Game of Thrones and Philosophy by William Irwin Henry Jacoby Read Free Book Online

punishment, scorn, disapproval, or being called to account for our misbehavior. Winter is inevitably coming, and we shouldn’t be motivated to renounce morality out of fear of bad things happening to us. We should stick to morality because being moral is the only way to have the best that life has to offer. When faced with Cersei and Joffrey, then, Ned and Plato do have an answer. You miss out on the good life by being immoral. There’s more to life than mere pleasure. 6
    NOTES
    1 . George R. R. Martin, A Clash of Kings (New York: Bantam Dell, 2005), p. 58.
    2 . Authors@google: George R. R. Martin, Aug. 6, 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTTW8M_etko .
    3, Plato, The Republic , trans. G. M. A. Grube (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1974).
    4 . Ibid., pp. 31–34.
    5 . Martin, A Clash of Kings , p. 489.
    6 . Dedicated to Karen Haas, my mom, for raising me like a Stark and teaching me that there’s more to the good life than always getting what you want.

Chapter 14
    THE MORAL LUCK OF TYRION LANNISTER
    Christopher Robichaud
    “If you’re going to be a cripple, it’s better to be a rich cripple.”
    —Tyrion Lannister (“Lord Snow”)
    The world of A Song of Ice and Fire isn’t pretty, but the ugliness isn’t found in the setting itself. Westeros is filled with stunning locations, like the peaceful beauty of the godswoods and the vast greatness of the Wall. Rather, the ugliness of George R. R. Martin’s world has to do with the society of the Seven Kingdoms. It’s a nation of brutal social arrangements mired in a bloody civil war. And a chasm exists between the haves and the have-nots. Some of the have-nots eke out a meager life as farmers, tradesmen, or barkeeps, doing their best not to be conscripted to fight for a noble house in one of their never-ending conflicts. Other have-nots must turn to prostitution or thievery to get by. Life as a noble, in turn, brings with it a different set of concerns. Although the haves of the Seven Kingdoms needn’t worry about food, shelter, companionship, or anything of the like, at least most of the time, they do have to constantly be on guard against their food being poisoned, their shelter being invaded, and their friends turning foes. After all, everything is fair play in the game of thrones.
    Enter Tyrion Lannister, one of the most complicated and compelling characters ever to appear in a fantasy series. Tyrion was born a dwarf, 1 offering reason enough for him to have been drowned at birth. A dwarf in the Seven Kings would normally be guaranteed a miserable existence, but luckily Tyrion was also born a Lannister. House Lannister is the richest in the Seven Kingdoms, and its political influence is vast. The patriarch of the family, Tywin Lannister, is a military mastermind. His daughter Cersei sits as the queen at the beginning of the story, and later she’s the de facto ruler of the Seven Kingdoms while her eldest son, Joffrey, matures to an appropriate age to inherit the crown. Her beautiful twin brother, Jaime, a member of the Kingsguard, is an extremely skilled and deadly knight.
    And then there’s Tyrion. Grotesquely ugly (at least in the novels). Abnormally small. His birth killed his mother, a fact for which his father despises him. His mind is sharp, calculating, and exceedingly clever, which means his sister distrusts him, seeming to go so far as to order an attempt on his life. Yet Tyrion often shows compassion worthy of House Stark and displays heroism on the battlefield worthy of Jaime the Kingslayer himself. He reveals exceptional leadership qualities in running the Seven Kingdoms from behind the scenes, as the Hand of King Joffrey. And while he drinks and whores excessively, he nonetheless harbors a genuine love for the prostitute Shae.
    What, then, do we make of Tyrion Lannister? Tyrion is both one of the luckiest and the unluckiest men alive. He came out of the womb with everything stacked against him physically, including killing his own mother in the