The Name of the Wind, Chapter 7 - Of Beginnings and the Names of Things

My paranoia runs deep and make no mistake: What you're about to read isn't a dual of words between Chronicler and Kvothe, it's a dual of hidden meanings between me and Rothfuss.

(I'm on to you, buddy.)

Chapter 7: Of Beginnings and the Names of Things

In the Waystone Inn, it was the beginning of the first of three days. Not believing Chronicler could transcribe his story "faster than a man can talk," Kvothe decides to put the scribe's talents to the test. As fast as he could, Kvothe begins reciting a string of incomprehensible sentences and written with incomprehensible symbols, Chronicler matches him word-for-word.

Before Kvothe begins, he demands that Chronicler teach him how to read the symbols he just wrote and Kvothe picks it up almost immediately. The amount of interest Kvothe has in the elegance of Chronicler's system was only matched by Chronicler's interest in Kvothe's capacity to learn it so effortlessly.

"Did you really learn Tema in a day?" Chronicler asks.

"That's an old story. I almost forgotten." Kvothe responds to no one in particular. But enough of that story, it was now time for the main event.

Kvothe begins with the story of a woman... and then stops and corrects himself. That wouldn't do. That wasn't the beginning. He begins the story again at the university... and then stops and corrects himself. And again, he stops, shakes it off, and starts farther back with the story that led him to the university. It was a "story about the Chandrian." And once more, he stops, shakes it off, and starts farther back at the very beginning... the beginning of time.

"Assume I am the center of creation," he says.

And with this presupposition, starting from the beginning of time, he fast forwards through history of the world to "a tale of any real importance... mine."

* * *

Writing & Linguistics

Was there double-meaning in their writing and linguistics exercise? By this time, over the past six chapters, we already know that both Kvothe and Chronicler are highly educated men. And thanks to their little exchange, we now know they're both above average, highly educated men. We now know that Chronicler is not only very good at his trade, but also very innovative in the way he carries out his trade. We now know that Kvothe not only has a great capacity for learning, but he has an unprecedented capacity for learning. But was there even more purpose than that?

From this point onward, much like how Chronicler's written language is composed of horizontal and vertical lines, I too will be looking for references to any series of horizontal or vertical anythings when it comes to Chronicler.


The Third Reference to "The Wind"

"I wanted to know the name of the wind... at the university."

First in chapter 1 and then in chapter 5, we now get a third reference to "the wind." I have no extra insight with this third reference. But The Name of the Wind is the name of the book and it deserves extra attention.


The Two Most Important Events in the History of Time

In a not-so-subtle manner, Kvothe haughtily declares that the two most important events in the history of time was the beginning of time itself and the tale he's about to tell. Arrogant? Yes. But was it arrogance for the sake of arrogance, arrogance in service of the forthcoming story, or arrogance for the benefit of a unsuspecting chronicler to fall right into his storytelling trap? (As Kvothe has already pointed out in chapter 5, "stories lie." And I'll continue to point this out until stories are no longer being told. As far as I'm concerned, "stories lie" is the central theme to the entire book.)

Is his statement even accurate? Is it true that the tale he's about to tell is of equal importance to the beginning of time?

(I'll be the judge of that.)


The Timeline

Through Kvothe's stutter stop beginning, we now have a timeline of important events in his forthcoming three day tale. Starting with the beginning of time, leading to Kvothe's birth, he eventually arrives at the university and some time later, a mystery woman arrives.

--But riddle me this: You would think that the university and events prior could both be reasonable places to begin tale of epic proportions. They're both wide in scope and you can just imagine the importance of the people he meets and the things he learns along the way. More importantly, these events take place at the beginning of the timeline. But what about the woman?

A singular person is so narrow of a subject; you just know there's something more. More importantly, this woman is only introduced at the end of the timeline. Remember that chronologically, she appears last in Kvothe's series of beginnings. This means that the events of the university, the Chandrian, and the university itself will first be told by Kvothe and then retroactively altered once the woman is introduced. If this weren't the case, she would never be considered as a beginning of past events.

(Once again, don't believe everything you hear in Kvothe's initial stories. They lie.)

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