The Once and Future King: Post Two, The Queen of Air and Darkness

Starting in the second part of the book, Arthur is our most main character. As stated in my previous post Arthur is a very trusting and kind individual. After pulling the sword from the stone, Arthur goes right into becoming king, but he barely changes at all. T.H. White helps show that Arthur's transformation into king is not a self-transformation by saying, "He had fair hair and a stupid face, or at any rate there was a lack of cunning in it. It was an open face, with kind eyes and a reliable, or faithful expression" (White 224). Arthur's experiences with being an animal really drive him to be a true, kind ruler and to not be a tyrant.

Although a secondary character, Morgause, Aurthur's half-sister, has been playing a big role in the conflicts Arthur faces. Morgause is very bitter about the fact that Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father, killed her father and raped her mother. Morgause is one of the Gaels along with her sisters, Morgan Le Fay and Elaine. It is because of the added conflict between the Gaels and the Normans that she rallies the country and helps start one of the Gaelic wars. Morgause's sons also play a larger role in the book. Gawaine, Agrivane, Gaharis and Gareth are Morgause's sons with Lot, her husband, and serve to tell the stories of Igraine(their grandmother) and Uther.

Arthur's biggest conflict right now is the Gaelic war that is backed by Morgause. Arthur has little knowledge of why the war exists, but Merlyn explains to him that there are multiple reasons (some being cultural tensions and others being Morgause's personal dislike for Uther and now Arthur. Merlyn explains it as, "I said the war happens for dozens of reasons, not for one. Another of the reasons for this particular war is because Queen Morgause wears the trousers" (234).

I find Arthur's view of war and life is similar to Oskar's from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In the first part of the book, during Arthur's adventures as a goose, Lyo-Lyok tells him that there are only a few species of animals that wage wars, humans being one of them. Although originally Arthur thinks war is noble, his first experiences with war leave him wondering why wars exist and if there are better ways to solve problems.