Q&A: What Types of Abuse Are in the Game of Thrones Novel?

Question by Courtney: What types of abuse are in the Game of Thrones novel?
I’m doing a paper in my college English class and we have to tie in examples from the Game of Thrones novel. My rough thesis statement as of now is, “What psychological effects arise from different types of abuse?” What are examples of different kinds of abuse in the novel?

Best answer:

Answer by The Road goes ever on
I can think of numerous examples of physical, verbal, mental/emotional, and a variety of other forms of abuse in A Game of Thrones. So, here are some examples of abuse in A Game of Thrones that come to my mind:

– Daenerys is physically abused by her brother Viserys on numerous occasions, Viserys using pain to frighten her and make her do his will. He also verbally abuses her, using verbal threats to frighten her. And, of course, the way Viserys treats and speaks to Daenerys could also be seen as mental/emotional abuse. All of this abuse at the hands of her brother appears to make the early version of Daenerys a somewhat timid and often fearful girl.

– Being the ugly dwarf son of a lord, Tyrion is victim to much verbal and subsequent mental/emotional abuse throughout the book, others often calling him a number of offensive things and deriding him on all sorts of levels. He suffers such abuse at the hands of family and strangers alike, and although he is a strong character I would still say that such abuse often works to make him a bitter and unhappy individual.

– As a lord’s bastard son, Jon is subjected to a fair amount of verbal and subsequent mental/emotional abuse, others often mocking him and his status. There are numerous times when this abuse and mockery clearly gets to Jon, often making him feel out of place in his family and in the world, and often making him a rather somber individual.

– Especially toward the end of the book, Sansa is subjected to much abuse. For example, Joffrey often commands his men to hit Sansa, therefore subjecting her to a fair amount of physical abuse. Also, Joffrey certainly mentally/emotionally abuses Sansa when he forces her to look at her father’s decapitated head on its pike. And along the way Joffrey also verbally assaults and threatens Sansa, therefore adding verbal as well as further mental/emotional abuse to the tab. It is evident that all of this abuse ultimately transforms Sansa into a profoundly confused girl, as well as a timid one who often forces herself to be subservient so as to spare herself from further abuse.

– There is indication that and at least one scene with evidence that Robert physically abuses Cersei. He also verbally abuses her, such as by threatening and otherwise deriding her. Robert also openly flirts with and sleeps with other women, with hardly any shame in the matter, and I would say this could certainly serve to mentally/emotionally abuse Cersei. I would say that Cersei is a strong character, as well as a complex one, but I would also surmise that such abuse from Robert has played a part in making Cersei as bitter and cruel as she is.

– Based on what the readers are told, Samwell was likely victim to at least verbal and mental/emotional abuse at the hands of his father. And when Sam arrives at the Wall he is subjected to physical as well as verbal and mental/emotional abuse at the hands of a number of individuals (and even after Jon befriends and defends Sam he is still often verbally and so also mentally/emotionally assaulted by others). All of this abuse in his life has clearly served to make Sam a fearful individual with a rather low opinion of himself.

There are very likely many more examples of abuse in A Game of Thrones, but the aforementioned ones are just some that came to my mind.

Best wishes!

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