“In The Reign of Harad IV” examines how a craftsman’s advancement in his own skill leads him into a difficult life of isolation. Because the story is set in a King’s court, I think it’s safe to say that most readers would expect the story to be about the drama of either trying to please the King, or overthrow him and thus please a different one. However, the craftsman has no real interest in the King’s opinion, and only wishes to take his skill to the greatest point it can go. The idea of taking his skill further, which means making his miniatures even smaller than before, comes to the craftsman as he’s carving a basket of apples and then specifically creating a tiny fly to perch on one of the stems. The apples are an allusion to the fruit from Adam and Eve, because the craftsman “leaves” the easy life he had in the court and “embarked on a voyage more perilous than he had known.” (pg. 127) By endeavoring to make creations so small that they’re invisible, he quickly loses any connection he had to anyone else in the court as they don’t understand his need to take his skill so far. This isolation is further emphasized by the fact that there’s no dialogue.
The craftsman’s skill even progresses past the invisible and enters the imaginary. His visions are wholly his, and even his apprentices can no longer see them. The climax of the story occurs when he invites the apprentices to look at his work, and instead of admitting that they can’t see it, they lie and admire his skill. This is the point in the story that feels like there is no turning back for the craftsman, because he resolutely faces the fact that from that moment on, “his life would be difficult and without forgiveness.” (pg. 131) Ultimately, I also get the feeling that it’s not even about the craftsman wanting to refine his skill, but more about the rush he gets from breaking his own limits. On page 128, he acknowledges, “for such a a feat, however arduous, was really no more than the further conquest of a familiar realm, the twilight realm of the world revealed by his glass, and he yearned for a world so small that he could not yet imagine it.” The reason that the craftsman’s life will be so difficult is not just because he will be lonely, but it’s also because he will never be able to truly be satisfied with his own work.