White, T H The Once And Future King G P Putnams Sons, New York

White, T. H. The Once And Future King. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York.
1958.

The main character in the novel is Wart. He lives with his foster
brother Kay at Sir Ector’s castle in a Forest. Kay and Wart are really good
friends and they go on a lot of adventures in the woods. One day Wart is out
in the woods and he finds Merlyn. Wart takes Merlyn back to Sir Ector’s
castle. Merlyn is a magician and he becomes Wart’s tutor. Merlyn turns
Wart into many different animals ,such as a fish, an ant, and a badger, and
sends him on many adventures. Merlyn teaches Wart many lessons.
One day the castle receives a letter that says that the King of England
had died and since he had no kin it was going to be a hard task to find a new
King of England. A sword stuck in an anvil appeared in front of the church in
London and on the anvil were inscribed the words “Whoso Pulleth Out This
Sword of this Stone and Anvil, is Rightwise King Born of All England” (201).
There was a tournament held in London and all were invited to come and the
one who pulled the sword out would be the new King of England. Wart and
Kay went along with Sir Ector to London. In addition to having people try to
pull out the sword they have activities like jousting. While in London, Kay
joins in on the jousting but he left his sword in the house they were staying in
so Wart went back to the house but it was locked and as he walked back he
saw the sword in the anvil. He decided to borrow the sword, and he went
over to it and pulled it out. When he told Kay where he got the sword Kay
announced that Wart was the new King of England, but Merlyn changes his
name to Arthur and from then on he was King Arthur.
Lancelot is a knight for King Arthur. He is a very good knight but his
main downfall is that he is very ugly. Lancelot goes through many problems
but his biggest problem is that he falls in love with Arthur’s wife, Guenever.
Guenever also falls in love with Lancelot. They try to deny it to themselves
but Lancelot is a very unstable emotionally and he can’t handle having to his
love for Guenever and he goes mad two or three times.
Later in the book Arthur’s son, Mordred, comes back and tries to
overthrow Arthur. He uses Lancelot and his love for Guenever to try to
overthrow Arthur. Arthur and Lancelot have a big fight that amuses Mordred
very much but in the end Arthur finds out that the whole plot was Mordred’s.
In the end he has Mordred executed and he lets Guenever go with Lancelot
because he sees their great love for each other.
My favorite character in the book was Merlyn. For example, he is very
wise and he has good common sense because he said “Sometimes life does
seem to be unfair” (85). Moreover, he is an impact maker. Even though he is
not the main character and not in the book very long he makes a big impact
on the story. Merlyn actions made him like me because I think I am very
wise. I also think that I do not have to be the main focus to make an impact.
I can make an impact no matter how little of part I have.
One problem Arthur has in the story is that he has to get a sword for
Kay. For Instance, when he finds the house the sword is in is locked he has
to find an alternative and says “Where does one get hold of a sword? Where
can I steal one?” (206). When Arthur can’t get the sword from the house he
has to find one laying around so he takes the one out of the anvil in front of
the church. The result of this action is that he gets a sword for Kay. Another
result is that he becomes King of England because he can get the sword out of
the anvil.
This book is very much like the book A Connecticut Yankee in King
Arthur’s Court. For example, in this book their schedule is “Mondays and
Fridays, tilting and horsemanship; Tuesdays, hawking; Wednesdays, fencing;
Thursdays, archery; Saturdays, the theory of chivalry” (3). They have to do
many things to train to be knights. In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s
Court the Yankee had to learn jousting and horsemanship. He is also
knighted in the book because he has practiced his jousting and horsemanship
enough he can do a good job for the king.
I like this book very much. For example, Merlyn says “Love is a trick
played on us by the forces of evolution. Pleasure is the bait laid down by the
same. There is only power. Power is of the individual mind, but the mind’s
power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end, and
only Might is Right” (47-48). This line defines the book very well. Power is
the only thing Arthur has because he loved Guenever but it was only a trick
because she actually left him but he still had his power after she left. This is
the kind of books I like. Someone has total power over a person or a lot of
people. I don’t like stories that are just love stories because as Merlyn said
love is a trick played on us and I don’t like to be tricked. I am not saying that
I don’t like love stories but it’s just you can only have so much of love in a
story. You have to have some fighting and people with power.

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