Summary of Findings

The participants of this study have a clear idea of what power is, and where it comes from, and in general terms they see it as the ability to influence others. In this the participants agree with definitions offered both by Foucault (The Subject 341) and Wrong (1). When it comes to the tools and preconditions of power, the boys seem to focus on money, material aspects, knowledge and skills, and position in the hierarchy. Again, this is a notion shared by Fairholm, who argues that it is impossible to consider organisation without looking to power.

In this connection, the girls seem to stress personal characteristics and relationships with others above the material aspects and position, recognising that power comes from what others think of you. This is clearly what Wrong points out when he relates power to social interaction (1).

In relation to domination techniques, the study found that all participants were familiar with some of these techniques, and the two groups agreed more or less on which of these that were unfamiliar. This could be because the examples were related to the workplace or organisations, of which they have little experience. However, they are on the threshold of

adult life, and will soon enough meet these aspects. Knowing about them might thus be useful. The groups also shared opinions about which techniques were preferred by which gender. Their agreement indicates that there may be gender differences in the use of domination techniques; suggesting that males are more direct and tend to use ridicule, whereas females tend to attempt to make the other invisible.

A further result of this study shows that in terms of power in GOT, the participants agree largely on which characters are more powerful. The more coercive power the character displays, the higher up he or she appears on the list of powerful characters (Fairholm 12, 23).

The girls additionally seemed to focus on the potential for power which a character has, not necessarily the power they have at present, whereas the boys looked to the present situation, and seemed unable to consider deceased characters as powerful, even when they were asked consider the situation in the past. A similar difference is reflected in the question about how power switches; the boys mentioned those who had lost their lives first, or those who suddenly gained something, whereas the girls focused on the changes in relationships.

In deciding what makes someone subordinate, the boys tended to focus on the lack of position, such as being born into subordination, in combination with a personality that does not seek power. This relates to what Fairholm says about power: it is shown through use, not possession (5). The girls agreed with the boys, but again stressed personality over position. In general it seems as if the two groups agree as to which characters are powerful, but not what gives them this power. This opens for interesting discussions on how social systems may give, restore or restrain the power of the individual.

In terms of the motivations behind power use, the study has shown that the participants clearly see beyond the actions of several characters, though most of the examples provided by both groups were related to the motive “meeting ego needs” (Fairholm 66). This could be because many of the motives for power use in the series are difficult to discover even if you have read Martin’s books. The constantly switching perspectives and multiple story lines add to this difficulty, especially in the novels, as you may read about a situation from the perspective of the victim of power use, and may have to wait several chapters for the perspective of the power user. Even then you may not be told much about it because that would reveal parts of the plot that Martin has wished to keep secret until later. This last aspect

is true of the TV-series as well, and thus it is not surprising that one of the boys expressed confusion about how the plot will develop and where things were going.

The study also found that both groups considered Tyrion as a charismatic character and further, that he uses this as a tool. He is admittedly presented with much wit and a devious charm, both in the books and the TV-series, so this is not surprising. The actor Peter Dinklage has been nominated thrice for his role as the GOT character Tyrion Lannister, securing one Emmy in 2011 for supporting actor in a drama series (Peter Dinklage). Tyrion Lannister is often mentioned as the favourite character among fans of GOT.

In the discussion about power based on access to resources, both groups provided many examples, but the examples were different, with one shared exception: information. Again, the boys focused on position, whereas the girls rather looked to concrete resources like money and luxury and to closeness and bonding between characters. It is interesting that the boys focus to such a degree on structural power and hierarchy, since this does not seem to be considered very important by the girls.

Some of the questions dealt with the use of power in a clearly positive manner, such as empowering others and acceptable power use. The boys’ group had problems providing examples of characters that empower others, whereas the girls, quickly named several characters. In the question about acceptable power use, the groups more or less agreed that the Starks are good people who act morally. However, none of the groups mentioned the use of logic as an example of this power use, which is power use that offers the subject a real choice of action (Fairholm 20), and thus must be conceived as positive. This may be a difficult tactic to discover, because offering facts may not strike them as the use of power.

