In Ursula Le Guin's novel The Tombs of Atuan, she focuses on a young woman named Tenar. Much of Tombs highlight's Tenar's lack of choice, such as being chosen to even become known as Arha, “The Eaten One” (Tombs 177). As Arha, she is inducted into the dark and cruel religion of The Nameless Ones. With the discovery of Ged, from A Wizard of Earthsea, in the Undertomb, Arha's life will never be the same, as she is offered knowledge and choices she had never even known were available to her. Trust and choices are two main aspects of The Tombs of Atuan, and it is through Ged that Arha is finally privy to them.
The darkness of the labyrinth in Tombs symbolizes ignorance and fear, and when Ged arrives with his light he brings with him awareness and change. Tenar's role has often been downplayed into a person from Ged's journey, merely helping him to escape the labyrinth and Ged rescues her. This is a misconception; Tenar has an active role in Tombs, as she and Ged depend on one another to escape from the Place of the Tombs.
Ged was a crucial guide in Tenar's journey to freedom. Recognizing Tenar as a person who was “never made for cruelty or darkness” (Tombs 299), Ged found the good in Tenar, even though she is blind to it herself. He offered Tenar the freedom to grow into her own person. Tenar is shown the truth and reality of the world through Ged. He knows that too much information from outside the Tombs can possibly overwhelm Tenar, and lead her to break down, so instead he is kind and patient, offering her the freedom of choice instead of telling her to take it. Ged knows that people who are not ready for, or do not want, knowledge, cannot have it forced upon them.
While Ged is holding off the earthquake with his magic until h...
... middle of paper ...
...he Temple that she could find knowledge and balance. Because of that, it is absolutely fitting that Tenar's escape from Atuan comes not through magic, but from trust in Ged.
Works Cited
Clark, Suzanne. Cold Warriors: Manliness on Trial in the Rhetoric of the West. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1988. Google Book.
Jobling, J'annine. Fantastic Spiritualities, Monsters, Heroes and the Contemporary Religious Imagination. New York: Continuum, 2010. Google Book.
Le Guin, Ursula. The Tombs of Atuan. The Earthsea Quartet. New York: Penguin Books, 2012. 169-300.Print.
Le Guin, Ursula. A Wizard of Earthsea. The Earthsea Quartet. New York: Penguin Books, 2012. 12-168. Print.
Le Guin, Ursula. Tehanu. The Earthsea Quartet. New York: Penguin Books, 2012. 479-691. Print.
Le Guin, Ursula“A Left-Handed Commencement Address.” UrsulaLeGuin.com. Accessed: November 29, 2013. Web.
Tavard, George H. "The Christology of the Mystics." Theological Studies 42, no. 4 (December 1, 1981): 561-579. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed December 3, 2013).
Lewis, C.S. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. PDF File.
Riddy, Felicity. "Jewels in Pearl" in A Companion to the Gawain-Poet, pp. 142-55. Derek Brewer and Jonathan Gibson, editors. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1997.
Fuller, J.F.C. "Propaganda and War. The New Technique of Mendacity as a Psychological Weapon." Ordnance, Dec
Nugent, Walter. Into the West: the Story of Its People. New York: Alfred A Knopk, 1999.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader By: C.S. Lewis There are three main characters in the story, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace. Lucy and Edmund are brothers and sisters and Eustace is their cousin. Edmund is a young teenager, very smart and very kind.
Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy. Trans. John W. Harvey. New York: Oxford UP, 1958. Print.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Campbell, Joseph. A. A. The Mask of God: A Creative Mythology. New York: Viking Press, Inc., 1968.
1. The Mesopotamians viewed the afterlife as a place of darkness where there was no return when entered. It was ruled by the Queen of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, who was accompanied by her recorder, Belit-Sheri. From reading the poem, it was thought of as a baron place where the dead wandered and little else existed. Those who were kings and high priests were now servants for the gods. It’s definitely portrayed as a place one wouldn’t look forward to, and that’s the dilemma that Gilgamesh contemplates.
Haslam, Garth. (2003-2004). Spiritualism. Anomalies Article, 1-3. Retrieved November 1, 2004, from the Anomalies Database.
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Boyer, Paul and Stuckey, Sterling. “The Cold War” The American Nation Harcourt Bruce and Company: Austin, 1995
Lawall, Sarah N. “The Odyssey.” The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 206-495. Print.
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
The Underworld is a place where most souls of the dead live. “The Odyssey”and “Enkidu 's Dream” are two stories that describe how the underworld would be like when one encounters it. The Odyssey describes the underworld as a place filled with unhappiness and misery and that punishment will be served in the underworld to the wrongdoers . While, Enkidu 's Dream describes the underworld ad a very dark, unpleasant and scary place to be in, where no one looks forward to pass away due to it. Accepting fate and having fate plays a major role in both stories. Odysseus in The Odyssey accepted his fate, while Enkidu in “Enkidu 's Dream”had fate, but did not accept it. The Odyssey and “Enkidu 's Dream” have a similar concept on what a person can experience in an afterlife taken place in the underworld as a dreadful and awful setting