The Shadow Rising - Allegorical Bubbles of Evil

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I am early on in my series re-read, currently on The Shadow Rising and I completely forgot about this bubble of evil which appears to the Tav'eren: I think Jordan really wanted to play into each of the boys themes here with the allegorical bubbles, let me explain why I think this:

Rand: So Rand is attacked by mirror copies of himself, I think this is a reflection of Rands inner turmoil and the conflict between the warring aspects of himself. We know how difficult Rand is finding accepting that he is the Dragon Reborn, he is full of duty, but also longing for the simple life of a Shepherd. The mirror versions represent the aspects of himself he must do battle with (internally) in order to do what needs to be done.

Perrin: Perrin/Faile are attacked by an Axe with a life of its own, Perrin has to wrestle with the Axe and prevent it from killing him and Faile. However Perrin can only fight with all his strength once Faile is removed from the situation. This shows Perrins fear for those he loves and shows his inner battle with violence as the solution - the battle between the axe and the hammer. Interestingly here, once buried into the door, Perrin seems to be able to sense that the life has gone out of the axe, I wonder if this is some showing of Wolfbrother ability.

Mat: Poor Mat was about to make some serious gold at cards, until the cards came alive and tried to kill him, with a heavy focus on the Amrylin card. This for me shows two things: it shows Mats distrust and fear of Aes Sedai plans, and more importantly it shows Mats danger with regard to luck. Just prior to the cards coming alive Mat was certain he was going to win and win big, it shows an unreliability with Luck and a danger he faces when trusting this blind instinct.

I think overall this section of the book is fantastic. The allegories are clear and strong but worked into the story structure with bubbles of evil very naturally. Really enjoying TSR at the moment - each book I have read I have liked more than the previous book, I know this won't continue and I will have to face the Slog books, but I can't wait to see what else I can learn and the little things I never noticed before (such as the Black Ajah talking about Mazrim Taim this early on - I wonder, did they know this False Dragon was a Darkfriend?)

Any thoughts? Did you enjoy this scene? Do you think there was anything else I missed with what Jordan was communicating through the Bubbles of Evil?
 

Alexr al'Petros

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I really enjoy your composition of allegories. I hadn't really considered them that way when I first read through. I thought it was "just crazy evil shit going on". In my subsequent read throughs, I saw it as character development and story foreshadowing. Perhaps it is a bit of both? Now I'm wondering about the other bubbles of evil and whether they are more than "just crazy evil shit going on."
 
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Interesting to note that the very first bubble of Evil we see is the one that very nearly pushes Rand onto the blade of Lan during a training session.

I see this as both an allegory on duty and danger and also about fate being inexorable and outside of the control of Rand.
 
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