| Abstract | George R. R. Martin is irrevocably one of the greatest fantasy novelists of all time, and his crown jewel is definitely A Song of Ice and Fire. The way he creates and develops his characters is considered to be a revolutionary novelty in literature. Men, women, rich, poor, middle-class, young, old, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, educated, uneducated, maesters, knights, ladies, women warriors, and so on – each has their own place within the Song. What this paper will focus on, however, is the representation of disability. It could be said that most of the characters in the series has some kind of disability, whether physical, mental, or emotional. For practical reasons, three of the more prominent disabled characters will be described and analysed in this paper: Tyrion Lannister, Bran Stark, and Theon Greyjoy. There are some similarities between their experiences and life stories: they all feel isolated and resentful due to their disability, they struggle with the oppression of their environment, they completely shatter every possible prejudice about disabled people, and their path to (self-)acceptance is filled with trials and tribulations. On the other hand, there are many differences that make their arcs unique: the kind of disability they are inflicted with, the period in life when they got it, the environment they grew up in, different personality types, and so on. Both the similarities and differences serve as a proof of Martin’s incredibly progressive and inclusive writing on disability, as well as many other important issues and aspects of life. |
