The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White

1019 Words3 Pages

It’s everywhere. It surrounds me and tracks me down like an unyielding shadow. I often ponder about this magical illusion that I am enveloped in, and find myself dumbfounded with the outcome. What is it? How can I rid of this “thing'; that tugs on my sleeve and has me tied down relentlessly? There’s no explanation, it’s just there. Itlingers mysteriously above my head as if a lonely moon hung high in the midnight sky,illuminating a faint glimmer of mist above the surface of the dark pool water. I feel it now, and I felt it then after reading The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White. An enchanting novel, it engulfed the reader in a powerful trance. Young Arthur went through a dramatic change in his life after coming upon Merlin, his future mentor and closest companion. He began to transform into a mature and respectable man; a work involved with more than magic; a work created through a strong basis of trust and love.
“The love business is a powerful thing. I must say it is probably the greatest force on Earth.'; (p110) Merlin said this line with such assurance and confidence that young Arthur, formerly known as the Wart, only longed to believe that this statement was true. He was unaccustomed to such “petty'; things as love, in which he was blind to, so in the beginning, he was hesitant on Merlin’s teachings on the topic of love and trust.
In his earlier years of his life, growing up for Arthur consisted of constant difficult hardships and inexplicable hate solely targeted at him by family members. He couldn’t understand the reason why he received less attention and acclaim by his father, Sir Ector. Kay, his older brother was rude and annoyingly impatient with the Wart and often attended to him with foul language. He acted in such hateful manners towards him because he was actually jealous of his younger brother: “The Wart loved hay-making, and was good at it. Kay, who was two years older, generally stood on the edge of the bundle of hay which he was trying to pick up, with the result that he worked twice as hard as the Wart for only half the result. But he hated to be beaten by anybody at anything and used to fight away with the wretched hay - which he loathed like poison - until he was sick.

Open Document