Genre
Fantastical novel
Setting and Context
The action is set in a mythical time and in a mythical place.
Narrator and Point of View
The story is narrated from a third person omniscient point of view.
Tone and Mood
Tragic, violent
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Ged and the antagonist is the shadow that tries to kill Ged.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between Ged and the shadow that tries to kill Ged.
Climax
The story reaches its climax when Ged discovers the dead body of his pet.
Foreshadowing
Soon after Ged became an apprentice, he learned that being an apprentice to a powerful wizard did not meant learning magic all the time. On the road to Ogion’s house, Ged had to face numerous challenges that foreshadowed the way his life will be after reaching Ogion’s house.
Understatement
When Ged claims to know the danger of using his powers is an understatement as it is later proven by his actions.
Allusions
After Ged becomes Ogion’s apprentice, the first thing he is told to learn is an ancient language that has magical properties. It is alluded that the magic language may actually be Old Norse, a writing system known in the past only by a few and a writing system believed to have magical powers by many people in the Nordic tribes.
Imagery
N/A
Paradox
Ged spends most of the novel hunting for the shadow that tries to kill him. Paradoxically, the shadow is part of himself and instead of killing it, Ged ends up becoming one with it.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
In the first chapter, "for this was as strong a spell as she knew how to weave.’’
