English Literature

In the popular literary work, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the famous and faithful knights of King Arthur of Camelot, Sir Gawain, finds himself in deep trouble. In the beginning of the narrative poem, Sir Gawain defends the king s honor versus the Green Knight and because of this, he is forced to make a promise of seeking out the Green Knight. Sir Gawain searches for the mysterious knight and meets various obstacles. However, as he fights the battle against the knight, it is discovered that the whole thing was a ploy by Sir Bertilak and Morgan le Fay to prove whether Sir Gawain (or any of the Arthurian knights) would uphold the honor of a knight until the very end.

There are many known symbolisms within the pages of literary works, and the narrative poem of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is of no exception. The poem is teeming with allusions, hidden or double meanings, and profound symbolisms that would take the reader deeper into the theme of the work which is about the true meaning of being a knight. This theme is exactly what Sir Gawain firstly tries to fulfill and miserably fails to do so in the end. With the description of the  five fives,  knighthood with regard to the character of Sir Gawain is given tremendous importance. In the Book 2 of the narrative poem,  five fives  or the five important virtues of being a knight which are greatly and famously embodied in Sir Gawain are pointed out and explained to some extent

First, he was found faultless in his five senses,
and his five fingers never failed him in any deed,
and all his faith in this world was in the five wounds
that Christ carried on the cross, as the Creed informs us.
 when he fought his courage came from the five joys
the high Queen of Heaven had of her child.
And a fifth five was found in Gawain
bounty and brotherhood above all else
courtesy and a clean heart (these were never crooked)
and the finest point, compassion -- these five virtues
marked him more than any man alive.

The  five fives  are introduced so as to point out the significance of the pentacle in the shield and armor of Sir Gawain, in which the conclusion of the poem would serve as a basis of whether Sir Gawain does indeed embody the five fives. In the end, however, it is proven that indeed, he does not embody nor uphold the five fives. While Sir Gawain does prove his chivalrous nature with his courage and strength as a knight of Arthur, he is eventually shamed into his own failure as he fails to uphold what was known or famous for being truthful. He becomes dishonest and this dishonesty proves that he is faithless as being a knight of Christ he should have spoken the truth. Moreover, his dishonesty proves he has an unclean heart and he does not uphold the brotherhood that he committed himself with his host since he failed to fulfill his bargain with the him. Thus, in the end, although King Arthur and the rest of Knights of the Round Table welcome him with open arms and even share his embarrassment in solidarity, he is still a failure through and through for failing to uphold the five fives and all because of just one little lie.