In The Once and Future King, Merlin has the ability to know the future and what is to come. What benefit to the story do you think Merlin knowing the future adds?
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
The Future is... bright?
"What is confounding me," exclaimed the magician, pulling out his hair in tuffs, "is that I can't remember whether it is in the future or in the past." (White 285)
In The Once and Future King, Merlin has the ability to know the future and what is to come. What benefit to the story do you think Merlin knowing the future adds?
In The Once and Future King, Merlin has the ability to know the future and what is to come. What benefit to the story do you think Merlin knowing the future adds?
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I think for this story it benefits King Arthur in the way that he knows that he is going to win the battle because he is trying a new way of fighting the other Kings. However, we did also see how it can be a disadvantage to know both the past and the future at the same time because he couldn't remember that information that he was supposed to tell him. I also liked the foreshadowing that Merlyn did about Guinevere because it made me want to continue reading. What did he have to warn Arthur about ?
ReplyDeleteIt definitely adds some complexity. It also makes Arthur different than all of the other kings before him; he has the help of someone who has this fountain of power. It presents Arthur with specific and unique dilemmas that make his stories just more interesting to read. People at the time were interested in fate and destiny so having Merlin know the future plays on this concept so entertain audiences
ReplyDeleteWhile it's a benefit to the characters in the fact that they're able to plan ahead and know how to succeed, it's a bit of a detriment to the reader, I think. While we read, we like to predict what's going to happen. So if there's a character who knows the future, we're not surprised when we get there. Then, from a storytelling perspective, how does Merlin's knowledge of the future affect the reader? Why are we still interested in reading the outcome when we already know it?
ReplyDeleteI think it adds a little bit to perspective to the story and helps Arthur make more solid decisions rather then chancing things. I do feel however that if Merlin cant keep the future and past straight-as you mentioned- that might be more of a hindrance then a help because a certain times Merlins very confident on what will happen which helps Arthur, but then other times when he's confused (I guess) it would be massively confusing to Arthur because he's so used to having someone know exactly whats going to happen.
ReplyDeleteAlong with all the obvious benefits, it really gives Arthur so much room for error to work with. Arthur can make as many mistakes as he wants to learn from, and Merlyn can step in when he sees a mistake really hurt the Kingdom's future. This would allow Arthur to become the best King he possibly could so Merlyn can intervene as little as possible.
ReplyDelete@James - yeah, don't you wish that we all had that benefit?
ReplyDelete@Esther - this is, in many ways, the question that I ask about any Arthur story, or any story that is told and retold throughout the years. We know how it turns out, so why do we keep reading? What keeps us coming back for more? I have lots of theories, obvs, but would love to know what y'all think!