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Haley Forth
Mrs. McGlaughlin
Honors English 2 Period 1
8 March 2019
Morality Through Individual Trials
In the Once and Future king part one, The Sword in the Stone, a fantasy novel written by
T.H. White it revolves around a future king of England. A boy named Wart, a pure and
wholesome boy living in England, undergoes transformations. Merlyn, an old magician who
lives backwards, transforms the Wart into different animals including a perch, a hawk, an ant, an
owl, a wild goose, and a badger. Through these transformations, Merlyn teaches the Wart about
life, political viewpoints, and the effects of war to help the Wart choose the type of king he wants
to become. Through individual trials, the Wart, Kay, and Merlyn express distinctions between
right and wrong.
One example of a character who showcases morality is the Wart. The Wart meets Merlyn
who puts him through a variety of adventures as different animals. Through these lessons taught
by Merlyn, the Wart becomes more aware of what's right and wrong. For example, the Wart
watches the jousting scene between King Pellinore and Sir Grummore but before, he tells Merlyn
he wants to become a knight so he can wear the large suits. After the fight, the king of the moat
begins to explain power but “the wart found himself almost hypnotized by the big words, and
hardly noticed that the tight mouth was coming closer and closer to him” (White 52). As the
more words come out of the kings mouth, the Wart realized what he said before was wrong and
it isn't a good idea to become a knight. Through the Warts personal trials, he focuses more on the
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idea of right from wrong. Another example of morality shown within the Wart is when he
interacts with the prisoners at Castle Sauvage. At this point, Kay and the Wart have returned
home but kays first instinct upon returning is to ask for the head of the griffin. Kay had just
killed the griffin but wanted to keep the head of it to showcase his chivalry but the Wart notices
the prisoners like Wat. The Wart responds to Robin wood “ if you are going to give me a
present… I would like to have him” (White 114). Robin Wood thinks giving people as presents
isn't a good idea. However, the Wart doesn't want to keep Wat, but to care for him and have
Merlyn help restore his intelligence. Instead of receiving a fancy present, Wart decided on
helping someone who needs help showing the good intentions within Warts character. Lastly, the
Wart is perceived as a weak and shy individual. Merlyn has turned the Wart into a hawk,
teaching him to be accepted by others he must accept himself. Listening to Merlyn and Cully, the
wart “ realised that now he must choose between confessing himself a human, and learning no
more of their secrets… he did not want to be a coward” (White 82). The Wart is making a good
decision on choosing what he want to go on with his life and not be a coward through the
process. From first showing himself as a weak character he proves himself...
