Eragon

Eragon is about a young man named Eragon who has the fate of becoming the next dragon rider. It all starts when he finds a blue stone in the woods while hunting for deer. He brings the stone back home, not knowing what trouble it will soon cause him. Later that stone would then hatch into a dragon, later named Saphira. He would take care of her, but the evil empire is on the hunt for him and his family for the Saphira. He runs away from home with Saphira, and lucky, an old former dragon rider named Brom volunteers to go away with him to teach him the ways of the dragon rider. With the skills that he learns, he is able to defend himself against the empire.



Analysis of Themes

One of the themes in the book is the idea of the coming of age. During the beginning of the book, Eragon thought of himself as another farm boy that was trying to make a living out of the things the hunted for. Once Saphira hatched he learned a great deal about responsibility, and that his world and its problems were greater than what he has realized before. He also now realizes that since he is a dragon rider, any action that he takes can affect his family others around him.

Another theme that is shown in the book is the supernatural and how it makes the world the way it is. Dragons, magic, sword play, they are all effective towards controlling the world. Depending on how the people uses their powers it could change the world for the better or for the worse. Eragon and Saphira use their powers to try and help people in need, most especially the ones who are trying to fight back against the empire. However, the empire tries to use their power to control the weak that are unable to protect themselves.


Another theme that is largely shown in the book is the idea of fate and free will. Saphira's character in the story will show that she highly believes in the idea of fate. She says that it is because of fate that Eragon found her in the woods. Once Eragon had found her, they were destined to be partners together. Eragon however, believes in the idea of free will. In the book he told Saphira how they might have not stayed together if it were not for a merchant refusing to buy a "strange stone." He also said that he could have left the stone back in the woods because he knew that the stone was not his to begin with, and therefore was not his responsibility to ensure that it was safe.

The last theme that I would like to talk about is the theme of good and evil. Throughout the story there are a lot of archetypes on color that can be used to distinguish the good and evil. The color of Saphira which is blue can be used to represent something that is clear and pure hearted. The colors black and red is used on the king and other characters to represent the blood and disorder that the king is spreading towards the land.