"If there is one thing a woman understands, it is the nature of gifts."

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

Ok, so a couple weeks ago I posted about a YouTube channel where someone was doing a Thief readalong. At one point during the first video, she said something about how in the first book Gen should have died when he got stabbed by that Attolian soldier, but he didn't because he was (secretly) in possession of the Gift. This sparked a mini discussion in the comments, because in all of my rereads I had never made that assumption/connection. I'd taken the Magus' research for granted, that the Gift only granted immortality if it was given, not stolen...and in my mind, Gen had stolen the Gift from the temple (he is a thief after all). I just thought he lived because the gods willed it (bigger plans and all that).

Anyway, I texted this question to our own @eachase, and she emailed me such a thorough ESSAY on the topic that I asked for permission to share it here. Read, and discuss!

Hey, Jamie,

These sorts of questions bring out my latent English major tendencies, which means I have a lot to say, so I wanted to have a full keyboard to work on.

I re-read the relevant parts of The Thief (I think I found them all; I really need to buy myself eBook version for this sort of thing. Fortunately bookshop.org is starting to work on ebooks) and The Destruction of Hamiathes's Gift. In short, I don't think there's a clear answer. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything else of Megan.

".... Hephestia rewarded a king named Hamiathes with a stone dipped in the water of immortality. The stone freed its bearer from from death, but at the end of his natural life span the king passed the stone to his son and died. The son eventually passed it to his son, and the possesion of it became synonymous with the right to rule the country. When a usurper stole the stone and soon thereafter died it was understood that the power of the stone was lost unless it was given to the bearer...." (pg. 70)

On the face of it, this suggests that the stone has to be given (though not necessarily stolen first!) to retain its power of immortality. Immortality is the known power; right to rule is the power assumed by tradition. (Isn't that an interesting distinction?) Remember, though, that this is the Magus talking and we know that his scholarship isn't always complete. He's also an outsider to this tradition, which means his understanding could be incomplete or flawed.

However, I think you could argue that there's a slightly different interpretation of the fate of the usurper. Eddis' religion is a pagan one. In pagan religion, rituals have to be performed perfectly. If they are, that "forces" the gods (or goddesses) to do what the human supplicant wants. The usurper failed to follow the ritual — give the stone. And the gods and goddesses must have known that he didn't intend to — thus he died.

Gen, on the other hand, has every intention of giving the stone to Eddis. ("That I carried Hamiathes's Gift to my queen was all that had kept me going from the Attolian stronghold to the top of the mountian.") (pg.262) If the gods/goddesses are judging intention of the bearer, it's possible the power of immortality is bestowed on the thief from the time of the theft until it can be given to their chosen ruler. After all, the first mention of "The stone freed its bearer from from death" (pg.70) doesn't say that the gift of immortality comes AFTER the stone is given. Just that it's given to the bearer.

I think this ties into the scene when Gen takes the stone, too. He doesn't steal the stone from Hephestia so much as take it with the permission (in some cases grudging) of the gods/goddesses. Twice God Eugenides tells Gen to take the stone: "You have not yet offended the gods... Take the stone.... Take it." (pg. 188) The gods are (mostly) in favor of Gen taking the stone. (Do they know he's going to need it in the near immediate future?)

This line of thinking seems to tie into the lecture Gen's grandfather gives him in Alyta's Missing Earring. "We steal in the service of our God and in the service of our king. To do otherwise is common theft and as wrong in your as it is in any man.... You use the Thief's skills for yourself [ed: usurper], and you will lose the favor of our God.... Without the god's favor, you will fall [ed: die, usurper]. And never know what you have lost until you hit the ground." (pg. 140, MP)

Once Gen finally reaches Eddis and gives Helen the stone, "The moment I released the stone, darkness rushed in, and I leaned toward the floor without saying anything." (pg. 262) So, having Hamiathes's Gift on his person does seem to have bestowed immortality on Gen, allowing him to get from Attolia to Eddis when he otherwise might have collapsed and died along the way.

In the short story, Attolia also says when the stone is destroyed: "... she saw the Queen of Eddis sag as the shot left the crossbow, and saw the Thief catch at the fabric at the back of her dress until Eddis straightened up and stood again." (pg. 65, MP) The loss of immortality hits hard.

So, I guess my conclusion is that as Gen is following the ritual, the gods are following their rules for Hamiathes's Gift.... but they aren't all happy about it. Thus, Gen may be given temporary immortality, but he suffers.

(Bonus content for those who've read this far. I have a friend who's finally humoring me by reading the first book. She admitted that work has been hectic, so she's only been able to read the first couple of pages. She texted me: "so far she's dirty, bragged too much for her own good and for some reason there are a lot of wine shops." I was flabbergasted, but yeah....it takes several pages (six) before you hear Gen referred to as a "him". It's been sooooo many years since I first read The Thief, that I've forgotten that you don't initially know the gender of the first-person narrator. How delightful!)

Comments

[eachase.livejournal.com]

Bonus content response: Years ago I was commuting with a coworker for a time and as he drove and was a captive audience, I started reading the series aloud to him. We hit that pronoun on page 6 and he said, "Oh, it's not J-E-N?"

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Excellent recap and analysis. I figured Gen had not stolen the stone, but had been given it by gods who had a bigger plan for the countries of the small peninsula.

[rouan1.livejournal.com]

Eachase, loved the essay. You made some very valid points. When I reread the book, looking for what I had missed on the first reading. I took it that since he was in possession of the stone, he did not die, even though he “should have” when the sword pierced his body.