Character Analysis
The Ropemaker is a pretty solid dude—which is fitting since rope is made of tons of tiny fibers twisted together to make one pretty solid rope. He first rescues our heroes by making the cords that bind them slither away after they're captured by bandits in the Pirrim Hills (7.93), and he also gives Tilja a magical hair tie to keep her locks in place (7.143). For the record, Shmoop would really like that magical hair tie.
When Tilja finally sees him face-to-face, the Ropemaker is "a tall, thin shape in the moonlight," with a normal human face, atop which sits a monstrous bulge of a headdress, making him look like a gawky insect (7.102-103). In Talagh, they finally find out what is under that turban—hair that is "a blazing ball of fire" (12.87). Um… ouch. Though Ropey says he doesn't have a name—that he just goes by "Ropemaker" (7.164)—our heroes eventually find out that his "true name" is Ramdatta (13.108). Pro tip: true names are pretty useful when it comes to working with wizards.
A Sticky Unicorn Situation
Ramdatta is a helpful and kind of awkward guy who means well. For example, he almost killed Tilja's mother when he turned himself into a unicorn… but he was just experimenting and didn't mean to hurt anybody:
"Mistake," he explained. "Made a lot of them in my time—bound to, doing it all on my own. Never tried that before, being a magical animal. Took a lot of doing." (18.30)
Does this remind you of anyone else? We immediately think of the other self-taught magician in the book—Tilja.
A Man of Many Shapes
More often than not, the Ropemaker is super on his game, and he follows the Valley folks all the way through the Empire, helping them get out of sticky situations time and again. Remember that handy cat atop the walls of Talagh? That was Ropey. The donkey that helped Tilja defeat Silena? The Ropemaker again. So while he may not always go about things in the most elegant way, he comes through in the end.
And to top it all off, he's modest to boot—even though he's super-powerful, the Ropemaker doesn't brag about his abilities—which puts him in stark contrast with Faheel. The Ropemaker is so humble that he even admits his lack of knowledge about Tilja's powers:
"Don't know that much about any of this," he said ruefully. "Better explain." (18.23)
While Faheel needs Tilja's help, he tells her how to help him—but here we see the Ropemaker asking Tilja to tell him what she knows instead.
Where You From?
After the Ropemaker takes on Faheel's ring and powers, he finally 'fesses up about his background. He's not afraid to say that he came from a poor upbringing, but he's also proud of his abilities, saying that he knew he was meant to be a magician.
The Ropemaker grew up in an isolated fishing village, and knew he wanted to get out of dodge as soon as possible (18.24). To do so, he "apprenticed himself to a traveling ropemaker," learning little pieces of magic with remarkable ease, and traveled the Empire in search of more power (18.24-26). He's smart, savvy, and, although he's a tad strange in his appearance and speech, he ends up being Faheel's successor. We think he'll carry forward the good parts of Faheel's legacy and leave behind the bad—how about you?