G'Kar...Afraid?

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

I certainly think G'Kar feels fear. Bravery isn't even possible if one is immune to fear. G'Kar acts in spite of his fears. And he often speaks of his fears, though those fears are usually for others.

I had a different take on Day of the Dead, however. I believe that G'Kar avoided the Brakiri section not out of fear of who he'd see, but out of simplicity. G'Kar has had enough messages from beyond for one lifetime, and simply took a pragmatic approach to getting a good night's sleep. He knew that any such visitations would be troublesome, not fearful.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

I certainly think G'Kar feels fear. Bravery isn't even possible if one is immune to fear. G'Kar acts in spite of his fears. And he often speaks of his fears, though those fears are usually for others.

I had a different take on Day of the Dead, however. I believe that G'Kar avoided the Brakiri section not out of fear of who he'd see, but out of simplicity. G'Kar has had enough messages from beyond for one lifetime, and simply took a pragmatic approach to getting a good night's sleep. He knew that any such visitations would be troublesome, not fearful.

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I'm almost ready to go along with you on this, but, I'm not sure. Wasn't G'Kar a bit jealous, once he heard of others' experiences? (Been awhile since I've seen this one, and only recently gotten the DVDs, so I only just watched Atonement (Season 4, ep 9) last night)

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

I simply got the impression that G'kar had heard things about this ceremony, things that gave him some rather wise caution about the whole thing. Later, when he got to talk to some of the people who were in that section of the station, he felt they had been transformed by the experience somehow.

Suppose he ever vacationed on Brakir (?) during the festival at some later date?

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

I thought the Day of the Dead only came around every 200 or 500 years.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

Ah, then I suppose he missed out on his only opportunity.

Sorry, it has been awhile since I've seen that episode.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

Hypatia wrote: *Ah, then I suppose he missed out on his only opportunity.*

And perhaps that is an answer to my original question. A lesson learned - that small fears stand in the way of our enlightenment.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

"...They are a mystery, and I am both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders out there. To know that we have not yet explained everything. Whatever they are, Ms. Sakai, they walk near Sigma 957, and they must walk there alone." -G'Kar to Catherine Sakai, "Mind War"
G'Kar was terrified of things that were too far beyond him; anyone would be a fool not to be. Everyone knows there are some phenomena you just do not mess with. It is this rationality that lead to G'Kar's outburst concerning the Brakiri's Day of the Dead. Come on, a festival when the dead return?! There is far too little science and far too much strangeness to go along with that quietly.

G'Kar, however, did not fear Emperor Cartaiga any more than you fear this post. Cartaiga was a bloodthirsty tyrrant - qualities G'Kar has seen in the Centauri his entire life. G'Kar was brave because he had total faith that he would overcome Cartaiga. G'Kar pitied Cartaiga, because he was a weak man driven only by his madness. G'Kar never feared him, because Cartaiga could never hurt him.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

G'Kar was brave... G'Kar never feared him....

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If bravery is defined (this is definitely how I define it) as having fear yet going forward despite that fear, then I would say in order for G'Kar to be brave, G'Kar would have to be afraid.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

VL, if we define it that way, in my opinion, G'Kar wasn't brave. I think he could be terrified of things intellectually, and philosophically, in the sense that he found those things to be terrible, or unfathomable, in themselves. But, I don't think he any longer knew personal, emotional fear, because of the strength of his philosophy. I think he was like a Zen monk, who felt that his oneness with things, made him in a sense, unkillable, as is the universe, and in any event, think his death would be inconsequential, and already accepted, like the Lakota warriors who say "Today is a beautiful day to die." So, ALL of his fears had already been overcome. That to me, is the ultimate bravery.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

Courage is the compliment of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool)
R.A. Heinlein. 'Time Enough For Love'

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

Ah , but another saying states that a Hero is merely a coward who was to scared to run and survived through the whole mess. It seems whichever way you look at it bravery and fear work hand in glove.
I maintain he was afraid, not because he was a coward but simply because he had so many personal revelations that he might have known his own limitations and as a result did not feel the need to tempt fate by pushing himself beyond what he knew of himself.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

I think Ninja Squirrel had it right in the second post: G'Kar wasn't afraid or not afraid, he was filling the role Gaiman needed as a "Cassandra" to build up the tension. His role in this ep could have been filled by anyone, so I don't think we can say anyhting about G'Kar based on it.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

I think Ninja Squirrel had it right in the second post: G'Kar wasn't afraid or not afraid, he was filling the role Gaiman needed as a "Cassandra" to build up the tension. His role in this ep could have been filled by anyone, so I don't think we can say anyhting about G'Kar based on it.

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Sorry, I haven't read all posts above, but here are my 2c worth of opinion:

While G'Kar is the bravest man, ehh person, concerning all stuff "Earthly", or what you would call it, it is very possible that when it comes to ghosts, actual real ghosts, he is not so sure about himself. It's as if a really brave and strong person is afraid of spiders, or heights - you can't help it.
G'Kar's weak point is ghosts.

Possibly.

/IamS

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

Courage is the compliment of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool)
R.A. Heinlein. 'Time Enough For Love'

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You and Heinlein are entitled to your opinion, I am entitled to mine.

I still say that G'Kar had faced all his fears, and overcome them. That is very different from being ignorant or heedless of danger, which is indeed foolish.

Whether that would make him courageous or not IS an interesting philosophical argument. I do recognize that once he had reached that point, he no longer required one certain sort of emotional effort to act in a courageous manner, unlike a fearful person, who has much to overcome to act bravely, and is to be admired when they do.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

I wouldn't say that G'Kar was a coward since he endured one whip short of dying by electrowhip just to amuse Emperor Cartagia.

Re: G\'Kar...Afraid?

Well, I certainly don't think he's a coward, and doubt that anyone else does. I do think that he has conquered his fears, and is pretty much fearless. Some here, not I, are of the opinion that if he doesn't know fear, well then he can't be brave. I would agree that to be brave, one must overcome their fear, I'm just saying that G'Kar has done that permanently, and thus doesn't have to do it every time he is confronted by a frightening situation.