The Post-Colonial Life of Theon Greyjoy

Are postcolonial issues valid only if they are strictly tied to nations or peoples in a state of post-colonization? If this is not the case, the study of post-colonialism has the ability to stretch and reach a wider audience for change. It seems that widening our societal lenses could welcome positive change for the field. Right now some post-colonial stories are given a much bigger place in the post-colonial canon based only on a sense of validity that comes from the societal focus on realism in American representation. Could symbolic representation give post-colonialism the weight in society to help it grow? I think it is already doing so. Here I’ve outlined one representation in popular entertainment that can be evaluated through the lens of postcolonial critical theory.

There is a symbolic exploration of post-colonial crisis that can be seen in the character Theon Greyjoy from the HBO television series Game of Thrones. Though the fictional land of Westeros is set in the Middle Ages, the show was clearly written from the modern perspective. While the show represents many different things to many different people, no one would argue that it doesn’t have a distinct relationship with postcolonialism. There have been many discussions on internet forums about marginalization of non-whites and lack of racial representation in the production. But beside this controversy there is another post-colonial interaction taking place within the popular television series. Undiscovered or under-internalized by the majority of the audience, the ideological struggle of post-colonial identity is being acted out through the character of Theon Greyjoy. This can be seen through the colonial gaze, the reinforcement of colonial culture, and the fluidity of identity in a post-colonial situation.

            The story of Theon Greyjoy is a unique depiction of post-colonialism because it is a representative microcosm rather than a realistic portrayal of post-colonial relations. Realistic representations seem to be a much more common trend, though they often don’t work the way their creators had planned. George R. R. Martin has a fictional people in this story that would serve as a great (and overdone) realistic backdrop for postcolonial or race relations—the Dothraki and Daenarys’s slave-army. They seem to be a truly colonized people. Yet we as an audience are never pulled into the perspective of the colonized. This is because of the unsteady ground postcolonial studies are built upon. There really is no right answer on how to deal with the issues that have arisen from cross-cultural interaction and colonization. George R. R. Martin is white, so he already gets criticized for his literary treatment of any people with a different skin color. If he were to go too far into postcolonial performance in the story—a story which is demographically aimed at a mostly white audience—he could be seen as trying to speak for another culture or as an unreliable authority. Because realistic depictions sometimes carry this risk, using a symbolic representation can be more effective in discussing identity issues and other facets of postcolonialism. In his own microcosmic colonial struggle, Theon stands for these postcolonial issues.

From the very beginning of the series, we witness Theon endure the effects of the colonial gaze. A definition for these effects would be “being seen, defined and stereotyped by [those] whose culture is deemed to be superior and to have greater authority” (Innes, 6). This happens to Theon essentially because he is totally immersed in the colonial culture. He was raised effectively under the rule of a colonial power in the form of Eddard (Ned) Stark. He was taken at the age of eight to be raised as a ward of the Starks instead of under the rule of his own father. As a child, he was forcefully enslaved as part of the spoils of war and as a punishment to Lord Balon Greyjoy, who had led a revolt against the rulers of the realm. The Greyjoys wanted to be independent of the throne in Westeros, free to rule their own kingdom according to “the old ways.” Theon was taken as a way to give the Starks leverage in order to keep the Greyjoys obedient to the throne.

In the first few episodes, before we know the names and backgrounds of the characters, it seems to the newcomer as though Theon is a member of the Stark family. However, we soon see that this is not the case. When the family discovers a litter of dire wolves (the Stark sigil or symbol), Theon is the only one in the company who does not receive one for a pet. Even the bastard, Jon Snow, gets a wolf. We see at this point resentment from Theon at being treated as less than everyone else. He attempts to identify with Jon, who initially is left out as well; but then Theon is visibly dismayed and angered when Jon again rises above him in status with the appearance of one last wolf. Theon’s disappointment shows how he is affected by colonial gaze. He learns to evaluate his own worth and see himself through the colonizers’ eyes, and wants to be like them in some ways but ultimately cannot.

