Aziz Alturaif

English 107-017

Professor Edmiston

23 April 2017

Merciful Protagonists in Novels

Traits and personalities is what makes a character whole. In

many novels there are protagonists that have similar characterizations,

such as, greediness, humbleness, and mercifulness. This analysis will

cover characters that have similar traits in mercifulness. Examples of

such characters are from the novel series Inheritance Cycle, and

Shattered Sea. Both of the protagonists of the Inheritance Cycle

Eragon and the Shattered Sea Yarvi, show clear signs of

mercifulness in their characteristics, and both used their mercy to

avoid certain events.

What makes a merciful protagonist?

A merciful protagonist is the hero of the story; they picked up

this trait as a result from past interactions, which later shaped them to

be the characters they are now. An example of a character that

their past had shaped them to be merciful is Eragon. Eragon was born

in a hunting village, he grew up in a small community, and he always

hunted with his cousins (Paolini, 2002). Eragon showed mercy when an

old lady came to him asking for a blessing of luck to an orphaned girl.
Eragon showed mercy to that child by giving her a blessing (Paolini,

2002).

Mercifulness can be a double-edged sword

Later in the story, it turns out that the blessing affected the girl

in which it made her mature faster than any other human being, and

the people around her die slowly.

Why I consider Yarvi to be Merciful?

Yarvi was born a cripple; his right hand did not fully form. Yarvi

was a prince, because of his crippled hand; he couldnt learn how to

fight with swords properly, instead he aimed to become a minister. A

minister did not fight; they were master strategists and usually the

right hand of the king. In the beginning of the story, Yarvi learns that

his father, the king, and his older brother were killed by a traitor, Yarvi

kept expecting his brothers mouth to twitch in sleep. His fathers eyes

to open But they did not. They would never again (Abercrombie,

pp.9). After that, Yarvi was crowned a king, by his mother and uncle.

After he became a king he had to see things he never had seen before,

like the slave market, and some of the hard decision making. In a few

days, his uncle and mother betrayed Yarvi by dropping in the sea. They

thought that they killed Yarvi, but they did not actually kill him. Yarvi

found himself in a port town few miles below the kingdom. This town

was a slave trading town. Yarvi was seen by a slaver and got caught to

be sold. Yarvi was sold cheap to a marine, and soon became an

enslaved oarsman. Even after all the hardships he went through, Yarvi

managed to not kill his uncle for what he did.

A character can have more than one characteristic

Both Yarvi and Eragon show mercy throughout the novels, but

these characters are also affected by other characteristics such as,

greed, empathy, fear, and anger.

In Yarvi, fear is found when he was pushed off the ledge by his uncle

into the sea. By showing different emotions and characteristics the

protagonist of the novel becomes more unique in a way that they have

emotions. Yarvi showed empathy towards his uncle as well, since he

did not agree to take revenge on him by killing him.

How are Yarvi and Eragon different?

Both characters are similar in which they are both merciful, but

even though they have a lot of similarities, a series of differences make

them so distinct. Throughout the series, Eragon can be shown to be

way too nave, unlike Yarvi where he accepted his fate of being a slave,

and had to work hard to trick his master into freedom. Eragon is nave

in which he thought that by living as a hunter for his entire life will let

him explore the whole world (Paolini, 2002).

Conclusion

Mercifulness can be a good thing or a bad thing; it depends on

the situation that is placed upon the character. Sometimes a character

can have multiple traits, some traits outshines other traits, but they

are still defined by their collection of many different traits.

Works Cited

Abercrombie, Joe. Shattered Sea: Half a King. Penguin, 2014

Paolini, Christopher. Inheritance Cycle: Eragon. Knopf, 2002