Some might say that history is written by the winners, and that is most definitely a reality in Brandon Sanderson’s epic, the Way of Kings. However others can say that history can be forgotten if those in power try hard enough, as a case in Christopher Paolini’s own epic fantasy book, Eragon. Eragon shows us that history and the past are the important fundamental building blocks of the future and our choices. Eragon follows the story of a boy(of the same name), who hatches a dragon, the last of her species and sets out to redeem a lost golden age a century before. To recreate the Dragon riders. Differently, the Way of Kings are about three very different characters. Kaladin, a very unique slave, Shallan, a nobleman’s daughter looking to save her family and Dalinar, a prince of Alethkar seeking to avenge his brother’s death. This trio through their past become the Knights Radiant, a group in the deep past who protect the world. The Way of Kings is similar in the emergence of old history long forgotten starting with the protagonists, but reveals more on the topic. The book shows in many ways how even if history is important to the choices made now, history is ‘never set in stone’ and the book showcases that the real past hides in the shadow’s of too many lies, too many betrayals. History is always written by the winner’s, and too find the answers of a problem seen last in the deep past, the protagonists are searching for the truth behind the myths and legends. The history of our past is important to the opportunities of the future and while the past is useful for the choices you make, it is important to realize that the winners write history and the whole story is never revealed.
In Paolini’s debut novel, he uses Eragon and his dragon Saphira as a symbol of hope and an opportunity for those around the world to take back their homes and inheritance. The symbolization takes on many forms, of those being the possibility to change the world again in a new fashion. Taking into account the wrong choices and achievements of the past in the hopes of not making the same mistakes again. However the Way of Kings expands into the past and it’s importance to the future. The Way of Kings also uses symbolization in a number of ways. Similarly to Eragon, the main protagonist for this book, Kaladin, opens the way for new hope and opportunities. The hope sparks first in the most unlikely of groups, the bridgeman. The bridgeman are the worst of slaves, but are given hope through the miracles Kaladin performs. He is their role model. But he uses and adapts, with the experiences of his past and accepts what he once was. This gives the bridgeman the incentive to take back their previous identities before becoming a slave and with their past, to move forward into the future and never making the same mistakes they once made. However Kaladin was different to Eragon in that he inspired people through his actions to face their past behind them. Eragon inspired people to move forward into the future while taking the past into account.
The past is also quite important to building people and their personalities and events in the past can affect them for years to come. Eragon has never known his parents and that history has haunted him since he was born. His dragon Saphira has never known another of dragon before and she has to live with strangers, ‘aliens’ for her whole life. However, even if their past has built them as a person, they change and adapt, by not making the same mistakes they did ages back. With inner thinking, the author shows that adapting and living with the reality of the past is an important step to moving towards the future and without the past, we walk ‘as blind as a bat’. When it came to Eragon, “the realization that Garrow and Marian were not his real parents had disturbed him greatly. Eventually he had learned to live with it.” He had adapted but at first, a change in the real truth of the past changed the way he lived and thinked. “Things that had been permanent and unquestionable were suddenly thrown into doubt.” Kaladin used to be a surgeon’s son, but when a noble tries to hurt Kaladin’s father, Kaladin and his little brother Tien are sent to the army. The author shows Kaladin’s past in grim and gritty moments with dialogue and tone to build a mood. Kaladin is betrayed by his commander, sold into slavery and ends up as a bridgeman. Kaladin learns to adapt through his experiences of his past, in caution when it came to the nobles, referred to as lighteyes, and the powerful. “I’ve seen plenty of lighteyes with that same reputation, and I’ve been disappointed by them every time.” His experiences affect him years later, guiding his actions and opinions. Kaladin’s past haunted him throughout the book, not being able to save his little brother Tien. But, viewing the past in a different light can help him empathize and understand. Kaladin came to a moment when making a decision about saving or destroying a disillusioned king, Dalinar’s nephew Elhokar. The realization that “Elhokar is Dalinar’s Tien!” spurred him into choice and action to not let someone else have the same mistake as he did. The author boldly state that inner thinking of someone’s experiences and past can help move that person forward.
