Thursday, April 2, 2020
Dumb Boy Becomes Genius in Two Seconds
So Arthur is described early in the story as having "fair hair and a stupid face, or at any rate there was a lack of cunning in it" (Malory, 221). The author then envelopes us in a story of a condescending Merlyn who calls everything Arthur says wrong. To revise this Merlyn, naturally, tells Arthur he needs to think more. A mere day later Arthur has the ideas of The Knights of the Round Table, the need to recruit knights young to mold them, and understands the morality of war and peace. My question is not as much how could Arthur just come up with these ideas but why would the author make it seem as if these thoughts were plopped in Arthur's head?
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I think that maybe Arthur was not really dumb. He already knew how to rule but he just did not use his abilities in the correct ways. Merlyn seemed like he was simply giving Arthur a push in the right direction. Though I do agree that Arthur suddenly having this brilliant plan in less than a day is hardly believable and for him to have completely switched his view on war so quickly. I think the author chose to make the ideas just come to him because it showed how Arthur was actually ready to rule and be a great King.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same exact thing Caroline. I think Arthur is a character that has the abilities within himself already and just needs that push from Merlyn. Merlyn is sort of a mentor for Arthur, Merlyn believes in Arthur, Arthur just needs to believe in himself.
DeleteI think that Arthur is not dumb as sometimes seems to be and has plenty of these ideas in his head. Therefore Arthur having these plans in a day does sound reasonable to me because I think he has been thinking about this for a long time and waiting for the right moment.
ReplyDeleteI think I will have to disagree with you about Merlin being condescending. I agree with Caroline as she said perhaps Merlin was simply trying to push Arthur in the right direction. After all, he is his "guardian".
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Caroline here. In all the tales and stories and films that we have seen, Merlin is basically Arthur's guardian angel because he has weird powers. So yes, I think you are right when you say that Merlin was just pointing Arthur in the right direction because its kinda his job.
DeleteYeah, this is a tough moment because it's hard to read so little of the novel and have stuff really make sense. The whole first book is Merlyn planting these seeds of wisdom in young Arthur's head and then kind of patiently cultivating them and waiting for the moment when they will really come into fruition. I kinda love the description of Arthur as not seeming "cunning" - not a word with a really great connotation, is it?
ReplyDeleteI think maybe Arthur wasn't actually dumb, but didn't have the knowledge he needed to be a King. Theres a big difference between making decisions for oneself or even ones family, then making the decisions for an entire kingdom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that it's quite bizarre Arthur is portrayed in that way, but very quickly "comes up with these ideas". That being said, I agree with Caroline when she says Arthur isn't actually dumb, and uses Merlin for a step in the right direction. Anyways, good thoughts here James.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Arthur wasn't dumb either, I think he was just not that prepared to take on the role as king. If someone were to give me a role that involved such power and experience I would probably not know how to act or what to do. I think Merlin is trying to help him as well.
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