Grief and Catharsis: How Grief is Represented in God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök (2022)

Abstract

This thesis asks the question; how do God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök (2022) represent grief? This thesis aims to determine how God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök (2022) evoke a strong sense of catharsis for the player through multiple characters’ experiences and how it can help understand the grief process and the emotional context of it. Through a close reading of the games using reader response theory, it aims to highlight how the games create realistic experiences through the characters in an epic story resulting in a cathartic experience for the player, and to provide insightful information on how games can help understanding complicated and hard to define parts of life like grief. Within the analysis, Kübler-Ross’ “Five Stages of Grief” model has been used to identify the grief process of the characters to provide a framework of grief. Through the example of representation of grief in God of War (2018) and God of War Rangarök (2022), the thesis aims to argue that video games provide a space strong enough to explore complicated and intense emotions and provide cathartic experiences that help players gain a better understanding of such emotions.