Character Analysis: Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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Christian Meyer Mrs. Grist English 4 Period 4 25 February 2015 Create An Adventure Why plow through your best years, hoping to spend your later years experiencing the world which could have been done better in your youth? All over the world, students go to high school and then college to get a degree and then move onto a career. Instead of taking this path, think of the world that has not yet been seen. A price cannot be put on the experiences gained from traveling. Sir Gawain exemplifies this by putting his life on the line and accepting an adventure to protect his kingdom's reputation. Portrayed in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, traveling allows a person to take risks in adventures and develop into a complete person. At the start of…show more content…
In his own mind, Gawain ranks most inferior of Arthur’s knights based off of physical abilities and mental cunningness. His modest claim to inferiority while still being the nephew of Arthur and one of Camelot’s most famous knights exemplify both Gawain's humility but also a lack of self confidence. Sir Gawain shows his first steps toward developing into a hero by facing his first test, the challenge of the Green Knight. It is Christmas time in King Arthur's court when the Green Knight enters the dining hall. The knight challenges the court to a game of beheading in which one of the knights must cut off the Green Knight's head and then in 12 months and a day find the Green Knight and receive their own beheading. None of the knights of the Round Table accept his challenge, causing the Green Knight to taunt them saying, “So here is the House of Arthur,/ whose virtues reverberate across vast realms./ Where’s the fortitude and fearlessness you’re so famous for?/ And the breathtaking bravery and the big-mouth bragging?/ The towering reputation of the Round Table,/ skittled and scuppered by…show more content…
His statement infuriates Arthur. This is the point where Sir Gawain begins his development into a true hero by volunteering his life to protect the kingdom’s reputation. His taking of the challenge is seen as a deed of selflessness and not of pride. This combined with the fact that none of the other knights took the challenge causes Gawain to be seen as the greatest of all knights. After Gawain beheads the Green Knight, he must complete the challenge by seeking out the Green Knight in one year's time and allowing the Green Knight to chop off his head. When it comes time for Gawain to leave for his journey, all of the knights in king Arthur's court come to see him leave. This is when Gawain's bravery is revealed when he

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