Dragonlance discussion
Raistlin: good or evil?
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I think Weis and Hickman were trying to make us see that even those we consider as evil can, indeed, love, and are therefore always capable of good actions. Raistlin is a man, and great man, and his personality quirks are simply part of the complexity of the man, ultimately making him neither evil nor neutral nor good.
I think he is neither good nor evil - he is just self-serving. He has a thirst for power, but does that doesn't necessarilly make one evil. His poot health, Caramon's overprotection, and people's general reaction to him and his craft, has contributed to his snide and bitter personality which is why he sympathises with those that have had similar experiences. He is probably the most well-developed character in the series - I don't think Weis and Hickman set out to make him an evil guy that does good deeds, or a good guy trapped in an evil guy's body. He is just.. human. :-)
some very insightful answers... I look foreword to more people posting their thoughts.... (personally, I've always liked Raistlin, despite some of his evil acts, because i clutched at his good deeds, again because he's my favorite character (hence my avatar)
He is my favorite too. :-) And I just noticed I really fubar-ed the second sentence of my previous post. Wow. lol
oh well, everybody fubar's something up, lol
I do beleave he's self-serving, i don't think he would have even fought in the war if it had not suited his purposes. I like him for the same reason, because he is true to himself.As for his staying in the Abyss, he didn't do it for Caramon or Crysania, Tasslehoff found and brought to him Boo-Poo. The gully dwarf who tried to help his cough.She got though to him, and when he seen what was to happen to her he decided to put things right. Did he love Crysania maybe, did he love his brother probably, did he love Boo-Poo definitely. Was he evil i don't think so, but evil is what evil does, and in the eye of the beholder.
raistlin *sigh* my favourite character ever - he's definitely on the good side. life didnt turn out good for him since he was a child, so being evil is just his reaction to it, but deep inside he's a kind person. but i simply wish no one will make a movie out of this series, my imagination is too perfect to tarnish!
like i said earlier, i am deeply biased in favor of raistlin. probably because he and i have many things in common. he wants to do what's best for others, at least in the beginning, and his idea of the greater good is influenced by his lust for power later on, but he always had a spark of the man he had been. i agree with you jules, in that he definitely had deep affection for bupu. i think that he did love crysania... at least at the end. he gave his life for her, and he was prepared to give his soul.
Hello Mike! That was my reference to Bupu. (although i did spell it wrong, my bad) He could care less about what's good for others, He did not give his life for Crysania, (He did want her to think that, even at the end He was self serving) as for his soul, that was & still is his. He was never going to give that to the Queen, or the Lady.At the risk of sounding redundant Raistlin would not have fought in the war if it didn't suit his own purposes! I love this character because he never said sorry. Did He do some bad things? Yes. Did He do some good things? Yes. Was He evil. No. Was He good? No. Raistlin was one of a kind, & that's way we love him!
He is soo. Good, I mean, he could have easily killed them if he was evil. And look at him, he has a daughter as far as I got.
Good or Evil? hmmm, I doubt he's either. He's more of a force of power. Self serving, as a lot of people have mentioned, is the best term. I got that he could have been good, or he could have been evil, but in the end it was all about him with a few flashes of emotion on either side. :)
Thank you :), he's my favorite after Tas
He's neither. Raistlin only thinks of himself and his lust for power to the point of becoming a god is a result of things that happened during the "Soulforge".
I am currently reading Soul Forge and have only read the first two in Chronicles. When I read Chronicles I thought he was pure evil at first then I began to understand him more and more and now reading Soul Forge a lot makes sense. I don't think he's evil. He's not a saint however, but he's human. He has emotions and a sense to have to survive on his own and I see how he developed into that.
Raistlin is by far the best character of the series. I agree he has faults but he is human. I believe that despite his actions he truly loved Caramon maybe even Crysania, very definitely Bupu. I haven't read the book about Raistlin's Daughter but I thought (at least what I've read in other areas) that Raistlin denied her being his daughter. I think it would be a nice thing for him to have a child. A bit of our favorite dark mage left behind. I also thought that Raistlin left the abyss but was stripped of his magic, which in truth I cannot begin to imagine because for him it was like breathing. I truly hope i've not ruined any reading. But come on it's Raistlin. Love him, hate him..at least he's honest.
I am currently on the third book and I just came to the part where Raistlin leaves Caramon, Tanis, and company behind to die in the Maelstrom. I bounce back and forth (repeatedly) on whether to like him or hate him. But overall I think he does what is best for him. If that which benefits him also benefits the group, then goody, if not, oh well. But to me that seems to be what everyone does (in the book and real life.) The difference is that he doesn't sugar coat it, he's honest about it.
He was evil. He was blinded by power and used his brother. Lost
I would call him selfishly ambitious, rather than evil.
Kenneth wrote: "He was evil. He was blinded by power and used his brother. Lost"Kenneth even the "good" can be blinded by power and use people as an ends to whatever means they are trying to justify as being a "necessary evil" for the greater good. I think you have it right that he "Lost" sight of what should have been most important to him (i.e. his brother and friends).
In the end could he have saved everyone if he wasn't so ambitious? He took pity on those that were weaker and that shows a great deal of compassion (a "good" trait the last time I checked).
Raistlin is not my favorite character. I actually preferred Tasslehoff and he was really the only completely "good" character out of the lot; I guess that's part of being a kender. Everyone had something tarnishing their character.
I offer my humble opinion on this thread with the caveat that I haven't read a book from the Dragonlance series in at least five years...so my memory may be a bit fuzzy on the details.
GREAT DISCUSSION!
He was both good and evil depending on the situation. He certainly tended to be power-hungry, extremely ambitious, self-absorbed - but as Miranda noted above, he could show compassion for others such as Tas and Bupu... and what he does at then end of Legends.
Chaotic Neutral or True Neutral depending on how old you are.
Raistlin is one of the best characters in 80s / 90s fantasy fiction precisely because he was both.He's a complex, deeply flawed, character that just captured you with how real world he feels, in direct juxtaposition with the fact he's a gold skinned bloke with hourglass eyes.
Raistlin is what so few characters are, someone who feels truly human.
he's a lying, manipulative jerk, but he has compassion for the sick and weak, healing them for no other reason than to ease their suffering.
he tries to become a god, killing anyone in his way, but he falls in love, and a truly evil heart can't love. he goes on to stay behind in the abyss as caramon and crysania escape. what does everyone think?