Character Clues
Character Analysis
Type of Being
For the purposes of The Ropemaker, characters can be divided into two types of beings: magicians and non-magicians. The characters who possess or control magic of some sort are the movers and shakers in their worlds, from the Valley to the Empire.
Meena and Alnor have the most magic Tilja has ever seen at the beginning of the book, and they are the ones who provide the catalyst for the journey to the Empire that consumes the bulk of our story.
Once in the Empire, Faheel—the most powerful magician of all—is the guiding force for everything Tilja and Co. since they're trying to reach him so he can fix the Valley's magical problems.
When Tilja gets the ring, her search for the Ropemaker—the only man who can save the Valley after Faheel dies—governs her life. Eventually Tilja discovers her own powers… and that she is the only one who can get the Ropemaker to save the Valley.
Moonfist provides the most serious threat to her home's safety with his evil magic. Even the Emperor, who controls the magic of the Watchers, governs the fate of his people by nature of that control. And speaking of the Emperor, he's the only non-magical person with any power (think of Grayne, as a non-magical example)—and he's only powerful because he tightly controls everyone else's magic.
Actions
In a book brimming with adventure, there are countless moments where a character's actions tell us a good deal about their personality. Let's focus in on the Emperor, though, because we understand him almost exclusively through his actions—since he barely makes an appearance in the book.
In the Empire, the Emperor's whim governs everything. It lumps people together into two categories—the Emperor and his minions, and others. Everyone in the Empire holds the land they live on and work for the Emperor, who technically owns all of it (5.76). That he even wants to own all the land lets us know that the Emperor is one greedy dude.
Salata explains that her ancestors had to buy their right to live on their property, and they couldn't leave until they paid off the ridiculously high price that was paid. But the Emperor isn't content to just run the show on everyone's home fronts—nope. He has also arranged things so that no one can travel in the Empire—or even die—without the his permission (6.26). Can you say power hungry?
The Emperor has gone to great lengths to make sure that he's the head honcho—and this clues us in to his greed, his mean-spiritedness, and his love of power and control. For a guy who is pretty much invisible throughout this whole book, the Emperor makes one thing abundantly clear: In The Ropemaker, actions speak louder than words.