans the puppet show. Lyn Corbray has a name that sounds like a snake “Cobra”, and he has a shady reputation: reckless, hot-tempered, and disinterested in the ladies. Even Maester Coleman is “tipsy” from drink and weird in appearance: “She turned to behold Maester Colemon, a cup of wine in his hand. "He was planning to send the boy to Dragonstone for fostering, you know . . . oh, but I'm speaking out of turn." The apple of his throat bobbed anxiously beneath the loose maester's chain. "I fear I've had too much of Lord Hunter's excellent wine. The prospect of bloodshed has my nerves all a-fray . . . "

·       Since you mentioned constipated, did you know that Dolorous Edd’s last name is Toillet – or TOILET?  Poor Edd – Martin surrounds him with urine, feces, and vomit!

·       I LOVE that you are working with Catelyn – a character often totally misunderstood by some Forum members. She is a Mother, part Cat and Part Wolf, maybe not in the blood, but she rested her head next to a wolf for years, and gave birth to her own litter.

·       Do we judge her too harshly because of her coldness toward the bastard Jon Snow?  If only Ned had trusted her enough to tell her the truth!  How much pain he could have spared his lady wife!

 Continuing the 'slipping-the-skins/clothing' metaphor further, the Freys and their henchmen make an appearance, wrapping their treacherous selves in 'heavy cloaks of thick, grey wool' (hinting at the lack of transparency and therefore potential 'shadiness' of their  intentions) which are at the same time described as 'thin skins' (implying these tenuous coverings, though 'thick,' may be removed at will, to reveal the 'sharp tongue' lurking behind the veil)...Indeed, this is exactly what transpires at the 'false nuptials' of the Red Wedding (can any nuptials in Westeros ever be anything other than 'false,' I wonder...but, I digress!) 

The portcullis is raised as if in welcome (more like a guillotine), the party enters (more like being devoured by the iron jaws of the gate, as it consumes them and presages the 'bloody feast' to come); the curtain goes up on the mummer's farce (even the musicians -- fittingly called 'the players' -- are Lannister/Bolton assassins in disguise).  Then, 'with scarcely a moment's respite, they began to play a very different sort of song,' the music transitions into the more somber, menacing tones of the 'Rains' of Castamere (while outside the hall, the rains lash like furious tears, together with Grey Wind lashing in furious futility to free himself from his bondage; 'Lord Walder raised a hand, and the music stopped, all but one drum. Catelyn heard the crash of distant battle, and closer the wild howling of a wolf. Grey Wind, she remembered too late.') The music has stopped, its message crystal-clear now.  Thus, the farcical tragedy/tragic farce enters its final act, culminating in the sharp onslaught (as sharp as Walder Frey's sharp, remorseless tongue) of quarrels and daggers unleashed without mercy (in this respect, it is interesting that the word 'quarrels' is used instead of 'arrows,' representing both the 'quarrel' as arrow as well as the 'quarrel' as disagreement/falling-out with Walder Frey -- quarrels thus a suitable consequence of the quarrel which precipitated them). 

 

As the curtain goes up, the veil is lifted -- and the curtain comes down on Cat, Rob, Grey Wind and the rest. 'The players in the gallery had finally gotten both king and queen down to their name-day suits,' signifying that the coverings are coming off, the 'grey' ones are 'showing their true colors,' and that color is red in tooth and claw.  All artifice aside-- leaving only naked silence and shattered illusions, amidst the only one true sound -- the lone cry of an abandoned wolf. 

·       Nice!  The shattered illusions  [brilliant] is SO GATSBY!  Here is an excerpt from one of my longer essays comparing aspects and characters from Martin with Fitzgerald:

Winterfell’s Godswood during the Wedding and Gatsby’s Parties during Nick Carraway’s Visit

Gatsby regularly “dispenses starlight to stray moths” by hosting splendid, expensive parties in an effort to recapture his past by luring Daisy’s attendance.  “People were not invited – they went there . . . after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks” (41). Most depart having never met their Host while Nick makes it a mission to meet the enigmatic Gatsby who watches his staging and those upon it from a distance.

