Degree Project Level: Master’s Bringing the Magic Back to Structuralist Approaches in Fantasy Literature

Supporting Themes of Unity in Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicle ​

Author: Sarah Schroer Supervisor: Billy Gray Examiner: Carmen Zamorano Llena Subject/main field of study: English (literature) Course code: EN3063 Credits: 15 ECTS Date of examination: May 28, 2020

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Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Establishing Patterns of Binary Thinking Between Hard and Soft Magic Systems 9

Madness as Mediator: The Whole is Greater Than the Parts 16

Conclusion 26

Works Cited 30

1

Introduction

From witches and warlocks, wizards and sorcerers, spells and incantations, magical potions, wardrobes that transport you to another world, and even one ring to rule them all, magical elements or beings are considered to be the fantasy genre's main defining feature. But what are the different ways magic appears in novels? In 2007, fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson published an essay where he not only explained his personal guidelines for creating magic systems, but more significantly to the genre, he proposed a scale for defining the different types of magic. Early fantasy novels emerging around the twentieth-century or earlier set a tradition for using magic in a ‘softer’ sense that leaves readers with only a fuzzy idea of what the magic can do (Sanderson). Examples include the magic that enables the children in C.S. Lewis’ The ​ Chronicles of Narnia to step through a portal into an imaginary world or the magic held by

Gandalf the wizard in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The way that the wardrobe portal works in Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia is never explained, nor is it fully understood by ​ readers what sort of magic Gandalf can yield with his staff. In modern fantasy novels, however, there has been a movement towards the creation of complex ‘hard’ magic systems inundated with rules that allow readers a rational, almost scientific-like understanding of the magic’s capabilities (Sanderson). Lewis once wrote that pseudo-scientific explanations can appease skeptical readers, saying that “the most superficial appearance of plausibility—the merest sop to our critical intellect—will do” (“On Science Fiction”). Sanderson’s proposed continuum places soft magic on one end, hard magic on the other, and ‘hybrid magic systems’ that explain some of the rules of the magic in the middle. Sanderson’s article added to fantasy’s taxonomy, giving vocabulary to ideas that had been understood, but not yet defined by literary critics. While

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Sanderson lays out some important expectations of how magic can be used to create or solve tension within a plot, it is limited because of its author-centered approach, and therefore misses the chance to use a theoretical approach to deepen understanding of how a soft or a hard magic system might link together the meaning or theme in a story.

The critical and theoretical material that exists about magic in fantasy literature tends to focus on its usefulness as a device in inventing believable secondary worlds1, an authorial process that J.R.R. Tolkien called ‘Enchantment’ because of the labour, thought, and special skill required to make the imaginary world seem plausible (“On Fairy-Stories” 52-53). Jules Zanger explains that magic acts as a catalyst to propel the reader into a secondary belief, a process that is familiar because of readers’ expectations of fantasy genre (228). More traditional literary theorists have looked at magic in novels from a Marxist, religious, or mythological point of view

(Chevalier; Galway; Boyer; Ravikumar; Milbank; Lief; Slabbert and Viljoen). So while theoretical studies on works of fantasy literature do exist in limited numbers, details on the most distinguishing element of the genre, magic, is often left out of focus.

In order to understand how magical systems might aid in finding meaning in a story, it is necessary to recognize that they are part of larger structures within the fantasy genre. A structuralist approach seems appropriate to the fantasy genre not only because the origins of structuralism are tied to subgenres of fairy tales and myths (Campbell, Propp, Todorov), but also because structuralists acknowledge the need to isolate and understand larger, abstract, containing structures (Barry 41). Tzvetan Todorov’s work focused on structures involved in making the

1 ‘Secondary world’ is a term coined by J.R.R. Tolkien to describe worlds that are imagined into existence by authors along with their associated maps, societies, languages, cultures, customs, and magic systems (Tolkien 6). Stories that take place in a world that resembles the real world—or primary world—are considered low fantasy, while stories taking place in an author-created secondary world are considered high fantasy (Mendlesohn 4; Zahorski and Boyer 56).

3 secondary world believable with an emphasis on the contract between author and reader. Joseph

Campbell focused on typical archetypal characters in myths. Propp looked at events in the plot in sequence and made an ordered list of common plotlines within myths. Christopher Mahon says that linking a magic system to some greater meaning, message, or theme can save secondary worlds from turning into a too-familiar science and reason-based replication of our primary world. Genre itself acts as a container structure for all the features that define it. To understand the features of the fantasy genre a structuralist approach is fitting, as a common motif of that field of criticism is the belief “that things cannot be understood in isolation” (Barry 40). Fantasy features, like magic systems, benefit from an examination of supporting structures such as the definitions within the genre that encompass it.

A greater sense of meaning can be brought to the discussion about the function of soft versus hard magic by identifying the structures in which they exist in a novel and relating them to other stories within the same larger structure, or genre. The anthropologist, Claude

Lévi-Strauss, applied a similar approach when interpreting myths. In "The Structural Study of

Myth" Claude Lévi-Strauss found opposition at all levels of the narrative, not only the motifs within a myth, but also in names of characters, settings, and actions. The practice of using binary oppositions in theory to explain how meaning is created in language was utilized by structuralist linguist Ferdinand de Saussure who "thought in dichotomies" (Dosse 215). In studying myth,

Lévi-Strauss found that individual tales did not have a separate meaning on their own, but needed to be looked at with others in the sequence in order to see repeated motifs and binary opposites, which contributed to the creation of meaning in a specific tale (Lévi-Strauss 431).

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Hard and soft magic are binary opposites that have certain features and functions that can be identified more readily when considering them within the larger context of the fantasy genre.

Peter Barry, in writing about Lévi-Strauss’ approach, said: “Concrete details from the story are seen in the context of a larger structure, and the larger structure is then seen as an overall network of ‘dyadic pairs’ which have obvious symbolic, thematic, and archetypal resonance”

(Barry 47). To identify a magic system in a singular work of fantasy as hard magic is to compare it against referential soft magic systems found within the larger context of the fantasy genre, and in doing so archetypal themes are simultaneously aligned with the designated magic system.

