Drogo, Cersei, and the Dothraki: Invisible Voices

                                                                        https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Dothraki

The Dothraki are portrayed as violent and reckless. Weddings that include murder and rape along with an aggressive sounding language which lacks a word for “thank you” paint the Dothraki as an uncivilized, violent tribe. Even though the Dothraki are portrayed as violent and aggressive, the West appears to be no better. Rape in the West is still rampant and people are often killed. Martin does a good job of not portraying the Dothraki as they were by Tolkien, monstrous and evil, but he still has a ways to go. The West doesn’t treat their females much better than the East. Women are still a prize to be won or sold off as brides. Though not out in public like the Dothraki, rape in Martin’s work is still all too common. Even so, women seem to hold a higher stature in Martin’s work. In Tolkien, women are seen as damsels in distress or fair creatures. In Martin, women get their own voices and have some sense of agency. They may not get treated with due respect, but at least they get to tell their side of the story. It is unfortunate that Cersei doesn’t get her own chapter or chapters in the first two books. It would be interesting to hear her perspective and thoughts. As one of the strongest female characters, hearing Cersei’s point of view would give depth to the story. Another missing voice is that of Drogo. It would be good to include Drogo’s point of view so that there is more diversity of thought as someone not from the West. Drogo could add his perspective as an outsider, how he views the West, Western characters and Western customs. He could also comment on how he views Dany’s exchanges with him or what he thinks of Dany’s actions. This would offer readers greater insight into the mind of a main character in the first book and a perspective from Eastern culture. Without more diverse perspectives, the story suffers from a somewhat limited point of view. Most of the characters are white or noble. Drogo is neither of these. His voice would add diversity to the story in terms of class and race. It would also provide a critique of how Eastern peoples are treated by the West and how they view Western treatments of other races and of females. Drogo’s motivation for doing things could be much different from the Western characters. His motivations could be more diverse or strategic than the other characters believe them to be. In addition, it would have been beneficial to include the perspective of Mirri Maz Duur for similar reasons. She could have provided more insight into her rationale for killing Drogo and what she thought of Dany. She could have also provided her views on the West.  These characters whose points of view are absent are not the heroes of the story. They are not the characters everyone loves and their motivations and actions are more unclear if not explicitly derided. Adding their voices into the mix would have garnered greater depth and a multi-faceted vision of the story.

                                                             https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Drogo

                                                               https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Cersei_Lannister


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