5.1.2. The Scenes and Power Use in GOT

This part asked the participants to disclose power use and power relationships as they were presented in the scenes. The groups mentioned many of the same points and apparently discovered the same tactics, but where the boys only focused on action and result, the girls also commented on how the relationships developed, and seemed to hold legitimate power above the other bases of power (Fairholm 23). Moreover, the participants disclosed that they have a good overview of different types of power use in GOT, perhaps aided by the hand-outs and pre-interview questionnaire. Both groups found many examples of characters that use fear

to control others, but did not elaborate, and both groups mentioned Sansa as an example of a character who acts out of fear. This is not surprising, since Sansa is one of the main characters and in a very difficult position. The series focuses on this situation, and makes use of Sansa to highlight the personality and power use of other characters, like Joffrey. It is neither surprising that the girls noted that Joffrey, despite his position, constantly acts out of fear.

This means they have recognised that position does not necessarily procure a feeling of having power, even if the boys seem to agree that position is an essential cause of power. The girls additionally mentioned gender challenges, which is a topic entirely left out by the boys here, but which is present in other parts of the interview.

What is more, the boys stated that honour is a quality which is often exploited to gain power over others, as with the Starks, whereas the girls here pointed to vanity as a factor, both in relation to Sansa and Joffrey. Sansa is easily won over at first because of her fascination for beauty, high society and fancy dresses. Joffrey, however, seems to fall for flattery directed at his own person. These two characters are played by others because of their vanity.

Furthermore, the girls pointed to Daenerys and her use of threats and promises to turn people and make them to do her bidding.

The study also discloses that some types of power were difficult to detect for the participants.

None of the groups were able to point to persuasion or the use of logic as a tactic, perhaps because they did not regard this as power use? Similarly, both groups found it difficult to point to how powerful characters control other characters’ behaviour in the series. The boys eventually mentioned the relationship between Tyrion and Bronn as an example of this, but they further commented that there is a clear limitation to the power Tyrion has over Bronn.

This part showed that when they are guided by questions they are able to see nuances and thus they register how different context may change power relationships.

5.1.3. GOT and Troubling Literature and Culture in the Classroom

One of the major findings of this study relates to the use of the series in the classroom. Here the groups pointed out that there are many good reasons for reading the novel A Game of Thrones in a class, and that it may lead to increased understanding and insight due to the many moral dilemmas and troubling topics. This is a point supported by Reid and Stringer:

“the basic motivation for most education is that knowledge empowers” (1). In spite of their positive attitudes, the participants also addressed potential drawbacks to using the series as obligatory work: the book is long, the language difficult, and you have to read the entire series

to really enjoy it. In addition, assigned reading is often not welcomed by students per se. They wish to be able to choose for themselves. Reading excerpts, however, was a warmly greeted suggestion. This is somewhat surprising, given the comment made by one participant; that it is necessary to read it all, or watch all the episodes to understand what goes on.

Furthermore, the groups argued for the use of the TV-series GOT, because it is enjoyable and because you can easily see how power works, but this recommendation came with a warning:

it may not be palatable to everyone. The participants especially pointed to scenes that may leave a strong impression, and warned against making it obligatory to watch for this reason.

To the question whether one should use popular culture in the classroom, the answer was overwhelmingly positive, and the participants provided many good reasons for this view. In particular, the girls focused on how strongly this culture influences youth, whereas the boys were perhaps more provoked by the idea that popular culture is not considered good enough since they enjoy it so much themselves. When faced with popular culture and film that the students have read and watched for pleasure, the motivation for working with the material may be very strong, but it may also be that the students fear that school will ruin their pleasure by dissecting their favourite books or films. This should be possible to avoid by following the students’ advice here and letting the choice of text or film be optional.

From a teacher’s point of view, I do not consider Martin’s novels highly relevant books for joint reading projects in their entirety for several reasons: the extensive length, the fantasy genre, and the raw approach to troubling topics, to mention some aspects. Neither is it convenient to watch an entire series in a school project, much for the same reasons.

Nonetheless, there will always be students who do read these books, and who have watched the series and for them, GOT may serve as reference when reading other texts, or watching films, and in dealing with topics like power, gender and racism. Additionally, these books are very versatile, blending in other genres, even poems, fairy tales and songs. This may be exploited by teachers in their approach to classical literature.

5.1.4. Influence on the Participants

As part of this study, I wished to know how the series and participating in this study had influenced them. The groups considered that the series, regardless of whether they had read it or just watched it, has had a positive effect on their vocabulary, though this is perhaps difficult to verify without having tested it specifically. Furthermore, the participation has

changed the way the participants view the characters, and it has influenced their consciousness of power. It has not, however, had much influence on their relationship to others. I am personally pleased with this result, as the aim was to increase their awareness, not complicate, or meddle with, their personal relationships.