Post A #2

The cultural difference between 9th century england and America today are even more astonishing in the following section of the novel. Uhtred, our hero, is being tricked by a man pretending to be dead and talking to him. During their conversation, another lord asks the dead man, "I had a woman today Bjorn. Do you remember women? The feel of their soft thighs? The warmth of their skin? You remember the noise they make when you ride them?" (43). This passage is obviously a bit racy, but it is a prime example of the culture difference. Very few men today would talk about this sort of thing, especially not in public or in the presence of a lord. Also, today women are treated as equals to men and one would not talk about sexual intercourse in such a manner that degrades women so that they are compared to common barnyard animals.

Another example of this immense culture difference is in the treatment of other human beings and prisoners. Sigfried, a great viking earl, has, with his men, captured a group of priests from Wessex and has spent a long while deciding what to do with them. He is, of course, not Christian. So, he has decided to crucify them and see how painful Christ's last hours really were. Of course, today it is not only considered wrong to do this, but one would be put on the same level as Hitler in terms of brutality and you would likely be death sentanceshed on the spot, if someone hasn't already murdered you. Although there are more humans today, we continue to view human life as more and more valuable, and thus not only do we refuse to die for the betterment of society, but we also refuse to let others die for the same reason. This is a clear line between these societies, and I believe the main reason is quality of life. People at that time had little reason to live since they had such crummy lives, but nowadays, we have amazing lives surrounded in luxury and thus we value our lives a lot.