Life, Death, and Rebirth: An Examination of
The never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth is one that transcends both time and culture. It is one that has been understood everywhere on Earth, including the ancient Egyptians, who considered the Nile River the "lifeblood of Egypt. Its cycle of flooding-life, death, and rebirth to new growth-became the cycle of everyday life, and also of Egyptian religion and understanding of an afterlife" (Denault). Even modern-day Hindus "have found a way to live forever [through their belief in reincarnation]. They believe in an endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth" (Fedor). Literature throughout the ages has been consumed by countless examples of this familiar sequence, including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Three profound examples can be found in the poem, including the opening discussion of the fall of Troy and the descriptions of the rise of great civilizations such as Rome and Britain, the author's extensive use of seasonal imagery, and the interpretation of the Green Knight as a "Green Man," familiar to modern-day Western pagans as an ancient "expression of the cycle of life, death and rebirth" (Lister). First of all, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight opens with a description of the siege and fall of Troy, which, ac
Baby animals mature into adults, blossoms wilt and make way for summer and autumn fruit, and flowers wither and drop. Since the birth of this young country, the world has seen the fall in power of Great Britain and the weakening and collapse of Spain's once great navy. As a final point, the Green Knight himself can be interpreted as a representation of the legendary pagan symbol of a Green Man, who is not only "depicted as a man peering out of a mask of foliage" ("This Card"), but is himself a symbol of the constant cycle of life, death, and rebirth, according to the beliefs of ancient and modern-day pagans. Finally, no single symbol in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth better than the Green Knight himself and his surroundings throughout the story. "[T]he five changing seasons also correspond to the five ages of man (birth/infancy, youth, adulthood, middle age, and old age/death), as well as to the cycles of fertility and decay that govern all creatures in the natural world" ("Themes"). Life thrived for tens of thousands of years on the continent, giving way to great kingdoms and empires, only to see them wiped out by the conquering of Westerners and the ravages of diseases such as AIDS and Ebola. Consider spring, when trees bloom, flowers open, and animals bear their young. She spoke the truth indeed, as such words hold true across time and culture, from present-day America to the ancient time of Sir Gawain. By winter, plants shrivel and die, animals migrate or hibernate, and a deathly quiet envelopes the earth, waiting for spring and eventual renewal. Plants are a well known way to "suggest a cycle of life, death, and resurrection" (Coolidge), and play very fittingly into the overall theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Obviously, the cycle of death and rebirth makes itself apparent in the world around us each day, and the allusion to the death of Troy and the birth of such great kingdoms can only be seen as reinforcement to the cyclical theme. New life is a constant, but is ever-changing. From the Green Knight's (Bertilak) three hunts to his final confrontation with Sir Gawain at the Green Chapel in the wilderness, plant life always plays a significant part, at least in the background scenery. cording to the poet, led, in due course, to the founding of many great cities. Vincent Millay once said, "It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over" ("Quotation Details").
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Acceptance Essays