However things just get more complicated further in the book. In Eragon, the world is built around oppression, civil war, racial tensions and the tyranny of a mad king. The whole world at that point is under the control of the ‘mad king’, Galbatorix. The whole story is based around how Galbatorix destroyed the order dragon riders who kept peace in the past and built the world again through his empire. But the plot goes deeper and Galbatorix built the world in his image, completely ignoring the society and order of the past that had brought a golden age of peace and prosperity. The world was changed without the print of the past and has left it in a lot of uncertain chaos. On the other hand, Way of Kings is quite similar, but also different. In the land of Roshar, the world is very much the same as it was thousands of years. The same wars and problems continually appear and no change has been made through learning the mistakes of the past. However the world is now plagued with new problems that could herald a long lost evil in the deep past. Using dialogue and inner thinking, Sanderson has illuminated the fact that the past is definitely important to the choices you make now, but cannot be left without any thought. The past is never written by the normal people or people who don’t exist anymore but by ‘winners’, those who survived and have a lasting legacy. But looking at events of the past through one perspective gives too much power too them. They can control how the past is perceived by the ‘now’. The whole book revolves around secrets in the past that have been buried through lies and deceit, by those who had a lasting impact on history, but very important to how the world would be shaped now. The author utilizes flashbacks and dialogue to reveal those secrets and how they came to be ‘secrets’ and the impact those lost pieces of history have on the world at the moment. “ ‘But the legends lie about one thing,’ Jasnah continued. ‘ They claim we chased the Voidbringer off the face of Roshar or destroyed them. But that’s not how humans work. We don’t throw away something we can use.” The book shows us that the whole story is never revealed when it comes to history, you need to interpret and study the context, even if the past is important to the decisions and society of the present.
Kaladin and Eragon have been presented with “a legacy of tradition and heroism stretching back to antiquity” with the emergence of the Knights Radiant and the Dragon Riders respectively. Their stories though are an example of the past and it’s profound effects on the present. History are the important building blocks of society as Eragon highlights in the legacy of it’s golden age and the mistakes of the mad king. However that past is never certain and the whole story is never revealed. The individual person is also affected. Through experiences of the past, people learn to adapt, empathize and face the mistakes they might have made. Spurring them forward into choice and action. Individually and as a group of humans, the past affects albeit differently. In experience or in learning through the past. The history of our past for the individual is important to the opportunities of the future and while the past is useful for the choices you make, it is important to realize that in society the winners write history and the whole story is never revealed.
In Paolini’s debut novel, he uses Eragon and his dragon Saphira as a symbol of hope and an opportunity for those around the world to take back their homes and inheritance. The symbolization takes on many forms, of those being the possibility to change the world again in a new fashion. Taking into account the wrong choices and achievements of the past in the hopes of not making the same mistakes again. However the Way of Kings expands into the past and it’s importance to the future. The Way of Kings also uses symbolization in a number of ways. Similarly to Eragon, the main protagonist for this book, Kaladin, opens the way for new hope and opportunities. The hope sparks first in the most unlikely of groups, the bridgeman. The bridgeman are the worst of slaves, but are given hope through the miracles Kaladin performs. He is their role model. But he uses and adapts, with the experiences of his past and accepts what he once was. This gives the bridgeman the incentive to take back their previous identities before becoming a slave and with their past, to move forward into the future and never making the same mistakes they once made. However Kaladin was different to Eragon in that he inspired people through his actions to face their past behind them. Eragon inspired people to move forward into the future while taking the past into account.
