Thursday, April 2, 2020
Act like a King, Think like a King
Personally, I thought the character development of Arthur in Whites Queen of Air and Darkness was... interesting to say the least. I throughly enjoyed how Merlyn was portrayed more as an advisor in this and we actually get to see him counsel and teach Arthur throughout the book. Over time Arthur appeared to make more and more decisions instead of always relying on Merlyn to make them or push him in the right direction. Merlyn pushes Arthur to realize "Its not so much what you are doing... its how you are thinking"(222) which honestly I feel is good advice for anyone, but specifically in Arthurs case it helps him realize, it's not enough to act like a King, he has to think like a King too. However, I don't know how I feel about Arthur ignoring the riles of knightly combat towards the end of the story. On one hand, Arthur did have a much smaller army then the Gaels, but on the other, once his allies showed up his army swelled. I did think it was interesting because I felt it showed Arthur as being a little bloodthirsty, which tied into earlier in the story when Arthur was holding the stone and was almost marveling at the fact he could drop it and kill someone, and no one would do a thing about it.
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I also enjoyed Merlyn being more of an advisor in the story. I liked how he was guiding Arthur to do the right thing but was not just out right giving the answer to Arthur. He made Arthur have to think for himself.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that the part in the story where Arthur was holding that stone and thinking about the way he could kill someone by dropping it was kind of odd. But I don't think that the comparison whit hime fighting the Gaels is in direct correlation. I just think that Arthur is a leader that believes in his team no matter what the size.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a moment when TH WHite's pacifism shows itself; remember, he's a conscientious objector to the war and is very keen to make sure none of his readers see violence as a solution. Seeing Arthur grapple with the consequences of his actions is, to me, one of the strongest parts of the book. I wish all of our leaders would understand that struggle when people's lives are in their hands.
ReplyDeleteYes, I completely agree. Throughout the story Merlyn is guiding Arthur towards the ways Merlyn wants him to think. This is very important for Merlyn to do because when Arthur actually becomes the King Arthur stories are written about, who do we have to thank for his wisdom and leadership abilities?...
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