Compare And Contrast Eragon And The Chrysalids

A hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. They don’t need to be incredibly strong, blazing fast or highly intelligent. They don’t need skills, they need a big heart. Based on this definition, Eragon from the book Eragon and David from The Chrysalids are hero’s. They both have the traits, follow the hero’s journey and sacrifice things for the greater good of something bigger.

Eragon is 15 at the start of the book, whilst David is only 10. Though they are both considered children, there is still quite a difference. David was raised to one of the more wealthier families “He [david’s father] was still the largest land owner,”(Wyndham 17) but Eragon was raised by his uncle in a small farm. Although both David

Eragon received his call to adventure when he found “not a stone, an egg...” (Paolini 40)in the forest. David’s came when him and his group of telepath friends discovered that David’s father and the government were after them. Unfortunately neither of them get the chance to refuse the call as David has to immediately run away and Eragon is forced to do the same. Both of their departures are similar but the initiation phase is where their paths differ. David’s challenges include having to “ put in some careful planning to hide our [David, Rosalind and Petra’s] tracks.” (Wyndham 125)along with outsmarting the search parties multiple times. Eragon on the other hand had to fight battles against tougher enemies, endure hard training from his companion Brom and learn to use magic, all while pursuing the Ra’ zac. They both have similar “sacred marriages” with other’s. Somewhat like David and Rosalind, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, can communicate telepathically. The return is similar for both of them. Both David and Eragon are forced to go to a new place to survive. David to new Zealand and Eragon to a nation built inside a mountain, Tronjheim. And in the end only David receives the freedom to live, as Eragon has still yet to defeat the