The past is also quite important to building people and their personalities and events in the past can affect them for years to come. Eragon has never known his parents and that history has haunted him since he was born. His dragon Saphira has never known another of dragon before and she has to live with strangers, ‘aliens’ for her whole life. However, even if their past has built them as a person, they change and adapt, by not making the same mistakes they did ages back. With inner thinking, the author shows that adapting and living with the reality of the past is an important step to moving towards the future and without the past, we walk ‘as blind as a bat’. When it came to Eragon, “the realization that Garrow and Marian were not his real parents had disturbed him greatly. Eventually he had learned to live with it.” He had adapted but at first, a change in the real truth of the past changed the way he lived and thinked. “Things that had been permanent and unquestionable were suddenly thrown into doubt.” Kaladin used to be a surgeon’s son, but when a noble tries to hurt Kaladin’s father, Kaladin and his little brother Tien are sent to the army. The author shows Kaladin’s past in grim and gritty moments with dialogue and tone to build a mood. Kaladin is betrayed by his commander, sold into slavery and ends up as a bridgeman. Kaladin learns to adapt through his experiences of his past, in caution when it came to the nobles, referred to as lighteyes, and the powerful. “I’ve seen plenty of lighteyes with that same reputation, and I’ve been disappointed by them every time.” His experiences affect him years later, guiding his actions and opinions. Kaladin’s past haunted him throughout the book, not being able to save his little brother Tien. But, viewing the past in a different light can help him empathize and understand. Kaladin came to a moment when making a decision about saving or destroying a disillusioned king, Dalinar’s nephew Elhokar. The realization that “Elhokar is Dalinar’s Tien!” spurred him into choice and action to not let someone else have the same mistake as he did. The author boldly state that inner thinking of someone’s experiences and past can help move that person forward.
However things just get more complicated further in the book. In Eragon, the world is built around oppression, civil war, racial tensions and the tyranny of a mad king. The whole world at that point is under the control of the ‘mad king’, Galbatorix. The whole story is based around how Galbatorix destroyed the order dragon riders who kept peace in the past and built the world again through his empire. But the plot goes deeper and Galbatorix built the world in his image, completely ignoring the society and order of the past that had brought a golden age of peace and prosperity. The world was changed without the print of the past and has left it in a lot of uncertain chaos. On the other hand, Way of Kings is quite similar, but also different. In the land of Roshar, the world is very much the same as it was thousands of years. The same wars and problems continually appear and no change has been made through learning the mistakes of the past. However the world is now plagued with new problems that could herald a long lost evil in the deep past. Using dialogue and inner thinking, Sanderson has illuminated the fact that the past is definitely important to the choices you make now, but cannot be left without any thought. The past is never written by the normal people or people who don’t exist anymore but by ‘winners’, those who survived and have a lasting legacy. But looking at events of the past through one perspective gives too much power too them. They can control how the past is perceived by the ‘now’. The whole book revolves around secrets in the past that have been buried through lies and deceit, by those who had a lasting impact on history, but very important to how the world would be shaped now. The author utilizes flashbacks and dialogue to reveal those secrets and how they came to be ‘secrets’ and the impact those lost pieces of history have on the world at the moment. “ ‘But the legends lie about one thing,’ Jasnah continued. ‘ They claim we chased the Voidbringer off the face of Roshar or destroyed them. But that’s not how humans work. We don’t throw away something we can use.” The book shows us that the whole story is never revealed when it comes to history, you need to interpret and study the context, even if the past is important to the decisions and society of the present.
Kaladin and Eragon have been presented with “a legacy of tradition and heroism stretching back to antiquity” with the emergence of the Knights Radiant and the Dragon Riders respectively. Their stories though are an example of the past and it’s profound effects on the present. History are the important building blocks of society as Eragon highlights in the legacy of it’s golden age and the mistakes of the mad king. However that past is never certain and the whole story is never revealed. The individual person is also affected. Through experiences of the past, people learn to adapt, empathize and face the mistakes they might have made. Spurring them forward into choice and action. Individually and as a group of humans, the past affects albeit differently. In experience or in learning through the past. The history of our past for the individual is important to the opportunities of the future and while the past is useful for the choices you make, it is important to realize that in society the winners write history and the whole story is never revealed.
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