Wilders

[Rbois]

Ok, so I guess I never really understood this viewpoint. Here you have two groups of people using the power. One chooses to learn but has to be taught otherwise they will never even sense the power. The other is natural occurrence during their life. So why are they sneered at? It seems to me they would be the awe inspiring ones! "Wow you did what? You healed a man on the brink of death using the one power without even being taught how?? WOW!! I've been training in the tower for 10 years and can barely heal a paper cut!"

 

Ok so maybe I just hit on it.. is it a jealousy thing? Or is there more to it? I also notice it isn't just a fictional thing... similar disdain takes place in real life as well! It reminds me of how the volunteer armies were treated during the 19th century by the regular army. Scoffed at because they weren't disciplined, never thinking about the fact that when they volunteered it was for the specific purpose of being shot at, not to sit back in a peace time office going over maps... Am I making sense? Did I go to far off topic? I'll stop now.

[Southpaw89]

yeah it's probably a bit of jealousy and a bit of fear knowing there are powerful channelers out there who aren't being controlled and who could possibly hurt themselves or others

[damandred]

As someone who left school at 16 but tried to educate myself in later life, I have experienced that sort of snobbery myself.

Like I don't know what I'm talking about because I don't have a degree.

[2RiversFan]

This may not be the answer you were looking for, but it opens an opportunity to discuss one of RJ premier qualities...

 

The way the author thinks, the way he or she sees the world will come through in his or her writing. Ultimately, a reader will be able to judge the author's intelligence and imagination through the works.

 

The question you bring up ultimately leads to the reason I love WOT so much. These sorts of points - the ones that are mirrors of real life / real world occurences are the sorts of things that give readers insights into the authors' mind.

 

This point in particular demonstrates understanding of emotional reactions people have when interacting with others - especially situations that hit close to home for one of those involved. It also demonstrates how deeply RJ thought on the world he created.

 

He realized that on the subject of wilders that there would be many and varied opinions of them by other channelers; but even among tower trained Aes Sedai there are those (among many other reactions I won't list) that are purely jealous, logically concerned for safety due to the wolder not having the proper knowledge to channel safely, or they may simply think that the wilder may be another training nightmare to get them out of their bad habits.

 

My point is that RJ realized there would be different reactions and that these reactions would be based on the personality of the character he created. He shows us his understanding of interpersonal relationships in these sorts of encounters and many other times throughout the series.

 

He further realized different characters would display emotions differently - for instance, one character displaying jealousy might sneer and plot against the one they were jealous of; while another character may simply be jealous without taking any actions against the one they are jealous of.

 

Wilders are only one small subject among hundreds or even thousands that RJ spent time to completely flesh-out his world.

 

The fact that RJ included this level of depth into characters sometimes far removed from his first and second level protagonists (and antagonists) is a major reason his world is so deep and completely grabs the reader, forcing him/her into this imaginary world as they read.

[Ferdawoon]

Consider this: You go to school. You need to study for hours every evening to even get a passing grade, maybe even having to stay back a year, and not even being sure that you will ever graduate and be an Aes Sedai.

Along comes someone who is halfway there already and learn really fast and who don't really work much at all and still get high grades.

Of course you would be a bit jealous of the person who have a much easier time!

 

Also, Wilders are not always able to channel safely and they use the Power for their own good. It is mentioned that a lot of Wilders who have been channeling on their own seem to develop a kind of Compulsion as one of the first things they learn, to get their will through. If people found out that there might be hidden channelers who not only might end up setting their farm on fire by accident, but that they can twist the mind of you to fit their desires.. Well, people would probably not be all too happy about it.

 

Also, just look at the whole patent industry in our world. If a company or a union see that there are people who might be able to do the same thing you do in your company, or people who are not part of your union, you would want them under your control or out of the way.

[supersprode]

I just kind of attribute it to the fact that this is just one big girls school, where novices are pulled in in and their teens, and stop aging from there, and as everyone knows, high school girls are all nuts. And if you lived 300 years as a high school girl stuck in her teens, you'd be even more nuts then that, and this is just one little outlet. Just accept it.

[LeeM.Erickson]

There's a lot of reasons in this, and the other replies in this post touch on some of them. But I think the main reason is good old fashioned prejudice. Wilders are a minority amongst those who come to the Tower. They're different, and a lot of people are afraid of things that are different, so they choose to demonize and belittle those people who are different so that they are no longer afraid.

 

In addition, the Aes Sedai feel that their ways are best. Especially when it comes to channeling...how the weaves are formed, how they're taught, etc. This isn't always in their favor, for instance, Nynaeve's way of Healing and the ability to Heal stilling. Aes Sedai never would have found these on their own. They felt their Healing was the best way and therefore never tried experimenting with other methods (although, to be fair, experimenting and learning new ways of channeling can often be dangerous...and moreso with Healing). They knew that Healing stilling was impossible and didn't even try. Aes Sedai are convinced that the White Tower's method of channeling is the superior method, so anyone who learned any channeling on their own must by default be using an inferior method. Add to that the difficulties in teaching a wilder. Most of them have some sort of block that must be removed, and such a difficulty would be viewed with scorn by Tower initiates who learned to channel the "proper" way. Add to that the fact that the wilders in question may have learned weaves that are forbidden, or may have difficulties learning regular weaves that they taught themselves in a different way, and you can see why a lot of Aes Sedai feel the way they do about wilders. Even the sisters who don't view wilders with disdain tend to view it as a handicap, a flaw that must be overcome.

 

As for how AS view non-Tower related wilders, like Aiel, Sea Folk, the Kin, or just random wilders they might meet in a town or city, for them, it's the simple fact that since they were not trained by the Tower, their weaves and skill with the Power must be lacking, because they didn't learn from the White Tower, the bestest school of channeling ever! It's just simply not possible for them to have more skill than an Aes Sedai, since the White Tower is the pinnacle of knowledge and training for all things One Power related.