Hard magic systems tend to rely on the wit and skill of a character—a point which is understood by comparing it to the representation of soft magic systems in fantasy works—while soft magic systems tend to represent flaws in thinking that a character must overcome. In the “Structuralist” chapter of The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, Brian Attebery examines the ​ usefulness of Lévi-Strauss approach when applied to fantasy literature. He argues that, like

Lévi-Strauss suggests, looking at the ways different groups of binaries, or bundles, change throughout the narrative help elicit new meanings from the text of fantasy works (Attebery 95).

One point of discussion in this thesis will include whether binaries appear to be opposite of one another or whether they work to complement each other to create a unified meaning. Hard and soft magic systems can be viewed as one such binary pair, but they need to be viewed with other binaries that may exist within or between fantasy stories in order to reveal new meanings and possible links to greater themes.

A fantasy story that conveniently contains both a soft magic system and a hard magic system is called The Kingkiller Chronicle and is written by Patrick Rothfuss. Two books from

5 the trilogy have been released thus far, The Name of the Wind (2007) and The Wise Man’s Fear ​ ​ (2011). The third instalment, Doors of Stone does not currently have a release date2. The novels ​ tell the story of young Kvothe, as he works his way from childhood poverty following the murder of his parents to acceptance into a magical school. Appearing in both The Name of the ​ Wind (NOTW) and The Wise Man’s Fear (WMF) is the soft magic system called ‘naming’ that ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ can be seen in opposition to the hard magic system called ‘sympathy’. There are other types of magic systems that exist separately in the story, but they play a more minor role or are considered a hybrid of soft and hard magic3. One of the major plotlines in the story is Kvothe’s desire to learn magic so he can face the evil creatures who murdered his family and seek his revenge. Along the way, a theme of wisdom over knowledge is emphasized, as is the idea that the whole is greater than its parts. Interestingly, Rothfuss’ naming magic is similar to the magic in Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea series. Several critics have noted that Earthsea contains a message ​ ​ beyond naming that speaks to the change in perception and unity or a theme of balance and harmony (Matthews 151; Mahon). In Sanderson’s aforementioned article, he notes that a magic system should not undermine the plot, but rather it should facilitate the narrative. Rothfuss uses the interaction of the systems in which the two types of magic operate to facilitate a motif of unity in his series. The type of meaning that will be focused in this essay is to see how Rothfuss utilizes tropes about hard magic and soft magic systems to create a unique blend of multiple magic systems within a singular world. Normally, one might compare a magic system in one

2 Rothfuss has also published a spin-off novella called The Slow Regard of Silent Things (2014). ​ ​ 3‘Fae magic’ is largely mysterious to readers even after Kvothe spends time in the fae world during WMF or after ​ ​ reading Rothfuss’ short story called “The Lightning Tree” (2014) that follows fae character, Bast, as his story deviates from the main narration in NOTW. A third type of magic is hinted at that has to do with the Yllish knots ​ ​ Kvothe’s love interest, Denna, braids into her hair, but very little time is spent on this during the first two books of Rothfuss’ trilogy.

6 novel against those in another separate work. In this way, a magic system in an individual work is seen in the context of the larger structure of magic systems in the fantasy genre. Rothfuss manipulates this mode of making meaning by containing two systems of magic within the same story, thus providing him with the freedom to set one magic system against the other in his own work in order to control the symbolic and thematic resonance they emit.

Rothfuss’s texts are also chosen on the basis that they are widely popular, with more than

10 million copies being sold (Kain), but few academic sources—mostly B.A. or M.A. dissertations—have been found to cover Rothfuss’ works. Several articles focus on characterization and archetypes (Tikkanen; Watral; Reams). One article for an online journal looks at the temporal and spatial phenomena (Giebert), another looks at the Celtic-inspired Fae

World found in WMF (MacDonald). Amani Mansi Al Ghoraibi explores the narrative techniques ​ employed by Rothfuss in NOTW. Patrick Schmitz wrote about the music. Lukáš Wiesner is the ​ ​ only source that analysed the magic, but his focus was on denoting four categories of magic types within the entire realm of fantasy, rather than investigating how the relationship between systems might be meaningful. A need for a deeper analysis of Rothfuss’ magic systems exists.

In order to understand how a soft magic like naming or a hard magic like sympathy might contribute to the novels’ theme of unity, a deeper examination of both systems’ features needs to be undertaken. A theme of unity can be supported not only through the interaction of the magic systems with one another, but also within the details of how each magic system functions. The way in which Kvothe is able to actually do naming magic requires, for example, access to his consolidated mind. In order to understand how magic performance is germane to the theme of unity, it is necessary to examine how Kvothe’s ability to carry out magical acts in the story is

7 related to his states of mind. It is not unusual to consider the psychology of characters within a work of fantasy. Roger C. Schlobin, as will be explored later, argues that successful fantasy

“must be psychologically valid” (xi), which is further explored in the essays by Gary Wolfe and

C.N. Manlove. The magic systems in The Kingkiller Chronicle need to be explored for what is ​ happening inside Kvothe’s mind as he performs naming or sympathy magic, as it will be shown that he utilizes different states of mind in order to gain access to different levels of his consciousness. Use of a psychological perspective, within the larger structuralist perspective increases depth of analysis. Comparisons of the magic systems from a psychoanalytic lens allows for more layers of binary oppositions to be revealed. A psychological understanding of Kvothe’s mind during magic performance will be relevant in showing support for a theme of unity through

Rothfuss’ magic systems. For this reason, a psychoanalytical lens will be borrowed when examining the specifics of how Kvothe does naming and sympathy magic.

