Sir Gawain’s adventures with the Green Knight should have provided Gawain with moral lessons and given him a new appreciation for life. Gawain chooses not to see things this way. He is unable to get beyond his feelings of humiliation and embarrassment to see the value and humor in his encounters with the Green Knight. This behavior demonstrates his lack of integrity and sense of humor and a side of Gawain that can only be described as a sore sport. The Green Knight leads Gawain on a series of adventures that, with the exception of the green girdle, proves Gawain’s honor and good moral.
However, after the Green Knight spares his life, Gawain manages to virtually reverse this honorability. He reacts in such a way that he demonstrates no appreciation for his second chance at life, This is the blazon of the blemish that I bear on my neck; This is the sign of sore loss that I have suffered there For the cowardice and coveting that I came to there (2506-2509) His behavior is self-centered and petty as he feels he has been robbed of heroic status.
Sir Gawain feels that he would have been a better knight had he died nobly for King Arthur. A good example of this kind of behavior in modern times would be in the movie Forrest Gump. In the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest in the Vietnam War risks his own life to rescue the life of Lieutenant Dan. After the war Lt. Dan shows no appreciation and actually displays a lot of bitterness and anger towards Forrest. Lieutenant Dan is upset because he took his role as a soldier very seriously and was embarrassed that he didn’t die honorably in the line of duty.
This is comparable to the pride Gawain takes in his role as on of Arthur’s knights. Another example of this would be tennis star John McEnroe and his extreme tantrums and fits he would throw when things didn’t go his way. McEnroe would throw his racket and yell at the judge for making, “bad calls” when most of the time McEnroe was the one at fault. McEnroe would insist that his mistakes were anyone’s fault except his own. Some of his common excuses included that the sun was in his eyes, the judge wasn’t looking, or his racket was broken.
Gawain acts the same way as McEnroe, by saying the woman’s appearance clouds his judgement, and that’s why he takes the girdle and doesn’t return it to the man. Even King Arthur is able to find the humor in the Green Knights hoax. As Gawain wallows in self-pity by complaining: This is the blazon of the blemish that I bear on my neck; This is the sign of a sore loss that I have suffered there For the cowardice and coveting that I came to there; This is the badge of false faith that I was found in there, And I must bear it on my body till I breath my last.
Or one may keep a deed dark, but undo into whit, For where a fault is made fast, it is fixed evermore (2506-2512). King Arthur tries to reassure Gawain that he has done nothing wrong. The narrator says: The king comforts the knight, and there court all together Agree with gay laughter and gracious intent That the lords and the ladies belonging to the Table, Each brother of that band, a baldric should have, A belt borne oblique, of a bright green, To be worn with one accord for that worthy’s sake (2513-18).
If Arthur, the king Gawain would have died for, feels the joke was acceptable then why is Gawain unable to get past it? This is a common feature of sore sports. Once they begin thinking negatively, they lose the ability to see the humor or any positive outcomes. This is a problem that has tarnished the reputation of many possible heroes, such as John McEnroe and Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump. Sir Gawain’s inability to see the value and humor in his adventures with the Green Knight will continue to make him a miserable “till [he] breath [his] last” (2510).
