The Journey Back – The Wizard of Earthsea
The plains on the horizon tumble
effortlessly as I inhale the morning breeze with a hint of dew still in the
air. So far have I come since the days at magic school on Roke. I often think
of Ged and our time spent in mischief together, our coming of age battling the
shadow monster.
“Dad!! Can I have some more tea
please?” wailed Ginny most mornings.
In the summer she will be off to
magic school, despite her mothers hesitation. She is a wild girl, but knows the
dangers of magic and is learning about the balance of power.
“Dad when is Uncle Ged arriving?”
Anika had us all up early this
morning to today the house and ourselves in the most anticipated visit of the
year, Ged. Whoever knows Ged loves him, he is witty, charming and powerful. The
children and my wife adore him and always try trick him to stay longer than he
anticipated. This trip I fear will be different, he sent note only days ago
that he needs to see me and made no mention staying.
* * *
“Ginny, Dave! Why how big you have
both gotten!” Bellowed Ged as he neared toward the house and the kids jumped
all over him.
“Anika, just as gorgeous as ever, a
fine job you are doing here! Hope Vetch over here isn’t giving you any grief”
He winked.
Anika is beautiful; we meet just
after I returned to Roke after, defeating the shadow monster with Ged and knew
I would never forget her, so could never let her. She is without magic but does
so many things one must think she has some magic.
“ello’ me ole mate” Ged said before
embracing me in a tight hug, which revealed his frame as thinner than normal. There
was also something troubling behind his eyes but I would have to wait until all
were in bed to find out.
“Sparrowhawk” I respond as the
embrace finishes, the name he went by before he discovered his true name.
We all sat around the dining table
and fireplace exchanging stories and laughter until well after dusk had
settled. After Anika put the children to bed, Ged took me outside to tell me
why he was really here.
* * *
I awoke to the soft, warm light of the fire Anika had built
and looked upon the man who sat beside me, the dancing flames reflected in his
unsettled dark eyes, and hope the next time he comes, it Is to come home. Here,
in the man beside me lay the troubles of towns of people, the death of Ogion
the Silent, Ged’s first teacher a very powerful magician who guided him in the
right path, and the kidnapping of Tenar, his love and Priestess of the Tombs of
Atuan. Jasper, was our rival at school and now has taken control of Roke and is
holding the Archmage hostage with Tenar and building armies, sweeping towns
taking young children with magic, teaching them the darkness of it all to
summon shadow monsters.
I knew from the hurried note and visit and from the wilted
Ged that showed up yesterday afternoon, that I would not be home tomorrow. Ged
and I must leave as early as possible and begin our journey to the Great Port of Gont, where Ogion lived and find
his apprentice, to gather more information and hopefully recruit him in our
quest to Roke to conquer Jasper along with the shadow monsters, and rescue his
prisoners.
I
shut my eyes and think of how this is almost dejavu, a quest again to where we
first met and the place of our first battle quest. It was here just days ago I
had a warmth in my heart that this was the end to my journey, that after all these years of searching, of
conquering, of spells and runes and greatness, here, here, I was finally home.
But I can’t stay I must leave with Ged, Ginny is off to magic school in Roke
soon, I must make it a safe place for her to grow up and learn the ways of
magic and to keep Anika and Dave safe here, by ensuring Jasper and his armies
don’t raid our village. Ged needs me also, I can see it in his eyes, Tenar is
in danger and he can’t live with himself and I fear I don’t know how much
longer he will last until he implodes, yes, he needs me to go.
* * *
I rustle Ged awake at the break of dawn as I couldn’t sleep
and wanted to leave without rousing the kids or Anika, for me leaving without
goodbyes would be the only way I could leave, and I have to for Ged. In stupor
we pack our bags, fill our canteens and pack a light breakfast.
Stepping outside I inhale the morning air, it is heavy and
hard to breath. Closing my eyes I take the first step of my journey…
“Vetch” it is Anika, she looks at me and I know in her eyes
that she knows what I am off to do and she understands.
She continues.
"When we first met on Roke, I saw in your eyes what you
thought of me, plain as day. Then and there I knew I wanted to see what I saw
in that moment everyday, so come home to me Vetch. Bring him back to me Ged”.
With one last look, which felt like it lasted for hours, Ged
and I turned away and crossed the plains towards the horizon and beyond.
Two companions who shared too few, too-brief moments all but
alone at the edge of the world.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Commentary- Part 2
For my fan fiction I
decided on depicting the fantasy realm of Earthsea from the view of Vetch in
the near future. According to Vogler (1998; 1992), all great filmic narratives
share a similar deep structure and can me organized into Act1, Act2 and Act 3.
My piece of fanfic deals with the first Act, setting the scene and developing
the conflict for the rest of the acts which should take up about 15% of a
story. I only focused on Act1 as firstly it is just a short poece, but also
Vetch is the best friend, the fun guy but never showed his inner turmoil or his
desires in the book/film.
1. Heroes are
introduces in the ORDINARY WORLD, where
-
Vetch is introduced in his quiet day-to-day family life
2. They receive the CALL TO ADVENTURE.
- Ged arrives and needs Vetch’s
assistance to save his lover and the people from the evil Jasper
3. They are RELUCTANT at first or REFUSE THE CALL, but
- Vetch does not want to go but
knows he must as Ged needs him and to keep his family from danger as his
daughter is off to the school of Roke in the summer
4. are encouraged by a MENTOR to
- Anika see’s Ged leaving and
accepts he must go and lets him go
5. CROSS THE FIRST THRESHOLD and enter the Special World,
- They leave the valley and start on
their journey to the Port.
My fan fiction I
believe does fit into Vogler’s general idea of character archetypes and mythic
structures. According to Vogler (1998) there are 7 character archetypes; the Hero, the Mentor, the Threshold
Guardian, the Herald, the Shapeshifter, the Shadow, and the Trickster. To
Vogler (1998) they are “psychological realities and functions”.
In my fanfic Vetch is
the Hero archetype although he is an unwilling hero, he will serve and
sacrifice his comfortable life to help his friend and provokes sympathy from
his audience by having to leave his family behind. As this fanfic is just based
on Act1 I am sure if I wrote the next act Vetch will grow as the hero archetype
by searching for a greater identify, overcoming obstacles and will have to act
to a great degree to defeat jasper. The mentor is Ged who will motivate Vetch
he is also the herald along with Anika- vetch’s wife as they motivate vetch to
be the hero (by helping Ged and in turn keeping his wife safe). In my fanfic I
have role reversed Ged and Vetch as in the
Wizard of Earthsea Vetch was the friend, the sidekick and the herald whilst
Ged was the hero/shadow.
Reference:
Vogler, C. (2008). The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for
Writers. California, United States: Michael Wiese Productions.
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