Sigmund Freud’s theory of the mind differentiated between the two facets of a person’s personality—the conscious and unconscious. In the novels, Kvothe refers to the parallel terms

‘waking mind’ and ‘sleeping mind’. The conscious mind for Freud contains all the thoughts and beliefs an individual was aware of. The part of the personality residing in the conscious mind is called the ego. The conscious mind’s binary pairing is the unconscious mind, which Freud said contained hidden thoughts, feelings, or instinctual drives (Ryan 94). The unconscious part of a person’s mind consists of yet another binary pair called the superego—which is shaped by societal rules, ideals, and morals—and the id—which contains irrational but instinctual drives such as sexual libido and aggression (Rivkin and Ryan 391). Since many of the id urges are socially unacceptable, Freud argued that a person learns to repress these throughout their lives

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(Freud “The Ego and the Id” 14). The id and the superego can be thought of as two opposing binaries. Paired together though, the id/superego form one half of the mind, the unconscious part.

Freud advocated for a technique to regain access to such repressed thoughts could be possible via a therapy technique called free association (Rivkin and Ryan 390). Freud believed all three parts—id, ego, superego— made up a person's identity, but that illnesses or complexes may form if there are unresolved conflicts between the superego and the id. Psychoanalysis perspective is beneficial to apply because the magic is very much related to an understanding of how one’s mind is organized and operates. Use of Freudian psychoanalytic theory adds another layer of binary pairings to a Lévi-Strauss inspired method.

The question which this paper will answer is how the inclusion of multiple magic systems within the same fantasy story may function to support the theme of unity found within NOTW ​ and WMF. A useful method to compare soft and hard magic systems in a work is to identify ​ ​ pairings and examine whether they are bundled together and presented in opposition or as complementary pairs. Because of the nature of the magic systems and their emphasis on how the mind of the practitioner must work in order to do the magic, a psychoanalytic lens is fitting. By identifying bundles of binary pairings and viewing those with a psychoanalytical lens, deeper meanings within the text can be found. The motif of the importance of understanding something in its entirety and as a whole is emphasized thematically in Rothfuss’ novels, a point which will be referred to as the theme of unity, similar to the themes in Le Guin’s Earthsea series ​ (Matthews 151; Mahon) that can be found throughout NOTW and WMF. Chapter 1 will explain ​ ​ ​ how having two magic systems sets up a mode of binary oppositions. As per a Lévi-Strauss lens, any binaries associated with the two magic systems will also be identified so as to examine not

9 only how they are bundled and interact, in order to examine if the theme is supported through the novel’s representation of magic. It will be outlined that naming magic appears to support the motif of unity, while sympathy initially does not. In Chapter 2, however, it will be shown that the mindset Kvothe enters when he does sympathy magic is an essential component of his future success at naming magic. The reason is because his skill at controlling his conscious mind actually helps Kvothe to avoid the mental illness that is sometimes a consequence of practicing naming magic. However, if the novels did not contain sympathy magic, then Kvothe might not have ever learned how to control his thoughts and thus avoid mental illness whilst practicing naming. For this reason, it will be argued that the magic systems work cohesively. Each type of magic requires a different skill and a different mindset from Kvothe, which might suggest that one is greater than the other, but instead the message in the novels is that Kvothe is at an advantage because of his skill in sympathy even if it does not appear as such initially, as explained in Chapter 1. The interaction of the dichotomous magic systems of naming and sympathy in Patrick Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicle supports the theme of unity in the novels ​ by showing how the soft magic system is reliant on the skills of the hard magic system.

Establishing Patterns of Binary Thinking Between Hard and Soft Magic Systems

Rothfuss’ novels support the theme of unity through the binary pairs that exist between and within the magic systems. The soft magic system of naming is presented to be very different in essence and in practice compared to the hard magic system of sympathy. The two binary pairs will not be examined on their own, but rather by following the structuralist practice of looking at them with other dyadic pairs. An understanding of how Kvothe does each type of magic is

10 benefited by considering the way in which his mind is organized. Doing naming magic requires

Kvothe to access hidden truths deep inside his sleeping mind, or his unconscious. Sympathy requires him to control, organize, and even hide thoughts from his conscious, or waking mind.

Each type of magic requires Kvothe to be in a certain state of mind in order to perform, one of which is characterized by Kvothe having total control over his thoughts, the other consisting of his thoughts to flow freely. In order to support the argument that the magic systems in NOTW ​ and WMF support the larger theme of unity, Lévi-Strauss’ method will be explained, and then ​ utilized to examine meanings that are made when comparing the essence of naming versus sympathy magic, along with the way in which Kvothe performs the magic, namely, by either accessing the unconscious versus controlling the conscious. This chapter will thus establish how magic systems set up binary thinking by exploring how the relationships are juxtaposed.

The setting up of binaries, like that between hard and soft magic, is not unique in fantasy literature. Jules Zanger points out that an understanding of fantasy relies on comparison of one thing against another, saying that, “unlike other literary modes which, to be effective, traditionally require the ‘suspension of disbelief,’ fantasy requires the reader’s disbelief, his recognition that the fiction is not real, to achieve its nature as fantasy” (Zanger 226). By this it is meant that the realities of the fictional secondary world are defined by the realities of the real primary world against which it is foiled. There is meaning to be made when two seemingly opposing things are set against one another.

