The Sea In Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle

In Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle readers follow many characters throughout the Earthsea. In each of these stories there is one, shared constant: the sea. Throughout the books characters leave their homes and set off to face the unknown. Le Guin uses the sea to represent the unknown. We see this when a number of characters, including Ged, Arha and Arren, leave safety and land behind and take off into the unknown carried by the mage or earthwind. In her books, Ursula Le Guin says that to move forward in life you must be willing to brave the unknown.
Ged, who is the only character included in all three books, spends a lot of time crossing the sea into the unknown. The first of these, which comes in A Wizard of Earthsea, is his journey …show more content…
Sopli, who used to be a wizard, no longer has any magical powers, but still believes that he can guide Ged and Arren to that which they seek. Unfortunately for Sopli, his journey ends long before the the other two travelers. The third crewmember, in a moment of fear, jumps into the water and drowns. His journey into the unknown ends with his drowning in the waters of the sea. “‘But he--he couldn’t swim. He was afraid of the water!’” (The Farthest Shore, 159). He who was utterly afraid of the water was equally terrified of the unknown. Sopli sought for personal gain rather than to understand, and when his time came he was swallowed by the sea and unknown alike. In these books, Ursula Le Guin uses the sea to represent the unknown. By doing this in an archipelago setting she was able to create a world with many unknowns. She also uses her characters to display the benefits of reaching out into an unknown world. The Earthsea Cycle and it’s characters can give readers insight into how they should live. The real world is full of unknown and uncontrollable factors, but unless you are willing to step out into the unknown you will not be able to advance through our