Kvothe - Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – The Binding of Iron

Now we begin to learn sympathy. Simply put, you can control one item by binding it to another. The more similar the items, the easier it is to control and the less energy it takes. So a branch broken in half would be more similar (and easier) than a piece of glass and a branch. Sympathy also requires energy. So by binding two items together and lifting one, the other will also rise. You will feel the weight of not only the item you’re lifting, but the item it’s bound to being lifted; and you will also feel the weight of using sympathy to do the binding. The easiest example to understand was when Kvothe linked a piece of chalk to a piece of glass. Being very dissimilar, lifting the two pounds of glass and chalk felt like lifting sixty pounds.

We also learn that while Kvothe’s time with Ben appears to be the only thing he did, it wasn’t. He still had his chores and other duties to perform with the troupe and spent his free time with Ben. But it’s clear that his time with Ben was important and exciting enough to be the center of his life at this point.

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