Storytelling
The novel is essentially a story within a story and storytelling as a theme plays a big part in it. Kvothe is a tavern-owner with an infamous past, and he tells his life's story from the beginning for the Chronicler to write it down. Since it is his own life story that he is telling, there is a possibility of unreliable narration or omitting of parts of the story, accentuating others as is his description of Deena, to which his apprentice reminds him of his exaggeration. Since he is telling his life, there is no actual concrete plot in the story, nor is there a climactic ending. The novel ends when the day ends and Kvothe stops the story-telling, with an additional scene of his apprentice threatening the Chronicler to push Kvothe to talk about his heroic events in order to wake him up from a slumber of a plain tavern-owner. The novel as a whole is a character-driven bildungsroman, in which the focus lies on the character's growth instead of plot.
Persisting in one's goal
Kvothe as a character can be described as driven in persisting with his goals. He is a survivor who set his eyes on becoming something, on accomplishing his dreams. The novel talks about the horrific events that happened in his childhood, of loss of his family by the hands of demons called Chandrian. Kvothe is driven by grief and revenge as well as his desire to prove himself. He ends up on the streets where he has to beg, hide and fight to survive. Nevertheless, his wit and education he got under his family never leave him, and so he ends up in his final desired destination, the University. Kvothe is not a flawless character, he is arrogant and over-confident in his abilities which oftentimes puts him in trouble. This arrogance may be a source of criticism, but it is needed to take into consideration that he is very young, a teenager, who has not much going for him aside from his wit and arrogance.
Social Classes
There is a distinct differentiation between the rich and the poor. During his time in Tarbean, a city that is quite literally divided into two corresponding parts for the rich and the poor-the Hillside and the Waterside. Kvothe spends most of his time in Waterside, where the poor and unfortunate live, and a place where one needs to learn how to steal and hide to survive. Stepping into the Hillside, Kvothe is struck by the cleanliness and order of the streets as well as people. It is also a place where someone looking as ragged as he is certainly unwelcome, and he immediately gets "escorted out" with quite a few bruises and injuries. This sort of social distinction faces Kvothe in the University as well, where most of the students aren't afraid of their survival if they leave it, whilst for Kvothe, the University is his only chance and even there he has to fear and work hard for necessary money.