78 pages • 2-hour read
Words of Radiance
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Themes
The Burden of Responsibility
In Words of Radiance, characters from all levels of society feel a strong sense of responsibility and duty to the people in their lives and the world at large. For each character, the people that make up their personal communities are often their central focus in decision-making. For Kaladin, Bridge Four is his family, and their safety and prosperity are often at the center of his mind. In The Way of Kings, Kaladin works tirelessly to free them from the constant danger of bridge runs, and even though he succeeds, the tension over their wellbeing persists. His spren, Syl, challenges him to accept that he succeeded in his initial goal, and to relinquish the responsibility he feels: “‘In Bridge Four, you dedicated everything you had to saving them,’ Syl said. ‘Well, they’re saved. You can’t go about protecting every one’” (466). Syl reminds Kaladin that he led them to a better life. Her encouragement is a reminder that they are independent men who can make their own choices, and the weight of responsibility he places on himself is not healthy. Kaladin positions himself as the leader of these men, and as such, he holds himself responsible for any harm that comes to them.
While Kaladin’s concerns are focused on the people around him, other characters assume responsibility for the world. Though not apparent to all, there are major supernatural threats to society arising. For powerful characters with privilege and access to such information, their sense of responsibility mires them in moral uncertainty. Despite their intentions, they commit bad actions in the name of a greater good. Amaram is one such man, as he rationalizes his crimes against Kaladin through a grander sense of heroism: “Amaram looked Kaladin in the eyes. ‘I am sorry for what I did to you and yours. Sometimes, good men must die so that greater goals may be accomplished’” (932). Amaram understands that he did something reprehensible, but he accepts these actions as a burden connected to the responsibility he feels for the world. In Amaram’s mind, the only objective that matters is saving the world, and bad actions can be justified if they lead to a better outcome. At this moment, Kaladin comes to realize that Amaram believes what he says: “He’s telling the truth, he thought. He…honestly believes that he did the right thing” (932). For Amaram and others, the burden of responsibility changes their worldview and allows them to confidently pursue a course of action that others condemn.
The Construction of Personal Reality
Throughout Words of Radiance, characters manipulate reality both through their magical abilities and more mundane acts. While Shallan uses Lightweaving to disguise herself, she also comes to excel at presenting herself as someone she is not to achieve her goals, a lesson learned from Jasnah. Jasnah believes that image is power and that leadership begins with the cultivation of an authoritative image: “You say I have authority as the sister of the king. I do. And yet, the men of this ship would treat me exactly the same way if I were a beggar who had convinced them I was the sister to a king” (47). Jasnah believes she could manipulate others into treating her as powerful just by acting powerful. If she can change how others see her or the world, she can bend them to her will and achieve her goals. Shallan uses this advice to later influence others into believing she is more important than she is, manipulating the reality they operate in to elicit specific behaviors. She does this not only with herself but with deserters as well, convincing them they can be honorable soldiers. When they believe this, they change their behavior to match this image, changing how they act to match how they perceive themselves.
Shallan experiences success in changing the deserters but knows that she can change herself in the same way. After a traumatic childhood, Shallan must adapt and become another person to overcome tragedy and survive. As Pattern pushes her to remember who she is, she struggles to keep her past buried, and she begins to see different versions of herself: “The image was of herself. Shallan, as she should be. Curled in a huddle on the bed, unable to weep for she had long since run out of tears […] The person she had become instead was a lie, one she had fabricated in the name of survival” (737). Shallan understands that she buried key memories and aspects of herself to better survive her past, preventing her from becoming a weak and isolated person. She changes the reality she operates in to survive, becoming the Shallan who can travel vast distances to save her family and the world. She must craft this identity by changing the reality of her past, editing what influences her. Though it is difficult for her to maintain, her course of action in crafting a new Shallan serves her well, though it prevents her from reaching her full potential with Pattern. To reach this final plane of achievement, she must undo the self-deceptions she has created and face her past as it really is.
Inequality Through Social Hierarchy
The society of the Alethi in Words of Radiance is defined by prejudice, social conventions, and hierarchy. Not only do the Alethi divide themselves by the color of their eyes, with lighteyes being the favored class, but they even stratify the lighteyed class with divisions of their own. There are 10 “dahns,” each signifying a different class of society with different privileges and titles. The divisions continue, as below the many levels of Alethi society are the parshmen, who are enslaved. Alethkar depends so much on the parshmen that they are integral to society: “Parshmen are such perfect slaves. Docile, obedient. Our society has become far too reliant upon them. The parshmen wouldn’t need to turn violent to throw us into chaos—though I’m certain that is what’s coming—they could simply walk away. It would cause an economic crisis” (113). The parshmen are Parshendi in “slaveform,” the most dull and obedient of the many forms, and are treated as objects by the Alethi. The Alethi see them as servants, and yet their importance to Alethi society cannot be overstated. Without the parshmen, society falls apart, not only changing everyday life but collapsing the economy by draining the workforce. Therefore, Alethkar’s success and downfall both rely on the hierarchy within their society.
Kaladin rages against this inequality more than most. He sees it as his role to protect everyone who needs protection, and he cannot understand how his society sees some lives as less valuable than others. As a darkeyed soldier, Kaladin experiences the prejudice of lighteyes, as Amaram enslaves him and dooms him to death in order to claim a Shardblade. There are legends that tell of a Shardblade’s ability to lighten its holder’s eyes, though Kaladin hopes they are false. When he and Syl reach a new stage of their bond, and she becomes a Shardblade for Kaladin, his eyes turn light blue. When his friends tell him this, he is disappointed: “He’d hoped his eyes wouldn’t change. The truth, that they had, made him uncomfortable. It said worrisome things. He didn’t want to believe that lighteyes had any ground upon which to build the oppression” (1047). Kaladin is constantly conscious of how lighteyes try to preserve their hierarchy and consolidate power, usually at the expense of those below them. Knowing that his eyes lighten, he sees an association between the Knights Radiant and the position of lighteyes at the top of society. He begins to worry that this association between honor and lighteyes may further entrench the abusive balance of power.
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