Owl-Eyes says, “This fella’s a regular Belasco” (46), a gifted theatrical producer.  Like Belasco, Gatsby mounts an extravagant event that is an illusion, a magic trick, just as he is and the dream he chases.  The Great “Jay” Gatsby is a magician who casts spells that eventually turn to dust.

The Great Greenseer Bran is a magician who sets his theatrical production in the WF godswood, hosting a wedding party for uninvited guests.

·       I love the conclusion: the lone cry of an abandoned wolf.  You certainly have a way with words.

 

[evita mgfs]

On 3/23/2016 at 6:03 PM, ravenous reader said:

snip

The portcullis is raised as if in welcome (more like a guillotine), the party enters (more like being devoured by the iron jaws of the gate, as it consumes them and presages the 'bloody feast' to come); the curtain goes up on the mummer's farce (even the musicians -- fittingly called 'the players' -- are Lannister/Bolton assassins in disguise).  Then, 'with scarcely a moment's respite, they began to play a very different sort of song,' the music transitions into the more somber, menacing tones of the 'Rains' of Castamere (while outside the hall, the rains lash like furious tears, together with Grey Wind lashing in furious futility to free himself from his bondage; 'Lord Walder raised a hand, and the music stopped, all but one drum. Catelyn heard the crash of distant battle, and closer the wild howling of a wolf. Grey Wind, she remembered too late.') 

• snip

Door and Window Symbology in Martin’s Novels

Martin is a strategic writer who spends great time developing his prose POV’s, employing literary techniques deliberately to advance the plot, to build tension, to create poetic language, and much and more.  The fact that he is writing a fantasy that takes place in a Middle Ages-like environment speaks to the fact that he must have a command of that time period in multiple regards in order to create a believable storyline, just as he admittedly incorporates elements of history and multiple mythologies in his work.

My post will include a scholastic source addressing the literary technique of repeating symbols, and a general explanation of the accepted symbologies associated with the “window” as symbol and the “door” as symbol, in which I will attribute  references to Martin’s novels.

In Gerard Beirne’s “Dear Deadbeat – A Literary Agony Column”, he addresses a “window” as a symbol in a literary work, yet what he says can apply to any symbol a writer employs:

 

“But what of the literary significance of the 'window'? Of course it acts as a metaphor. Remember if mentioned once the 'window' is an image, if mentioned more than once, it becomes a symbol.

 

So metaphor and symbolism. So much depends on the intent of the particular story. Windows provide a glimpse out into another world or a glimpse in. They separate with fragility one world from another. On a higher level they may separate chronos from kairos.”

http://deardeadbeat.blogspot.com/2007/07/windows-and-symbolism.html

 

So, my conclusion is that Martin is a master of metaphor, symbol, and motif, and he weaves them in his works fluidly.  His works appeal to first time readers on one level, then further appeal to those readers who are looking for more scholarly fair as well.  [These paragraphs address an earlier poster whose response minimized Martin’s obvious symbolism regarding the door with a face that Sam guides Bran and company through.]

 

 

I copied and pasted a sophomoric assessment of windows and doors as symbols in an article entitled “Symbolism of Doors and Windows in Modern Literature”. 

It follows:

“. . . Windows and doors have been used by writers to discuss personal issues of characters for over a hundred years.
“Emile Bronte popularized the technique in her famous book, Wuthering Heights. Since then, the technique has been used by hundreds of authors including Stephen King, Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft, and even Dan Brown.

“If someone looks through a window, that person will only receive a narrow view of the outside world. That view will only go as far as the person can see out the window. Everything to the left and right or above and below the window will be out of view”:

 

·       Also, there is a separation between the viewer and the outside world. The window has glass so the person is left as a spectator, not as someone who actually has any kind of involvement with the world.

·       People who look through windows in books are showing that they have a narrow view, and are standoffish. These people will watch the world go by from their window, but not do anything about it.

·       People who are scared to look out the window are people that do not want to know what is going on in the world around them. Even though they are still protected by the glass, they are still worried that the world will be too shocking to behold.

·       Sometimes, these people will open the window just to holler out. These are the ones that believe that they have a say in the world that they are not truly a part of.

·       A doorway has a narrow view of the world, but a person can walk through the doorway. The doorway is their opportunity to actually make a difference in the world. People who are more willing to make a difference in the world have an easier time walking through the doorway than others.

