The Tragic Life of Matthias Helvar: The Six of Crows Duology

        Being punished for trying to be better is Matthias Helvar’s fate at the end of The Six of Crows duology. The worst part is that he is punished by his own people. As if fighting his morals is not enough, Matthias sacrifices his future for the sake of making his parents and his people proud.

source: @meridyan_art

        Being a good Drüskelle means he has to kill people to be considered honorable. Despite questioning his own actions, he continues because it is his norm and his culture. Matthias grows up in Fjerdan society, where a man’s honor comes from being a Drüskelle soldier who hunts Grisha daily. The Fjerdans believe Grisha are witches who deserve to be tortured and killed. This generational mindset that Grisha deserves death pushes people to go above and beyond to gain honor for their families. As a result, Fjerdan people believe Grisha deserves violence regardless of having done nothing wrong.

        What begins as a job Matthias considers sacred and honorable becomes a role he betrays to save Grisha. Matthias’s character development in The Six of Crows duology represents his liberation from the cultural violence enforced by his people. Cultural violence is violence that stems from customs or traditions that justify harm simply because it is traditional. Becoming a Drüskelle is a form of cultural violence justified by the honor it brings.

        Matthias’s transformation, followed by his demise at the hands of his own people, illustrates how brutally the Fjerdans maintain their culture of hunting Grisha. This culture becomes habitual and deeply ingrained, making it difficult to change. Matthias is trapped in a country that disappoints him, forcing him to bend his morals to bring honor to his family. When he tries to change and alter his fate, destiny has other plans in store.

        Matthias symbolizes hope. He is one of the characters who shows significant growth in response to a harsh world. Though the world crushes him, he still strives to see issues from all sides and recognizes that his people’s actions are wrong. Characters like Matthias demonstrate the complexity of human beings. Although he grows up surrounded by violence, he manages to break the cycle of cultural violence imposed by his people. His actions to reassure a boy who attempts to kill him reflect his former self, a boy who once believed being a Drüskelle was a pride. In the end, Matthias is killed by his dark past, which betrays the future he tries to build.