47 pages • 1 hour read
The Runaway King
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Symbols & Motifs
Running Away
Running away, particularly from threat or danger, is a recurring motif throughout Jennifer A. Nielsen’s novel. Its very title, The Runaway King, alludes to the protagonist’s solitary quest to find the pirates and resolve the overlying conflict.
From the beginning of the story, Jaron’s stance on running away from danger is made clear. While talking about the four years he was in hiding, for instance, he quips: “I was never missing, [...] I always knew exactly where I was” (18). Additionally, Imogen guesses that Jaron will try to join the pirates precisely because she knows he would never shy away from danger. She points this out while trying to convince him to leave the pirates’ camp, in explain how she knew his reasons for leaving the castle the previous week, saying, “It was because you don’t run. Not even when it’s the only logical thing to do” (214).
Despite agreeing to the regents’ strategy, which is to keep him from harm by removing him from the throne, Jaron chooses to run toward the threat instead. This leads several characters, such as Mott and Imogen, to describe him as foolish and reckless. However, pretending to run away also enables Jaron to keep up his cover and fool his enemies. In fact, at the end of the novel, Gregor remarks that he wrongly believed Jaron to be a coward. The latter then replies: “There was something you failed to understand about me. [...] I never run!” (301).
On the other hand, Jaron eventually realizes that by running toward danger, he is also running away from his relationships and responsibilities, contributing to the development of the theme Dual Identity as a Potential Escape. At his lowest point, Jaron is literally unable to run away: He is locked up, his legs are broken, and he chooses to challenge Roden to a duel. This leads him to wonder: “Was it possible for a king to run so far from his identity that he ceased to be anyone special?” (283). He then abandons his self-destructive impulses deciding instead that he wants to live and see his friends again, which gives him the motivation to defeat the pirates.
Flowers
Flowers are a recurring symbol in The Runaway King. They are associated with hope and resilience, and often connected to Jaron’s relationship with Imogen. After the Queen’s Cross game with the thieves, for example, Jaron notices a “single wildflower” (149) in the field: “It was bright purple and stood erect where a hundred others around it had been smashed. I wondered if it had somehow escaped harm, or if it had been stepped on before but refused to lie down” (149-50). The flower hints at Jaron’s state of mind as he prepares to face the pirate king, conveying a sense of optimism and resilience in the midst of violence. The passage also foreshadows the role of flowers in later chapters.
Imogen is often seen tending to her flowers in Tarblade Bay, which earns her the nickname “Flower Girl.” While trying to convince Jaron to leave, she comments: “I planted the flowers for you, but they’re already dying. You know why? Because they’re in bad soil. They don’t belong here and neither do you. Go look at them and you’ll see your own future” (227). Her metaphor underlines her perception of Jaron’s actions. On the one hand, Imogen’s flowers symbolize their relationship, as Jaron suggests: “It was hard to miss them. They seemed to be everywhere I was, or at least, every place where I might find myself in trouble” (283). On the other hand, they also provide material help, since Imogen buried weapons underneath them and Jaron stumbles upon some healing plants after climbing up the cliff.
Anger
Anger is a motif throughout Jaron’s character development. When he cuts his hair and assumes Sage’s identity, for example, the young king underlines the way anger influences his actions and his self-perception. He details these emotions cut by cut, wanting first to reject his role and position as “the person everyone thought [he] should be” (101), then demonstrating frustration and disappointment in himself, especially in the way his attempts to solve problems and aid situations typically worsen others. Jaron’s internal struggles with anger show his conflict between self-trust and self-doubt, contributing to the theme of The Complexities of Trust and Loyalty.
Throughout the novel, Jaron works through his anger by confronting other characters’ own repressed emotions. While he initially wants to kill Devlin, for instance, he realizes that doing so would only make him more like his enemy:
I looked into his black eyes and suddenly realized there was nothing beyond that. No humanity, no love, and no soul. Except for his anger, he was completely empty. It was much of the same anger that I had felt for far too long, and it horrified me. Since the night I was attacked, I had been so angry, so determined that there was no other choice but to destroy the pirates. But if that choice meant I’d become anything like Devlin, I had to find another way to win. It wasn’t that I couldn’t strike him. It’s that I wouldn’t. I refused to become him (210).
As a result, Jaron is able to choose a less destructive approach to defeat the pirates. In the end, he recognizes a similar anger in Roden and offers him redemption, thus revealing his character growth: “Let go of your anger [...]. I became who I was meant to be and you should do the same. You can be so much more than this” (292).
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By Jennifer A. Nielsen