Structuralists, such as Saussure and Lévi-Strauss, were also in the practice of using binary oppositions to study underlying patterns in myths. The strategy to uncover meaning in myth is explained by Lévi-Strauss in an article called "The Structural Study of Myth". Drawing

11 on the work of previous structuralists, like Saussure, Lévi-Strauss adapted such linguistic-based applications to study the repeating constituent units found in alternate versions of the same myths. His method was to break down elements of the story into the shortest possible sentences, so that a plot action in the Oedipus story within Greek mythology, for example, could be summed up as ‘Oedipus kills his father Laios’ (Lévi-Strauss 433). Once identified, the numerous story fragments could then be set into categories. He placed the aforementioned story fragment in a vertical column named ‘underrating of blood relations’ along with similar story details, such ​ ​ as ‘The Spartoi kill each other’ and ‘Eteocles kills his brother Polynices’ (433). Depending on the particular myth, additional columns would be added and constituent units could be grouped together. His idea was that if “there is meaning to be found in mythology, this cannot reside in the isolated elements which enter into the composition of a myth, but only in the way those elements are combined” (Lévi-Strauss 431). These bundles could produce as many meanings as ​ readings could be made by comparing between bundles horizontally, or even vertically

(Lévi-Strauss 431-436). The bundles could be further simplified by breaking them into pairs that were often found to be contradictory or oppositional. He believed two opposite terms could be replaced by two equivalent terms, and also believed that the meaning to be found within the two terms could be found in a mediating factor that could "mediate" or resolve the oppositions

(Lévi-Strauss 441)—an idea that will be utilized in the second chapter.

When applying a Lévi-Strauss lens to the study of binary opposites in fantasy literature,

Brian Attebery, in a chapter called “Structuralism” in The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy ​ Literature says that there are three steps. The first is to identify the binary pairs (95). The second step is to examine the way they are bundled together and the third step is to see how the pairings

12 change throughout the narrative in order to extend structures of meaning (Attebery 95). The pairs to be studied therefore are the soft/hard magic, unconscious/conscious, and the free-flowing/controlled thoughts binaries. The soft magic half of the binary is stacked vertically in a column with unconscious and free-flowing thought binaries. The hard magic half of the binary is stacked vertically in a column with conscious and controlled thought binaries. An effect of setting up binaries is that consideration of hierarchies may ensue.

Naming seems to be set up as the superior magic compared to sympathy. Indeed, as

Attebery points out examining interactions between binary pairs can generate complexity (95).

The presence of two magic systems within the novels set a hierarchy between the two. This is displayed through Kvothe’s voice when reflecting on the boredom he felt in practicing sympathy as a child versus his desire to control wind using naming magic. “It was not what I expected magic to be. … But the first time I’d seen him, Ben had somehow called the wind. That was no mere sympathy. That was storybook magic. That was the secret I wanted more than anything”

(NOTW 83). Naming magic appears to be superior to sympathy. ​ ​ However, the opposite appears to be true when looking at the mental processes required to do each type. Controlling conscious thoughts whilst performing sympathy is needed, while accessing the unconsciousness is needed for naming. As consistent with hard magic systems4,

Rothfuss’ sympathy system and its rules are explained to readers in detail. It works by speaking a few words to form a link between two objects. It can link one object to a second object, such as

4 In what has come to be known simply as Sanderson’s First Law, Brian Sanderson states: “An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic". A soft magic system may function to “establish a sense of wonder and give the setting a fantastical feel” but may go against genre expectations if an unexplained magic system is suddenly used to solve conflicts because it may produce the contrived solutions or the dreaded Deus Ex Machina ending (Sanderson; Wolfe 5). Using a hard magic system, however, is acceptable to solve conflicts so long as readers are able to understand the rules that govern the magic ​ ​ (Sanderson).

13 two similar coins. If the Arcanist creates a link between the two objects and lifts one coin up, the second coin would float into the air as well and mock its motion. The links redirect the pathways the energy takes to travel. Kvothe learns that sympathy follows three laws. The first is the

Doctrine of Correspondence which states that similarity between objects increases sympathy.

The second is the Principle of Consanguinity which states that a part of an object can represent the whole object. The third is the Law of Conservation, which is the same as the first law of thermodynamics that ‘matter can neither be created nor destroyed’. When lifting a coin with sympathy, it would feel heavier than normal because the weight of the second coin would be added to it. If the second coin was made of a different material, the link would be even weaker, and even more energy would be needed to lift the first coin. If the second object was even more dissimilar, like a piece of tree branch, then the coin might feel like trying to lift fifty pounds.

Calculations can also be carried out as to the percentage of similarity and the strength of a link.

Sympathy is carried out by a person and its effectiveness is, in part, determined by the cleverness and skill of the Arcanist. The ability to hold multiple bindings, however, is determined by a person’s strength of will, something called a person’s Alar. Kvothe is said to have a very strong

Alar that enables him to hold more bindings than any of his peers.

The process of doing naming magic is not explained in detail to readers. While this is on par with Sanderson’s definition of soft magic systems, it places the ‘accessing unconscious’ unit into a lower hierarchy than the ‘controlling conscious thought’ half of the binary. Indeed, very little is initially explained in the story about how naming works. This system of magic is first introduced in the first chapter of NOTW when an old man in a bar is telling familiar stories about ​ how Taborlin the Great escaped imprisonment in a high tower with no windows or doors, only

14 stones. “He knew the names of all things, and so all things were his to command. He said to the stone: ‘Break!’ and the stone broke.” Next, he walked to the opening and stepped into the air. ​ But, “he knew the name of the wind, and so the wind obeyed him” (NOTW 4). It is classified as ​ soft magic because the scope of what it can do is not clear. One of Kvothe’s teachers, Elodin, says that it is a type of magic that cannot be described. Elodin tries to get Kvothe to describe what a blue shirt looks like. He tries to explain: “It is a word. Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. … But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself” (NOTW ​ 672-673). Naming magic is eventually described as requiring the namer to access their sleeping mind in order to access the true name of something. However, the way in which that works is not explained to the readers nor Kvothe, as is typical of soft magic systems. The binary pairing of

‘accessing the unconscious’ and ‘controlling conscious thought’ contributes to hierarchical thinking but in this case the ‘sympathy’ column items seem more admirable than the ‘naming’ column items.

