*searches through the archives to find the large number of threads about teens talking crap about their parents and labels them "Exhibit A"
I'm not sure that I understand what you are saying. If you want to discuss my character, then I would prefer not to do so here, out of respect for Brandon. If that's not what you are getting at, then I need you to explain.
He visited all the families for the express purpose of having them think of him as a god. Sorry, but I can't see that as any other thing but ego. His inner motives, however, are unknowable, because they're never directly addressed.
On page 296, Kelsier is talking to Ham about Ham being a general and he thinks to himself:
"I know how you feel, my friend, Kelsier thought, I'm a thief, not a prophet. Sometimes, we just have to be what the job requires."
This is one of the reasons that I don't think it was his ego. He would rather have just been a thief, but he needs to be a prophet for this job to work. Even if you just think of it as pragmatism, it still isn't pride. Now, granted, this is a private thought, so the rest of the crew wouldn't know that was what he was thinking. However, later on page 486-490, the crew discovers the whole plan. They figure out that Kelsier knew that the skaa would have to rise up for anything to change in the Final Empire, and that the only way to get them to do that was to give them a new god, instead of the Lord Ruler. Even if you consider it simple pragmatism (which I would still argue against) it still means that he didn't do it for his pride.
Ookla, I agree with you on most of your points. I don't think that calling Kelsier arrogant is horrible of Vin. I don't even think that she is necessarily wrong. What gets me in that quotation is "Part of what she loved about Elend was his sincerity. His simple love for the people of Luthadel--his determination to do what was right for them--was what separated him from Kelsier."
I don't know how she can question Kelsier's determination to help the people of Luthadel when he was responsible for staging a revolution that everyone believed to be impossible. He sacrificed himself so that the people would have a symbol they could rally around.
But if Vin is actually wrong here, and Kelsier wasn't really as arrogant as he appeared to her, does that make her a horrible person to be thought less of? I don't think so. As readers, we saw inside Kelsier's head for many scenes in the book, which is something Vin could never do.
I don't necessarily think that it makes Vin a horrible person. I do have a hard time liking her, though. I set a great deal of stock in friendship, and I think that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat their friends. True, she couldn't see into his head, but there are many instances where you can see the Kelsier cares for the skaa. As a matter of fact, I just found something interesting on page 450 of Mistborn.
"He really does seem to care for them, Vin thought, watching Kelsier pick up a small child. I don't think it's just a show. This is how he is--he loves people, loves the skaa. But...it's more like the love of a parent for a child than it is like the love of a man for his equals.
She knows that Kelsier loves the people. So why would she think ill of him in this book?
Also, another thing Brandon is saying here is that arrogance isn't necessarily a bad thing. He says it other places as well in the book. When arrogance is labeled self-confidence, it's considered healthy.
But the way she says it indicates that she thinks that Elend is a better king in part because he wasn't arrogant like Kelsier was. I agree that in other places in the book, it says that arrogance can be a good quality. But here, Vin seems to say that Elend is better because he is more humble.
Your mention of Brandon's intent makes me think that I might be perceived as criticizing him. If that is the case, then I apologize. I mean to discuss, not criticize.