Characters in stories who are too scared to walk through a door are also scared about what the world might do to them. They would rather keep that doorway as their shell from the rest of the world.
http://voices.yahoo....ure-374933.html

 

 

EXAMPLES OF WINDOWS AS SYMBOL IN AGOT

The opened window allows into the sickroom the plaintive cries of Bran’s as yet unnamed direwolf pup, and his litter mates Grey Wind and Shaggydog.  Catelyn despises the howling and wants the window closed even though Maester Luwin says the opened window causes Bran’s heart to beat stronger.  Here the window symbolizes Bran’s need for access to the outside world, especially to the healing powers of his direwolf.  Catelyn’s opinion that the window should be closed suggests that she is closing herself off from the cruelties of the outside world, which conflicts with the needs of her son Bran.

In Ned’s POV, he opens ALL the windows while Cat pulls up the blankets. Ned bathes in the cold air, unlike his wife Catelyn who is from the south, and the window emphasizes her separation from the cold, grey north.  Moreover, Ned’s alleged bastard son Jon will also open his window in his quarters at the armory to allow Mormont’s raven access in and out while Jon is about his business.

Sansa is shocked out of social decorum when Arya announces, “I don’t like the queen” and “Myrcella is a little baby”, and that she has no intention of joining the Septa, Queen, and Princess in the wheelhouse for lemon cakes and tea because the wheelhouse has no windows.

Sansa, with her “narrow” view represented by her lack of need for windows, is dismayed by Arya’s assertion that there is much to see from windows. Sansa sees only fields, and farms and holdfasts, while Arya sees the promise of adventure, like a haunted tower, identifying 36 new flowers, and spying a lizard-lion. Sansa, on the other hand, hated every minute of their twelve day trek through the Neck, and the endless black bog, damp and clammy.

Ned opens his windows in WF to look out at the stars and darkness as he considers accepting the office of Hand of the King. 

Arya rejoices when she is permitted to leave the HoB&W as a new identity because it has no windows. 

Bran is pushed from a window, an act meant to end his life before he can reveal the truth hiding behind the window and the door.

From ADwD:  The window also connects to Mel’s visions in her flames – for Martin references “curtains” parting like during a stage show, and even some windows have “shades”, “blinds”, and “curtains”.  So the staging area of Mel’s visions is like a “window”, for many theatrical stages are designed much like a window with side curtains, a valance, and even curtains as backdrops to hide scenery or stage settings for another scene.  According to the wiki on stages, “Since the Italian Renaissance, the most common stage used in the West has been the proscenium stage which may also be referred to as a picture frame stage. The primary feature is a large opening known as the proscenium arch through which the audience views the performance.” http://en.wikipedia....Stage_(theatre)

[These are but a few of many windows, or lack thereof, that have a symbolic significance in the novels.]

My favorite source for literary symbology is the Online Symbolism Dictionary, which had this to say about the symbol of the DOOR:  [http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/D/door.html]

DOOR

“Transition and metamorphosis are the most common ideas represented by the symbol of the door; it is a passage from one place to another, between different states, between lightness and darkness.”

Bran’s transition and/or metamorphosis can be defined by his warging into Summer, ravens, and soon more beasts; furthermore, Bran is able to see through the faces of the weirwoods as he learns his skills as a greenseer.  He realizes, or deepens, his understanding of his talents after passing through the door.

Jon stands in the doorway that separates him from his bedridden brother Bran who is guarded by Jon’s nemesis, Catelyn Stark.  Jon boldly enters the room, bolstered with a new-found courage to face her because he is empowered by his direwolf Ghost at his side.  Jon’s passing this threshold symbolizes his transition or metamorphosis “symbolically” for he ignores Catelyn’s threat to call the guards in order to bid farewell to Bran.  As Jon crosses the threshold, he defies Catelyn’s orders for the first time ever, which shows Jon moving from the shadow of his fourteen-year-old self into his role as a “man full grown” and a recruit as a brother of the Night’s Watch.  “He [Jon] stood in the door for a moment, afraid to speak, afraid to come closer. The window was open. Below, a wolf howled. Ghost heard and lifted his head. Lady Stark looked over. For a moment she did not seem to recognize him. Finally she blinked. "What are you doing here?" [AgoT].

