asked by @ahighwaytothesun!: 1, 2, and 42
Character Solidifying Meme! || Accepting
1 and 2 are going to be rather intertwined here, as theyâre both about his parents and their influence on him
1 - How does your character think of their father? What do they hate and love about him? What influence - literal or imagined - did the father have?
Adolin idolized his father from a young age, and itâs very clear that that feeling has not dissipated with time. It is evident from the four-year-old who decided that a salute was the best way to greet this general that he barely knew, to the young boy who so eagerly learned tactics, bursting with questions to which he believed his father had all the answers, to the teenager who preened at his fatherâs praise and was quick and vicious in his defense when people spoke ill of him, to âDeny that every single person in this room is less important than you are.â, to âAnd then light. His fatherâthe great man Adolin could never matchâsomehow embodying the Almighty himself. Adolin couldnât help feeling that he hadnât been worthy to step into that light.â
This is not to say that he accepts everything that his father says without questionâtheir clash over the visions and over Sadeas in TWoK and the whole âFather! This is not subject to discussion!â alone are proof of thatâbut that doesnât change the fact that he idolizes/hero-worships his father⊠and to the point where it actively affects his own self-image, and as per the evidence above, has for a long, long time. Adolin sets goals and strives to achieve them, but the pedestal that he has put his father on, and that aim to be as good as Dalinar Kholin, is an unattainable one by the very nature of Adolin setting it so high, and so no matter how he tries he will never live up to the perfect image heâs created of his father (the whole thing with the Radiants is Not Helping this at all).
And itâs a false image â and one that his mother perpetuated. Evi always painted a picture of a firm but just man: âThe only honest officer in the army. The honorable soldier. Noble, like the Heralds themselves.â when Blackthorn!Dalinar was⊠uh⊠not, and that early âunderstandingâ of him that Adolin grew up with likely skewed things he might otherwise have taken negatively. He didnât have as hard a time as his brother, for sure, considering the sheer neglect that Dalinar showed for Renarin, but I do feel that young!Adolin probably felt that he had to earn his fatherâs love â and that feeling is still probably there in his subconscious now as an adult.
And of course, I have to include this line â âMy father thinks Iâm a better man than he is. Unfortunately for you, heâs wrong.â
2 - Their mother? How do they think of her? What do they hate? Love? What influence - literal or imagined - did the mother have?
Evi, Ohhh, Evi. Alas, weâve still seen very little of her, but for all that Adolin is very like Dalinar in many ways, we have Word of Brandon that âAdolinâs early sense of morality was instilled in him by his mother.â, and part of that is an honest compassion that thereâs no way he picked up by attempting to emulate his father. Well, not as his father truly was, though thereâs a definite possibility that he believed part of Dalinarâs leadership was due to this. Heâd be wrong, though, and Eviâs lessons of empathy and honesty can be seen in how he interacts with others, especially those outside his station or in need, whether in Kaladinâs first glimpse of him, defending the whore in the warcamps, or in the physical and emotional support he offers to both Kaladin and Shallan in Shadesmar even as heâs falling apart himself.
In a far subtler, even tangentially related way, those lessons of honor and compassion might have contributed to his feelings about battle, for while Adolin revels in a good fight, evident in any stretch of combat we see him in, whether duels or on the field against the Parshendi, he does not glory in the killing.
Aside from the lessons she imparted and how they continue to affect him, Adolin misses his mother terribly. Her death left a hole in his family and his heart, and it still hurts. He keeps a slim, golden chain that belonged to her, reminds him of her, and he carries it into his duels for luck â and perhaps she will look down at him and see, perhaps she will be proud of his effort even if she would detest the fighting itself.
I also headcanon that Evi taught her sons her native Riran language, even though the Alethi would possibly have frowned upon it if they knew.
42 - What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?
Ooooo, this is a tough one, in part because I donât think Adolin knows what he deep down, truly wants? Thereâs his passion for dueling, a true desire connected to that to be the best he can be and to push himself higher, but that doesnât quite feel as if it fulfills the question.
If we look deeper, though, to unconscious wants and needs, itâs actually easier to find these when we look at times that heâs falling apart â Shadesmar in particular. Adolinâs lowest points are when he feels useless, helpless, inadequate, which points to a driving need of being valuable, worthwhile. This is a man who needs to be needed, at the core, who wants the honest love and attention and admiration of others but to have earned it.
We can see it in the way he likes to dress to stand out, to gain attention, and as his view on that slowly changes as he realizes (both consciously and not!) the pride he holds and respect he embodies with the uniform. We can see it in his instinctive readiness to protect and provide for and support Shallan, even though she rejects the first in TWoK and he subsequently changes his behavior accordingly. We can see it in his leadership, when he says âGive them something important to do instead, work theyâll be proud of, and theyâll serve you with honor. A failed soldier is often one that has been failed.â
As for what heâs willing to do, willing to sacrifice, if he sees something that he believes needs done? We saw him willing to risk his fatherâs love when he believed that Dalinarâs visions could bring harm to their people. We saw him sacrifice his freedom to stand in solidarity with a darkeyed captain when he believed the king made a wrong decision. We saw him remove a threat when that threat proved to be cunning and deadly and persistent, even despite the possible personal repercussions. We saw him willing to back out of a relationship with the woman he loves when he believed she didnât love him back, no strings attached or blame given.Â
In essence, he is willing to stand his ground and sacrifice much, even when it hurts.
