Blue or brown eyes, pallid or swarthy skin. These trivial differences that are no more than biological have gained intrinsic meanings. Race is a matter of culture. We are not born knowing how to act black or white. We adopt it depending on our surroundings. This means that race is also omnipresent in pop culture. Every TV show, movie, book or record has a race story. These stories are usually subliminal and as consumers we do not notice the story that we are being subjected to. The Song of Ice and Fire, also known as Game of Thrones, explores a fictional universe where seasons can last decades and fantastical creatures such as dragons exists. However the most prevalent species is mankind. This leads to humans from all kinds of backgrounds, therefore humans who have different races. So what is the racial narrative of the Game of Thrones? How George R.R. Martin trying to adjust our attitudes towards race?

Game of Thrones is of the most watched TV shows ever. It is based off of books by George R. R. Martin who was inspired by Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Currently on season 7, Game of Thrones is the story of the struggle for power. With thousands of characters, important and trivial, we are bound to get a variety of races. The main narrative of these books/TV show is not about race. Yet if we study the characters we get a story about race as all pop culture has a racial narrative that is being told without the consumer knowing.

The Game of Thrones universe is split up into two different continents, Westeros and Essos. The etymology of the names is very straight forwards as Westeros is in the West and Essos is in the East. Westeros is portrayed in the books as the where all the civilized people live. It has castles and knights, it is ruled by a central power, a monarch on the Iron Throne. If it isn’t explicit enough, Westeros is the embodiment of the western world. Of the 7 house only one of them is based off a non-white race.

House Martell lives in Dorne. The southernmost point of Westeros. The legend has it that Dorne used to be connected to Essos. The people of the Dorne are ethnically from Essos as their ancestors crossed the Narrow Sea. Dornishmen have varied real world roots. There are some elements that are based off the Moors. This is seen in their architecture, as it is heavily based off of Moorish Palaces such as Alhambra in Grenada Spain. In GRRM’s third book of the series, a Storm of Swords, the Dornish horses were described as small, “but it was said they could run for a day and night and another day, and never tire” (page 520). This is very similar to the Arabic horses who are known to not be very big but have great stamina.

But what is the race story? Why is it important that the Dornish are the only non-white race in the embodiment of the western world? Well the answer to these is seen through the actions of the Martell. They are known to be a treacherous people that are only thinking about themselves. House Martell’s motto is “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.” This is a reference to the fact that they do not bend their knees and accept that they are beaten. They are a deceitful people. One of the most interesting things about how their society works is that they allow the heir to be a girl or a boy. Unlike the rest of Westeros, the non-white race is the most progressive. This is an example where gender and race become intertwined. Stacey Goguen writes in her book Game of Thrones and Philosophy that “other regions in Westeros categorize women from Dorne based on their ethnicity. Dornish women are known for being not quite like “regular” women of Westeros.” (p. 218) So George R.R. Martin is subconsciously ingraining mistrust for the Arabic/Andalusians who inhabit Westeros. Out of all the people living in Westeros, the only ones who treat men and women equally are the non-white, devious Southerners. Is he making a concealed comment on the alleged deceitfulness of women? The same deceitfulness which is present in the Bible? Another thing to note is that a subsect of Dornish women call themselves the Sand Snakes, a creature that appears in the Bible and tricks Eve into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. The snake in this case is a representation of the devil incarnate. So by associating snakes with Dornish women we are subjected to internally associating women with deceit. This is where the gender narrative and racial narrative merge.

The story for Westeros is very similar to the wars of the Roses. The wars of the Roses was a conflict in Britain where several families fought to put their heirs on the throne of England. It lasted from 1455 to 1487 with several intervals of peace.  House Lancaster was one of the houses that fought in this war their counterpart in the Game of Thrones Universe is House Lannister. See where this is going? On the other side of the confrontation is House York. Their counterpart is House Stark which are a representation of the Scots.  This is exemplified in the TV series by their accent which is the Stark use. They speak with a heavy Scottish accent and the Lannisters, speak with a strong aristocratic accent.

The race narrative of Westeros is also a class narrative. The struggle between House Stark and House Lannister is a class struggle. House Lannister is the wealthiest family in Westeros. They discovered gold in their hills and managed to make immense profits from that. One the other hand, House Stark is the northernmost house who live in a barren landscape. The readers of this series find themselves siding with House Stark as they are the main protagonists of the story. This means that subconsciously we are being influenced to root for the downfall of the aristocracy.

The struggles between Stark and Lannister are not the only class narratives that are present in the series of Game of Thrones. Let us move over to Essos, the continent to the east of Westeros, home of the free cities. There is a bigger variety of races who inhabit Essos. These races are based off of more eastern roots. The Dothraki Tribe is a band of nomadic savages who are loosely based off of the Huns. They pillage, rape and burn all of the communities that they come across and rely heavily on horses in combat. However, their story is one of redemption. In the first seasons they are seen as an enemy. One of the many protagonists of this series, Daenerys Targaryen was married to their leader. She felt like their prisoner, having to do whatever her husband wanted. But as the books progressed we got to understand their culture and community. As we grew to like the Dothraki, Daenerys adopted their culture, become their Khaleesi (Queen). We are presented with a barbaric tribe and as we get to know them better we have empathy for them. This change comes when Daenerys Targaryen becomes their leader. She is the epitome of white. She is given the title of “Breaker of Chains” as she has fought for the freedom of the slaves in Slavers Bay.

What’s the race narrative of Daenerys? Well, her character arc goes from, the poor innocent refugee who gets married to a savage so that her brother can have an army. She goes from a helpless girl to the fearless leader of a huge army. She is represented with immense goodwill. The real life equivalent to the Slave Masters (those who own the slaves), are the Egyptians. Their city of Meereen is known for its Great Pyramid. The ancient Egyptians were also known to use slaves. Daenerys Targaryen is one of the only white character in Essos. She is leading an army of non-white soldiers, some from which she has freed from slavery. Her final goal is to take over Westeros, her home that she has never been to. Is George R.R. Martin advocating for white supremacy? This is seems very unlikely. First of all Daenerys is against slavery above all else. She went out of her way to free the slaves. So is the author promoting Dany as an example of white altruism? It seems like our first impression that the Dragon Queen is not symbolic of white supremacy but that George R.R. Martin has imbued in his books a sense of hope. As viewers we are being guided to believe in the altruism of white people.

Game of Thrones is the perfect show to analyze for a race story. The diversity in the universe of Ice and fire is encourages character arcs for all races. All pop culture is telling a race story and as we see through Gage of Thrones, this story often gets meddled among class narratives and gender narratives. The general narrative that surrounds the Song of Ice and Fire is pretty straight forwards. George R.R. Martin makes numerous links between past civilizations and races in his novels. The Moors and the Dornishmen, the Huns and the Dothraki, the Ancient Egyptians and the Slave Masters. By doing this we are subconsciously being told how to feel about them. This changes our attitudes towards them. Being aware of this manipulation of thoughts is one way to avoid being influenced. But how does one isolate the race narrative? It is important to make the real world comparisons to understand the true meaning of the author.

 

 

Read by Gray Livingston

Written in the style of Ernest Hemmingway

Bibliography:

• Martin, George R.R., 2003, A Storm of Swords, Random House Publishing Group.
• Goguen Stacey, 2012, Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper than Swords, John Wiley and Sons.