“According to Julien, the act of passing over the threshold signifies that one must leave behind his materialism and personality to confront inner silence and meditation.”

Materialism:  Bran is forced to leave behind his beloved possessions, even his pony, and the comforts afforded to him at Winterfell; he flees, separating himself from his family, crossing the threshold with two new allies, Jojen and Meera, and what is left of his “family”, Hodor and Summer.

Personality:  Bran leaves behind the part of his personality signified by his former self, with working legs, for now as the broken boy he is crippled and cannot use his legs as he once could.  Moreover, Bran seemingly leaves behind his dreams of one day being a knight, an unfortunate reality because of his handicap.  However, Martin may, in the future, give Bran an opportunity to fulfill his aspirations if he uses his powers as a warg to embody a knight [perhaps even through Hodor he will achieve this?]

Confront Silence and Inner Meditation:  Bran’s sitting beside his teacher in the dark, listening to the whispered words, speaks to confronting one’s inner self.  Bran, whether beside BR or on his own, experiences a visionary journey that guides him to the knowledge of his powers as a greenseer.

“ It is abandoning the old and embracing the new; an open door signifies welcome and invites discovery and investigation, while a closed door represents rejection, protection, secrecy, exclusion, and imprisonment.”

Bran “abandons” the old, represented by his life at Winterfell, and passes through an open door to “welcome” both “discovery and investigation” at the warded cave where he will sit a weirwood throne under the tutelage of Bloodraven.

 

“Is a feminine symbol in connection with the hole that it leads to, the vagina; the antithesis of the wall.”

I’m leaving this one alone, but I think the phrase “antithesis of the wall” echoes the Wall in Martin’s fiction, but as a HAPPY COINCIDENCE, and not deliberately by any means.

http://www.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/D/door.html

[evita mgfs]

On 3/26/2016 at 10:40 PM, Wizz-The-Smith said:

snip

    Another mention of grey even with no fog/mists, yet another mention of fog and gods in the same sentence, but no actual mist/fog.  Yet we as 'Bran's growing powers' followers could be instantly drawn to the next line a 'cold wind with a nasty bite.'  Sounds rather harsh, but with all we have researched this has to be considered as a possible substitute for the fog in this instance, and in fact a 'biting wind' is has a possibility of that Stark/Direwolf presence about it, and therefore, maybe Bran? It is certainly privy to her 'silent prayer', whether a presence heard the prayer or not, the Mercy chapter is very interesting off the back of it.  And then the little textual teaser that 'you never know who might be listening.'  Again with all we are looking for this is a provocative line, who is listening indeed? 

    

·       Nice Catches here, Wizz-The-Smith!  And is it not worth noting that the readers are aware, if not Arya, that the list is ever diminishing?  The old gods do not listen, indeed!  “Mercy” is even delivered the very man whom she blames for Syrio’s demise!!

[Wizz-The-Smith]

16 minutes ago, evita mgfs said:

HELLO AGAIN, WIZZ-THE-SMITH!  THANKS FOR ANOTHER AWESOME CONTRIBUTION!

If the mists cover the whole city[?] and only half the city is half-blind [Bloodraven] does these leave room for another presence in the other half? [Bran?]  This is perhaps looking too much into the text, but hey, I thought it worth a post, and I do think we should looking for multiple opportunities of a presence to look for possibilities of training going on.     The half-blind certainly sounds like BR, yet possible hints of Bran to come.

 

·        I never thought of Bloodraven’s powers manifesting themselves as far as Bran’s, but I think that is because Leaf tells us so much of him has gone into the tree, which to me means that Bran, by default, is absorbing all that once was – and is – Bloodraven.  Which makes me think that Bran is sharing what we have learned is BLOOD OF THE DRAGON?????  Does that even make any sense?

 

·        If this theorizing is true, then Bran WILL be able to ride – or at least warg – a dragon!  Even though everyone is looking for the shared blood of wolf and dragon, or ice and fire, in Jon Snow, it may actually be BRAN who will have blood of the dragon through his mystical communication with the last greenseer!

