In Game of Thrones, a sense of community arises in the different houses. A house is pretty much a family tree. For instance, House Stark is the ruling family in the North and is made up of the lord Ned Stark, his wife Catelyn Stark, and their five children. The extended family of Ned (his brother, uncles, aunts..) also belong to House Stark as long as they have the Stark name. Each of the seven kingdoms has a house that rules that kingdom. The Starks are the rulers of the North, the Lannisters are the rulers of the Westerlands…And each kingdom also has many smaller houses that serve the main ruling house.
Each house also has their words. These are words that encapsulate what the house stands for and values. For instance, the words of House Stark are “Winter is coming” which reveals the toughness and grit of the Northeners. On the other hand, the words of House Martell are “Unbowed Unbent Unbroken” which calls attention to the history of the house and how they never gave in or gave up their lands to foreign conquerors.
In Game of Thrones, what house you belong to is basically they way your social status is determined. Being part of the ruling houses gives you more prestige and authority and credibility over members of smaller or poorer houses. Members of a house live out their lives in hopes of improving their house and making their name carry more weight. Bringing honor and glory to a house is what every house member aspires to do. Dishonorable or cowardly actions like fathering a bastard or fleeing battle brings shame to the house and to you.
In the show, House Lannister is known to be the richest house because of Lord Tywin Lannister’s actions. He built his house back up after his father nearly brought it down. He won many wars, arranged helpful political marriages (marrying his daughter to the king) and invested carefully which all led to him being the leader of the most powerful House in Westeros. Now Tywin controls his children’s actions in hopes of bettering the House name. For instance, he ordered his dwarf son Tyrion to marry Sansa Stark to create a bond with House stark. He also planned to marry his queen daughter Cersei to Loras Tyrell, the heir of the very powerful House Tyrell. Even if his children despise him for trying to control their lives, he feels these actions are necessary for the sake of the family name. Tywin is also very conscious of keeping his children from doing dishonorable deeds. For instance, Tywin hates his dwarf son Tyrion because of his dwarfanism and his lifestyle. Tywin admitted that he wanted to kill Tyrion as a kid because he thought a dwarf child would bring shame to his family. Tyrion grew up to be a clever alcoholic who spends too much time with prostitutes. As a result, Tywin despises his son even more because he thinks that Tyrion’s lifestyle brings shame and distaste to the Lannister name.
With Tywin Lannister, the concept of family and always putting family first is his priority. He is a very proud man with a very proud family behind him and does anything and everything he can to keep that pride and power in his family name. Family means everything to Tywin, and many other characters in the show, and will go to any means to make sure his family is always on top.
