GribbleGrunger said:
It is a fact whether you disagree or not. Much of the narrative structure in GOW is broken to the point of silliness. Out of interest, when the boy starts hacking at the troll, what did you take from what he was saying? |
I honestly have no idea what you're talking about in regard to the narrative. We start with kratos and Atreus, aka "boy". They go and get a big log for kindling, while there kratos bandage comes loose where his blades are (were?), he hides this from the boy. Not sure whether it's him thinking about what he's previously been through, or whether it's a reminder of the betrayal of Ares wherein he killed his own wife and child after praying to the god for power and bloodlust. They get home, and the mom gets moved to the pyre. The boy cries a bit, takes her knife and they go hunting. Over the course of the hunting we see that atreus is headstrong and reckless. He chases the deer, he doesn't hunt it. He takes the first shot he gets a chance at and misses. He doesn't know how to hunt. He's a little kid trying to prove himself to a father that never took him hunting. He's chided left and right by kratos. They eventually find and shoot the deer, and the boy finds himself ashamed that he cannot stab the animal with the knife. Kratos knows he feels bad about it, but instead simply hands him the knife, which is a sign of respect in itself, or rather, understanding and challenging. (contrast this with taking away the weapon Atreus wasn't actually ready to use). It's kind of like, "here, you didn't do it on your own, but I know you will next time. Make it up to yourself". You wanted unspoken dialogue- there it is.
The troll then attacks, and we hear kratos call atreus by name for what seems like the first time, out of fear for his safety (showing kratos does care about him, but is addressing him as the distant/cold moniker 'boy' purposely, though we cannot be sure his exact reason). The boy doesn't seem to know what to do, run or fight, and asks whether they are going to fight it. Kratos says they have no choice, ie, they cannot run. After killing the troll, the boy runs up stabbing the troll repeatedly, which to me appeared to be a child trying to make up for his failure at stabbing the deer and show that he IS strong "Think I'm afraid of you?" "you're nothing to me".
I'm not sure why you interpreted this dialogue as 'saturday morning cartoon'-ish, but to me it was pretty clear that kratos cares about the boy, and is trying to be a strong role model. The boy is clearly undertrained and childish, and is trying his hardest to prove that he's something he's not. The "fight that thing" line, was so obviously a question made out of fear. His stabbing of the troll and dialogue while doing so alludes to both the deer and his fear through a rejection of his inability to be strong.
That's just my point of view. I think your suggestion of him giving a "head nod" would have been out of character for the boy at this point in the story because a head nod indicates patience and steadiness, which clearly he is not.
In my opinion, the opening narrative displays a conflicted father-figure leading his somewhat estranged child the only way he really knows how, and a son who basically exemplifies the pre-cursed kratos and isn't ready for the harsh realities of the world ahead; Both of them struggling to bear with the coming journey and likely perilous dangers that lie await. I thought it was a cleverly brief and articulate exposition using actually very little dialogue.
Last edited by theprof00 - on 26 April 2018
