This article will discuss the different ways that is used by different societies in determining the guilt and innocence of a person. The paper will explain various actions that cause people to be guilt in different communities. The differences that exist among different societies while providing a verdict will be highlighted. Song of Roland contains different layers of narrative which is realistic. The poem covers the tragic men who lost their lives while battling. Charlemagne had no choice but to live with the guilt due to the tactical mistake that he made during the war. The poem has also discussed show how innocent people were betrayed before and during the war. Lack of faith and judgment have been highlighted in verse. Virtues of innocence, patriotism, persistence, obedience, and perseverance have been concluded to be the main themes of this poem. The author of the poem is trying to test the guilt and innocence of the characters through comparison of Olivier’s reasoning and the judgment of Roland. The narrator highlights how Roland has been left with a tough decision to make between military honor and what termed to be reckless. The interpretation of the situation is moved to the audience to determine what was morally right or wrong. According to my understanding, Roland made an irresponsible decision to lead to the death of many people in the battle. The action he was a leader and all he needed to respect his position as a military leader, the decision he made makes him innocent because it was not according to his wish but according to what he was expected to do.
On the other hand, Roland can be seen to be guilty because he had a choice to do the right thing that could have protected his people from dying. He feels guilt again because people implemented the same military rules and sometimes people need to compromise when it comes to saving the lives of others. At the beginning of the story, Ganelon was classified as a traitor, and he was nominated to go for a deadly mission. He was totally against the idea of attending the battle because the chances of coming back home were meager. He then told Charles that he would never forget his action of only he makes back at home, and he will never forgive his deadly feud. He turned to be a deadly enemy of Roland on the scene. It is right to say that Ganelon was innocent; he didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Roland feels guilt for putting his step-grandfather on entranced position. He has a choice and power to treat Ganelon with respect and honor. Roland retained his responsibility as a worrier, and he wanted to avenge his nephew. Ganelon was innocent but due to his actions of opposing the head of the military made him be guilt. Sometimes innocent people are killed from being guilty. Roland was aware the Ganelon was innocents, and he had no evil intention, he only had feared for his life. Pinabel and Thierry established used the image of Roland looming overhead to show the dominance of the King. The willing trust of Charlemagne and the exceptional heroism that was followed by the treason of Ganelon demonstrates the shared guilt between the characters.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Ganelon said that it wasn’t supposed to be treason. He said the only reason that he subjected to treason is that he publicly declared his animosity to Roland by promising him that he will revenge. The jury made a decision and claimed he should be set free. He was proven to be innocent. The board further stated that the killing of Ganelon would never bring Roland back to life. Guilt is determined after confirming that the person in question committed the violation with sufficient evidence that will not arise any form of suspicion. The king never neglected justice and truth. He was ever drawing up the reasoned case, deliberation and pleasing decision to the king. He decided to benefit all the people and maintain Babylon`s stability. He built a law court in the city and improved on the regulation. His approach on guilt and innocence was to please the Lord Marduk. For an innocent man who would go back to the law court to reopen the case for the second time was considered dishonest. They were deemed to be guilty and had to face the consequence that came with it. The troop cut off his head as commanded by the king, and his head would be paraded through the ground. A likeness of his head was placed on the law court outer gate to be seen by everyone.
Solon portrays the act of innocence by believing that justice is necessary to all people. He thinks that people in the community will live together if justice is applied to all without considering an individual’s social class. He says that wealth is evil as it is gained at the expense of other people. For an individual to be wealthy, he must have exploited others either by making them works for him or by taking their property and produce. He further shows his innocence by saying that laws are needed to restrain an individual’s behaviors and solving conflicts in society. A guilty person will never want to be governed by laws. Salon shows concerns and sympathy to people irrespective of him having a steady aristocratic background. He works towards meeting their needs and also avoiding annoying the aristocracy hence portraying a high level of innocence. He makes all the citizens in Athens free by increasing political to society. And the innocent individual is not scared of giving political power to the ordinary people. Solon rebates the peasants from landlord through reforms by granting them pieces of land where they could carry out farming, therefore, relieving them from the duty of working for the landlords. He relives them from slavery by canceling all the debts which they owned the archon, and they were not able to pay. Solon develops a new social class of people based on the number of goods the peasant could produce hence giving the society a higher social level and economic mobility. Solon administration manifests innocence by making judicially accessible to all individuals where oppressed persons could go and look for justice. Solon allowed citizens to make appeals on verdicts made by magistrates, and also created public lawsuits where an individual could go and file a case. And individual was given rights to present a case on behalf of the public. Giving individuals powers to prosecute shows that solon had nothing to hide from the public, therefore, showing how innocent his administration was.
Landlords in the Athens society were greedy exploitive. They used to take one-six of peasants produce just because they owned the land. This action displays some shreds of guilt. The landlords were supposed to be protected by the peasants who used to work in their land. Peasants were also demanded to serve the landlords. This was exploitation which leads to guilt. Landlords used to enslave individuals who were not able to pay the loans they have borrowed from them. They used to force them to work in their farms and homes. The societies being reflected in the Poems of Solon consist of a wealthy class consisting of landlords and aristocracy, the privileged upper class, and the peasants who belonged to a low class. These classes of people were under the rule of archon. The landlords owned lands in on which they could plant crops and sell to the people in the society while the peasants did not own any land. The peasants used to work on land belonging to the landlords, and they could offer part of their produce to the landlords as part payment. The landlords had the power to enslave the peasants. Innocence was when the person did not appear for judgment after their case had been judged. The head would be cut off for the wicked to view it. For someone charged with murder and no proof was provided, they had to face him. They were taken above Sippar where the troop would keep a close watch and lit the fire all night. On the day time, the prince, contingent and the governor assembled around them, so they had a chance to witness justice. They were later drawn to the river, the following morning no one sees him. The troop plays an act and pretend they have no clue of where he is. Later during the day, they find the corpse with blood flowing from the nostrils and the ears.
On top of the head is a scar that seems like a burn scar and the body full of sores. The king of justice, guilt was determined by appearing at the judgment for the second time. Those who appear before the court law once their case was heard and closed would be executed. This was a sign that they were guilty and had to be punished for that. The ancient society was so harsh and intolerant to any one`s shortcoming. The wicked, the hostile and those who were opposed in the organization changed their ideas, and some betook into hiding when they saw this. The poems of solon spoke of the ill in society and prescribed the cure for it. During this time the community identified the problem and gave solutions to the problem. The Athens elites who smuggled private wealth regardless of the poverty in the city. The city was oppressed, and they experienced debt slavery in the hand of these elites. In his poem quilt is seen to be with the townsmen and the Athens elite. He attracts them by saying that they should suitably tight the capital requirement. The method is different from the ancient one where anybody who questioned the authority was considered to be guilt. The societies covered in the text used the traditional way of determining the guilt of a person. The main difference is that some of the kings were responsible for deciding whether a person is innocent. In some societies, a person is determined guilty by the verdict that is given by the jury.