Patterns of binary patterns continue to be set up within the novel, as the two ways in which the inner workings of one’s thoughts can be controlled is explained by Kvothe through two different types of meditation: Spinning Leaf, which is associated with performing naming magic, and Heart of Stone, which allows Kvothe to succeed at sympathy. The two types of meditation are presented as different, but equal in measure to each other. As mentioned, sympathy magic requires Kvothe to have a strong Alar in order to have stronger control over his bindings. Kvothe learns how to slip into a state of mind, called Heart of Stone, which he explains as allowing him control over his mind. He says: “Heart of Stone was practical: it stripped away

15 emotion and focused my mind. It made it easier to break my mind into separate pieces or maintain the all-important Alar” (WMF 714). To strengthen his Alar, his childhood mentor Ben ​ holds a stone in front of him and asks him whether he believes it will fall when he lets go and

Kvothe agrees. But then Ben asks him to change his belief into thinking it will fall up, even though Kvothe knows that would not follow logic. It is his first lesson in the sort of "mental gymnastics'' that is required to control what is believed.

Kvothe describes a second type of meditation, or state of mind, in the second book of the series that he calls Spinning Leaf. He enters by allowing his mind to go blank and allow it to float around without thinking. It is described as “a way of revealing that which is hidden in the deep waters of [the] mind” (WMF 740). It offers Kvothe an alternate method for accessing what ​ ​ is called his ‘sleeping mind’. While the novel's narrative does not reveal a lot of detail to readers about how naming magic works initially, he learns a little more after each of the four times he does naming magic throughout the two books. He describes it as such: “My mind open and empty, I saw the wind spread out before me. … I could see the name of the wind as clearly as the back of my own hand” (WMF 806). At the end of WMF he manages to call the name of the wind ​ ​ ​ ​ again to save his love interest. She is having an asthma attack and struggling to breath and so

Kvothe subtly calls the name of the wind to bring breath into her lungs. At this point it seems so controlled that he does not even mention his state of mind. The incident comes after he has practiced the Spinning Leaf meditation though, so the implication is that he has become more in control when accessing his sleeping mind.

A comparison of the two types of meditation does not yield any results about meaning in relation to the theme of the novels, but paired with the other related binaries of the two different

16 magic systems of sympathy and naming, and the way in which Kvothe performs each type, a pattern of binaries is revealed. Such dichotomous thinking may lead to questions about hierarchy within the pairs. As shown, naming is touted as the more exciting and desirable magic according to Kvothe. But the associated constituents of ‘unconscious’ and ‘Spinning Leaf’ do not present as being superior to the matching halves of ‘conscious’ and ‘Heart of Stone’. If anything, the process of controlling one’s conscious thoughts is explained more than the process of accessing thoughts, or hidden names, from one’s unconscious mind, which might lead to naming being thought of as the lesser magic. In the next chapter, it will be argued that the novels do not actually support hierarchical thinking such as one type of magic being better than the other.

Instead, it will be shown that the Heart of Stone state of mind required to successfully perform sympathy magic is actually a key component of why Kvothe is able to keep control of his mind whilst performing naming magic.

Madness as Mediator: The Whole is Greater Than the Parts

This chapter will revisit the soft magic half of the binary and hard magic half of the binary outlined in the first chapter with the aim to answer whether or not hierarchies exist between them. It will also aim to answer the question of whether or not Rothfuss’ magic systems and their associated binaries of unconscious/conscious and free-flowing/controlled thoughts work to support the theme of unity. The patterns of meaning found between the stacks of binaries, while appearing oppositional initially, are resolved by an examination of the role madness plays in the novels. Naming magic and sympathy magic should not be viewed in terms of hierarchies because one is not actually superior to the other. Instead, sympathy magic can be viewed as a part of the

17 whole that naming magic stands for. The mindset required to perform sympathy magic requires access to only one part of the mind, the conscious, while naming requires the whole mind.

Kvothe’s practice of Heart of Stone in which he rigidly controls his thoughts, is essential to his success in performing naming magic. By success, it is meant he can use Heart of Stone to regain control of his conscious mind after performing magic. The consequence of a student who cannot do this is a lapse in control over their conscious, ultimately ending in madness. Kvothe’s own development mentally and in learning magic are interrelated. Gary Wolfe notes that it is not uncommon for certain types of fantasy, such as fairy tales, to deal with issues of personality and human development. Wolfe notes that the protagonists in such Bildungsroman-inspired fantasy ​ ​ stories “often achieve control over self than over environment (though the self can take many forms in a fantastic world), and the ideational structure is psychological” (7). This holds true for

Kvothe in The Kingkiller Chronicle. His life from orphaned child to young adult is outlined, but ​ ​ also follows his psychological development as it pertains to his ability to enter different states of mind and perform different types of magic. This chapter, therefore, will delve deeper into the mind processes for each type of magic, before arguing that ‘madness’ acts to resolve conflict between the hard and soft magic binaries by showing that sympathy magic is an important part of the whole.

In the novels, a mental health facility is located on the University campus for students studying magic—called Arcanists— who "go crazy every term" (NOTW 248). Kvothe's naming ​ teacher, Elodin, who is a high ranking Master at the University, is known to have spent time there. The closest explanation of why naming students become mentally ill is explained by

Elodin. “It is because of what we study. Because of the way we train our minds to move”

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(NOTW 256). So, in order to begin to understand why doing naming magic leads to mental ​ illness, the process for naming magic will be reviewed.

Naming magic is performed by delving into the sleeping mind in order to access the

‘true’ names of things and be able to exert will on them. Elodin explains the frame of mind that is needed for naming to Kvothe after he calls the name of the wind the first time:

“The answer is that each of us has two minds: a waking mind and a sleeping mind. Our

waking mind is what thinks and talks and reasons. But the sleeping mind is more

powerful. It sees deeply to the heart of things. It is the part of us that dreams. It

remembers everything. It gives us intuition. Your waking mind does not understand the

nature of names. Your sleeping mind does. It already knows many things that your

waking mind does not” (NOTW 670-671). ​ ​ Since NOTW and WMF are fantasy novels, the implication is that something fantastical is ​ ​ ​ embedded deep within the minds of Arcanists. “Your sleeping mind is wide and wild enough to hold the names of things. This I know because sometimes this knowledge bubbles to the surface”

(WMF 119). The reason why people have hidden truths about the world buried deep in the ​ sleeping minds is not something that has been revealed in the books thus far, so for now it adds to the fantastical feel of the story. It could be argued the true names of things are repressed deep in the unconscious. According to Freud there were two types of thoughts that were not conscious, ones that were capable of becoming conscious (preconscious) and ones that are not capable (unconscious; “The Ego and the Id” 15). Since it should not be possible to retrieve the true names of things, it could be argued that they do not actually correspond to Freud’s idea of the unconscious. However, since Kvothe immediately forgets the name of the wind after he calls

19 it, the apparent impossibility can be attributed to one of the many impossible things that are indeed possible in the fantastical world Rothfuss has created. All of Elodin’s teachings are vague about how he is to access this deeper part of his mind, only saying that he must find a way to access his sleeping mind, but he never receives an explanation of how from Elodin.

