White, T. H. The Once And Future King. G. P. Putnams Sons, New York. E

White, T. H. The Once And Future King. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 1958. The main character in the novel is Wart. He lives with his foster brother Kay at Sir Ector's castle in a Forest. Kay and Wart are really good friends and they go on a lot of adventures in the woods. One day Wart is out in the woods and he finds Merlyn. Wart takes Merlyn back to Sir Ector's castle. Merlyn is a magician and he becomes Wart's tutor. Merlyn turns Wart into many different animals ,such as a fish, an ant, and a badger, and sends him on many adventures. Merlyn teaches Wart many lessons. One day the castle receives a letter that says that the King of England had died and since he had no kin it was going to be a hard task to find a new King of England. A sword stuck in an anvil appeared in front of the church in London and on the anvil were inscribed the words ?Whoso Pulleth Out This Sword of this Stone and Anvil, is Rightwise King Born of All England? (201). There was a tournament held in London and all were invited to come and the one who pulled the sword out would be the new King of England. Wart and Kay went along with Sir Ector to London. In addition to having people try to pull out the sword they have activities like jousting. While in London, Kay joins in on the jousting but he left his sword in the house they were staying in so Wart went back to the house but it was locked and as he walked back he saw the sword in the anvil. He decided to borrow the sword, and he went over to it and pulled it out. When he told Kay where he got the sword Kay announced that Wart was the new King of England, but Merlyn changes his name to Arthur and from then on he was King Arthur. Lancelot is a knight for King Arthur. He is a very good knight but his main downfall is that he is very ugly. Lancelot goes through many problems but his biggest problem is that he falls in love with Arthur's wife, Guenever. Guenever also falls in love with Lancelot. They try to deny it to themselves but Lancelot is a very unstable emotionally and he can't handle having to his love for Guenever and he goes mad two or three times. Later in the book Arthur's son, Mordred, comes back and tries to overthrow Arthur. He uses Lancelot and his love for Guenever to try to overthrow Arthur. Arthur and Lancelot have a big fight that amuses Mordred very much but in the end Arthur finds out that the whole plot was Mordred's. In the end he has Mordred executed and he lets Guenever go with Lancelot because he sees their great love for each other. My favorite character in the book was Merlyn. For example, he is very wise and he has good common sense because he said ?Sometimes life does seem to be unfair? (85). Moreover, he is an impact maker. Even though he is not the main character and not in the book very long he makes a big impact on the story. Merlyn actions made him like me because I think I am very wise. I also think that I do not have to be the main focus to make an impact. I can make an impact no matter how little of part I have. One problem Arthur has in the story is that he has to get a sword for Kay. For Instance, when he finds the house the sword is in is locked he has to find an alternative and says ?Where does one get hold of a sword? Where can I steal one (206). When Arthur can't get the sword from the house he has to find one laying around so he takes the one out of the anvil in front of the church. The result of this action is that he gets a sword for Kay. Another result is that he becomes King of England because he can get the sword out of the anvil. This book is very much like the book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. For example, in this book their schedule is ?Mondays and Fridays, tilting and horsemanship; Tuesdays, hawking; Wednesdays, fencing; Thursdays, archery; Saturdays, the