Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Cultivare

Home
Evangelical
Billy Joel, George R. R. Martin, and Job

Billy Joel, George R. R. Martin, and Job

Last updated on: June 15, 2012 at 8:39 am by Daniel Harrell

Billy Joel, George R. R. Martin, and Job 2012-06-15T08:39:37-04:00 Daniel Harrell

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Guest blogger Dawn Duncan Harrell is author of Ten Ways to Pray. You can find her at dawnduncanharrell.com.

Locked You Away

My sister thought we were a bunch of boring, goody-two-shoes and we needed to diversify our image. She was right. I didn’t drink or watch R-rated movies until I was in seminary. We were four siblings, all women, and our idea of “bad” was howling Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young” as we disobeyed the speed limit on our weekly drive home to mom and dad.

To spice things up, she taught us to swear. Then we’d stage-whisper at Sunday drivers, “Get the h_ck out of the way. We’re trying to get to church!” and die laughing at the incongruity.

I know. I know. Bad girls. Ooooo.

At times, I have strayed further from the purity code (Phil 4:8), but the reality is that righteousness is complicated enough without peppering it in profanity. Obedience looks less black and white now than when I was twenty-two.

Sinners Are Much More Fun

So for the moment, this bad girl’s indulgence is reading George R. R. Martin’s saga Song of Ice and Fire. My sisters gave me that, too. You may have seen it dramatized on HBO as Game of Thrones.

Martin doesn’t use a whole lot of profanity himself, at least not in the books. Instead he sells with good storytelling, gratuitous sex, and made-for-TV marketing savvy.

Martin honed his television skills at Twilight Zone (CBS) and writes his chapters like TV episodes. With each new chapter, the viewpoint shifts to another character, while building on the larger narrative. And this character-shifting exacts a grudging re-commitment from the reader.

His characters in action then raise questions in the reader’s mind such as, “Which is worse, faithful incest or promiscuous whoring?” And, “Should a minister’s wife with her own MDiv and a recent publication on prayer be reading this sex scene?” Thankfully, those depictions thinned out after the first book sold well.

Bad girl still read it, however, followed by book two. I’m almost done with the third A Storm of Swords, which is roughly the same plot position as the end of HBO’s second season.

Martin’s most vexing quality in Song of Ice and Fire is his tendency to kill off the good guys. To survive as a character, one must be cunning (Tyrion), sexy (Cersei), or rich (Tywin). Some combination of the three gains you a longer life (pick a Lannister). Failing that, sell your soul to the devil (Stannis) or, if you’re a Targaryen, bend the dark arts to your own will (Daenerys).

If you have the misfortune to be a straight-laced character, doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with your gods (Mic 6:8), Martin will remove you. Compromise your principles or be physically compromised through no fault of your own—eunuch, dwarf, bastard—and he’ll string you along.

Only the Good Die Young

In a July 12, 2011 NPR On Point interview, Martin protests: “It’s necessary. . . . [You must] establish very early in the books that you’re playing for real, that anyone can die.” However, up to this point, the righteous viewpoint characters actually die in greater proportion than the compromised ones do.

In Martin’s books, the righteous suffer for the same reason Job does in the Bible. They suffer because they are righteous (Job 1:8–11). There is no satisfying explanation (Eccl 9:1). These characters don’t die as the consequence of immoral behavior (Ps 39:11). Their deaths don’t mature them, spiritually or otherwise (Jas 1:2–4). They don’t even experience the after-glow of glorious death (Heb 11:37–40).

In the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the next plot turn is an evangelistic one. God is sovereign. The viewpoint character humbles himself to God in spite of apparently bad math: character does good = character suffers. Readers witness this faithfulness to Yahweh. Author presents a new equation: if (good) character X remains faithful to (apparently bad) god Y, then Y-god must be more good than X.

Perhaps the reader will re-read in search of this great good. Perhaps she will re-consider the worthiness of Yahweh. For Job’s character, Yahweh God = Redeemer (Job 19:25).

Give You . . . a Reputation

Martin doesn’t have this option because he doesn’t posit such a god. In his world, righteousness isn’t complicated enough to address the nitty-gritty problems of personality, politics, love, war or the undead. “Resurrection” is what happens after The Others take you. Redemption is what you win for yourself.

Righteousness = death. There is no satisfying explanation. There are only good foreshadowing, heightened suspense, three-dimensional characters, and a well-hued world that rings true to conflicts of the human condition.

Anyone can die. If not, the plot is boring. And boring is death to an author.

On Point with Tom Ashbrook

Only the Good Die Young

Song of Ice and Fire

Twighlight Zone

Previous Post

June 14, 2012

Prometheus, Genesis and the Purpose of Creation

Next Post

June 18, 2012 Advice for a New Father - from a Rookie

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Alex Blondeau Authors Daniel Harrell Daniel Siedell Dawn Duncan Harrell Kyle Roberts Uncategorized Wyndy Corbin

Select a Month November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Revelation, what are the names of the two cities that the two witnesses' bodies lie in?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sodom and Egypt (figuratively called) Babylon and Jerusalem Rome and Athens Damascus and Tyre