The Eye of the World by: Robert Jordan - Breaking Normalcy (Chapter 5 to 9)

 

““Don’t worry,” Rand said…“I’ll get you to Nynaeve just as quick as I can.”  As he went on, as much to reassure himself as for Tam’s benefit, he peeled off his bloodstained shirt, hardly ever noticing the cold in his haste to be rid of it, and hurriedly pulled on the clean one…“We’ll be safe in the village in no time, and the Wisdom will set everything right.  You’ll see. Everything’s going to be all right.”  That thought was like a beacon as he pulled on his coat and bent to tend Tam’s wound.  They would be safe once they reached the village, and Nynaeve would cure Tam.  He just had to get him there.” – The Eye of the World, p. 79.

 

Last time we discussed normalcy in terms of The Wheel of Time as setup and cut the analysis short so this second installment could discuss how normalcy is ripped away.  Starting with the fifth chapter, the normalcy is ripped away when the mythic creatures right out of the stories which mothers told their children to scare them.  Much of the criticism against The Eye of the World is that Jordan stands in the shadow of J.R.R. Tolkien, something he admitted much of the book was an homage to, however, Jordan starts from where Tolkien ends.  The Lord of the Rings includes a point where the Shire, the home of our four main hobbits, is razed to the ground and taken over by Saruman, the human villain.  That is essentially what Jordan does for Emond’s Field here, though the reader only sees it from the secluded perspective of Rand on his farm.  That fifth chapter drips with tension as there are knocks on the door and Tam slipping upstairs to grab a sword, before being attacked by Trollocs.  This is the first time in the book the reader gets a real sense of Rand’s age, he is a child, he only goes into a fight or flight response.  He confronts Narg, a Trolloc who can speak, something which is seen as out of the ordinary and later commented on as something showing the Dark One rising and the reason he, Mat, and Perrin must leave their quiet lifestyle and go on the run.  The threat is coming from outside and encroaching.

 

The idea of an outside threat is also not entirely accurate.  This is the last time for a while where the reader will get interaction with Rand’s father, Tam, and the last things he does is put doubt into Rand’s mind.  Through his delirium he is speaking of a baby in the snow, his wife, and much of the ramblings come to the point that he may not have been from the Two Rivers and left.  He knows something about the Trollocs.  ““I’d not have thought to find a heron-mark sword in a place like this,” Lan said…Strange thing for a sheepherder to buy” – The Eye of the World, p. 106.  Tam introduces concepts in his delirium of the Trolloc Wars and clearly goes outside and his passes that outsider heritage onto Rand, giving him the sword.  He is an outsider hiding among those on Emond’s Field.  It’s also important as Jordan includes, subtly, this idea that the Two Rivers and Emond’s Field has a more complex and deep history as Manetheren.  Chapter 9, “Tellings of the Wheel”, has Moiraine giving the Two Rivers folk a history lesson after deducing that Rand, Mat, and Perrin are what the Trollocs are after.  Manetheren is a land which defended itself “Not a step of ground was given up until it was soaked in blood, but at last the army of Manetheren was driven back, back to here, to this place you now called Emond’s Field.  And here the Trolloc hordes surrounded them.” – The Eye of the World, p. 133-134.  The inciting incident, on the surface, is an attack, but metaphorically it is the reveal that this quiet little town is actually part of the great history and it’s own nation.  This is something which will become more important as the book and series progresses.  Things are changed. 

 

This section of The Eye of the World is also the first point where we get to deal with perspective and assumptions.  As stated previously, the Two River’s folk are generally superstitious, posting the Dragon’s Fang on the door of the Winespring Inn, a mark associated with Lews Therin and the breaking of the world.  This is all because of Moiraine being an Aes Sedai, a group of women believed to be incredibly tricky and possibly evil.  Rand essentially makes a deal with the devil in allowing Moiraine to heal Tam, but he has to leave with her and Lan.  It’s only Moiraine’s speech in the end which gets them to back down.  The reader reads Moiraine as untrustworthy, but only through Rand’s perspective.  Rand, who has dreams specifically telling him not to trust Moiraine from an evil figure and seeing his home destroyed.  There are also little hints that Moiraine actually does have Rand, Mat, and Perrin’s best interests at heart and is clearly caring.  She is just as important for the healing of the Two Rivers as Nynaeve.  Nynaeve’s cold first impression is also different here as she and Egwene both become emotional at the destruction and Rand’s state, starting one little relationship between the characters which we will discuss in future.  Finally, Lan’s first impression is that of a protector and more standoffish than Moiraine.  Moiraine shows herself as more compassionate while Lan is questioning and almost looking down on the Two Rivers folk which is important.  Normalcy has broken and now it’s time to take leave of home and set out on the quest.