As mentioned it is not until WMF when Kvothe develops a mindset he calls Spinning ​ Leaf that he becomes better at naming. C.N. Manlove states that “there is a definite tendency for fantasy to be more contemplative in aim and character, concerned at least as much with states of being as with processes of becoming” (23). The Kingkiller Chronicle questions what it means to ​ be a hero in a modern landscape. Rothfuss does not shy away from having Kvothe be imperfect.

In fact, his shortcoming, namely his temper, is a characteristic he must develop further if he is to succeed at naming magic. The mindset required of naming has already been described as a type of meditation that allows Kvothe to “let [his] mind grow clear and empty, then float and tumble lightly from one thing to the next” (WMF 524). The process is akin to Freud’s free association ​ technique for patients, which he describes in his book called The Interpretation of Dreams. He ​ likens the state of mind required for free association to a creative writer:

“It seems a bad thing and detrimental to the creative work of the mind if Reason makes

too close an examination of the ideas as they come pouring in—at the very gateway, as it

were. Looked at in isolation, a thought may seem very trivial or very fantastic; but it may

be made important by another thought that comes after it, and, in conjunction with other

thoughts that may seem equally absurd, it may turn out to form a most effective link”

(Freud 128).

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Freud describes free association as a mind that has dropped the boundary between the conscious and unconscious so that thoughts are no longer restricted. Thoughts that are buried in the unconscious, then, are able to flow over into the conscious mind (The Interpretation of Dreams ​ 128). Just like Freud was interested in examining the movements over the boundary between the conscious and unconscious self, Kvothe also needs to learn the ways he can make use of the boundaries in order to perform naming magic. Naming requires him to move hidden knowledge into his conscious mind, something he is not able to easily do. The first time Kvothe is able to practice naming magic, he calls the name of the wind during a fight with a schoolmate named

Ambrose:

“Something other tore from my throat, a word I did not know and could not remember. ​ ​ Then all I could hear was the sound of the wind. It roared into the courtyard like a sudden

storm. A nearby carriage slid sideways across the cobblestones, its horses rearing up in

panic. Sheet music was torn from someone’s hands to streak around us like strange

lightning. I was pushed forward a step. Everyone was pushed by the wind” (NOTW 659). ​ ​ The word that he utters is of course the true name of the wind, that is hidden deep in his sleeping mind. During this first experience with calling the wind, Kvothe did not yet develop his Spinning

Leaf mindset. He accesses his unconscious by mistake.

To explain how Kvothe does this, it is beneficial to reiterate Freud’s theory on repression.

Freud argued that memories or drives can be repressed, or hidden in the unconscious mind. A traumatic memory, for instance, might be hidden. However, these repressed memories and drives do not always remain hidden and can therefore emerge into the conscious mind in the form of irrational aggression (Rivkin and Ryan 391). Kvothe has experienced his share of trauma. His

21 parents and family were brutally murdered when he was at a young age, and then he spent two years living on the street as a homeless orphan. During this time, many additional traumas occurred, including one memory where his most prized possession at that time, his father’s lute, was destroyed by other street kids. Kvothe’s first experience with calling the name of the wind happened after Ambrose stole and broke his brand new lute. The sound of Ambrose shattering his lute against the ground evoked Kvothe’s very similar childhood memory. Due to the connection of prior trauma, Kvothe is able to have this previously repressed memory resurface in his conscious mind. Along with the memory, came a strong and aggressive emotional response from Kvothe who cried out before attacking Ambrose by calling the name of the wind. The argument is that the emergence of a repressed memory allowed other information from his unconscious to bubble to the surface, such as the name of the wind.

Opening the boundary between the unconscious and conscious mind causes Kvothe to go into a numb stupor. As Elodin explains to Kvothe: “When Ambrose broke your lute, it roused your sleeping mind. Like a great hibernating bear jabbed with a burning stick, it reared up and roared the name of the wind. … Afterwards your waking mind did not know what to do. It was left with an angry bear” (NOTW 671). Kvothe is unable to close the barrier between his sleeping ​ ​ and waking mind. The danger with naming magic is similar to the risks of undergoing free association psychoanalysis. Such a technique begs the question of whether emergence of repressed memories is dangerous to the individual. Traumatic memories, for example, are usually repressed in order to protect a person. Kvothe’s repression of his painful childhood memories could certainly be argued to be a protective mechanism.

22

Kvothe’s experience points to a moment where the governing body of his personality, what Freud called the ego, was no longer able to mediate between the unconscious parts. The unconscious superego, which is shaped by societal expectations, and the id, which consists of instinctual drives, are two facets of one’s personality that exist in opposition to one another

(Ryan 94). The third part of a person’s personality, the ego, is the conscious part of a person’s mind and works to mediate between the conflicting desires of the superego and the id (Ryan 94).