Also around this time in the story, Theon is repeatedly told that he is lucky to be raised as a Stark. Essentially, he is being told that it is better for him that he be raised a prisoner in Winterfell than a lord in his own community. Catelyn specifically tells him that his father is an untrustworthy man—and that all Iron-born (any hailing from the Iron Islands, Theon’s home) are untrustworthy. This form of criticism and debasing of identity begins to describe the phenomena of justification by colonizers that can be seen in colonial history. In describing the psychology of the colonizers, Frantz Fanon says:

"In order to justify their rule and occupation of the natives’ territory, settlers and administrators create and define a ‘Manichean Society;’ that is, they classify the world of the ‘native’ as the opposite of everything the [colonizer] supposedly represents: civilization, morality, cleanliness, law and order, wholesome masculinity. So the native is by definition uncivilized or barbaric, childlike, feminine, unable to rule himself, superstitious" (Innes, 8).

The Starks justify their “colonization” by repeatedly asserting that they are opposite and superior to the Greyjoys.  Because of this perceived superiority, they believe they are thereby doing Theon a favor by taking him out of his culture and into their own. They consistently share this view with him, labeling him as ‘other,’ belittling his heritage, and putting his worth and identity into question. 

What adds to this in making Theon an example of postcolonial identity is Theon’s reaction to the colonial culture. Throughout the series, Theon is defined by the colonial culture. He does not know his own culture except through the gaze of the colonizers. He is considered both abnormal and inferior to those around him because of his ‘native’ culture. He learns to view his culture of origin as dishonest, foolhardy, and bloodthirsty. Because of the effect of colonial gaze, he becomes unable to take part wholly in his own culture. He is in effect tainted in the eyes of both societies and becomes a mimic-man in both. He tries at times in his life to take on the essentialism lauded by both cultures but can never succeed at either.

When Theon goes back home to the Iron Islands, he finds that he is unaccepted by all he comes across. Because of his experience with the colonizer, he ends up constantly perpetuating the colonial gaze. In seeking to validate his own culture, he actually begins reinforcing the colonial culture by praising the native culture in colonial terms. Once Ned Stark dies, Theon is free to assert his independence and become a post-colonized entity. In this post-colonial state, he returns to the Greyjoys to discover that they have rejected him because of his colonial ways: for example, his willingness to pay for things rather than fighting for them. Theon must now prove his loyalty to remain a viable member of society. As a Greyjoy, he will be heir to an entire kingdom, rich and powerful. Now that he has betrayed the Starks (the favorites of the North) his only other option becomes exile and loss of all power. He has been alienated from both cultures and chooses to pursue the one he assumes will accept him more fully. Because of this choice, he forever loses the chance to continue as a mimic-man in the colonial society.

Theon attempts to prove his membership in the ‘native’ culture through validating his father’s experience with praise. However, the things he praises are things that the colonizers value rather than things that the “native” culture values. He is unable or unwilling to praise the loss of life rampant in the history of the Iron-born and instead expects to be accepted for his strength of character and the reliability of his word. Because Theon’s gaze has been shaped by the colonizing power, he now cannot escape from it even though he is trying to rebuild the worth of the colonized culture rather than tearing it down as the colonizers did. He tries to protest against the colonizers but does it in their terms, their language, using their means rather than those of his culture of origin.

Edward Said talks about the reactions of colonized intellectuals post-colonialization, describing how they, upon “finding that they are discriminated against despite their demonstrably equal intelligence and educational attainment, begin to protest against this discriminatory treatment, often in terms of the very values which the [colonizers] have proclaimed” (Innes, 10).

Similarly, Theon tries to argue that he is a true Greyjoy but he is so infused with Stark ideas and ways of presenting himself that he is totally ineffective in this pursuit. In essence, he ends up proving the opposite point. But that is a sort of false representation of who he is. He doesn’t feel like he belongs as a Stark even if his father thinks he does. So in time, he learns the independent ways of the Iron-born and obviously devotes himself to bringing down the Starks. However, even this does not find him a place in the Iron-born culture. In fact, this is a very important issue in regards to the contemporary study of postcolonialism. Is it improper to try to identify with your heritage if you were not raised in that environment? Can someone in Theon’s position ever truly escape from colonial rule, or are they stuck in that in between area of fluid identity?

