You know how imperialism sucks? Well, the same thing applies to Alethkar.
The Alethi are an overwhelmingly militaristic society, far more so than the rest of Roshar's nations. They impose their culture, their religion, and their traditions on everyone around them. For my little “sociological study” though (I am insane), I think we need to talk about more concrete elements: on Roshar, there is one nation with the greatest military power in the world, and it holds influence far above everyone else. Everybody fears them, and they take advantage of that fear to impose themselves even further.
As a culture, they are extremely rigid. Their architecture tends toward austere ornamentation (or at least that's the fashion promoted by the royal family), their clothing is either military uniforms or simple havahs that cover most of the body, and they are governed by Vorinism, a strict religion with all kinds of rules and social expectations, where failing to follow them is often punished.
Alethkar is not like the other countries on Roshar, and we have plenty of examples of that. Thaylenah is built around maritime trade and transportation, and its culture places a much greater emphasis on commerce and art. Then there's Azir, which feels inspired (this is just my guess) by Mudéjar art, with highly artistic traditions and a bureaucracy that takes priority over basically everything else. If we looked at the Reshi Isles, or places like Rira, we'd find similar examples. All of these societies are capable of existing without constantly beating each other over the head just to survive, and they see that as perfectly normal. Alethkar, on the other hand, seems to view the exact opposite as natural.
So we've already established that Alethi society is deeply expansionist and imperialistic. Other nations have armies too, sure, but a large part of the pressure to maintain those armies comes from fear of the Alethi and the need to defend themselves against them if necessary. Even the Unkalaki (Horneaters) settle disputes through singing and drinking (source: Rock told me so) and treat violence as a secondary option.
The conclusion here is that war is not some biological necessity on Roshar. And yet the people of our protagonists' homeland treat it as something natural, inevitable, and even desirable.
The common denominator is simple: everyone is afraid of Alethkar. During meetings between monarchs (which we've seen several times throughout the books) you can feel the distrust and outright disdain directed toward the Alethi, and especially toward House Kholin. Dalinar notices it constantly, even when he tries to ignore it. (And yes, I'm taking it as a given that a huge part of this mess is Gavilar's fault and the result of his cursed unification campaign.)
So what happens when you live in an imperialist country with some of the strictest social norms imaginable, where there is little room for free thought or for concerns beyond conquering, defending, attacking, killing, and possessing?
You end up with a society that is deeply isolated and profoundly unhappy.
Militarism doesn't just create external victims. It creates internal ones too. Let's talk about some of the social factors involved: In Alethkar, everything is divided by gender. Men are forbidden from reading and writing. Women are forbidden from eating masculine foods (and vice versa). Nearly everyone is expected to follow the Vorin faith. Men are actively encouraged to become soldiers and fight because if they die in battle, they'll spend eternity fighting in the Tranquiline Halls (Which, personally, sounds absolutely terrible.) Alethkar is the kind of society where a child would rather grow up to be a soldier than a doctor.
Everyone living inside this bubble is affected by it, without exception. The Kholin family (the royal family of the kingdom, no less) are the perfect example. Every single member of that family is absolutely miserable, and a huge part of that misery can be traced back to everything I've talked about so far. Together, they act as a showcase for the social problems affecting both themselves and their society as a whole. How could there not be a problem when even the people with privilege, status, economic capital, symbolic capital, social capital, and cultural capital are suffering from it alongside ordinary citizens?
If I had to rank the Kholins from the person who suffered most under these standards to the one who suffered least, my list would look like this:
Will I cause controversy by ranking them in that order? Maybe. Did you think I was going to put Renarin first? Well, no. We all know Renarin suffers because who he is, what he's interested in, and what Alethi society expects an ideal man to be are fundamentally at odds with one another. He can't fight, and he feels terrible about it because instead of society telling him "That's okay, you can be something else and that's just as valuable," people either look the other way, mock him, or hit him with the classic "what a shame you couldn't become a warrior." Combined with all the other factors we already know about, Renarin ends up as someone crushed by a society that glorifies a rigid, prescriptive form of masculinity.
That said, the people at the bottom of this list haven't suffered any less. Quite the opposite: they suffer a great deal. At first glance, Adolin seems like the perfect Alethi man. But that's exactly the point; we can see that he never actually chose that role. It was imposed on him simply because he's Dalinar Kholin's son. Adolin is lucky enough to genuinely enjoy some of the things Alethi culture values: He likes dueling, fighting, and even enjoys killing, to some extent. But he also has interests that pull him away from the Alethi masculine ideal. He likes sewing. He likes fashion and design. He's young and wants to have fun, enjoy himself, and live his life. But none of that matters in Alethkar. Adolin's job is to constantly prove his worth according to the values that were handed to him from birth, and that's kinda exhausting.
Then there's Navani: a woman who endured an abusive marriage for years. A woman who experienced firsthand the violence embedded in Alethi warrior culture, while also carrying the expectations placed upon her as queen. On top of that, she spends much of her life feeling like she isn't a good enough scholar (And honestly, Alethi education must be terrible if you don't have social status or wealth.)