Hey Evita!  I think this theorizing is definitely right, but I also see possibilities of Bloodraven in the text quite a lot, and think that this transition may involve him as trainer at some level, or perhaps there will be a passing of the baton so to speak, as the powerful warg/greenseer takes over from the old hand.  That's why I'm looking for multiple opportunities in the POV's.  If BR is present as well, perhaps it doesn't necessarily mean the absorbing of all that once was etc.... isn't still taking place, there may be a gradual handing over to the new prodigy, if you know what I mean? 

As early as AGOT prologue George has the wind 'whispering through the trees' and making cloaks become 'half alive'. All very Bloodraveny.  As are other examples that have the wind make people 'half blind' with 'knife' references for the cold, etc........  When BR told Bran he would 'learn to see away from the trees' I always assumed that he was doing exactly that all this time, hence the 'whisper through trees' and 'half blind' references throughout the books regards the wind/elements.  We are told in the D&E stories that it is thought he can manifest himself from a mist, this seems like small folk hype, but we know this to absolutely be a possibility.  And in fact, IMO is almost a certainty with the textual references we are getting. 

I totally agree with you that Bran is going to take over and absorb all that BR was and is, but I see this perhaps as a more gradual taking over, and the textual references I see towards BR may fade out as Bran takes over.  Who knows?  But I'm excited by what we're finding, and your point this may strengthen the possibility of Bran warging a dragon is awesome!     

[Wizz-The-Smith]

11 minutes ago, evita mgfs said:

    

 

·       Nice Catches here, Wizz-The-Smith!  And is it not worth noting that the readers are aware, if not Arya, that the list is ever diminishing?  The old gods do not listen, indeed!  “Mercy” is even delivered the very man whom she blames for Syrio’s demise!!

 

Exactly!  I thought this played perfectly into your notion that the old gods may've been listening [and acting] on things said at Winterfell.  That prayer [or a part of it] was answered in her next chapter!     

[evita mgfs]

4 minutes ago, Wizz-The-Smith said:

Hey Evita!  I think this theorizing is definitely right, but I also see possibilities of Bloodraven in the text quite a lot, and think that this transition may involve him as trainer at some level, or perhaps there will be a passing of the baton so to speak, as the powerful warg/greenseer takes over from the old hand.  That's why I'm looking for multiple opportunities in the POV's.  If BR is present as well, perhaps it doesn't necessarily mean the absorbing of all that once was etc.... isn't still taking place, there may be a gradual handing over to the new prodigy, if you know what I mean? 

As early as AGOT prologue George has the wind 'whispering through the trees' and making cloaks become 'half alive'. All very Bloodraveny.  As are other examples that have the wind make people 'half blind' with 'knife' references for the cold, etc........  When BR told Bran he would 'learn to see away from the trees' I always assumed that he was doing exactly that all this time, hence the 'whisper through trees' and 'half blind' references throughout the books regards the wind/elements.  We are told in the D&E stories that it is thought he can manifest himself from a mist, this seems like small folk hype, but we know this to absolutely be a possibility.  And in fact, IMO is almost a certainty with the textual references we are getting. 

I totally agree with you that Bran is going to take over and absorb all that BR was and is, but I see this perhaps as a more gradual taking over, and the textual references I see towards BR may fade out as Bran takes over.  Who knows?  But I'm excited by what we're finding, and your point this may strengthen the possibility of Bran warging a dragon is awesome!     

 

I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH ALL THAT YOU SAY!  I did not mean to imply that I did not - I was trying to say that YOU opened my eyes to his presence, which is starting to make me think about that Hooded Man in WF that everyone is trying to identify.  He has a flapping cape. Hmmm.  You need to tackle that personage with your eagle eye at detecting language patterns and following through with purposeful/meaningful commentary.

BTW / Someone told me that when I use capital letters, I am shouting,  I only use them for emphasis!  I do not mean to be rude and shout at you!

[evita mgfs]

WIZZ-THE-SMITH AND RAVENOUS READER!

WE HAVE HIT PAGE TEN!

i GUESS I AM SHOUTING WITH GLEE!

[evita mgfs]

1 minute ago, evita mgfs said:

WIZZ-THE-SMITH AND RAVENOUS READER!

