George R. R. Martin Quotes
He drew the dagger and laid it on the table between them; a length of dragonbone and Valyrian steel, as sharp as the difference between right and wrong, between true and false, between life and death.
Martin, George R. R. A Game of Thrones. Bantam Books, 1996.
While the racial incidents of Jena became a national cause célèbre, the quotation is memorable because it illustrated the huge de facto power that even a small town district attorney has. Though most do not abuse it, some do, and few Das threaten the way that Walters did. The reality is that simply by determining the charge, the DA is capable of incredible consequences on people’s lives. In the Jena situation, Walters had charged Black juveniles with “Attempted Second Degree Murder” for engaging in a fight with white juveniles. The penalty was from 50 to 100 years without any possibility of parole. A white student who had assaulted a Black was only charged with “Battery” a minor crime. Jena became the location of national civil rights protests.
George Raymond Richard Martin, also known as GRRM, is an American novelist and short story writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels A Song of Ice and Fire, which was adapted into the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2019).