We see Theon devote himself whole heartedly to the cause of his father, but he never fits in with the family or society. He goes through a baptism ceremony, declares war on the Stark family, and kills many people who were kind to him in his quest to prove his devotion. But his devotion is in fact his simultaneous undoing. In his passion to prove himself, he drives his men to unnecessary measures and actually brings negative attention to his father’s plans. He doesn’t know what his father has planned because he hasn’t grown up around him. His passion shows him for what he is—an outsider.

But if Theon is an outsider to the Ironborn and an outsider to the Sons of the North, where does he fit in? This is the biggest issue of identity in postcolonial experience. There are many who are torn between two cultures and unable to feel like one or the other cultures belong to them.  

In this post-colonial state, Theon is likewise unable to find his identity. This is because identity is fluid. Globalization and cross-cultural interaction have made changes that we haven’t quite figured out how to deal with. What is interesting about Theon’s story is that of his cultural circumstance. In Westoros, there hasn’t been much cultural interaction besides war. There hasn’t been any true colonization in the Seven Kingdom since the arrival of “The First Men” and the consequent settlement of the land. Because of this, Theon is a symbolic representation of the change that came with colonization. He feels the brunt of the negative cultural interaction because he couldn’t anticipate how it would affect him. There isn’t a precedent for a cultural melting pot, just an empty space between two different cultures. Because of the negativity of the interaction with the colonizers, Theon does not want to please them. He wants to retain his native culture but is unable to. He has to mimic the Starks to survive in their world, and loses his own culture without ultimately gaining any of the positive things from the colonizing culture. He only wants to please his father but can never be anything but a disappointment to him because he can’t rule an unruly people that won’t respect him. So Theon is betrayed by both colonizers and the colonized. He is literally abandoned by the Iron-born and captured by order of Rob Stark. He then goes through torture where he further loses his identity and is even forced to concede his given name and agree to never respond to it again. At this point in the series Theon is basically a cross between a trained monkey and a catatonic mental patient. At any rate, he is ineffective in every way, which is an interesting thing to suggest about those in postcolonial identity crisis. I think it successfully shows the pain and heartbreak involved and dramatizes identity in a way that causes the audience to think about identity in a much more immediate sense and important part of cultural interaction.

Theon is just one person and not ‘a people’, which allows his story to really focus in on personal identity issues. It also has the benefit of not having to draw focus to spend on other things, like being politically correct or sensitive, which is something that Game of Thrones does not seem to like to waste time doing. I do recognize that the television show says a lot of things that do not forward the discussion on postcolonialism. I’m also not trying to suggest that realistic portrayals of postcolonialism are any less important than any other part of postcolonial discussion. Theon’s symbolic representation is not a perfect depiction of post-colonialism by any means. It might seem too that this example is ethnocentric towards Caucasians. I think it is. I’m not trying to say that a fictional white person’s experience should be considered universal for all of those experiencing post-colonialism. This example of internalizing and assimilating post-colonial issues into popular culture is just also a great start to what could really open the field of postcolonialism into a world discussion that would further understanding and bring validity to the feelings of colonized peoples or people experiencing postcolonial identity issues. Symbolic representation in popular entertainment can and should be criticized through a postcolonial lens. Just as Theon Grayjoy in Game of Thrones can be seen and talked about as an example of postcolonial experience, so can other representations be employed to further the postcolonial discussion.

Works Cited

Ashcroft, B. (2009). Caliban's Voice. New York: Routledge.

Bahri, D. (2003). Native Intelligence. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Innes, C. (2007). The Cambridge Introduction to Postcolonial Literatures in English. New York: Cambridge University Press.