Redemption In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Exceptional citizens in America change our world, but another percentage of people fall behind and hardships weigh them down. Mistakes they have made in the past guilt them into making themselves feel worthless. Redemption, the act of regaining your worth is the way humans are able to learn from their faults. This concept from reality is able to mirror one that is talked about a lot throughout literature. In the short poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain goes through obstacles that question his being, but the forgiveness he is given allows him to regain composure. Ones worth can be strengthened after being redeemed of a failure.

To begin, when Sir Gawain was faced with the Green Knight in Arthur’s castle, he exemplified his

initial fault, being that he foolishly decided to decapitate the knight instead of slightly harming him. Displayed in chapters later, Sir Gawain holds out his honor and does not immerse himself with guilt but leaves the safe castle to seek redemption. The quote, “Why should I shy away. If fate is kind or cruel, man still must try,” (Artimage 59). gives off the tone of striving to bring back his worth by keeping his honor to the audience. Another illustration of this is “then, lance in hand, held high, and got up in his gear he bids them all goodbye one final time, he fears.” (Artimage 67). Sir Gawain’s honor is capable of masking his fear, preparing himself to conquer the dread of going into the unknown. The reader can interpret that there is more bravery in Sir Gawain than what meets the eye. To support this reasoning, the concept of doing wrong and taking the consequence with honor is something presidents have to do when stating their malpractice. In April of 1961, President John F. Kennedy admitted his responsibility for the defeat of the Bays of Pigs invasion. The president is quoted saying, “Further statements, detailed discussions, are not to conceal responsibility because I’m the responsible officer of the Government…” (Challen) and Kennedy’s worth escalated afterward because his speech allowed the public to redeem him, and his approval ratings went up tremendously.
Continuing, Sir Gawain’s worth increases after being introduced to the Lord’s lady on consecutive days at a time.

His value grows as Sir Gawain proves himself to be a trustworthy knight by not accepting the love of the Lord’s wife. The details listed within the text explain to the reader the Lady’s intentions to allure Sir Gawain, beginning with, “...he welcomes the woman and seeing her so lovely and alluringly dressed, every feature so faultless, her complexion so fine, a passionate heat takes hold in his heart” (Artimage 137). The author has placed multiple adjectives in the passage to bring about an imagery which allows the reader to visualize the Lady. To go further within the text, when the King makes the remark, “By Saint Giles,’ the just lord said, ‘This knights the best I know. By wagering this way his gains will grow and grow” (Artimage 131). In depth, these phrases contain symbolism and foreshadowing, for when he suggests that by Sir Gawain “wager this way,” as if to say if he keeps being loyal to the Lord, also known as Sir Bertilak, then his significance and trust with each other can prosper. A contrasting comparison can be made to the book The Alchemist. As Sir Gawain blames the knight’s wife for alluring him and strongly believing she was the reason for his falter, Santiago meets a woman Fatima who encourages his journey, and wants his knowledge and worth to prosper. Both men are intrigued with the women, and even in The Alchemist the landscape is

described as, “the desert is a capricious lady, and sometimes she drives men crazy” (Coelho 73). Women are significant in both books, and either halt the man’s adventure or encourages it. Sir Gawain shows determination into not being attracted to the Lady, therefore he gains much worth in the end.
The concept that forgiveness is worth more than punishment, is illuminated towards the end of the book.

Sir Gawain’s wrongdoing for taking the girdle from the Lady does not bear a consequence from the Green Knight, for he forgives Sir Gawain, as it was his human instinct to protect himself to take the item. In the short poem, the Green Knight is known to say, “I declare you purged, as polished and as pure as the day you were born, without blemish or blame” (Artimage 181). The diction in the phrase allows the reader to envision purity in the form of a human, resembling Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain is astonished, almost not believing the knight, and thanks him for the gift that led to his failing, saying, “God bless you for this gift. Not for all its ore will I own it with honor” (Artimage 183). From the tone of these sentences, the audience is receiving the vibe of happiness and overjoyment. This might be to cheer up the readers, for the main character almost died. Redemption is not worth much unless the fault is taught upon, so others will not make the same error as Sir Gawain. This conception is fulfilled when King Arthur hears of Sir Gawain’s adventure, honoring and showering his court with cheerfulness for the Green Knight’s redemption as pictured in the passage, “...and each knight who held it was honored forever,” and “...every knight in the brotherhood - should bear such a belt, a bright green belt worn obliquely to the body, crosswise, like a sash, for the sake of

this man” (Armitage 189). The wording and placement of commas demonstrates syntax, where there is so many commas, that the reader is able to read quickly through this portion that is full of description. This may be to speed up the text, for the last segment to finish the book is below this. To aid the belief that redemption allows oneself to forgive and forget, Nelson Mandela was able to become a key figure when it comes to forgiving. Similar to when the Lord forgives Sir Gawain for his fault, saying he was only human, Nelson Mandela spreads his belief of racial equality and human rights in South Africa. Mandela was imprisoned for twenty-seven years, but still fought for a free society. He later became president of the African National Congress and was the leading principal of South Africa’s anti apartheid movement. To teach about his life lessons and defeats, he wrote an excellent autobiography called Long Walk to Freedom. It is described as displaying conflicts, misfortune, desire, and lastly rejoicing. After being imprisoned, Nelson Mandela showed his country that redemption presented a meaningful statement, and helped united his country. Some examples include how, “Yutar demanded the death penalty for Mandela. In 1995, Mandela invited Yutar to dinner where they enjoyed a kosher meal. Mandela said that Yutar had only been doing his job,” and “Mandela invites his former prison guard to his inauguration ceremony as South Africa president” (International Business Times). Sir Bertilak from the short poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Nelson Mandela both show various ways to redeem people, and the people are able to learn from their mistakes.
Redemption from your mistakes can build your worth, as well as your character. Sir Gawain’s worth wavered until his errors were confessed, which reinstated his honor and trustworthiness. The population needs to forgive others as well as themselves to keep flourishing as a society. Perhaps if we all redeem one another of our mistakes, people will begin to think highly of themselves and build on each others worth’s.