A non-traditional hero

A Wizard of Earthsea presents a different type of hero than traditional fantasy hero. Ged displays many of the virtues of a resilient, sustainable, and integrated individual, people we need more of in today’s world as we deal with an uncertain and complex world. He understands the significance of connection and consequence. He learned the hard way that his actions have both positive and negative impacts on the world which he is a part of. He is respectful of the Other, whether it be animals or trees or people he meets along the way. He exercises moderation and does not seek power for power’s sake, having learned his lesson harshly early on. He is able to acknowledge mistakes arising from arrogance and pride and alter his thinking and behaviour, becoming a more humble individual through honest self-reflection. He is capable of knowing his limits and exercising practical self-assessment; he understands his limits and accepts them. Finally, he has accepted his own inner darkness and establishes an equilibrium within himself:

“And he began to see the truth, that Ged had neither lost nor won but, naming the shadow of his death with his own name, had made himself whole: a man: who, knowing his whole true self, cannot be used or possessed by any power other than himself, and whose life therefore is lived for life’s sake and never in the service of ruin, or pain, or hatred, or the dark. (Chapter 10, the Open Sea)

Having faced his own shadow self, he is equipped to deal with the world, and live life fully and rightly.

LeGuin draws significant influences from Taoist philosophy, particularly the ideas that come from the Tao Te Ching, a book that she calls “funny, keen, kind, modest, indestructibly outrageous, and inexhaustibly refreshing”. Ged’s character development through Wizard can almost summed up in one particular passage:

“Knowing other people is intelligence, Knowing yourself is wisdom. Overcoming others takes strength, Overcoming yourself takes greatness. Contentment is wealth.”'

(Chapter 33, Kinds of power)

Ged is a character that comes to understand and accept integration and balance within himself. It is my opinion that we would all do well to look within ourselves and think about what virtues are necessary to make us better, more resilient, more integrated, and mentally healthier people that can live more sustainably in our complex world today.