Oathbringer

“He’d embraced his power; he’d taken the path of a Radiant. Why hadn’t it been enough?”

Since the death of his brother, Kaladin has taken on the responsibility for the Deaths around him. He pushes himself to protect others and blames himself when he cannot. His thoughts here represent a perception that many Alethi held: that becoming Radiant would provide solutions to their problems.

“Hadn’t he sworn to protect even those he didn’t like? Wasn’t the whole point of what he had learned to keep him from doing things like this? He glanced at Syl, and she nodded to him. Do better.”

Kaladin, like Radiant companions, must learn how to be a better man. He punches the lighteyed lord who sent his brother to war—and death—but herecognizes immediately that this is a step back to the version of himself that he does not want to be.

“I will express only direct, even brutal, truth. You must know what I have done, and what those actions cost me.”

An epigraph from the book Dalinar eventually writes, this quote illustrates the extreme honesty to which Dalinar clung in his efforts to be a better man. He promises not to hide a single truth, even if it means creating strife with others.

“She could see only before herself, and she wanted to run, go somewhere. Be away. No. No, just be someone else.”

This moment precipitates the creation of Shallan’s second persona, Radiant. It Illustrates the depth of her trauma as she has a panic attack and only barely reins it in with her coping mechanism: disguises.

“His blue eyes were alight, and Shallan loved seeing that glow from him. Almost like Stormlight. She knew that passion—she’d felt what it was to be alive with interest, to be consumed by something so fully that you lost yourself in the wonder of it. For her it was art, but watching him, she thought that the two of them weren’t so different.”

This is one of the moments that illustrates the deepening of the relationship Between Shallan and Adolin. She sees in him something different and yet related to her—a passion and sense of artistry.

“Some mores grew lax the farther you descended the social ladder.”

Shallan’s observation here, while wearing the guise of Veil, illustrates a truth About many societies. For those who live lower on the social ladder, sometimes social mores are not possible to follow, for a variety of reasons. Shallan finds this gives her a small feeling of freedom.

“[T]he only way I can fight the Voidbringers is to pretend there’s a difference between the ones I have to protect and the ones I have to kill.”

As Kaladin begins to see the parshmen as like humans, he struggles with his Sense of loyalty. He believes no one should be enslaved, and he knows humans misused the parshmen, but he also maintains loyalty to humans and a desire to protect them. He knows, however, that killing parshmen on the battlefield will be harder if he sees them as human, revealing one emotional danger of war.

“[B]ut our laws will claim innocent men—for all judges are flawed, as is our knowledge. Eventually, you will execute someone who does not deserve it. This is the burden society must carry in exchange for order.”

Taravangian’s words reveal an element of his character and morality. Once his role in betraying Dalinar is known, and his work with Odium suspected, the Kholins see him as a threat and even the enemy. Taravangian, however, only conducts himself the way he does out of a deep longing to save however manypeople he can, even if it means the destruction of others.

“But sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a person who is in the process of changing.”

This line occurs twice in the novel; this is its first appearance. Dalinar uses it to Defend himself at first, and then, when he recalls his old memories and doubts himself as a good man, his dreams remind him of his own words to provide comfort.

“Except one nearly broke my bond, while the other didn’t. The bond isn’t about what’s right and wrong, is it, Syl. It’s about what you see as right and wrong.”

Kaladin begins to understand his bond more deeply. Spren, especially honorspren Like Syl, value honor and the keeping of oaths, but Kaladin realizes that they are not infallible beings—their sense of honor is not all-encompassing but rather subjective.

“But you should try to understand what they want out of life, and respect that, rather than projecting onto them what you think they should want out of life […] I won’t forbid you from expressing your morals—I’d encourage it. Just don’t present your beliefs as our code. Present them as yours, and make a good argument. Maybe the men will listen.”

Oathbringer is a novel full of characters coming up against or completely breaking Cultural norms. Many of those norms center around religion or gender, but this scene between Kaladin and Sigzil provides visibility for sexual norms, as well. Kaladin offers Sigzil encouragement in sharing his beliefs, but he also emphasizes the need to be respectful and open-minded.

“Foolish, stupid oaths, spoken when he’d hoped that being Radiant would remove the cravings.”

Like Kaladin, Teft believed he would gain relief from his problems by becoming a Radiant. When he does not stop struggling with addiction, he retreats again, refusing to speak the oaths for his next Ideal, despite the pleas of his spren.