If the ego does not mediate what is expressed, but the relationship to external reality remains then neurosis occurs, and if the relationship to external reality is lost then full psychosis takes place (Rivkin and Ryan 391). If a student learning naming is unable to exert his Alar (his will/his ego) in an effective way to control these parts of his mind, then they take over. A student can become mentally disturbed because they cannot control which section of their mind is active because their waking mind has lost control of all the other parts. Assuming that these students were unable to close the boundaries between their sleeping and waking minds, they might present with what Freud would call psychosis. The students’ egos are unable to close the boundary between minds and as a result lose their relationship to reality. Kvothe only experiences a minor neurosis after his first time naming, but soon recovers with Elodin’s help.

Elodin implies that since Kvothe has woken his sleeping mind once, it will be easier to wake again. “It is not sleeping so soundly now. We need to rouse it slowly and bring it under your control” (NOTW 670-671). Kvothe is able to use his anger and pain as a way to access his ​ sleeping mind. He is able to access his sleeping mind in a similar manner during an aggressive encounter with a fae woman in WMF. He encounters the siren-like character named Felurian, ​ whose reputation tells of men being lured into her bed where they either die of exhaustion or

23 later go mad with desire upon return. She possesses some sort of unexplained fae magic which she uses to flood Kvothe’s mind with the sexual desires of his id. Initially Kvothe struggles to maintain control of his own mind by slipping into Heart of Stone which allows him to separate the parts of his mind and detach from his desires. While his strong Alar or ego makes this somewhat successful, Felurian’s will is stronger than Kvothe’s and he finds himself kissing her despite his efforts to pull back. His ego is unsuccessful in repressing the desires of his id. Kvothe becomes enraged that Felurian has taken away his ability to control his thoughts, which he so values since it has been how he’s coped with the many traumas he has faced. He says: “I howled inside my own mind. I have been beaten and whipped, starved and stabbed. But my mind is my own … I threw myself against the bars of an intangible cage made of moonlight and desire”

(WMF 638). Kvothe’s experience of being pinned down evokes a traumatic experience he had ​ while living on the streets in his youth.

Just like he recalled a repressed memory during the confrontation with Ambrose in

NOTW, Kvothe again experiences the emergence of a traumatic memory from his unconscious. ​ He recalls being pinned down by boys who had dragged him from his sleep and cut off his clothes. To prevent being raped, he bit fingers, screamed, and attacked them violently.

“Suddenly, years later, I was that feral boy again. I jerked my head back and snarled inside my mind. I felt something deep inside myself. I reached for it” (WMF 639). Just as Elodin predicted, ​ ​ Kvothe shows more ease in accessing his sleeping mind.

Kvothe also gains more of an understanding of his mindset. During this scene with

Felurian, he talks about gathering up all the pieces of his mind and fitting them together. This contrasts with his mindset during Heart of Stone, which he describes as separating the pieces of

24 his mind. While his mind is awake, Kvothe describes feeling fully awake, clear, and being able to see the world with new eyes. When he turns to Felurian, he understands her as a complete entity and sings out the song of her in four notes, thus naming her. The description of the awakening of Kvothe’s sleeping mind implies he is able to cross the boundaries between consciousness with ease. He can access the true names of things, but can also freely access his repressed trauma. He repeats the true name of Felurian, but instead sings them with rage. He also freely accesses the name of the wind and calls it, using it to engulf Felurian and suspend her in the air. The encounter with Felurian gives readers and Kvothe more hints at how to cross the boundary from the waking mind into the sleeping mind.

This second example of naming is an important showcase for why both types of mindsets, Spinning Leaf and Heart of Stone, are able to work together. In essence, the combination of them could be said to protect Kvothe from the minor neurosis he had experienced the first time he did naming magic. Heart of Stone is about more than Kvothe being able to exert control of his conscious thoughts. It also allows him to take thoughts and hide them into what

Freud would call his preconscious. The Heart of Stone operates within the facet of personality

Freud called the ego. This skill allows Kvothe to control his waking mind so much so that when doing sympathy magic, he is able to think about two disparate things at once. For example, a training exercise he played was to have one part of the mind hide an imaginary stone in an imaginary room and then have another part of the mind find it. Freud might argue that Kvothe had hidden the stone in the preconscious part of his mind, just below the surface of the conscious mind, but not as deeply rooted as the unconscious (Freud “The Ego and the Id” 15). Sympathy thus requires him to move certain thoughts into his subconscious. So, the Heart of Stone mindset

25 required to do sympathy magic allows Kvothe to control his waking or conscious mind, but also allows him to move thoughts into his preconscious mind.

Upon investigation of ‘madness’ in Rothfuss’ novels, the link to naming students becomes apparent. Without a strong control of one’s thoughts, as practiced by Kvothe through his Heart of Stone mindset, naming students are at risk of becoming ill. This occurs when the boundary that divides the conscious and the unconscious mind is weak. If thoughts that are meant to stay in the unconscious are surfaced to the conscious level of one’s mind, that speaks to a failure of the ego to manage the different parts of the mind. Heart of Stone, which was proposed to be in opposition to Spinning Leaf, is shown in this chapter to be essential to prevent madness in naming students. Kvothe is able to avoid future moments of neurosis because of the level of control he has over his mind. Even Kvothe’s teacher, Elodin, does not seem to have this skill. Instead, he tinkers on the edge of madness. ‘Madness’ can therefore be seen as a mediator between the two opposing binaries of soft and hard magic outlined in the first chapter. The naming stack of constituent units is not actually in opposition to the sympathy stack of constituents. Rather, the sympathy stack can be seen as one rather important part of the naming stack, which represents the whole. As mentioned in the introduction, Matthews writes about one of the main themes in the Le Guin Earthsea novels, which is remarkably similar to the one being ​ argued in Rothfuss’ novel. The theme essentially is that "the whole is greater than the parts", and when readers reach the end of the series the protagonist has also come full circle with his journey

(Matthews 151). Matthews writes: "It is the Eastern circle composed of yin and yang, light and dark, male and female, that makes the whole" (151). Naming is about an absolute understanding of the thing named. It is therefore itself representative of the novel’s theme of unity. In an online

