Narrator-Addressee in A Wizard of Earthsea

Our past blog posts have explored the ways in which the novel A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin functions within the fantasy genre, as well as the codes within the text, and the text’s controlling values. All of these factors contribute to making the text a story, which is not possible for a reader to understand without submitting to the text, or accepting the role as addressee. As I read the novel, I was considering the role each of the four audiences discussed in Peter Rabinowitz’s text “Truth in Fiction: A Reexamination of Audiences“ was expected to play and how, as a reader I could enter these roles as the ideal addressee.

In the proper reading of a novel, then, events which are portrayed must be treated as both ‘true’ and ‘untrue’ at the same time. Although there are many ways to understand this duality, I propose to analyze the four audiences which it generates (125).

The four audiences that Rabinowitz discussed were the “actual audience”, which “consists of the flesh-and-blood people who read the book” (126), or myself as I am reading the book in the world I exist in. The next audience Rabinowitz recognizes is the “authorial audience”, or the audience the author had in mind as they wrote the book. Beginning to participate as this audience member, I had to take on a more involved addressee role because I recognized that I myself am not naturally part of that ideal audience. I found I was much closer to the ideal audience for Slaughterhouse Five which we read previously, than I was for this book. That is because as a reader, I do not typically read fantasy books and when I do it is solely for the aesthetic emotion and further thought on my end is not given.

 

Me reading The Hobbit.

 

The next audience I considered while reading was the “narrative audience”, or the audience the imitation author, which we call narrator is being read by. Seeing as this novel’s narrator exists in a fictional world called Earthsea, and references points of knowledge that I personally don’t have because I don’t exist in the world Earthsea, I had to take on the role of someone who would possess the knowledge that is mentioned. For example the book opens with “The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards”(1). To open with a line that immediately makes the reader conscious that they are not part of the world being described and do not possess the initial knowledge needed to understand the fictional world creates a sense of “real” and “fake” or “true” and “untrue” as Rabinowitz puts it. In order to become the reader the narrator, and in turn the author wanted me to become, I first had to accept that there is a separation between my reality and the world of Earthsea. Then I had to enter into that world and actively close that separation.  The fourth audience, or the “ideal narrative audience” is described as “the audience for which the narrator wishes he were writing and relates to the narrative audience in a way roughly analogous to the way that the authorial audience relates to the actual audience” (134). This was the hardest role for me to try to enter into because I had to consider the narrator in A Wizard of Earthsea, and understand them and why they are telling the story well enough to become the one who they would ideally have listen. Wild. When the narrator addresses the reader by saying things like “These creatures are found only on four southern isles of the Archipelago, Role, Gensmer, Pody, and Wathort” (66), I am reminded as a reader that the narrator is a part of the world Earthsea, which means their ideal audience would be as well. Using language that both builds a barrier through references the reader cannot initially understand, while also directly relating himself to this mysterious world, I am being invited as an addressee to join, while also being reminded that this is not something I initially was a part of.

That’s right Drake, mind = blown.

 

Each of these audiences require the addressee to become submissive to the narration. In the book, Le Guin uses language that one would only understand if they were part of the world of Earthsea. This creates a distinct separation between the actual audience’s world and the world the author wrote and the narrator exists in. As a reader I was able to see what was holding me back from understanding the text (the references to places and people within Earthsea that I have no prior knowledge of), and decide to become the type of reader that did not become resistant to these unknown references. I saw clearly what world I had to enter to take on the role of addressee, and began to do that. With the use of language that made me overwhelmingly aware that i did not possess the knowledge to walk into reading this book with a similar amount of knowledge to the “narrative audience” I had a choice to shut down and resist the text, or enter into it completely and submit to both the style of writing and the content and references.

Me bowing to the text, aka, submitting.

