Good and Evil

The theme of good and evil can be found throughout the novel "The Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin. Good and evil can be found in everyday life in every place, but it takes on an especial meaning in magic. The wizards speak of this as lightness and darkness—one cannot exist without the other. Taken together, balance is brought into the world by way of an eternal struggle between light and dark, and good and evil.

The clearest example of good and evil in the novel can be seen through Ged and the shadow. For Ged, the evil comes into his life through his pride and arrogance and comes to being as the shadow. Once the shadow is introduced in the story, the readers sees a now good or light Ged in a constant battle with the shadow, both trying to...