Who Is Sparrowhawk's Struggle In A Wizard Of Earthsea

The novel A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin, is about a boy called Sparrowhawk. He possesses the power that will eventually lead him to become a great wizard. Early on, Sparrowhawk is taken, as an apprentice, to a great wizard and learns about the importance of balance in the world. However, wanting to impress a girl who doesn’t believe in his magical abilities, he summons a shadow creature - which then needs to be banished by his teacher. While at a school for people with powers like his, Sparrowhawk’s desire to beat his rival, Jasper, leads him to accidentally unleash that same shadow, which upsets the balance of Earthsea and nearly kills Sparrowhawk. Wanting to make things right, Sparrowhawk goes on a journey, hunting down the unnamed evil that is the shadow. At first, even though he believes he is the hunter, Sparrowhawk soon finds he is the prey when he is led

When explaining what happened when he confronted the shadow, Sparrowhawk says, “‘I think that, when I ceased to flee from it and turned against it, that turning of my will upon it gave it shape and form, even though the same act prevented it from taking my strength from me. All my acts have their echo in it; it is my creature’” (173). He now understands that by turning on, and confronting the shadow, he and the shadow share a bond. Sparrowhawk knows his actions influence the shadow’s ability. This is only one example of how balance is important in Sparrowhawk’s world. Another point in the story, where balance is found, is when Sparrowhawk meets the shadow - his shadow - for the last time. He “...took hold of his shadow, of the black self that reached out to him. Light and darkness met, joined, and were one” (194). Everything from unleashing the shadow to confronting it, teaches Sparrowhawk how balance is everywhere in the world and how things must interact to keep that precious