“So many people with so many lives, each a separate little mystery. Infinite detail, like Pattern. Look close at his fractal lines, and you’d realize each little ridge had an entire architecture of its own. Look close at a given person, and you’d see their uniqueness—see that they didn’t quite match whatever broad category you’d first put them in.”

Despite being in disguise as Veil at this moment, Shallan’s thoughts veer back Toward the “Shallan” pattern of thinking, revealing how porous her personas are. Shallan’s artist brain is often the one to think philosophically and to express awe at the world.

“He felt embarrassed for them—they were simply too concerned about what a person should and shouldn’t be doing. It was because they didn’t have forms to change into. If Renarin wanted to be a scholar, let him be a scholar.”

Rlain’s thoughts provide insight into cultural differences and norms. He was raised as a listener with access to multiple physical forms for specific tasks, therefore, human concerns over gender norms seem ridiculous.

“They all thought they were alone, did they? Felt that they were outsiders? Did they know what it was like to be of an entirely different species? A species they were currently at war with—a species whose people had all been either murdered or corrupted?”

The speaker here is Rlain, the listener who was accepted as part of Bridge Four. The chapter from his perspective reveals just how isolated he feels, ensuring the novel does not forget those on the fringes.

“Disappointment. What had he just accomplished? He said he didn’t want to conquer this people, but what story did his actions tell? I’m stronger than you, they said. I don’t need to fight you. I could crush you without exerting myself.”

Dalinar keeps trying to be a different man than he is, but he is desperate to unite Roshar. He chooses, at times, to utilize his strengths as the brutal Blackthorn, buthe regrets those decisions in the face of the wiser, just, and compassionate man he wants to be.

“Kaladin found himself smiling. The way Adolin said things like that made it clear he was joking—and not only at your expense. Adolin made you want to laugh with him.”

This brief moment provides important characterization for Adolin through Kaladin’s Eyes. Adolin is an exception among lighteyes for his kindness to everyone and his habit of caring for others, no matter their rank.

“‘It’s terrible,’ Wit said, stepping up beside her, ‘to have been hurt. It’s unfair, and awful, and horrid. But Shallan…it’s okay to live on […] Your other minds take over,’ he whispered, ‘because they look so much more appealing. You’ll never control them until you’re confident in returning to the one who birthed them. Until you accept being you.’”

Wit acknowledges Shallan’s pain as she berates herself for her failings. Wit’s words provide wisdom despite his consistent portrayal as a fop, and they stay with Shallan, returning when she most needs them.

“You’re all of them, Shallan. Why must you be only one emotion? One set of sensations? One role? One life?”

This is one of the moments when Wit’s words return to Shallan. She struggles to Control movement between personas, and she continues to think that each one feels specific things, but Wit’s words remind her to consider another option: that she is simultaneously each one of her personas, and that they exist as extensions of herself.

“‘Invaded by people trying to reclaim their homeland,’ Sigzil said. ‘Storms. I’d be mad too.’ ‘We’re supposed to be the good guys, you know?’ Leyten said. ‘Fighting for a good cause, for once in our storming lives.’”

The revelation of the fact that humans were the Voidbringers of ancient times, Rather than listeners, comes as a shock to all humanity. It makes them doubt their right to defend themselves against the parshmen and Fused, especially the members of Bridge Four, who want to make the world better. This provides an important moment of tension in the novel, forcing every human being to question their reality.

“This was enough. She had created Veil and Radiant to be strong when she was weak.”

Although Shallan knows she should not struggle so much with her personas, she also sees them for the strength they grant her. She does not yet feel strong enough to face her pain and, in this scene, the grand lightweaving she must do to help hold off the Thrill-crazed army, but she finds strength through her personas.

“There, she thought. That’s the one. That’s the one I am. He knows.”

This is the moment Shallan decides who she loves. Adolin sees her authentic self, even when Shallan cannot, and her heart knows he is right about which version is her.

“The oaths are about perception, Syl. You confirmed that. The only thing that matters is whether or not we are confident that we’re obeying our principles. If we lose that confidence, then dropping the armor and weapons is only a formality.”

Kaladin’s earlier suspicion has been confirmed through his experience: His oaths are based on Syl’s definitions of honor, not an objective one. He accepts the validity of subjective oaths, however, because he understands that each person must have an inner moral compass and remain faithful to it.