77 pages • 2 hours read
Patrick RothfussThe Name of the Wind
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Power of Names
Throughout history, humans have given great power to names. Many myths exist in which one being has control of another through knowing its true name, from Egyptian and Biblical contexts and folklore traditions around the world to more modern stories. For example, consider the fairy tale “Rumpelstiltskin,” in which the queen is only able to banish her tormenter when she has learned his real name. The power of names comes from the idea that knowing something’s true name reflects a true understanding of that object or idea. This understanding subsequently allows control over the named. The idea shows up in Arthur C. Clarke’s book The Nine Billion Names of God and fantasy novels by many authors from Lloyd Alexander and J.R.R. Tolkien to Christopher Paolini. The theme also shows up in role-playing games in the Dungeons & Dragons universe and even superhero comic books.
In this world created by Patrick Rothfuss, names can allow people to control well-known forces such as stone and wind, which have a tangible and significant power. At the University, there is a master of naming, Elodin. During a fire in Kilvin’s workshop, Kilvin remarks that if Elodin had been there to use the name of fire, “matters would have been much simpler” (458). Denna, the flighty young maiden, freely changes her name, saying, “If I give you my name you would have a terrible power over me” (393). The main character, Kvothe, desires more than anything to be able to control those forces using their names. In the beginning of the narrative, he explains, “I wanted to learn the name of the wind. I wanted fire and lightning” (52).
Kvothe also shows that he has a gift for naming. For example, he takes care in choosing a name for himself, which he says is for “most of the usual reasons, and for a few unusual ones as well” (10). Also, in naming the horse Keth-Selhan, he not only thinks he picks the perfect name, but he does. Kvothe has the translation wrong: “Ket-Selem” means “first night,” but “Keth-Selhan” actually means “one sock.” Kvothe later discovers that the alleged full-blooded black horse has one white sock. Kvothe also gives Auri her name, and although the allusion to gold suits the eccentric girl, readers have yet to see if that holds true. At the end of this book, young Kvothe’s use of the name of the wind—though he cannot remember doing so—raises him to Re’lar in a triumphal way. Although this occurs with all students at the University, Kvothe is something of a prodigy because he is so young.
The Power of Music and Storytelling
Rothfuss uses storytelling and music as ways of building a rich and complex world, and he gives his main character Kvothe a deep musical background as a member of a performing troupe for his entire childhood: “Before I was anything else, I was Edema Ruh” (55). The Name of the Wind integrally intertwines storytelling and music into the geography of Temerant, so it is impossible to imagine this fantasy landscape without it. As Kvothe’s father says, “Words have to find a man’s mind before they can touch his heart, and some men’s minds are woeful small targets. Music touches their hearts directly no matter how small or stubborn the mind of the man who listens” (102). More importantly for Kvothe, storytelling and music both destroy his world and help him piece it back together again. It is his father Arliden’s search for stories of the Chandrian that results in the massacre that orphans Kvothe. Yet the stories of Skarpi reawaken Kvothe’s sleeping, grief-filled brain. Lute music helps heal him after his parents’ death, and playing the instrument gives him an occupation that allows him to earn money.
Music helps Kvothe feel, regularly moves him to tears and smiles, and connects him with both Denna and Auri. He says, when neglecting to tell all about his private time with Denna, “I knew the shape of stories” (524). Stories help him make sense of the world as well. The Chandrian, as far as most people are concerned, only exist in children’s stories. Kvothe says, “That’s why stories appeal to us. They give us the clarity and simplicity our real lives lack” (304). On a grander scale, the book itself is a story-within-a-story. Bast, Chronicler, and Kote are part of the framing story, while Kvothe is the storyteller of his own life.
The Pursuit of Knowledge
Throughout the course of Kvothe’s young life, the idea of learning things, gaining of knowledge, and opening of the mind is a major goal: “I was a curious child: quick with questions and eager to learn” (55). During Kvothe’s childhood, Abenthy is the one who teaches him, although Kvothe’s parents and the other members of the Edema Ruh also play a role. His goal during these years is to get to the University, itself a symbol of learning, and he is happy during these years. Even after his parents’ death, Kvothe’s most prized possession is a symbol of his learning, the book that Ben gave him. Once he has worked through the grief (with the help of Ben’s training to open his mind), Kvothe continues the search for knowledge and looks again toward the University because he wants to understand more about the murderous and elusive Chandrian: “I had questions. There was only one place for me to go, of course.” (194).
When Kvothe receives banishment from the Archives, the pursuit of knowledge becomes a more literal search. Kvothe never ceases looking for a secret way to enter the giant library—yet another symbol of this pursuit, as the library is a repository for knowledge. Knowledge drives him throughout his life and is a goal that will help him get what he most wants: money to live on, information that will help him exact revenge on the Chandrian, and the ability to call upon the name of the wind. Kvothe’s rapidity at learning is, in part, a result of the fact that he is so determined to know everything and anything that will help him in his pursuits.
However, the search for knowledge is also dangerous. For example, when Kvothe is young and does an experiment with his own lungs, he almost kills himself, Afterward, Ben says of his 12-year-old protégé, “I was twenty before I knew as much as you know now” (104). His burning need to get into the Archives gets him banned from it indefinitely, and his search for information about the Chandrian in Trebon sets him back at the University. In the present day, Kote’s lack of knowledge of the mercenary’s true nature, as well as of the evil events transpiring, may still be the undoing of his world.
