As we read the slow buildup to Slaughter in the Hall, a lot of troublesome questions came up – about the necessity of the violence, the scale of Odysseus’ revenge, the morality of violence for aesthetic purposes, etc. It’s a troubling scene, but being someone who loves unnecessary violence and gore, none of these things really bothered me. I found myself quite enjoying the conclusion, both the gathering tension and the eventual release (with the exception of the murdered slave girls).
While I heard and understood the arguments against Odysseus’ actions, I really couldn’t bring myself to dislike him for them. The Odyssey is a story defined by interpretation – either Odysseus is a mass murderer who brutally slaughtered his own citizens, who justifiably assumed he was dead, and then prepared to go to war with the rest of his country for his own pride and disproportionate revenge; or he’s a king who faced innumerable sorrows in his quest to see his family again, and returns to find his home and country in ruins at the hands of uncaring, insubordinate idiots. I chose to interpret it the 2ndway, but the logical part of me can still hear all of the totally legitimate Odysseus-is-a-psychopath arguments. So why, I was wondering, am I so completely unconcerned with it?
Well, like we said in class, violence as consumable comedy is pretty common for Western media, and I consume more media than is healthy, so that probably contributes. I can make connections between other stories I enjoy and this scene, making it way less troubling. I’m pretty sure that my positive view of Slaughter in the Hall is entirely because I can connect it to one of my favorite scenes ever: the revenge of Red Wedding from Game of Thrones. They’re literally both revenge plotlines set in a darkly lit hall, filled with terrifying mass murder and a huge sense of justice.
[For those who don’t watch Game of Thrones and have no soul] In the second to last episode of season 3, called The Rains of Castamere, Robb Stark (a claimant to the throne) takes his pregnant wife and his mom to his uncle’s wedding, being hosted by a man named Walder Frey. Robb previously offended Walder, but because of the wedding, Walder is supposed to forget his grudge. Unfortunately, Walder instead makes a deal with Tywin Lannister, Robb’s enemy, and the entire wedding is a set-up. Robb’s army is massacred, and he, his wife, and his mom are all brutally murdered while Walder watches on and laughs. Robb’s sister Arya (who’s supposed to meet him at the Freys’ castle – oversimplification but whatever) is outside, watches this happen, watches her brother’s wolf Grey Wind be killed and then Robb’s body mutilated, and it’s generally horrible in every way.
But then Arya goes off on a 3 season journey on the other side of the ocean, and it seems like the Freys’ crimes are going to go unpunished. Arya is becoming a swordfighter and an assassin, but revenge isn’t what’s on her mind. It seems. Then, in the last episode of season six/first episode of season seven, you see Arya put this truly terrifying plan into motion – she returns to the Freys, murders Walder’s two oldest sons and bakes them into a pie. Then, wearing a servant’s face on hers (she can do that, by the way) she feeds him the pie, reveals himself, and slits his throat. She then invites all of his sons and male relativesto a banquet, where she poisons them all, says an awesome action movie line, and just leaves.
Taken out of context, that would be utterly terrifying. Arya is emotionless as she watches men fall like dominoes around her, before disappearing into the freezing night. She seems like a villain – except she’s absolutely not and no one watching the show ever considers her a bad person for this twisted revenge. It seems completely justified, and no one bats an eye at the violence. It’s, first of all, another example of the way violence is used as an aesthetic technique in media – perhaps indirectly making me more accepting of the crazy violence of Book 22.
But this scene has SO many parallels with the Slaughter in the Hall that I feel it is more than just indirectly influencing me. I feel like I’m reading the same scene – beyond the simple things like the revenge for a wrong done to family, the darkened hall, the mass killing, there are so many smaller things. The suitors abused xenia, in more ways than one, whereas in Game of Thrones, Walder breaks the “guest-right” rules, when he murders his guests after allowing them to eat under his roof. She wears clever disguises to infiltrate the men, like Odysseus. Aria, like Odysseus, has a perverted desire to let people know who she is. Like Odysseus, both in Polyphemus' cave and in Ithaca, when he reveals his name, she (twice) announces herself as a Stark, the sister of the king they murdered. There’s even weird parallels like a dead dog and a marriage that don’t totally fit, but still contribute to the same aesthetic running through both scenes.
There are, of course, differences. Arya isn’t retaking her home, she’s just getting revenge for the atrocities done to her family. She isn’t rescuing her family, she’s avenging them. She also doesn’t brutally kill innocent women (actually, she specifically spares the women). But still, the scenes are so similar it’s crazy.
I’m not sure why I wrote this blog post. Partially I think I just wanted to draw attention to how weirdly similar these scenes are. Partially I was thinking about gruesome and unnecessary violence. It’s also possible I just wanted to talk about Game of Thrones. Oh well. Revenge plot lines are fun.
Red Wedding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnxvUuSzbMI
Arya’s Revenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1HUAWaxMX8
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