Ok this is not to a) dispute the general points being made in this post (which I fundamentally agree with) OR b) directed specifically at the person Iâm replying to, because this is a VERY popular perspective on A Song of Ice and Fire held by MANY people, but I think it is a fundamental misreading of the text, and one I find honestly hard to understand.
It seems pretty clear to me that ASOIAF is very much in line with the sentiments being expressed in this post, and full of blistering critiques of the idea of a Hobbesian âevery man for himselfâ worldview and the people who hold such views. Such people are portrayed as villains and assholes who use their power to make the world worse for everyone around them, and are almost universally deeply troubled people full of unresolved psychological issues. Moreover, those who profess such views outwardly usually arenât even being honest! Like Tyrion and Sandor for instance believe in an all-against-all world because of their personal issues, but most of the people who are responsible for the violence in Westeros actually believe in a world that revolves around them, that exists to serve their personal desires, and that anyone who doesnât should be punished for daring to defy their delusional worldview (which as discussed above is much more common among professed pseudo-Hobbesians than genuine philosophical individualism, not âevery man for himselfâ so much as âI alone am a PC among NPCsâ).
The harsh winters are NOT depicted as the cause of rampant violence in Westeros on large or interpersonal scales. In fact, the harshness of winter has led to the North, where winters are harshest, becoming a relatively collective society, almost uniquely concerned with the welfare of common folk in winter when compared to the other six kingdoms, and where older men sacrificing themselves for the sake of their hungry families in the depths of winter is a cultural tradition stretching back thousands of years. It is from the leader of the North that we get one of the iconic lines of the story âwhen the cold winds rise, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.â The question of stockpiling food for the coming winter comes up frequently across the books, traditional and ancient practices that have been done for millennia, with those who are neglecting and sabotaging these efforts portrayed as selfish villains.
The level of violence we see in Westeros is not the result of environmental factors, but political ones. The war doesnât happen because everyone is selfish and vicious, but because the *ruling class* of Westeros is selfish and vicious, with the specific members of said class with the most power at the time of the story being *spectacularly* selfish and vicious, starting one of the worst wars in Westerosi history on the cusp of winter for utterly selfish reasons.
And within that war is an unambiguous refutation of these assertions about the series. The Riverlands are by far the most ravaged of any of the kingdoms by the war, subjected to war crimes and mass destruction on a nearly unprecedented scale, and while there are certainly some Riverlanders who become selfish and suspicious as a result, it is within the Riverlands that the most radical political movement in Westeros emerges: the Brotherhood Without Banners, an egalitarian guerrilla resistance movement that crosses class barriers and opposes all who inflict war and death upon the common people while redistributing food and resources to said people.
Iâm not familiar with the âanthropologistâs eviscerationâ of ASOIAF cited above, but I canât imagine how said anthropologist could have reached the implied conclusions about the series. Pooling and stockpiling resources is absolutely present, people are only âat each otherâs throatsâ because of politically powerful bad actors universally portrayed as messed up selfish assholes, and while heroic opposition to a world full of suffering is rarely rewarded and often outright punished (anyone tried opposing any atrocities in real life lately? Because I know a lot more people who got the shit kicked out of them for trying than I do who unambiguously succeeded and got lauded as heroes and lived happily ever afterâŠ), such efforts are clearly portrayed as necessary, admirable, rooted in human nature every bit as deeply as selfishness or cruelty, and even if they do not fundamentally save the world, they are glorious to behold.
âWe are sworn to guard the realms of men. What are these Wildlings if not men?â
âWhat is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?â âEverything.â
âStrike the chains off every slave you see! Dracarys! Freedom! Dracarys!â
ââIf you want her, go and get her.â So he did.â
âSevenâŠshe had no chance against seven. No chance and no choice. She drew Oathkeeper and stepped out into the rain.â
