The Sword in the Stone
Uploaded by Admin on Jan 22, 1999
The Sword in the Stone is a book about an adopted child named Wart. He is of royal blood and does not know this. One day when Wart is in the forest, he finds a magician named Merlin. Merlin comes home with Wart and agrees with Sir Ector, Wart's guardian, to become Wart's tutor. Merlin goes about educating Wart by transforming him into different animals. Through each transformation Wart experiences different forms of power, each being a part of how he should rule as king.
The first transformation plunges Wart and Merlin into the castle's moat as fish. They proceed to meet the largest fish in the moat, who is the ruler. This fish takes what he wants because of his size. In a speech about power, he tells Wart that, "Might is right," and might of the body is greater than might of the mind. Because of the way the fish-king rules, his subjects obey him out of fear for their lives. Wart experiences this firsthand when the fish-king tells him to leave. He has grown bored of Wart, and if Wart does not leave he will eat him. The king uses his size as his claim to power, therefore his subjects follow him out of fear.
In Wart's next transformation into a hawk, he soars into the castle's mews. All the birds in the mews have a military rank. Their leader is an old falcon, who Sir Ector keeps for show. The birds who rank below the falcon, hold her in highest regard because of her age. She applies her power over the other birds with no concern for their lives. In one instance, Wart is ordered to stand next to the cage of a crazy hawk who almost kills him. On the other hand, her seasoned age brings respect, since she had not been released once she outlived her usefulness as a huntress. This allows her to maintain a powerful grip over all the birds she rules through fear and respect.
Next, Wart is transformed into an ant and posted within an ant colony. There is a single leader of the ants, and she is the only thinking individual in the whole nest. All the ants are manipulated and overseen by her. Each ant has a specific task, which it completes repeatedly. The absolute power exerted by the leader destroys all individualism, leaving the ants with no creativity. Instead, they...