Sword in the Stone by T. H. White, Bill Peet

690 Words2 Pages

In the story “Sword in the Stone” the Wart learns some valuable life educating lessons that will help him in the long run. When Sir Ector, and his friend, Sir Grummore Grummursum are at the drinking port they decide they should go on a quest to find a tutor for his sons, the Wart and Kay. A new tutor was needed since their old tutor went crazy. It was a busy time of the year and Sir Ector did not have the time to find a tutor. After a day of difficult working in the hay fields the Wart and Kay decide to go hawking. Their hawk flies away hoping it will find a rabbit and sadly it flies into the forest and sits in a tree. Kay gets aggravated and storms off while the Wart decides to recapture it. He stops under a tree where it had landed and the Wart gets shot at by an arrow. He runs through the forest and finds a knight named King Pellinore. King Pellinore is on a quest for the questing beast which is a magical animal. King Pellinore hears the beast and dashes off to find it leaving the Wart behind. The Wart was alone and fell asleep under a nearby tree.
When Wart wakes up he finds himself in the middle of nowhere. He notices that he is close to a forest cottage. He meets a magician named Merlyn. He ends up becoming Wart’s new tutor. Wart invites Merlyn to Sir Ector’s castle. When they arrive at the castle, Merlyn demonstrates his magical powers to Sir Ector.
When it comes time for the Wart’s first tutoring session, they go to a bridge and the Wart starts to talk to Merlyn. The Wart told Merlyn that he would like to be a fish so he could swim freely in the water. On page 45 it states that the Wart said “ I wish I was a fish”. Then by the Wart’s surprise, Merlyn granted that wish by turning the Wart into a fish. Merlyn and the W...

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... Well, I can only teach you two things-to dig, and love your home. These are the true end of philosophy”. He also taught him that all creatures started out as embryos and were then classified by their characteristics. Becoming a man was the last choice and God placed the man to have dominion over the animals.
When the Wart pulled the sword from the stone and became king, he is now known as King Arthur. During his many transformations he learns many lessons that will benefit him and the people he will rule. He learns that absolute power is not good. He can be understanding and open-minded. The power of being king should not control you so much that you forget that you have a responsibility. You have freedoms that should help him to make ethical, wise decisions as a king. His responsibility as a king is not to overpower the people but to lead them successfully.

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