Mistborn Liveblog 18

Chapter 17

Today's chapter has got me thinking on the idea of character growth in a story. I would venture to think that the best stories include an aspect of character growth through the challenges and conflicts of the story. After all, if a character is static and unchanging through an entire novel, the challenges and conflicts would lose some of their impact. No one goes through life completely unchanged, and traumatic or difficult events are always influencing us, so that should certainly be reflected in the characters.

I'll save the details of character growth in Mistborn for the spoiler section, but I want to look at a few well-known characters. Take Star Wars, for example. Han Solo is likely one of the more loved characters in the original series and I think it's because the extent to which we see him grow. Sure, Luke grows as well, but his growth is along a predictable path-- to learn the Force and fight the Empire. Han follows a less plot-driven path from watching out for only himself and his ship to caring for those around him. He's the hardened shell that we get to see chip away as he falls for Leia.

Compare that with the prequel movies. Sure, we already know the path that Anakin will take, much like we know Luke's, so looking at some of the side characters, instead... and we don't see the same kinds of growth. Obi Wan doesn't change much during any of the movies. His overall arc has a bit of change, but he's so fastened to his promise to train Anakin that he can't see the obvious. Where's his growth? Even Padme, who's emotionally closest to Anakin's downfall in the second and third movies, she is pretty static. Certainly those aren't the only downfalls of the prequels, but it likely helps explain why they flopped so badly compared to the original. I'm not saying anything new here, I'm sure-- it's just to illustrate the importance of character growth.

Okay, onto the Mistborn spoilers:


Vin and Kelsier are the characters going through the most growth in the story, fitting since they're the ones we spend the most time with. Since this chapter and the preceding are from Vin's view, I'm going to stick with her. We can take a look at Kelsier's growth later when he see things from his view again.

Vin's arc of change so far has been subtle. I'm sure there's more growth for her by the end of the story, but this chapter really highlights her progress so far. We learn that while she's annoyed being stuck in the nobleman's house, she's become accustomed to many of the frivolities of the life-- particularly the dresses and the perfumes. While that alone isn't much of a change, I think it highlights other changes in her personality without having to list them all. She's become more trusting, less apt to simply run away with the money. She wants to pull her weight in the crew, not just to survive, but to help. She's less a thief and more of a traditional young woman.

I hope there's more growth in store for her-- since there's more than half the book still left.

More tomorrow. Happy reading.

Jameson