Character Analysis: The Once And Future King

In T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, Arthur attempt to use the philosophy of might does not make right to guide himself and others in a world where the people around him believe that might does make right. Almost every chance Arthur gets to put his philosophy into practice is faced by a direct opposition. Even in the very beginning of The Sword in The Stone, the might of the people around Arthur, who is referred to as the Wart, stops him from using his own strategy. For example, in the first chapter when Kay wants to fly Cully, the goshawk, he does not let Cully rouse properly before making him fly. The Wart wants to go through the proper steps and be patient, but Kay stubbornly refuses and flies the hawk under the notion that might is

Kay uses his might to force Cully to fly when the goshawk was not ready to, resulting in Cully “… swooping like a child flung high in a swing, until the wings folded and he was sitting in a tree.” (White, 16). The boys are unable to retrieve Cully and ultimately lose the hawk in the forest, all because Kay refused to see that might does not make right. This is not the last time Arthur faces opposition to his philosophy, though. In The Sword in The Stone, the Wart is the only one to use something other than might to free the sword from the stone, and he is the only one who succeeds. He “…put out his right hand softly and drew it out as gently as from a scabbard.”(White, 205), while others, such as Kay and Sir Ector, use all their might and can only “…vainly [try] to take it out.”(White, 206). By pulling the sword softly, the Wart puts might does not make right into practice and succeeds. In The Candle In The Wind, Arthur puts might does not make right into action when he refuses to use his power to save Lancelot and Guenever from the full punishment of the law for their