A Wizard of Earthsea: Intertextual Codes

A Wizard of Earthsea is about a young wizard learning about the great responsibility that comes with wielding magic. In this fantasy world, there are both wizards (sometimes called sorcerers) and witches. Wizards are revered throughout the land for their prowess; they are heroes who know great fame. Witches on the other hand are seen as weak and cunning. The difference in treatment of men with power and women with power represents a strong symbolic code within this book. Witches are slandered numerous times. They are below wizards in every sense, they cannot be trusted.

Ged’s very first teacher is his aunt who is also the village witch. He describes her as, “an ignorant woman among ignorant folk, she often used her crafts to foolish and dubious ends. She knew nothing of the Balance and the Pattern which the true wizard knows” (7). Already in the first pages of the novel we see a divide between the opinions of wizards and witches. Anything a witch does is simple, their spells are nothing compared to the great wizards. When Ged tries a spell his aunt taught him and it fails he justifies it by saying, “it was only a witch’s charm” (45). Again, the narrator makes the point clear that witches are about as equal to infant wizards in their strength, “any witch knows a few of these words in the Old Speech, and a mage knows many” (64). The book is littered with comments like this that continue to depict women as incomparable to men. The most frustrating example of this is when Ged thinks about all those who helped him become the wizard he is “in his mind all the Masters of Roke gathered, Gensher the Archmage frowning in their midst, and Nemmerle was with them, and Ogion, and even the witch who had taught him his first spell” (156). He names all of the great wizards who have taught him and then he just lumps his aunt in there as a random witch basically. She never even got the respect of having her own name. A woman with powers? Oh yeah, she’s just another witch.

The clear divide of women and men and the negative connotation that is placed on the word “witch” comes from our own cultural codes. There is a long history of inequalities between men and women. The book was published in the 60s when these topics were more frequently discussed. However, it would seem the author, a woman, chose to depict society as it was or how she saw it rather than make a point of saying it is wrong. The comments about witches are subtle as if they are just accepted facts of the fantasy world and maybe of the author too. It’s also important to talk about the word “witch.” We have long used the word negatively. Witches were women who cast spells and occasionally ate children.  It’s been ingrained that witches are women of evil, from stories like Hansel and Gretel to the women who were slaughtered in the Salem Witch Trials!

A Wizard of Earthsea’s symbolic codes point to cultural codes. In a fantasy world where dragons, stalking shadows, and magic exist we still see very concrete connections to our own world.

Form and Genre in A Wizard of Earthsea

I have to admit that I am very resistant to this book, A Wizard of Earthsea. I have been resisting it even before I opened it up to the first page. Fantasy is not the kind of genre I would read outside of this class during my own freetime. When I actually began reading, the text enhanced my resistance as well. Right from the very first page, the narrator brings the reader into this make-believe world of “Earthsea,” and it throws out all these fictional names and places that are hard for me to grasp. For example, the narration starts out as the following: “The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards. From the towns in its high valleys and the ports on its dark narrow bays many a Gontishman has gone forth to serve the Lords of the Archipelago in their cities as wizard or mage, or, looking for adventure, to wonder working magic from isle to isle of all Earthsea” (1).  So, right away the text is very intimidating for readers who are not frequent fantasy-seekers. In order to read this book as it is, one has to truly submit to its fantasy aspects and truly believe it for what’s written on the pages. This is extremely hard for me to do, but I’ve been trying to push through all the nouns and places that don’t make sense to me.

So far in the novel, I noticed the use of the qualitative progressive form, which is prominent through the main character’s experiences so far in the book. The main character, Ged, is going to go through some type of magical transformation on his journey from childhood to adulthood. Readers know this will happen since there is a famous story told about Ged (it’s called Deed of Ged), which is brought to the attention of the reader on the very first page.

