A Song of Ice and Fire/Analysis: Difference between revisions

Let's just take the first book, since the audience is most familiar with it at this point. It has eight narrators: [[Genius Cripple|Bran]], [[Mama Bear|Catelyn]], [[Honor Before Reason|Eddard]], [[Heroic Bastard|Jon]], [[Action Survivor|Arya]], [[The Unfavorite|Tyrion]], [[Princess Classic|Daenerys]] and [[Wide -Eyed Idealist|Sansa]]. A number of these people, particularly Ned and Tyrion, have some power to call on, but none of them are at the top of the heap. In the meanwhile, there are other characters who really, really have power and are making most of the big decisions: King [[Boisterous Bruiser|Robert Baratheon]], his son Crown Prince [[Royal Brat|Joffrey Baratheon]], his wife [[The Vamp|Cersei Lannister]], and Prince [[Impoverished Patrician|Viserys Targaryen]], with people like [[Manipulative Bastard|Littlefinger]] and [[The Chessmaster|Varys]] lurking in the wings. ''These'' are the people making the actual decisions, calling the tune to which our narrators dance. As the story progresses, one narrator joins the Popular Crowd: Ned. For this reason, we immediately start assuming that he's a main character: in our experience, main characters are not just Good, they're also Strong. Ned not only shows a moral code, he shows agency; add to this the fact that he's a narrator, and our minds are made up.