Sorry for putting this up a bit late guys.
War, an overly common theme in Arthurian legends, is not normally seen as a bad or negative thing. In past novels the only war that was seen as a horribly negative thing was the war between Lancelot and Arthur, and the only reason it was seen as such a bad thing was because it destroyed the Round Table and the friendship between Lancelot and Arthur. In The Once and Future King we see a very different viewpoint of war. While the young knights find war exhilarating and exciting, Merlin doesn't share their viewpoint. With his advanced age, he has seen his fair share of war and understands all too well the devastation it causes. In an attempt to teach the young King Arthur proper justification of war he explains,
"No. There is one fairly good reason for fighting-- and that is, if the other man starts it. You
see, wars are a wickedness of a wicked species. They are so wicked that they must not be
allowed. When you can be perfectly certain that the other man started them, then is the time
when you might have a sort of duty to stop him" (226).
Though it is Merlin's biased opinion, it makes sense. War to Merlin is only justifiable if someone else starts it and therefore you need to stop it to teach a lesson or to keep further damage from being down to your lands. He is also against the ruthless killing of people for no apparent reason and finds serious injustice in the fact that the common people are the only ones that get killed or injured in most wars. An interesting line of this paragraph is, "you see, wars are a wickedness of a wicked species." This line is quite different; normally people don't see the human race as a wicked species, though in the context of war we are. We are a species that enjoys the concept of destruction and war, it seems as though no matter what time period we line in we, as a species, will always find something to fight about and start a war over.
I laughed when in Book 2 Kay argues with Merlyn about it and he brings up Hitler. Sometimes I think Merlyn is saying only what needs to be said regardless of whether he believes it or not.
ReplyDeleteWars have always been unjust and it seems like the more people try to make them just the messier they get. And yes you're right we as a species always find a reason. A modern example would be America, in the 200+ years of its existence less then 25 of those years have been peaceful.
I feel it is good to see that there is another viewpoint made by White before the senseless bloodshed begins. Merlin's argument will not be heeded but, I find it a good inversion of the common bloodshed at the slightest insult motif that has saturated the narrative for so long.
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