Eragon, the first of three books in the same yet-to-be-completed series by Christopher Paolini, is a fictional novel following the adventure of Eragon and Saphira in a world of mythical creatures - dragons, elves, dwarves, etc - and magic. His journey begins when a polished blue stone suddenly crashes in front of him, disrupting his hunt in The Spine, an expansion of feared mountains surrounding his village and extending up and down the west coast of the land. Not long after, Eragon discovers that what he had always assumed to be a stone was actually an egg when a blue dragon, later named Saphira, hatches from it. A series of events follow and causes Eragon the necessity to leave his hometown. Over the course of the novel, Eragon displays many characteristics that makes him uniquely himself.
Eragon has a strong sense of responsibility. Even before he begins his adventure, he dutifully hunts in the Spine, an expansion of mountains surrounding his village feared by many, for food so that his family can survive through the winter, "The deer had led him deep into the Spine, a range of untamed mountains that extend up and down the land of Alagaesia. Strange tales and men often came from those mountains, usually boding ill. Despite that, Eragon did not fear the Spine - he was the only human near Carvahall who dared track game into its craggy recesses. [...] If he did not fell the doe, he would be forced to return home empty-handed. His family needed the meat for the rapidly approaching winter and could not afford to buy it in Carvahall," (6-7). Although Eragon's family's inability to obtain meat from Carvahall plays a part in the necessity for Eragon to hunt in the Spine for meat, it does not cloud the fact that he is willing to hunt in those mountains even though many others whould avoid them due to fear. Eragon's courage stems from his family's reliance on him to hunt so that food can be provided to last throughout the winter. The tales that others tell about the Spine mountains does not suppress his sense of duty. Instead, it only causes him to gain stubborness.
Another trait Eragon has is that he is stubborn. When something has great importance to him, his stubbornness would show when he refuses to listen to others. Because the crash-landing of the stone caused the game Eragon was hunting to run away, it forced Eragon to go to the village's butcher shop in hopes of trading the stone for meat that his family needs. However, once Eragon replies that the stone was found in the Spine when the butcher questioned its origin, the butcher refuses to trade meat to Eragon, causing Eragon to refuse to leave. Luckily, Houst, the town's blacksmith stepped in and bought Eragon the meat and offered Eragon the opportunity to work off the debt by working at the blacksmith when he had free time, "'Good thing I came - the two of you were almost at blows. Unfortunately, I doubt he'll serve you meat or any of your family the next time you go in there, even if you do have coins...As for payment, Albriech plans to leave for Feinster next spring. He wants to become a master smith, and I'm going to need an assistant. You can come and work off the debt on your spare days,'" (15). Eragon's stubbornness mostly derived from the obvious fact that his family would starve if they are unable to attain the necessary meat. They would not be able to survive through the winter so he defiantly stay in the butcher shop even though he knew that his actions would only cause the butcher to hate him and his family even more even though they have not done anything harmful towards the butcher and his family. However, this stubbornness only contributes to his rashness.
On top of being stubborn, Eragon is also rash. During his journey for "revenge," he comes across a bottle with a symbol that is the same as that of his enemy's. Without being causious, he simply smells the content of the bottle before pouring a drop on he finger. "Lying on the ground was a metal flask with a leather strap just long wnough to hang off someone's shoulder. A silver insignia Eragon recognized as the Ra'zac's symbl was wought on it...(etc)," (166). Even though eragon had enough common sense to not dronk something he found that belongs to his enemies, his rashness to discover the unknown had him pour a drop of the liquid onto his finger. In a sense, his rashness had him prioritize his desire to find the use of the content by testing it out right then and there rather than returning back to camp to ask Brom, who obviously knew a lot more about the world than Eragon, about it
In the beginning, Eragon was depending on those around him for support and the feeling of security. He becomes pained when his uncle dies, "Everything was insubstantial except for Garrow's face. Tears flooded Eragon's cheeks. He stood there, shoulders shaking, but did not cry out. Mother, aunt, uncle - he had lost them all. The weight of his grief was crashing, a monstrous force that left him tottering. [...] Frustrated and terrified, he turned his tear-dampened face toward the heavens and shouted, 'What god would do this? Show yourself!...He didn't deserve this!'" (90-91). When he finds that his uncle has also passed away, Eragon feels abandoned and is overwhelmed by sadness due to the loss another loved one from his family. He is unable to immediately accept the reality that the person who raised him was dead. This pain causes him to desire revenge but he is uncertain about his ability, "Am I strong enough for this?" (93). Eragon questions his own ability to achieve revenge for his uncle. Although he is still vulnerable due to the news of the death, he feared that he would be unable to defeat his opponents when he left his hometown.
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