Ransom explores the fundamental nature of death and how, as an inexorable destiny, it can define man. Set in the context of war, Malouf's novel highlights how death is not only physical, but also spiritual and furthermore, how the death of one can impact the life of another. In light of this, Priam's dream of escaping the confines of his kingly role and experiencing "something new" given his final death highlights how man is separated from the gods as we understand the value of life. Ultimately, however, the definitiveness of death arouses in man the need to exercise control over his own life, challenging the fixity of mortality through stories and narratives. Malouf also suggests through the interactions of Priam and Achilles at the Greek camp that men can connect through their common destiny, allowing them to transcend conventional roles and enmity, ultimately allowing themselves to be liberated. In this way, although mortality is man's final destiny, it stimulates man's journey through all of life in search of existential meaning before encountering death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The harsh reality of war and the losses suffered by the protagonists highlights how one's death can impact the life of another and therefore, in the grieving process, one can also lose one's humanity. When Achilles meets Patroclus for the first time, he has the feeling that "his world has moved to a new center" and that he has found his "soul mate", highlighting the former's deep bond with the latter, as if his life was modeled around Patroclus. Malouf suggests that when a significant person dies, their entire agenda can be redefined in the hope of expelling the pain; for Achilles, Patroclus' death causes him to lose the fluidity of his identity and develop an insatiable bloodlust that surpasses his and the Greeks' standards of humanity. Avenge his brother becomes the sole purpose for which Achilles now lives, ignoring his commitments as a leader and as a Greek fighting in war. Consequently, the warrior's hatred is supported by his inability to sympathize with another, which is reflected in the fact that he regards Hector only as the "implacable enemy", rather than a man like himself. Thus, with the desecration of Hector's body, Malouf suggests that the warrior loses his humanity, symbolized by Hector's death with Achilles' armor. In this way, the text states that death is not only physical, but there is also spiritual death, in the form of the loss of one's humanity. This is further reflected in Hecuba's brutal desire for revenge where she states that "I will tear out [Achilles'] heart and eat it raw." Seeing Achilles only as a "jackal", the Trojan queen loses her empathy, dehumanizing her enemy to achieve her ends and express her pain in the only way she knows possible, violently. Therefore, the losses suffered during war are compounded by the fact that human mortality extends to one's soul. Despite the looming nature of death, the text explores through Priam's dream that man's inevitable end is what makes him appreciate the value of life. The Trojan king claims that in the context of the war his end is imminent and in fulfilling his royal role he has lived in an "immobility" that has left him dissatisfied with his life. Thus, thinking of "something new" and "unprecedented", Priam courageously embraces the case, despite the ancient traditions that condemn this "blasphemous" idea, reflecting on man's deep desire to discover the truemeaning of life before having to face the ultimate destiny, death. Although the king's journey to the Greek camp has a significant purpose (to recover his son's body), in a personal sense it is also an opportunity for Priam to discover himself and the hidden values ​​in life. So, by experiencing the taste of homemade pike, putting his feet in fresh water and interacting with the little fish in the pond, the king discovers that "what is new can also be pleasant" and, although they were not new, before he had been paying attention. In this way, the simplicity of these things reinforced the fact that they could not be found in Priam's "royal sphere" and therefore, by appreciating them, he in a sense gave up the hold he had on the "true inner man" that was previously suppressed to fulfill his role. Through this Malouf states that the reality that man will one day face his death pushes him to appreciate life and discover its secrets and, by extension, to discover himself. Consequently, death and the opportunity to value the lives we have had is what separates man from the gods, who are immortal. The desire to be remembered is preserved in the retelling of a story, challenging the fixity of mortality and thus casting men into metaphorical permanence. . The text suggests that narration through the oral tradition of storytellers like Somax, and even the reconstruction of an ancient legend by authors like Malouf himself, make men immortal while their actions, which "follow them in the form of a story", are told. A character's perpetuity is reinforced by Somax's anecdotes about his lost loved ones, told in such vivid detail that his memory appears "present and raw," placing emphasis on the narrator's ability to figuratively resurrect those who have died, enabling them to metaphorically replace their death. Thus, despite the ironic label of being “thief[s]…of other men's lives,” Malouf argues that storytellers are the guardians who protect and preserve the tales, which ultimately makes the men of these tales in a state of perpetuity. In light of this, Priam's statement that "this story will be proof of what I am" reiterates man's desire not to be forgotten and, therefore, a story has the power to transcend this impeding mortality. In telling the narrative of his childhood, the king restores his former identity, and his ability to reimagine the "stink" he associates with "old Podarces" suggests that a story is powerful enough to subjugate the senses and appears so real that "in in any case "moment" Priam is able to imagine his alter ego. In this way, Podarce's 'ghostly' life is presented, leaving him unchallenged in the face of the passage of time, thus satisfying Priam's need to have a healthy identity in recognizing his past self. The interaction between the Trojan king and the Greek warrior highlights how man's common destiny in mortality is powerful enough to challenge their traditional enmity. By appealing to Achilles "as man to man" and as "one poor mortal to another," Priam challenges the idea that they must always view each other in terms of victories and defeats, and instead "should have pity each other's losses." of their inevitable destiny which is death. In doing so, the King of Troy challenges the age-old conventions that define them by their roles and titles as leaders of opposing forces, and instead builds a bond between the man who killed his son, taking part in something "unprecedented" which allows Achilles to "free himself from obligations". In this way Malouf suggests that, although death limits man's ability to live, it can paradoxically free him from.