Poem: The Song of Roland, Essay Example

The second part of “The Song of Roland” depicts the most impressive events of the poem. Here the scenes of the struggle between the army of Roland and the army of pagans, the scene of the Roland’s death, the grief of the king Charlemagne over the Roland’s body and the scene of the duel between Thierry and Pinabel are described. The themes of the second part are connected with the same concepts as in the first. The theme of courage is revealed in the Roland’s refusal to blow the oliphant and by this mean ask for help. He is determined to prove his bravery without resorting to help. In fact finally he is forced to do it, so that the king Charlemagne knows about their situation. To reveal the emotional tension of the situation the author employs the technique of the fast change of the scenes, depicting turn by turn the Roland blowing his oliphant and king Charlemagne hearing it.

The climax of the song is placed in this second part and it is a scene of Roland’s death, where the pace of the narration is very slow, that emphasizes the importance of the event. It should be mentioned that in this part the author also resorts to the foreshadowings that is proved by the scene where Roland cuts off Marsilla’s right hand. Here lies the metaphoric symmetry because as Roland himself is compared with the right hand of the king and while he cuts off the hand of  Marsilla, the army of him symbolically cuts off the right hand of the king, that is they kill Roland.

Another theme that can be observed is the theme of revenge that is revealed in the revenge to the traitor Ganelon, who is killed in the end of the poem.