The Story of the Grail (Day Two)

3. The scene with the hermit on Good Friday – How do you read this scene? Why is the day significant?You can: (1) speak about the “build up” to this scene – the group of penitent soldiers and women – what do they signify? Why is Perceval so affected by them? How might this scene mirror what we have in the opening scene of the romance?(2) Perceval’s repentance. What does he learn here (beyond the obvious)? How do you read the fact that the hermit happens to be his maternal uncle?


At this point of the story Perceval was said to be the most “valiant knight,” since he forced Clamadeu to beg for mercy against his will. After his victory he lost his memory of God. “Five times in April and May had passed; five whole years had gone by since he worshipped God or His cross in church or minister. Thus had he lived the five years” (414). During this time he did not look for chivalric deeds, but in adventures that he would easily succeed in. “Within the five years he had sent as prisoners fifty thousand esteemed knights to King Arthur’s court. Thus he had passed the five years and never remembered God.” The number five keeps appearing during this scene, most likely to represent grace. Although he did not remember God during these five years, the grace of God never left his side. Even though he did not care for his mother, she never forgot him. She prayed for God to remain by his side, which could be a major factor why God remained there. It was on this Good Friday that God made his entrance back into Perceval’s life. The group of five knights and ten ladies were walking barefoot in woolen rags “as penance for their sins, they were themselves proceeding on foot for the salvation of their souls.” One of the men told Perceval that “this is the day all those with faith in Him should do penance.” Perceval wept over what he just learned and wanted to go speak with the hermit.
Perceval fell to his knees and wept for forgiveness. He realized he had done nothing but ill things during these five years and did not do anything to make amends for it either. Perceval gave his name and the hermit responded by, “Brother, misfortune has befallen you for a sin of which you are ignorant. This is the grief that you caused your mother when you left her. She fell to the ground unconscious as the end of the bridge outside the gate, and died of that grief.” He told Perceval that he would not have survived that long if it was not for her prayers to God to watch over her son.
The hermit being his maternal uncle shows that he was so blind to his family and those that mattered most. In that grail was the Host, which is not a lot, but sufficient for a person to live off. God is the most important thing in life and is all a person really needs. If Perceval honored his mother, he would be more open to God and prevented all of the misfortunes that happened throughout the story.

The Story of the Grail

2. Analyze the episode between Perceval and his mother. What is her reaction? What information does she try to impart to her son? Why do you think he reacts the way he does? Discuss his departure – how should he have behaved?

The episode between Perceval and his mother occurs after Perceval saw the knights riding through the forest. His mother tells him that she believes he has seen “the angels people complain of, and who kill all they meet” (344). Perceval does believe this at first because he saw the most “beautiful creatures” riding through that desolate forest and she was the one who told him that Angels and God were the most beautiful creatures. He told her that they called themselves knights to which made her instantly faint.
His mother tried to protect him from the world of chivalry his entire life. She tried to tell her son that he “would have been a knight, darling son, had it pleased the Lord God that your father and your other relatives trained you.” His mother descended from a family of the finest knights, but even the finest fall and she did not want the same happening to her son. Perceval’s father, who so highly honored, was wounded between the legs during battle and his body crippled. Shortly after his two brothers were dubbed knights they were killed in armed combat on their way home. His mother lived a bitter life after these tragedies. She told Perceval “you were all my comfort and all my good because I was bereft of my entire family” (345). Perceval barely digested anything his mother had told him and sought out to seek the king who makes knights.
It seems Perceval reacts the way he does because he wanted to carry on the family legacy. He too wanted to be honored as a brave knight. He wanted to prove to himself that he can make the journey alone and alive. If he survived the journey he could return to his mother as an honorable knight and hopefully repress her of all those negative and bad memories of how the lives of the three most important men in her life were taken. His mother knew the journey was possible with God by his side, which He seemed to be. When Perceval set off he took three javelins with him, which the number three often represents the holy Trinity in Literature, so it is safe to say God was with him.
Perceval should have stayed behind to save his mother from additional worry and heartache. Instead, he set off on his journey even after seeing his mother collapsed behind him. Perceval did want to become a respected knight and follow in his brave father and brother’s footsteps, but first priority was his mother and it was not very honorable to leave her alone and sick like that.