What Could We Learn From Sir G

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What Could We Learn From Sir Gawain?

I think we could learn a lot many things from Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain is someone that I think everyone can relate to in some way. He was placed under many tests and performed admirable in all but one of them. It is that last test that made him seem 'human'; to me. I think in order to learn from someone you have to try to 'walk a mile in his or her shoes.'; I will describe, in detail, the parts of the story in which Sir Gawain excelled and why we should try to learn from him.
The first thing I thing we could learn from Sir Gawain is to always be ready to step up to a challenge. In Part 1 of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain challenges the Green Knight. Gawain is the only Knight to accept the challenge for the King and does so without reservation. He easily beheaded the 'magical'; man as stated in the following lines: 'Gawain grips to his ax and gathers it aloft--/ The left foot on the floor before him he set--/ Brought it down deftly upon the bare neck,/ That the shock of the sharp blow shivered the bones/ And cut the flesh cleanly and clove it in twain,/ That the blade of bright steel bit into the ground./ The head was hewn off and fell to the floor;/ Many found it at their feet as forth it rolled;/ (Unknown, Part I, 421-427). He didn't know the Green Knight was magical and probably thought it would be an easy task. After all, he was a Knight in the great King Authur's court. For this I think Gawain shows strength, bravery, and loyalty.
The next thing we could learn from Sir Gawain is demonstrated on his trip to the Green Chapel: 'Many a cliff must he climb in the country wild; /Far off from all his friends, forlorn he must ride; / At each strand or stream where the stalwart passed/'Twere a marvel if he met not some monstrous foe, /And that so fierce and forbidding that fight he must./ (Unknown, Part II, 713-717). Gawain left his home during horrible chill of winter on a journey to meet a 'man'; who had survived being beheaded. His must have felt lonely, scared, and lost away from all that he is so very familiar with.

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