Graceling Strength and Skill Quotes

And remember: she's eight years old at this point. We can only imagine how much more her fighting ability developed over the next ten years, even though it hardly seems necessary. Seriously, think about it: wouldn't being able to beat someone senseless with both of your arms tied down be good enough? Guess the seven kingdoms must be a land of overachievers.

This isn't the first time Po demonstrates his emotional insight, and it isn't the last, either—but it's a really good insight. People often say and do things when they're angry that they wouldn't say or do otherwise. Which is why it's usually a good idea not to really say or do much of anything when you've got rage on the brain. And seeing as how Katsa is capable of killing a person with her little finger, well, we think waiting to fight her when she's calm is a really smart strategy.

It's a fine distinction and one that we're betting doesn't occur to a lot of people. Seeing someone do something ten times better and faster than you could be humiliating if, say, you were a gourmet chef being out-cooked by a rat. Of course, now that we think about it, the good guys in Ratatouille embraced Remy's abilities for the most part. They even went into business with him in the end, which suggests that they were more humbled than humiliated by the little guy's chops in the kitchen.

Hmm—those are some pretty emotionally mature Disney characters.

We love this because so often we hear people saying that's just the way I am (or she is or he is or they are), but you know what? Just as you can improve your ability to dribble and shoot by practicing, you can also improve your emotional IQ. We tend to think our emotions are completely wild and out of our control, but the truth is that we can get better at interpreting and responding them. At least, that's Shmoop's view on the subject. As with most things, some people agree, and some people don't.

Here we see just how differently Po and Katsa operate at their cores. Po is so in tune with his mental capacity to sense people (particularly Katsa), that he can distinguish every finger and toe as they come at him. And Katsa is so very grounded in her body and her physical abilities that even her emotions seem to take on tangible qualities at times.

Ahh, Grasshopper. The student becomes the teacher. In this situation, Katsa and Po find their roles reversed—Po longs to strike out at the merchants who have just been so insulting, and Katsa senses as much. She uses her thoughts to calm his physical energy and diffuse the situation, which suggests that Katsa is beginning to get a better handle on her emotions. As well as Po's.

Aha. Remember how when Katsa was faced with the "little mind reader" back in Chapter 4, she recognized that she would be willing to torture the child in order to keep her thoughts private (4.70)? Clearly she's come a long way since then.

Okay, that's it—Katsa's got the coolest Grace ever. She's like a survivalist superhero or something. Can you even imagine what it would be like to go camping with her? All we can say is that it might get a little difficult to remember the distinction between being humiliated and being humbled.

It's neat the way Cashore makes this particular feat—carrying Grandfather Tealiff up those steep stone stairs—work with Katsa's Grace. If you think about it, you might start to wonder why Katsa, whose Grace is survival, would have the super strength to carry an old man up a flight of stairs. It doesn't make sense. Unless… as Katsa says here, she believed that it had to be done in order for the mission to succeed.

Because if the mission failed and she were found outside of Randa's castle with an unconscious Tealiff, the Council would be endangered, which would in turn endanger Katsa. So yeah, it was a matter of survival. Cool, huh?

And so Katsa, our fierce fighter, a master of physical strength and skill, begins to develop her mental capacities as well. We can only imagine that being emotionally intelligent would be beneficial to one's survival in the world, which means that Katsa will likely become quite adept in that area as well.