Trigger warning- discussion about starvation
I have made a few other post about food in GoT, specifically as it pertains to Sansa’s character. I understand that for the people watching in America or other surplus nations they may not understand what’s is like to be really hungry, but it is clearly very important in the GoT universe. People in Got are starving they are being driven mad by their hunger as their bodies start to consume itself. The poor are wondering where their next meal could be coming from, many have probably taken to eating rats and other street animals, these people are watching there children waste away and are going without so there children can have even a little bit of food. (This is why the people loved Margaery Tyrell which Sansa clearly learned from)
It is one of the real life elements that makes Got feel less like a fantasy world and more like our own, because this is happening every day all over the world. I know it is not as fun and glamorous as a dead army or dragons; and I think this is why people have been ignoring Sansa focus on food and calling her dumb. I have said before that Sansa is the only one who cares about feeding people, and people seem to be dismissive of this and claim that Sansa is just being a bitch but food is a very real concern in this world, and the show clearly wants us to pay attention because they keep bringing it up.
We see food come up in two different conversation in this episode (8x04). The first one is when they are planing what to do about Cersei and Kings Landing, and the second time was during the conversation between Varys and Tyrion.
The first one is important because they are talking about how food is so important that people will kill Cersei for them if they get hungry enough, which throws us back to season 2 when there was a riot in the street, and Sansa was almost raped. Sansa remembers that frenzy of the starving small folks and this is one of the reasons she was trying so hard to make sure they had enough food for winter. Now while starving them out is better than burning the whole city to the ground I still think this scene shows how desperate everyone is to keep D* from burning down Kings Landing
The second time we see food/starvation in play is the second conversation between Tyrion and Varys. Varys is arguing for why Jon is a better choice for King.
“Many of them will die if the wrong person sits on the throne, we don’t know their names but they’re just as real as you and I. They deserve to live, they deserve food for their children.”
However the person we. Know who cares about all of this and who has been focusing on the peoples lives and the feeding of their children is Queen of the North Sansa Stark!!
Food in general is culturally significant, sharing a meal can be symbolic of a bond that has been established or is forming. We see this in many of the feast scenes, and since season 8 has so many parallels to season 1 those are the two I will focus on.
First off we have two different feasts, one is honoring a long time friendship and the possibility of a marriage alliance (s1) and the other is a celebration of the end of a war and the solidification of an alliance(because we find our friends on the battle scene. I think it is important that we do not see D* eating with the Northerners before the feast in 8x04, because it is just reinforced the idea that they do not trust her and are not excepting her into their surroundings. While I don’t think this feast symbolizes the total subservience of the North (clearly because even though she is eating with them she is still physically separated) I do see it a the start of their expectance.
Food is symbolic but also a very real concern for the people of Westeros... Because food is FUCKING IMPORTANT!!!
(I have never added a trigger warning before so let me know if I did something wrong. Also gifs and screen shots are not mine)
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