Griffith and his views on aristocracy

Well, now that I long ago finished raving about how fine he was, here's something I think all of you know, but I'm going to say it anyways.

One of the reasons Griffith is my favorite character is because he stood against the aristocracy and their old traditions of 'being born' into a certain family would guarantee the throne or nobility by birth alone. Griffith represented the 'poor man' or the 'common man' who, through the sheer willpower and goal to achieve his dream of ruling a kingdom, was able to take the Hawks that far by winning battles. Even if one thinks he's a self-centered evil jerk who betrayed his Hawks, still, one must give him credit for bestowing a lot of his own fame and fortune on the Hawks. After all, if it weren't for them, there'd be no army, and no army=Griffith has nothing.

The Hawks all aspired to something greater, even if some of them realized their own limitations. And yet when Griffith was made White Phoenix general, they couldn't believe their 'good luck' in becoming nobles themselves. By helping Griffith come closer to achieving his dreams, they too, were able to reach for the stars.

Oscar Wilde : " We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars."

When Griffith caught the nobleman raping Caska, he immediately said, " Just because you're a nobleman, you think you can do what you want to this girl?" Though Caska's price for Griffith's interfering was high, what he said showed his contempt for the upper class. Remember this was a guy who was a poor kid running along slum alleys and looking up at the castle ( figuratively and literally) in the sky. And all along thinking, "That is going to be mine one day."

In those brutal Medieval times, very few people if any at all aspired to such ambition and made it out of poverty and common birth.

And then there's the part where he has the Queen murdered..." You are not used to being in battle, but sitting in a chair. On a battlefield one's RANK/BIRTH does not matter. You either win...or LOSE."

With that kind of optimism, confidence , charisma, and infallible belief in himself ( which so many called self-centered and arrogant) he was able to transcend poverty and 'common birth' to the elevated status he was before his tragic downfall. One has to give him credit for that much...like Guts said, with such lofty ambitions, always flying so high.

Unfortunately, he fell. But he rose again...and will continue to rise until, phoenix-like, he finally gets his dark kingdom.

LG

I don't think Griffith was some kind of revolutionary. He didn't want to overthrow the aristocrats' power, he just wanted to have part of it. If his plan to marry Charlotte and become successor to the throne had worked, there wouldn't have been any change in the social structure in Midland. In a few generations, all that would have remained would be the story of the commoner who became king. The aristocracy would still rule, and Griffith's successors would be every bit as snooty as Char.

Ah, how ironic that Griffith fights against the old aristocracy only to have to conform it that old aristocracy in order to achieve his dream.

Granted, he could possibly bring change to the monarchy if he were (or will) become King of Midland, but it's difficult to uproot the long standing blood of the current nobles. He already lopped off one branch of the royal family by killing Adonis and company. Who's to say he's not trying to purge the aristocracy and rebuild it with a new generation of nobles.

The Berserk world in general seems to comment about the corruption of Midland's nobles. For example, Faraneze came from a line of noble blood, but has many . . . problems. When she burns down the manor, they just send her to a convent to keep the family name from being tarnished. Also, Gennon is another great example of nobles gone wrong. He uses his title and power for his own private pleasures. Though he may have noble blood, his actions don't warrant that he has noble intentions. All in all, they may have title, but they're still human.

your average aristocrat doesn't see to the death of the queen.

Miyu said:

Ah, how ironic that Griffith fights against the old aristocracy only to have to conform it that old aristocracy in order to achieve his dream.

Granted, he could possibly bring change to the monarchy if he were (or will) become King of Midland, but it's difficult to uproot the long standing blood of the current nobles. He already lopped off one branch of the royal family by killing Adonis and company. Who's to say he's not trying to purge the aristocracy and rebuild it with a new generation of nobles.

The Berserk world in general seems to comment about the corruption of Midland's nobles. For example, Faraneze came from a line of noble blood, but has many . . . problems. When she burns down the manor, they just send her to a convent to keep the family name from being tarnished. Also, Gennon is another great example of nobles gone wrong. He uses his title and power for his own private pleasures. Though he may have noble blood, his actions don't warrant that he has noble intentions. All in all, they may have title, but they're still human.

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He might rebuilt it with 'new nobles,' but Griffith himself came from common blood. If you read what I had to say carefully, you will see that I don't uphold any kind of aristocracy. My point was that Griffith was able to transcend his own common birth to bring about power to himself by realizing his dream could be accomplished with an army of commoners. Whether or not he plans to fulfill his dreams of being King of Midland ( and eventually the world) by using nobles is yet to be seen. The ranks of some nobles such as Mule and high-ranking knights such as Locus seem to be attracted to him already, so this time around, Griffith Reborn will probably have them handy as well as other people.

But I was talking about Taka no Dan, and the fact that Griffith banded together a bunch of common-born people to ascend to power which no one had done before in Midland.

LG

Majin Tenshi said:

your average aristocrat doesn't see to the death of the queen.

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That's true, the 'average aristocrat' doesn't. I found it amusing when the queen shouted out at him, "How dare you! You can't kill me, you're a commoner!" Well, she was the one who burned to death along with everyone else in the castle. Hey, you don't need to be anything but clever and ruthless to kill a queen.

And we know Griffith had both qualities to a T.

LG