WE HAVE HIT PAGE TEN!

i GUESS I AM SHOUTING WITH GLEE!

WITH THE WAY WE WRITE PROLIFIC AND VOLUMINOUS RESPONSES, MAYBE WE WILL HIT PAGE 11 BY MIDNIGHT!

[Wizz-The-Smith]

13 minutes ago, evita mgfs said:

 

I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH ALL THAT YOU SAY!  I did not mean to imply that I did not - I was trying to say that YOU opened my eyes to his presence, which is starting to make me think about that Hooded Man in WF that everyone is trying to identify.  He has a flapping cape. Hmmm.  You need to tackle that personage with your eagle eye at detecting language patterns and following through with purposeful/meaningful commentary.

BTW / Someone told me that when I use capital letters, I am shouting,  I only use them for emphasis!  I do not mean to be rude and shout at you!

Ha!  Sorry I didn't mean to sound like you were disagreeing, It's that 'but' or 'however' it always sounds like we have differing opinions!    On the contrary, I/we are just adding to each others commentary.  And by the way, the capital letters are not lost on me, you are so lovely that I find it hard to believe some think you are shouting at them.    I enjoy your emphasis on whatever it may be, it's often positive and complimentary anyway!!!!!!!!!!!   [In no way is my overuse of the exclamation mark meant in any way to insinuate shouting ]

[LongRider]

6 hours ago, ravenous reader said:

I'm having trouble deleting the triple post, sorry! 

Hello rr, welcome.  If you need to delete a post, try this.  If you have something quoted, hover your mouse over the upper left hand corner of the quote and a small box will appear. Press Ctrl and right click and a small menu will appear.  Select 'Remove Quote' and that will remove the quote.  Block the text you've typed and delete and that should remove that.  Once the field is clear, then you should be able to type "double" or something new as you wish. 

[evita mgfs]

4 minutes ago, Wizz-The-Smith said:

Ha!  Sorry I didn't mean to sound like you were disagreeing, It's that 'but' or 'however' it always sounds like we have differing opinions!    On the contrary, I/we are just adding to each others commentary.  And by the way, the capital letters are not lost on me, you are so lovely that I find it hard to believe some think you are shouting at them.    I enjoy your emphasis on whatever it may be, it's often positive and complimentary anyway!!!!!!!!!!!   [In no way is my overuse of the exclamation mark meant in any way to insinuate shouting ]

Aren't you sweet.  Thank you.  It is so very nice to meet people on the Forum who can discuss Martin without being rude and flaming the well-conceived and documented works of others.  That is why I stay pretty close to the reread-subforum.  Everyone here is usually pretty sane and we do not have to put out a lot of fires!

[evita mgfs]

1 minute ago, LongRider said:

Hello rr, welcome.  If you need to delete a post, try this.  If you have something quoted, hover your mouse over the upper left hand corner of the quote and a small box will appear. Press Ctrl and right click and a small menu will appear.  Select 'Remove Quote' and that will remove the quote.  Block the text you've typed and delete and that should remove that.  Once the field is clear, then you should be able to type "double" or something new as you wish. 

Thanks, LongRider.  I have been having problems too.  Sometimes my post will not take at all, even when I reload the page fifteen times.  That happened last week, before the entire westeros.org forum went off for half a day.

[LongRider]

Just now, evita mgfs said:

Thanks, LongRider.  I have been having problems too.  Sometimes my post will not take at all, even when I reload the page fifteen times.  That happened last week, before the entire westeros.org forum went off for half a day.

It's been better since then, but what I've noticed is it's best to clear the reply page completely as noted to a blank page (copy your work first, of course), refresh and try again.  But clearing the page has been the key for me.  Trial and error all the way.  Now, back to catching up.     

[Wizz-The-Smith]

5 minutes ago, LongRider said:

Hello rr, welcome.  If you need to delete a post, try this.  If you have something quoted, hover your mouse over the upper left hand corner of the quote and a small box will appear. Press Ctrl and right click and a small menu will appear.  Select 'Remove Quote' and that will remove the quote.  Block the text you've typed and delete and that should remove that.  Once the field is clear, then you should be able to type "double" or something new as you wish. 

