A Dawn of Onyx

At the start of the novel, Arwen is defined almost entirely by what she does for others—healing townspeople, caring for her ailing mother, supporting her younger sister, and dropping everything to save Ryder when he arrives in great need. Her identity is rooted in service and duty to her loved ones rather than in any sense of personal agency. When faced with the possibility of being sent to the front lines, her first concerns are not for herself but for her sister, who is “too fearless” and believes herself invincible. Arwen also worries about her ill mother, who would be left alone, “too old and frail to fight” (9). Even when Arwen is captured, her instinct is to rely upon diplomacy rather than violence, and she therefore offers to heal an Onyx soldier in order to convince his comrades to spare the lives of her family. Furthermore, she willingly remains as a long-term captive in Shadowhold in order to ensure that her family remains safe; with this self-effacing decision, she once again values herself less than her loved ones and sacrifices her own freedom and well-being for their sake.

As the novel progresses, however, Arwen is repeatedly placed in situations that challenge her default mode of self-sacrifice.