62 pages • 2 hours read
Steven EriksonGardens of the Moon
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Masked Identities
Masked or concealed identity is a recurring motif throughout Gardens of the Moon. The motif serves a few purposes in the novel, moving the plot along by enabling secrecy and highlighting the theme of The Positive and Negative Aspects of the Human Condition.
Espionage and secrecy are at the heart of Gardens of the Moon. Several key events in the plot are facilitated by a main character concealing their identity. Kruppe masks his role as the Eel, enabling him to unite several of Darujhistan’s factions in their goals at Lady Simtal’s party. Quick Ben hides his identity as a former High Mage of Shadowthrone so that he can trick the god into killing Hairlock. Cotillion’s possession of Sorry is an extreme masking of his identity; pretending to be a young army recruit permits Cotillion access to the Bridgeburners, where he stabs Paran. The climax of the novel occurs at Lady Simtal’s masquerade party; concealing their faces allows both Rallick to go unrecognized in challenging Turban Orr to a duel and Anomander Rake to attend the party without causing alarm.
In addition to moving the plot forward at significant moments, the motif of masking one’s identity serves to develop the novel’s exploration of the positive and negative aspects of the human condition. That the characters must conceal or ignore parts of themselves highlights the self-awareness and powerful emotions that make the human experience so complex. Adjunct Lorn is the primary example; she admits to herself that her identity as Adjunct requires that she quash and conceal the part of her that feels empathy, fear, or pain. Her ability to do so is a testament to her mental fortitude, yet it also makes her feel incomplete. Thus, Adjunct Lorn’s ongoing masking of herself reinforces one of the novel’s major themes.
The Sword, Chance
Paran’s sword, Chance, is one of two tokens that symbolize Oponn’s influence in the realm of mortals. Unlike the coin, Chance is a tool that can be wielded, and it symbolizes the process of bending luck to fit one’s needs. Paran considers the sword, wondering at its nature:
Chance felt no different from any other weapon. Should he be expecting something more? He couldn’t recall much of the time he’d last used it, against the Hound. But if there was power in the weapon, should he not be able to sense it? As it was, Chance felt cold, as if he clutched a shard of ice that refused to melt in his grip. If anything, Chance felt awkward, as if he was a novice and held it wrongly (325).
The awkwardness, coldness, and strangeness of Chance emphasize the symbol’s representation of attempting to control or wield luck; sometimes it works, but it is difficult to count on. Chance is a dubious boon for Paran—it protects him at times but also makes him the target of special interest by the gods and causes him to feel like he is being used as a tool. Still, in the end, Paran wields Chance to fit his needs, using it to fend off the Jaghut’s Finnest magic before gifting it to Shadowthrone in a symbolic gesture of shaking himself free of fate’s hold.
Oponn’s Coin
Oponn’s coin is the most prominent symbol in Gardens of the Moon as it is present for several characters and is both literal and metaphorical. In all its iterations, the coin represents luck’s influence, or Oponn's influence. That this token is a coin represents both the two faces of Oponn (good luck and bad luck) and the randomness of being touched by good fate.
Kruppe meditates on the nature of the coin when speaking with Baruk:
An item [...] that passes without provenance, pursued by many who thirst for its cold kiss, on which life and all that lay within life is often gambled. Alone, a beggar’s crown. In great numbers, a king’s folly. […] It is, as Kruppe says, worthless but for those who insist otherwise (184).
This statement, which describes a coin, could also describe luck itself. The coin represents the randomness and fickleness of luck: It is a small, physical item that Crokus picked up and that now exerts the power of Oponn in the city.
Oponn’s coin is also present metaphorically for Tattersail and Paran, who both hear the coin spinning at various key moments. In these cases, although they don’t possess a physical coin, the sound of it spinning still symbolizes luck. However, the ongoing spinning indicates that their luck has not yet settled.
Prophecy
The book uses the motif of prophecy to emphasize the tension of Fate Versus Free Will. Prophecy, by its very nature, predicts what is to come, thus undermining the power of free will to shape one’s destiny. Tension exists in the opaqueness of most prophecies—it is often unclear exactly what a prophecy foretells—and in the characters’ reluctance to accept or act on prophecy when they hear it. This confusion and resistance underscores the true power of free will, with prophecy being portrayed as another piece of information that informs character decisions rather than something set in stone.
Tattersail and Kruppe are the two characters who are most closely associated with prophecy: Tattersail through her Deck of Dragons and Kruppe through his dreams. In Tattersail’s first card reading in the novel, she turns over two cards: the Knight of Darkness (representing Anomander Rake) and Oponn. As she attempts to decipher the meaning, the narrator notes, “Darkness touche[s] her hand ice-cold, loud with the crashing waves of violence and power run amok—and yet an odd flavor there, something like salvation. The Knight could be enemy or ally” (80). Tattersail’s prophetic card reading turns out to be a good description of coming events, but she struggles to tell what exactly the cards are telling her. She must, then, continue to rely on her free will and good judgment to guide her actions. Kruppe’s prophetic dreams differ from Tattersail’s cards in that his dreams enable him to have full conversations with knowledgeable figures. These conversations supply Kruppe with predictions about future events, like Crokus becoming the Coin Bearer and Adjunct Lorn waking the Jaghut. The conversations also allow Kruppe to influence events in the waking world. In the tension between free will and fate, Kruppe exerts his free will by being selective about whom he shares information with, thus shaping events to fit his ends.
