The Thief

The relationships between the group members begin to change in these chapters, showing the progression of major themes Loyalty Is a Relationship and How We Use One Another. In this case, mutual understanding is unlocked through storytelling and the different ways stories are remembered, which intertwines with the themes of Loyalty Is a Relationship and How We Use One Another with the theme of Beliefs Are Not Truth, particularly in the different tales of the gods Gen and the magus know. The stories themselves show that how Loyalty Is a Relationship and How We Use One Another are not specific to Gen and the others. The gods use one another, similar to how the magus intends to use Gen, and the loyalty of the people to one god or another god causes problems, much like the troublesome dynamics within Gen’s group. Altogether, the similarities between the tales and the group’s dynamics show how times and circumstances may change, but human nature remains the same. Interestingly, sharing tales of the gods brings the group together while also symbolizing the now-hidden intentions each character has, which foreshadows a sort of understanding or openness to forgive even when motives are later laid bare. The group understands challenges between gods who are very human in their emotions and behaviors, and in understanding these stories, they demonstrate a capacity to understand each other.

After the magus finishes his retelling in Chapter 5, he and Gen argue about who has the right to tell a story, and this debate may be applied to the popular #OwnVoices movement in modern literature, which posits that those with a given experience are most qualified (or, in some cases, should be the only ones) to tell a story about that specific experience. Gen and the magus represent different angles on this debate. To Gen, the stories belong to those who originally had them. The old gods are important to Eddis, and thus, the Eddisians believe the tales of those gods belong to them, as they have the most accurate versions built into their beliefs and culture. By contrast, the magus asserts that the stories of uneducated people of any culture are far less accurate than his own understanding, which is built upon research that he believes is infallible. Both men call the validity of the other’s version of the stories into question, which both furthers the tension between them and ultimately leads to changes in their relationship. Regardless of whose beliefs about the right to stories is correct, the tales bring the men together in a shared love for history and mythology, which offers evidence for the universal application of stories and the meanings they hold.

These chapters also expand upon Sophos’s and Ambiades’s characters. Ambiades is older and angrier, while Sophos is younger and inexperienced in all matters except books. Both begin the story wary of Gen, and the changes in their attitudes toward him symbolize the differences between the apprentices, as well as foreshadowing how each ends the story. Ambiades and Gen are similar, though neither will admit it. Both are quick to anger and have no qualms about doing whatever they must to better their own situation. Ambiades uses the group’s distrust of Gen to cover up his own betrayal, further highlighting the theme of How We Use One Another. At the end of the book, Gen overcomes much of his anger, but Ambiades does not, showing that holding grudges can lead to one’s downfall, and forgiveness is a key part of existing within any society. By contrast, Sophos is fascinated by Gen, which is initially embarrassing, but as the story progresses, Gen begins to like Sophos, which allows the two to form a friendship. Sophos is the son of a duke, and as such, he is expected to rule with an iron fist and learn to be ruthless, both in politics and combat. Sophos wants none of these things, preferring instead to read and learn about the world on his terms. By the end of the book, Sophos recognizes that he isn’t the person his father expects him to be, and coming to terms with this allows Sophos to return home with confidence he didn’t have at the book’s outset.

Sophos’s uncertainty and naivety shows through at the end of Chapter 5 when he discusses Gen’s family with Gen. Having led a sheltered life, Sophos is ignorant of the world and amazed to find that Gen’s entire family isn’t thieves, showing the danger of making assumptions. It’s later revealed that Gen’s father is a high-ranking soldier in Eddis, and in addition to exemplifying Sophos’s innocence and inexperience, this conversation is one of many examples of how Gen’s unreliable narrative structure hides things from the reader without outright lying. Gen explains that his father is a soldier and gives details about the rest of his family. While not all these details are corroborated, enough of them are revealed to have a grain of truth, which shows that Gen is telling some of the truth, if not the entire truth. In Chapter 7, while Gen fumes about being blamed for the missing rations, he ultimately decides to stay because he wants a chance to steal Hamiathes’s Gift, a feat that would be unmatched in history. He does not reveal, either to the group or to the reader, that he truly stays because he is determined to retrieve the stone for his cousin, but given Gen’s personality and his earlier objections to the magus taking credit, it is clear that Gen wants to be renowned for his reputation and deeds. Thus, as with the details about his family that he provides to Sophos, his reasons for staying to steal the stone are true, but information is missing, making the reader’s understanding of Gen incomplete.