COMPLEX ANSWERS
The more complex answers concerned with defining Gor involve an examination and analysis of the entire series and distilling what is and what is not Gorean. This then raises even more questions. Many people claim to know Gor well yet how many of them actually do? What does it take to know Gor well? How does a newcomer learn about Gor? If you role-play and wish to remain true to the novels, what is and is not permitted? How do you make decisions on the ambiguities within Gor? What aspects of Gor can be used in one's life? What are the tenets of Gorean philosophy?
To truly be able to define what it means to be Gorean requires an extensive knowledge of the novels. It is nearly impossible to fully know Gor without having read all of the novels. And not only must you have read them, but you must also have understood them and retained your knowledge gleamed from the books. It would obviously help if you have read each novel more than once. With over 10,000 pages of information, there is a lot of detail to retain. A casual reader will miss many such details. And it is the richness of those details that serves to make Gor seem realistic.
Does this mean that if you have not read the books that you cannot live as or role-play a Gorean? No, you still can. But, you may not be a proper judge of everything about Gor. Few are likely to possess that much information about Gor. There are many basics of Gor that are easy to understand by everyone. But when you begin more extensive discussions concerning more specific details, a greater knowledge is required. Casual readers cannot adequately discuss more esoteric Gorean issues. They may be unable to assume a Gorean mindset and consider issues solely from the viewpoint of a Gorean and not from the viewpoint of Earth.
The earlier Gor books, often the first ten books, are the most easily available. Thus, numerous people base their knowledge just on these early books. This can cause problems when new information arises in the later books that either adds to prior information or modifies the prior information. In any lengthy series, an author is bound to make mistakes and to contradict himself. He will also change his mind about certain matters as the series progresses. Thus, the more authoritative books in a series are usually the most recent ones. The later books benefit from much more thought and purposefulness. When you consider what Gorean is, more weight should be given to the later novels.
If we look in the Gor novels for some examples of this, we can find areas where the latter books went into much greater detail than the earlier books. Let's look at the monetary system used on Gor. It is not until the later books that Norman gives an in- depth description of this topic. Interestingly enough, the early books introduced two coins, the copper tarn and the silver tarn, which eventually vanished in the latter books. Those two coins were not mentioned in the lengthier descriptions in the latter books concerning the Gorean monetary system. Even when those coins were mentioned in the early books, they were never described in any detail sufficient to determine their exchange rates. It thus seems that once Norman settled on his concept of the monetary system, after more thought about the matter, he decided to eliminate those tarn pieces.
Now, pure knowledge alone does not suffice. You must also be able to use that knowledge to interpret and extrapolate from the given materials. The novels do not include every single detail about Gor. They omit many issues, leaving areas of gray. That is where the complexity of defining Gor comes into play. In this gray area, there are no correct answers, only well supported opinions. Anyone's interpretation could be incorrect, but how you support your opinion is relevant. The more support you can find within the books tends to lend greater credence to your opinions. One such gray and controversial area involves the proper role of free women of the Warrior's Caste.
WOMEN IN THE WARRIOR CASTE – An Example
Free women may become members of the Warrior Caste by birth or Free Companionship. Norman never explicitly states that such women do not receive a warrior's training. He never explicitly stated that they do not battle with swords against other warriors. But, there is not a single reference showing that any women ever did receive such training. The answer to the question of whether women of the Red Caste were trained as Warriors will depends on your interpretation of the novels.
A number of people claim that since there is no explicit prohibition against it, then women could have been trained as Warriors. But, that is too simplistic of an answer, ignoring the other evidence that exist in the novels. There are many items not specifically prohibited by Norman that would clearly not be Gorean. Norman does not specifically state that there are no fire-breathing dragons on Gor. Does that mean they might exist then on Gor? Did Norman ever intend dragons to exist on Gor? I very much doubt it and few, if any, would contend that they should exist there. There is ample evidence in the novels to support the contention that female Red Caste women never received a Warrior's training.
Some people also attempt to justify their positions based on a single example presented in the books. This is not always a valid or logical argument. First, you must consider the context of the example. What are the circumstances surrounding that matter? Second, you must also analyze the rest of the information on the subject in question and understand how it is all related. For example, some people point to the character of Tarna in Tribesmen of Gor for their justification of sword-wielding women.
Tarna was a bandit in the Tahari region and wielded a scimitar. But, you must analyze the context of her character to fully understand her. Many people ignore the surrounding evidence and rely simply on the fact she wielded a scimitar. We will briefly recap a couple points. First, Tarna is an unwitting pawn of the Salt Ubar and the Kurii. She does not earn her position as a bandit chieftain by her skill. Second, Tarl Cabot is the only person who comments about her skill with the scimitar and he is not very complementary. Despite her boasts about her skill, there is no evidence to support it. Third, she is seen as an oddity by all. She is compared only to male warriors. If female warriors existed, then she would have been compared to them.
The primary point here to understand is that when you are trying to justify your position by the use of a single example, you must fully understand the factors surrounding that example. There are normally reasons that support such exceptions yet they remain exceptions and not the rule. Tarna was a woman who wielded a sword but she is a rare exception. Such an exception does not justify a generalization that women warriors existed on Gor.
GOREANS
The Goreans within the novels engaged in a wide variety of behaviors, just as any humans would. But, does that mean that all of these behaviors are "Gorean" just because a single Gorean, or even a small group of Goreans, engaged in such behavior? Obviously, such behaviors can be Gorean if we define it as such. But that would mean then that almost any behavior could be Gorean, thereby destroying any uniqueness of that term. To mean anything, the term "Gorean" must refer to something more limited. It cannot simply refer to any behavior conducted by any person from Gor.
Maybe we want to limit what we consider Gorean to the most common behaviors on Gor. But then we run into the different cultures on Gor. Do we really mean the most common behaviors of the Goreans of the city-states? But then each city-state has its own quirks and differences. Compare the multitude of differences between Tharna, prior to the events of Outlaw of Gor, and the city of Ko-ro-ba. Do we want to include the various barbarian lands as well? Defining "Gorean" thus is not a simple task. Matters will get even more complex, and controversial, when we try to define Gorean in a real-time context.
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