Sir_Gawain

Gawain’s Life Lesson The biblical story of Adam and Eve’s betrayal, causes the sinful behavior of human beings. God knows humans make mistakes and forgives them through penance. Perfection cannot be found in this sinful universe for God built us with original sin. Newborns come into the world with original sin; therefore, everyone has sinned in their life. Like a newborn, Gawain encounters his first experience of guilt, a chivalric sin when he takes a magical green belt that he was to return. The code of chivalry plays a great role in the meaning and universal truth the author tries to convey to its readers. In the poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the pearl poet, an anonymous poet, notes Gawain’s quest for the Green Knight as a learning experience, where the moral of the poem is to remind others that no one is perfect and anyone can make mistakes through courage, courtesy, and faith, the three codes of chivalry. Courage helps Gawain fulfill his adventurous journey for the Green Knight with the help of others. Courage helps Gawain through his trek by encouraging him because he knows that the point of the trek was going to be a mortal ending. For instance, Gawain takes pride in himself as a knight and takes on the game of the Green Knight announcing: “life the least, my death no loss- my only worth is you, my royal Uncle, all my virtue is through you” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 1.350-57). The pearl-poet illustrates Gawain as a courageous knight who provides him with a personality that does not give up on what they are to do. Gawain takes on the game even though the game’s result is death. King Arthur was to take upon the challenge himself but instead, Gawain takes it away from his majesty and takes the death for himself instead of his king. For example, “Gawain hefted the axe, swung it high in both hands, balancing his left foot in front of him, then quickly brought it down” (1.421-23). Pearl-poet expresses Gawain with this strong attribute by portraying his strong will for his king. Gawain is illustrated with a powerful and emotional personality because he was able to chop off a human being’s head. The willingness of Sir Gawain is necessary for a life educational expedition. Hence, when Gawain reaches the Green Chapel to meet the Green Knight, the green goblin proclaims: “you’ve turned so brave” (4.2302). The poet tries to emphasize that everyone notices the change in courageousness of Gawain that even his enemy marks a difference in him. If Gawain never had the courage to accept the game, he would have never been tempted and the psychological guilt provided would have never happened. The moral of the story would not have existed without the help of courage. There are other qualities needed to obtain the universal truth, that no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes, such as courtesy. Courtesy is a major quality that is obligatory to have because it is equivalent to manners. One with good manners is looked at with respect whereas one with no manners are looked at with disrespect. Therefore, one with courtesy is respectful of others and is willing to do anything to please that person. Despite Gawain is an enemy of the Green Knight, he kindly states: “ before we proceed, friend, we ought to make everything clear” (1.377-78). The poet seldom uses examples such as remarks of a friend to an enemy, to show the knightly courtesy of Sir Gawain. Hence, Gawain’s “fifth of the five was love and friendship for other me, and freedom from sin, and courtesy that never failed” (2.651-53). Poet illustrates Gawain with five points of a star. One point of the star contains courtesy, thus the attribute of courtesy is major in the poem for the pearl-poet because it describes courtesy in the book itself. For example, “Gawain gave [the king’s lady] a warm welcome” (3.1477). Pearl-poet portrays Gawain as an all around person. Gawain is conveyed as a a person who becomes friends with strangers. Gawain’s universal participation within the society greatly affects the resulting mortal of the story. If Gawain was not courteous, he would have never been tempted by the lord’s wife to portray courtesy towards her by not rejecting her requests. Altogether, the quality of courtesy with faith makes a well rounded personality. Faith was displayed as a main part in the poem because Gawain had to be faithful religiously and socially. Faith is trusting or believing a religion usually or a person. In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight both religiously and socially was displayed through Gawain. For instance, when Gawain is talking to the Lord’s wife he dramatically proclaims: “this is my duty, now and forever, to serve you, lady, so help me God!” (3.147-48). Pearl-poet exhibits the faith of Gawain by making him encounter a relationship and being faithful with his spouse. Therefore, the situation of love enhances his faith as a knight of chivalry outside in society. For example, when Gawain gets an axe that was swung at him by the Green Knight and survives, he praises: “God is good... I keep my trust in Him, I’ll do as He would” (4.2156-59). The anonymous poet illustrates Gawain as a faithful servant of Christ, that puts all his trust and faith in him. Gawain thanks God for his survival of the deadly swing and the crazy trek. Stephen Manning, a critic for the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight evaluates: “when the temptation assumes a personal guise, [Gawain] falters” (Manning 158). Manning is trying to infer that whenever Gawain encounters a personal problem he is unable to fix it. Therefore, faith is needed to repair the personal problems he may encounter. Gawain’s faith in himself will build self confidence and mend his personal problems. Completely, faith in oneself and in others were essential for the poem to be understood. If Gawain had no faith in God, he would have stressed out, become frantic and unable to pursue the rest of his voyage. The result from the game of the Green Knight helps Gawain understand that no one is perfect and everyone encounters a personal issue that will lead them to sin. Therefore, the game teaches the modern society that people can be good and polite but are born with sin. No one is perfect in the world, God provides all of us with the original sin. God makes us interact with sin to test our faith, courage, and courtesy towards others. Like Sir Gawain, human society should live a life without sin but understands that one can easily encounter it. The Green Knight’s game is simulated as a modern society life, one with many bumps and problems which needs to be fixed. Altogether, one should live a life like Sir Gawain and learn from their mistakes. Works Cited Manning, Stephen. "A Psychological Interpretation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Ed. Donald R. Howard and Christian Zacher. Poetry Criticism: Volume 76, Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of the Most Significant and Widely Studied Poets of World Literature. Ed. Michelle Lee. Vol. 76. Detroit: Thomson Gale, a part of The Thomson Corporation, 2007. 154-60. Print. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Burton Raffel. New York: New American Library, 2009. Print.