The Wizard of Earthsea Question Bank Chapter: 2 THE SHADOW 1. Give a character sketch of Ogion. Where did he live? 2. What do you know about Hardic tongue? 3. Describe Ged’s encounter with the girl, whom he thought to be the daughter of the old Lord of Re Albi. 4. Why did Ged look for the spell books in Ogion’s shelf? What did he find? 5. Why did Ged decide to go to Roke? 6. What is foreshadowing?
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Explanation:
Summary
Ged quickly becomes frustrated with Ogion's slow pace in teaching. Ogion tells him that spells must wait because Ged has "drawn too much water from that well." Instead, Ogion suggests Ged cultivate patience and learn the true name of things. Ged spends the winter at Ogion's house in Re Albi, learning the Six Hundred Runes of Hardic, the characters of an ancient language.
In the spring Ged often picks herbs in the meadow. One day he meets a girl, whom he knows as the daughter of the lord of Re Albi and who is revealed in Chapter 7 to be Serret. Serret asks to see Ged's magic, and he calls a falcon to obey him. Serret goads Ged into performing magic he is not ready for. Searching Ogion's books, Ged comes across a spell to summon the dead. Ogion enters in a bright light and dispels "a shapeless clot of shadow darker than the darkness." Ogion warns Ged that such spells are dangerous. Ogion offers Ged the choice to stay in Re Albi or to train in Roke. Ged sets off for Roke, sailing in a ship and enjoying the company of other young men.
Analysis
As a young man, Ged is impulsive, reckless, and impatient. He thinks that he should "enter at once into the mystery and mastery of power." But first, Ogion has an important basic lesson to teach Ged: "to hear, one must be silent." Naturally, Ged is not ready to learn Ogion's lesson yet, so when Ogion offers to send him to Roke to study at wizard school, Ged jumps at the chance and leaves his mentor.
The events of this chapter foreshadow Ged's chief conflict: reconciling the light and dark within him to defeat his shadow self. Serret is easily able to stoke Ged's pride for her own dark aims, and it is her prompting that causes him to seek the dangerous summoning spell he uses in Chapter 4. Ged craves glory and does not yet understand the high price of using magic. When the hint of a dark shadow appears in Ogion's house, Ogion is able to dispel it with his bright light. He warns Ged, "never work that spell but in peril of your power and your life." Indeed, when Ged does speak the spell in Chapter 4, he puts his power and his life in danger by loosing his shadow self. Ogion explains that because every magic word "is done either for good, or for evil," one must be wise in how one uses power. Ged does not listen to Ogion but expresses his impatience. Ogion understands that Ged must learn patience the hard way and lets him go.