Jasnah is absolutely miserable. By stepping outside what was expected of an Alethi woman (especially as the king's sister) she became someone who openly declared herself an atheist and chose never to marry. Good for her. That's entirely her decision… But choosing not to marry doesn't mean choosing to be completely alone.
From a very young age she was institutionalized, was likely mistreated in some way (we still don't know enough about this, so that's speculation on my part), and spent her entire life trapped beneath standards telling her what the perfect woman was supposed to be. She broke away from those expectations because she's far too intelligent not to notice that something is deeply wrong with her society. And yet she's still forced to exist within the framework of that same discourse. She's the laughingstock of the court. People dislike her. She's isolated even from parts of her own family. Being Jasnah Kholin can't be easy.
Dalinar? Dalinar is a victim of his society. Completely. When we look at the man he eventually becomes, it's obvious that he's actually quite intelligent. But when we look at the Blackthorn, what we mostly find is an idiot. And that's because Dalinar was taught to be one. He doesn't read, doesn't write, doesn't study. He just fights… and obeys his superior. Dalinar has the misfortune of being exceptionally good at fighting, warfare, and military strategy, which eventually turns him into the devil's puppet (Gavilar). At no point was Dalinar really given the option to become anything else. That in itself is a form of coercion. Because a stupid warrior is easier to manipulate than an intelligent one. And we've already seen that Dalinar gets punished for changing, both by his own family (I'm looking at you, Adolin) and by Alethi society as a whole. Dalinar is the pillar holding everything up, but violent structures eventually devour the people who sustain them as well.
And finally, the most important person on this list. Who suffers the most in a society this rotten? The king himself, of course.
We all know Elhokar isn't suited to be king. But more importantly, he is especially unsuited to be king of Alethkar. Elhokar isn't a violent person. He has angry outbursts. He lashes out. He has moments of hysteria. Yes. But that's not the same thing as violence. It's frustration. Fear. A desperate attempt to release emotions he has never been taught how to manage. Nobody ever taught Elhokar emotional regulation because nobody teaches anyone emotional regulation, and it's something we can't really blame him for. We've already seen that nobody in that damn family knows how to calm down when things spiral out of control. I could list examples all day: Adolin and Sadeas, Dalinar in practically any crisis, Jasnah in that alleyway.
The difference is that none of them have to live with the same pressure Elhokar does. For Elhokar, every mistake becomes a public performance. Think for a moment about everything he has to pretend to be. He has to perform it constantly. He isn't allowed weakness, he isn't allowed vulnerability. He isn't even allowed peace. The moment he shows any of those things, people judge him for it. Kaladin's perspective is probably the clearest example of this: He's a young man raised under the exact same cultural norms. He looks at a king who is, ultimately, just another flawed human being (someone with fears, insecurities) and concludes that he's a useless idiot. Not that he's lonely or that he needs help. Just that he's pathetic. That's not really Kaladin's fault, it's more of a problem with Alethi society as a whole.
Let's keep talking about Elhokar: it's pretty clear that he has artistic inclinations, but those are gradually denied to him as he takes on more responsibilities. In the end, someone who is more suited to being an artist than a monarch finds an outlet in drawing maps (cartography), because it's the only "artistic" activity that can be viewed favorably for a king. A king who enjoys spectacle, parties, and more extravagant ornamentation... condemned to live in austerity, in war, under his father's shadow. Gavilar is the perfect representation of an Alethi man, after all. And we already know what Gavilar is really like... he's not exactly perfect. Elhokar's decision regarding the Parshendi was not truly his own: it was what was expected of him, combined with an outburst of anger, grief, and confusion. All the Kholins wear chains, but Elhokar's are the heaviest. I'm convinced that he doesn't want to be king, or even a soldier. All of the younger Kholin men are driven by anxiety, desperately trying to prove their worth by wielding a sword, determined to show that they are culturally acceptable. And by this I mean all three of them equally (Elhokar, Adolin, Renarin... their circumstances may differ, but they all share the same goal). They cannot recognize this without stepping back and analyzing it, because it is part of their habitus and the way they were raised.
Elhokar is fortunate enough, at least, to fit Alethi standards of masculinity: a strong, tall, muscular man, skilled in combat and a capable strategist, someone who presents the right image and silhouette at court. But Elhokar doesn't want any of that. Neither does Adolin, nor Renarin, nor Jasnah, nor Navani, nor Dalinar. So after this entire essay... who is really to blame? A family that failed to change these values before Alethkar's unification became fully established? Or maybe it was the social structure itself, built over centuries through tradition and custom?
Contradiction is the key to understanding why these characters fail to recognize the root of the problem: Dalinar is a victim, but he has also been a perpetrator; Elhokar is a victim, but he sent armies into a pointless war that carried genocidal intentions; Gavilar is a perfect product of the system, but he also helped reinforce and strengthen it. They are oppressed, but they don't know it... and because they are so privileged, they end up oppressing the lower social classes far more than they themselves are oppressed.
Maybe, no matter how much they want to change everything, "what people will say" is what ultimately wins every time, without exception. Rulers, even from a position as privileged as theirs, end up becoming prisoners of the very mechanisms of their own society.
And changing that is far more difficult than defeating an army.
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