Ged goes though many struggles in the book “A Wizard of Eathsea. ” The book follows him though the many stages in his life, he learns many lessons and goes though numerous trials and tribulations. All these things help him through his own personal battle of life, his inner journey. Ged’s inner journey is shaped by the many people, places, and things he encounters during his outer journey. Geds inner journey begins as a young boy, he was quite remarkable and very smart.
Then as an adolescent he learns not to let his ego in his way and what happens when he does. Finally he learns how to defeat the shadow and how too win his life back. As a young boy Ged learns to fend for himself. His mother dies when he is young, and his father and older brothers have no use for him.
That must have made his soul yearn for love, because he never got it as a child. He was a wild and unruly child, and the only time his aunt paid attention to him is when she found out he had powers. It is as if the aunt used him to live vicariously though, and that would make anyone upset and cold to others. However, Ged learns to overcome all of his emotional struggles and becomes someone who is caring toward others.
When he is a little older, he leaves his home. This is easy for him to do because he has no emotional ties to anyone in Ten Alders, and he has the will to learn. He has almost “a calling” to go with Ogion, and it is his fate to do so. He can feel it inside of him, an urge to go; He doesn’t know what but he needs to go. Geds ego and impatience are always getting to the best of him, Ogion is trying to teach him important lessons, but Ged is still young and still has romantic fantasies about what being a wizard is all about. He lets himself make decisions with just his heart instead of with his brain, which gets him in to trouble.
For instance when Serret meets Ged in the field and she teases him and makes him fell dumb, he then tries to use powers, which he can’t handle, so he can feel good about himself. After that Ogion sees that Ged is restless with his teachings, and sends him to Roke. In Roke, Ged learns some important lessons that will be with him for life. One day a boy in Roke named Jasper was belittling Ged, and he made Ged feel powerless. This made him angry, he knew he was a better wizard then Jasper, so without thinking he cast a spell to bring up an old spirit.
But instead the shadow came up, and killed his teacher there. After that Ged was more conscious of his surroundings and his power. He thought carefully and throughly before using his powers, and he forever had the guilt of Nummeral dying because of him. When it is time for Ged to leave Roke he has grown in mind and spirit, he has more patience, and is braver. Ged experiences many emotional struggles during his journey, and he grows wiser emotionally after each incident. At one point he learns the dying is all right, after he tries to bring back Pechvarry’s son.
When his son dies Ged sees how sad they are, so he makes the conscious decision to go after him. There he sees the boy running into the next world, happy. That’s when Ged has to come home, to do that he has to climb over the mountain. This is very hard physically and emotionally, he has to concentrate and push himself to make it up.
In this book, Ged also gets tempted a lot, First by Yevaud then by Serret. When Yevaud temps him he tells Ged that he knows the shadows real name, this shows that Ged thinks fast and is strong in spirit. The second time he is tempted to do something wrong, is when he is with Serret. She wants him to touch the Stone of Terrenon.
Ged says flat out he does not want to touch it but she continues to try to convince him . But Ged is smart enough to say “no. ” In the final chapter Ged is wise beyond his years, he wants to defeat the shadow, he can taste it. He keeps in mind what Ogion says to him that he should chase after the shadow instead of the shadow chasing after him.
The shadow takes on many shapes of people whom Ged does not like. Like his father, which is about his need to be loved and cared for, Ged does not give into the shadows evilness. He conquers the shadow, and realizes that the shadow’s real name was his own, “Ged. ” At the end of this book, Ged learns the most important lesson of all to complete his inner journey. Ged goes against man, nature and the supernatural in this book.
He defeats them all with great pride through the knowledge he has leaned though his physical and emotional journey. In the end Ursula Le Guin is showing us that Ged is a great wizard with great pride, and that is a dangerous combination if used by the wrong person. But Ged isn’t the wrong person, he knows how to control his emotions and knows the right way to go. In the end it is clear that, the shadow represents death and that, they share a name. So Ged learns that he can no longer be possessed by anyone, because he knows his true self, and that can never be taken away.
