Peaceful Slumber
Ever notice how often sleeping is described as an activity which produces restful silence and peaceful serenity? The sun goes, down the moon comes up, the lights go off and everything is supposed to just magically grow silent. Why is this even an issue when we all know the truth about the sound of sleeping?
“The loudest sound here were snores, a chorus of frogs…Not frogs, those snores sounded like a hundred saws cutting logs full of knots.”
Nesta din Reas Two Moons
The name above refers to the Mistress of Ships, the reigning ruler of the Sea Folk. Her description is a metaphorical indication of the true power of understated control. Quiet intensity is discharged here as an indication that those who truly wield authority do not require of it themselves that is be demonstrated.
“Short, no taller than Nynaeve, she looked like someone who had once been stocky and was beginning to go stout, but her jaw thrust forward like a hammer, and her black eyes spoke of intelligence. And power. Not the One Power, just that of someone who said `go’ and knew that people would go, yet she had it strongly.”
Gender Suppositions
These books—every one in the series—is characterized to a certain extent by a focus on gender differences. One of the manners in which this subject is approached is through observations made about one by the other. Women often speak metaphorically about men and vice versa. It is almost as if anyone who really wants to know what their own sex is all about is being advised to consult the opposite for the honest truth. That may not be necessarily so, of course.
"There is a saying in Ebou Dar, my Lord," she said to Mat over her shoulder. "`A man is a maze of brambles in darkness, and even he does not know the way.'"
Cats
Cats are like a big deal in the series. Not a big deal as in they are characters or godlike creatures watching over everything that happens, but as in a topic of conversation. Seriously, a lot of characters reference cats and, when metaphorically speaking, often for seemingly no particular reason:
“Had the Murandian nobles worked together, all the brigands might have hung from trees by now, but that was like asking cats to dance.”
“So there they all were, closeted in their apartments with Thom and Justin, anxious as caged cats, while everyone else in Ebou Dar made merry.”
“She and Teslyn stared at one another, chill and serene, two cats with a paw on the same mouse.”
Parting Words
Once again, the concluding imagery in an entry in The Wheel of Time series is that of ambiguity without resolution. Books in series comprising multiple novels like this one must do a sweet tango at the end of each until the last one is completed that involves providing a sense of closure on some aspects of the narrative while reminding readers that there is still more to come. Not quite a cliffhanger, exactly, but definitely not a sign pounded into the last page claiming to be “The End” either:
“The story spread as stories will, and changed as stories change with time and distance…And for some reason, men and women who told the tales often found a need to add almost identical words. The storm is coming, they said, staring southward in worry. The storm is coming.”
