Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

often and at will to show man something” (119). Since God is incontrol, then there would be nothing to fear. However, Christianitydepends on the choices that are executed. Sir Gawain fails becausehe makes the choice to trust in the girdle. The cultural anxiety existsbecause these Christians in England, just as Sir Gawain in the poem,do not have complete faith that God is in control.Bildhauer and Mills point out that monstrosity is “not meaninglessbut meaning-laden” (2). Monstrosity incorporated within a societycan provide means to overcome struggles with identity. The GreenKnight is the embodiment of residual paganism, which the late 14 thcentury English culture seems to want to eradicate. Although it isMorgan le Fay’s magic that transforms Sir Bercilak into the GreenKnight, “the monster signifies something other than itself” (Cohen4). The Green Knight represents everything that is non-Christianfrom pagan magic to demonic attributes. As the irruption occursin King Arthur’s court, Gawain is revealed as lacking the Christianfaith that the court supposedly represents. After discovering hisfaults, Gawain succeeds in removing the need for pagan magic andredefines himself as Christian. “As an embodiment of a certaincultural movement,” this poem reveals how literature can represent acultures background and struggle with pagan remnants overlappingChristian values (Cohen 4). Through the character Gawain, thepoem reveals the cultural tensions, England’s search for Christianidentity, and constant fear of God in the 14 th century.38 afternoons of alterity