26 article for Clarkesworld Magazine Mahon also references A Wizard of Earthsea, whose magic ​ ​ ​ ​ system is based on learning the True Names of things, its rules, and its system-would fall into the hard magic category (Mahon). Aside from the hard magic system found in the novels, there is

"an underlying pattern of meaning ... which is the need for balance and harmony in every aspect of life" which is very different from thinking that happens in the primary world (Mahon). The ​ Kingkiller Chronicles has linked the greater meaning of the magic systems to the theme of unity. ​

Conclusion

Patrick Rothfuss’ magic systems from The Kingkiller Chronicle shows how the utilisation of a ​ ​ hard and soft magic system within a singular fantasy story may function to support the theme of unity in the novels. By setting up a mode of binary thinking between and within the hard and soft systems, hierarchical thinking is challenged by ultimately showing that naming magic is supported by the Heart of Stone mindset that Kvothe uses when doing sympathy magic. By the end of the WMF, therefore, it is understood that both magic systems, along with the different ​ ​ parts of the mind they require control or access to, are essential for being a successful namer, thus reinforcing motifs of wholeness or unity.

Chapter 1 sets up binary thinking patterns when examining the two main magic systems.

It followed the fantasy-fuelled approach outlined by Attebery to first identify pairing and then examine how they are bundled. The soft magic system of naming is therefore paired with the hard magic system of sympathy. Evidence is given in terms of how the pairing promotes a hierarchical-like thinning to determine which system is superior. Using support from the novels the superiority towards naming magic to sympathy is demonstrated through the expressions of

27 the protagonist Kvothe’s attitudes. Along with the essence of each magic system, the processes that need to occur in the mind of Kvothe is also compared. Naming magic requires accessing the

‘unconscious’ in order to access the true names of things, like the wind. Very little information is given to readers about how this works, with small hints given over the course of the novels through Kvothe’s own experiences with calling the wind. By the second book, WMF, Kvothe has ​ ​ developed a mindset that allows him to sit quietly and open his mind, so to speak, allowing his thoughts to roam freely about his mind. Information about how to do sympathy magic is much more generous, with pages of lessons, examples, and even rules being given to Kvothe, and thus the reader. Sympathy requires Kvothe to form sympathetic links between objects by muttering binding. The bindings require complex calculations about the energy needed to perform the magic, since as goes the rule, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. In this way, Kvothe is able to control whole objects by utilizing small objects that represent the whole. The mindset he calls Heart of Stone consists of a form of self mind control whereby he can rigidly move thoughts or beliefs around in his head. The argument that the lack of information given about naming magic initially is insufficient to pass judgement between the pairing of the conscious/unconscious pairing, which again, activates a practice of binary thinking. Both the

Spinning Lead mindset and Heart of Stone mindsets are explained in equal detail, which begin to move one’s binary thinking away from hierarchical thinking.

In chapter 2, ‘madness’ is used to resolve any remaining hierarchical thinking between the two soft versus hard stacks of binary pairs. In order to do so, a deeper understanding of the mental processes required to perform the different types of magic systems is aided by Freudian psychoanalytic concepts. The third step outlined by Attebery to examine how such bundles can

28 change throughout a story is more a part of the second chapter. First, it is stated how naming students often end up in the University mental asylum. Then, the dangers of naming and accessing the unconscious mind are given using Kvothe's first experience with calling the wind as an example. An argument is made that he initially finds access to the unconscious parts of his mind after a classmate triggers a painful memory by breaking his lute. The sound of his precious instrument shattering tugs at another memory buried deep in his mind: that of his father’s lute being similarly destroyed by a bully. In this moment, the name of the wind surfaces and is spoken by Kvothe. He knocks his tormentor onto the ground by controlling the motion of the wind. After this first experience, he suffers a minor psychosis when he is unable to close the boundary between his unconscious and conscious mind. The example points to the importance of the ego in controlling the unconscious mind. The argument is then one for unity, since all three parts of the mind are necessary for mental health: the id, superego, and the ego.

In his encounter with the fae goddess Felurian more support is given for the theme of unity. Kvothe’s anger once again allows him access to his unconscious mind. He first names her, as a person, then calls the name of the wind, and holds her up in the air. During these scenes, there are moments where he struggles to maintain control over his mind while also having repressed memories break through to his conscious mind. His ego struggles to maintain control amid the impulsive id-fuelled anger. The scene provides further hints of the relationship between the two magic systems because of the mindsets involved. It is shown also, in chapter 2, that

Kvothe is indeed able to do naming magic, without becoming angry, by instead accessing his unconscious through the Spinning Leaf mindset.

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Through Kvothe’s personal experiences with naming, the knowledge of naming students going mad, and the example of Elodin’s own madness, there is a link established between madness and naming magic. The danger is akin to the dangers associated with any form of free association, which comes with the risk of repressed thoughts coming to the surface. The power of the ego to maintain a balance between the id and superego is challenged since those parts of the mind and the beliefs, impulses, and drives that go with them are able to move freely between the boundaries of the mind. The argument is therefore made that an understanding of ‘madness’ mediates and resolves any sense of opposition between the two magic systems since it becomes obvious, after understanding madness, that all parts of the mind are equally important in function. Naming, even though appearing more wondrous, does not negate the importance of

Sympathy. Without Kvothe’s skill in controlling his thoughts during Heart of Stone, he might very well end up mentally ill like so many other practitioners of naming magic. Thus, it is shown that the two magic systems ultimately promote a theme of unity and wholeness.

The arguments made were supported by applying a Lévi-Strauss lens to the study of binary opposites in fantasy literature. This allowed for a more logical discussion of the two magic systems to be discussed, along with their relative constituents. A psychoanalysis lens was a useful match to investigating the magic systems in Rothfuss’ books, as it allowed for a deeper understanding of the various mental processes needed for magic as Rothfuss presents to readers.

Future studies are needed that look at fantasy stories that contain multiple magic systems. It would be interesting to see how fantasy novels by other authors have binary magic systems that either work in opposition or in unity.

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