The Lions of Al-Rassan is an alternative fiction novel written by author Guy Gavriel Kay. It tells the tale involving the meshing together of three different religions, the Asharites in the South, Jaddites in the North, and the wandering Kindath. By looking at one specific Jaddite, Alvar de Pellino, one can see how Guy Gavriel Kay’s novel Lions of Al-Rassan suggests that the collision of cultures can open up a character’s vision to the faults of their own self, including their ideals and beliefs, and their realisation of their own faults can potentially make one more accepting of other people and cultures.
Over the course of the story, and with direct or indirect conflict with people of other cultures, Alvar learns about the flaws in his vision …show more content…
A Kindath, Jehane, calls queen Vasca a racist, with horrible things said to the Kindath people, calling them “animals, to be hunted down and burned from the face of the earth. (Page 49)” Of course, Alvar could think of nothing to say. This is against Alvar’s values. In reality, that holy queen of the Jaddites is actually an evil racist. This verbal conflict with Jehane, where a queen that Alvar believes to be holy has said those words, calls Alvar’s sense of the righteousness of his own culture into question.
This conflict later affects Alvar’s outlook at his own culture compared to others, influencing how, in the later parts of the book, he regards the soldiers from Valledo, as well as Queen Vasca.
When the Jaddites were invading and going to pillage the Kindath Quarter of Fezana, “It occurred to him that Queen Vasca, whom his mother worshipped as holy, would have been urging on the people that were coming now. (Page 222)” One can see that Alvar realizes the evilness in his own nation, and the deeds of his own people. Again, this is a large contrast from the beginning. Religious Alvar that is either oblivious or ignorant of the evils of his own nation has become one who is aware of the evilness of his own …show more content…
In Lions of Al-Rassan, the idea that people of different cultures accept each other is an ideal that runs through the subtext. A crucial scene that ties Alvar’s acceptance with the acceptance in the plot happens when there is news about the destruction of the only city in Esperana where the Kindath could live freely. There were many prejudices made against the Kindath throughout Al-Rassan. In that scene, Alvar sees himself as "proof that men of different worlds can blend and mingle those worlds" (Page 350). The blending and mingling refers to acceptance. Thus, Alvar sees himself as proof that man of different worlds can accept the worlds of each
Over the course of the story, and with direct or indirect conflict with people of other cultures, Alvar learns about the flaws in his vision …show more content…
A Kindath, Jehane, calls queen Vasca a racist, with horrible things said to the Kindath people, calling them “animals, to be hunted down and burned from the face of the earth. (Page 49)” Of course, Alvar could think of nothing to say. This is against Alvar’s values. In reality, that holy queen of the Jaddites is actually an evil racist. This verbal conflict with Jehane, where a queen that Alvar believes to be holy has said those words, calls Alvar’s sense of the righteousness of his own culture into question.
This conflict later affects Alvar’s outlook at his own culture compared to others, influencing how, in the later parts of the book, he regards the soldiers from Valledo, as well as Queen Vasca.
When the Jaddites were invading and going to pillage the Kindath Quarter of Fezana, “It occurred to him that Queen Vasca, whom his mother worshipped as holy, would have been urging on the people that were coming now. (Page 222)” One can see that Alvar realizes the evilness in his own nation, and the deeds of his own people. Again, this is a large contrast from the beginning. Religious Alvar that is either oblivious or ignorant of the evils of his own nation has become one who is aware of the evilness of his own …show more content…
In Lions of Al-Rassan, the idea that people of different cultures accept each other is an ideal that runs through the subtext. A crucial scene that ties Alvar’s acceptance with the acceptance in the plot happens when there is news about the destruction of the only city in Esperana where the Kindath could live freely. There were many prejudices made against the Kindath throughout Al-Rassan. In that scene, Alvar sees himself as "proof that men of different worlds can blend and mingle those worlds" (Page 350). The blending and mingling refers to acceptance. Thus, Alvar sees himself as proof that man of different worlds can accept the worlds of each