Ged first realizes he has the gift of magic inside of him when he uses a spell on some goats after seeing his aunt use the same spell on the same goats on page three. He is at first amazed by his power because he “laughed and shouted it out again, the rhyme that gave him power over the goats” (3). However he soon became frightened by how much power he had over the goats when he tried to run away from them, but they followed him all the way to his aunt’s house on page four. This first significant event is clear foreshadow that Ged indeed has great powers, but unless he knows fully how to use these powers, he could become very dangerous.

The next event that shows qualitative progression is when the small village Ged lives in with his father is threatened to be attacked by “a hundred men, which is not many; but in the village were only eighteen men and boys” (12). Ged becomes a hero of his small town when he uses his magic to circle the village with fog. The attackers don’t know the parameters of the town like the villagers do, so the villagers lure them off a peak (hidden by the fog) to their death, thus winning the battle. Ged becomes a hero, but he soon becomes very ill from using up so much of his power. This again foreshadows how powerful our main character Ged really is, but on the other hand, he can be extremely dangerous by exerting too much power.

The Mage of Re Albi, whose name is Ogion the Silent, comes to Ged and restores him to good health after the victorious battle. Ogion leaves, but then returns again once Ged turned 13 years old. Ogion offers to be Ged’s mentor of wizardry, and Ged accepts the invitation and begins to travel with him back to Ogion’s home to learn as much as he can from Ogion. As the story grows, so does our protagonist, Ged. He becomes wiser, he learns more about his power, and he starts to see the potential danger in his powerfulness. As Ged grows as a rising wizard, the qualitative progressive form also leads readers to the central plot of the story which is soon to come. I am guessing that something extraordinarily great will happen to Ged as his powers increase, but this will come with a price and/or consequence.

A Wizard of Earthsea Introduction

“Only in silence the word, only in dark the light, only in dying life: bright the hawk’s flight on the empty sky.” –The Creation on Ea. Ursula K .Le Guin

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin is a high fantasy book about a young sorcerer named Ged. The book shows the progress that Ged takes to become a powerful sorcerer, while also showcasing his youthful arrogance.

The first chapter explores Ged’s early life. Ged was born Duny on the island of Gont in the village of Ten Adlers. Ged discovers that his aunt used some magical words and, like any other child, he repeats them. At an early age Ged possessed great power and by the end of the first chapter we see Ged using a spell to save his village from an attack. This attracts the attention of a very powerful sorcerer named Ogion, who wishes to take Ged as his apprentice.

During the second chapter we really learn about Ged’s character, more in particularly Ged’s impulsive and somewhat arrogant nature, an example of this is found on page 17: “When will my apprenticeship begin, sir?” “It has begun,” said Ogion. “But I haven’t learned anything yet!” “Because you haven’t found out what I am teaching.” (Le Guin 17). This dialogue takes place between Ged and Ogion and you can see the impulsivity that Ged has. While Ged has shown potential to be a great sorcerer, which is why Ogion took Ged as his apprentice, his impulsivity is a character flaw that will inevitably lead to his downfall.

A second character flaw that Ged possesses is his arrogance. An example of this is when Ged encounters a girl who doubts his sorcery skills: “Maybe you are too young.” That he would not endure. He did not say much, but he resolved that he would prove himself to her.” (22) These two passages show Ged’s pitfalls as a character, because there’s no doubt that he has great power, but he lack responsibility to wield that power properly.

The controlling value for A Wizard of Earthsea is: Having power means knowing how to manage it. The context of the controlling value is: knowing that you have power means figuring out how to manage that power. Throughout the book Ged has shown that he has great power, but he clearly doesn’t know how to use that power.

The Counter Idea is actually found on page 18 of this book: “What was the good of having power if you were too wise to use it.” (18)The context of this would be why bother having power if you’re not going to use it. Ged believes that if you have power then you should showcase that power, rather than using it wisely. Again, this seems to be a major character flaw for Ged, as he is reckless and only wants to prove his power rather than using it correctly like Ogion. Ged is a character who is easily intimidated when others challenge him, which is why his recklessness and impulsivity are character flaws and will likely play a part in the book.