Hey Longie!  Hope you're well.  Good advice.  This forum certainly has its quirks at the moment. 

[evita mgfs]

45 minutes ago, Wizz-The-Smith said:

Exactly!  I thought this played perfectly into your notion that the old gods may've been listening [and acting] on things said at Winterfell.  That prayer [or a part of it] was answered in her next chapter!     

I wanted to take a moment to reaffirm my earlier post about Jaime telling Bran:  "Take my hand!"

The old gods ARE LISTENING, INDEED!

[LongRider]

2 hours ago, Wizz-The-Smith said:

Then, so faintly, it seemed as if she heard her father’s voice. “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives,” he said.

 

2 hours ago, Wizz-The-Smith said:

I think a time travelling Bran is absolutely one to consider here, the term 'seemed to hear her father's voice' could mean the faint nature of this whisper on the wind is too hard to differentiate one from the other. 

I get what you're saying here, but here is where I have a problem with this.  Ned's quote of the wolf pack in winter was said to Arya, in private in KL far from a WW tree.  Bran can see what's happening in WF and in the weirnet and perhaps sometimes in a mist, but he didn't hear this.  Soooo, this part troubles me.

Also color me skeptical but I find it hard to accept the mists in Braavos come from Bran.  In WF, yes, I think so, but I'm just not convinced about mists across the water.  There is a bit of chunk of WW wood in the door to THoBW, but that's all I can remember in Braavos.  Yes, Arya is warg to Nymeria across to Westeros, but that connection was established before she went to Braavos. 

So, color me skeptical of Bran across the water. 

[Wizz-The-Smith]

3 minutes ago, evita mgfs said:

I wanted to take a moment to reaffirm my earlier post about Jaime telling Bran:  "Take my hand!"

The old gods ARE LISTENING, INDEED!

That is an awesome catch!  Love it. 

[Wizz-The-Smith]

4 minutes ago, LongRider said:

I get what you're saying here, but here is where I have a problem with this.  Ned's quote of the wolf pack in winter was said to Arya, in private in KL far from a WW tree.  Bran can see what's happening in WF and in the weirnet and perhaps sometimes in a mist, but he didn't hear this.  Soooo, this part troubles me.

Also color me skeptical but I find it hard to accept the mists in Braavos come from Bran.  In WF, yes, I think so, but I'm just not convinced about mists across the water.  There is a bit of chunk of WW wood in the door to THoBW, but that's all I can remember in Braavos.  Yes, Arya is warg to Nymeria across to Westeros, but that connection was established before she went to Braavos. 

So, color me skeptical of Bran across the water. 

Hey Longie.  The 'quote' in the wind is something I'm not sure on myself, but having read Steven Attwell's breakdown of the chapter, I thought the content well worth posting here, especially with what Evita is looking for.  Of course this is highly speculative, but while others are debating it on wordpress pages I think it well worth being bounced around here. 

As for the mists, I feel we may be thinking differently.  I don't think the mists come from Bran/BR so to speak, just that it could facilitate their presence.  Do you see Bloodraven at all in the 'half the city will be half blind tonight' text?  If so then this could lend credence to the idea that Bran could also inhabit the same things BR can.  If not, then I suppose we gracefully agree to disagree for now. 

There are also weirwood faces on the backs of the chairs in the HOBAW, Arya sits a weirwood chair with an ebony face, there is also an ebony chair with a weirwood face.  This sounds a little like BR, in his ebon finery with that white [weirwood like] face.  Perhaps another possible avenue in?  The HOBAW certainly seems a place of magic with all that changing of the faces text. [?]   Whatever the case, let us leave no rock unturned. 

So I suppose Longie, I do colour you sceptical!      But I will continue to look at this line of enquiry, and will be the first one to say you were right.  Where would we be without some friendly debate, I always welcome your thoughts.    

[Wizz-The-Smith]

1 hour ago, evita mgfs said:

WIZZ-THE-SMITH AND RAVENOUS READER!

WE HAVE HIT PAGE TEN!

i GUESS I AM SHOUTING WITH GLEE!

Haha!  Let's hope for many more pages!  I see this thread having longevity, especially after Winds is out, the content in this thread really touches on the potential ways for us to spot Bran in others POV's moving forward.