Archetypes In The Once And Future King

“Men could see no further than the present inconveniences, and never thought of providing remedies for future ones, but in proportion as they arose.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French writer and philosopher, acknowledged humanity’s myopic predilection. Ignoring long-term impact in favor of immediate satiation, humanity will often continue to make the same mistakes. This shortsightedness is a contributing factor to the cyclical nature of history. Consequently, common trends tend to exist as a result of this cyclical nature, establishing archetypes in various ideologies, literatures, and movements. One such movement utilizing an archetypical structure is orchestrated by King Arthur in the novel, The Once and Future King, written by T. H. White. In

For instance, after Lancelot arrives from his adventures, Arthur laments to him regarding the tribulations of his once grand idea, bemoaning, “My scheme is going wrong. All these knights now are making a fetish of it. They are turning it into a competitive thing” (White, 365). Although Arthur succeeds in implementing his Round Table (the first phase of his movement) and promoting a sense of chivalry amongst his court (the second phase), his intentions are instead being distorted to the very sportsmanship he tried to avoid. Due to not taking account of the possible consequences that eventually materialize, Arthur’s success actually results in failure. Moreover, after Arthur initiates a search for the Holy Grail (the third phase) in order to refocus the Round Table, it is noted that, “Half the knights had been killed--the best half. What Arthur had feared from the start of the Grail Quest had come to pass. If you achieve perfection, you die. There had been nothing left for Galahad to ask of God, except death. The best knights had gone to perfection, leaving the worst to hold their sieges” (White, 477). Although Arthur intended to improve his Round Table, he did not properly prepare for the risks associated with his quest, and the consequences of its completion. As a result of Arthur’s imprudence, the success of his quest is instead detrimental to the resulting state of his court.

Initially, Beth Noveck describes the first attempts at an open government during the United States’ inception (first phase). The White House, described by Noveck initially as an “open house” where “neighbors came and went”, juxtaposes with a more contemporary White House that is “anything but open” with “bomb blast curtains” and a “firewall” (Noveck, 1). Similarly to the parabolic quality in the initial stages of Arthur’s kingdom, the United States reverses its attitude on open governance (characterizing the second phase). The openness of the United States - which popularized the nation - ironically succumbs to the growth it helped spur. Noveck then proposes two phases forward that are more akin to Arthur’s proposition for the Holy Grail, stating firstly that the United States should be “getting better information in” and “delivering better information (Noveck, 4), where the government should provide improved outlets of information to its citizens. This approach, unfortunately, is analogous to the shortsighted approaches that Arthur takes. Noveck overestimates the ability of the government to implement this approach, as well as the degree to which these citizens will seek this newfound information under an already apathetic civil union. Her approach, therefore, is questionable in terms of efficacy. Furthermore, Noveck then proposes “getting decision making power