The Ropemaker Coming of Age Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

The wonder and excitement of the last few hours had driven Tilja's worries about the Ropemaker from her mind. Now, at this last instant, they came rushing back.

"The Ro-Ropemaker?" she stammered. "But… I… I meant to ask you… if… if he was the unicorn, then he almost killed Ma!?

Faheel nodded.

"We all make mistakes," he said sadly. "The more powerful we are, the worse they will be. I have no time now to explain. I must ask you to trust me when I tell you that this was a mistake in innocence. But once your Ropemaker accepts the powers of a Watcher he will be lost beyond recovery. Some of those who stand there now were once honorable magicians. Dorn had been my own pupil."

He waited. Tilja realized he was allowing her, even now, to decide to refuse to help him. That itself decided her. She nodded and turned to the screen. (12.41-45)

Once Tilja realizes that the Ropemaker was the unicorn who almost killed her mother, she's reluctant to help Faheel find him. After all, can she—or anyone—trust a near-murderer? Notably, Faheel lets Tilja decide if she wants to help him. He treats her as an equal in this situation—it's her decision whether or not to proceed with this journey. Once she recognizes his respect and trust in her, she agrees to help Faheel find the Ropemaker.

Quote #5

Tilja stared. It was difficult for her to take in. What had Lananeth said? We live and die at his will. No longer. He was dead himself, not at his own will, but at Faheel's. And Tilja's too, perhaps. Faheel couldn't have done it without her, and if she'd understood what she was doing she'd still have chosen to do it. For the of the the Valley. (12.77)

Tilja realizes she played a role in the Emperor's death. This shocks her—she's changed the political landscape of the world. Perhaps this means she's helped eliminated the threat to the Valley. More importantly though, she has taken a life. Tilja takes responsibility for this and rationalizes it as removing the man who threatens her entire livelihood. Whether you agree with her or not, this is an action of a true adult.

Quote #6

She could, if she had chosen, have gone upstairs again and stolen every fabulous jewel that those women were wearing, and no one would ever have known how it was done. The idea was thrilling. And dangerous--a danger that came not from outside herself, but from within. A Tilja who gave in to it would have become a different Tilja from the one who had flown to Talagh on the back of the roc. Now she could understand why it had mattered so much that the Ropemaker didn't become one of the Watchers. (12.105)

After contemplating the possibilities of ultimate power several times—and barely rejecting taking advantage of it—Tilja has realized the implications such actions would have. They would fundamentally alter her as a person, corrupt her from the inside out, and she wouldn't be whom she wants to be. This moral resistance of temptation shows Tilja's moral development.