The Wart, the Roach, and the Monarch After reading The Once and Future King, by T.H White, the main character, the Wart goes through many transformations, this reflection will be reviewing chapter 5 and the lessons the Wart learns; compassion through the roach and swan and the dangers of a tyrannical government through Mr. P. The Wart’s first lesson starts out on a hot summer day by the moat of Ector’s castle. Merlin talks to the god Neptune and asks if he will turn the Wart into a fish, Neptune accepts and the Wart is off on his first lesson. “Snylrem stnemilpmoc ot enutpen dna lliw eh yldnik tpecca siht yob sa a hsif?” (White 45). This quote was Merlin’s “spell” but if you read it backwards, he is just asking Neptune if he will accept Wart as a fish. …show more content…
The Wart and Merlin see a timid, scared roach. As they start to approach, the roach burst out in tears the roach says his mom is sick, Merlin asks the roach to lead him to his mother, which he does, Merlin says that it is probably nothing at all but hysteria.“If you p-p-p-please, doctor… it’s our mama, w-w-will she swim a-a-all the time upside d-d-d-down…’It is probably a case of nervous hysteria’” (White 48). White is showing us the state of the fish or the subjects that is under the king and how bad the conditions are, it has caused Mrs. Roach to go into a mental breakdown. This is the point where the Wart starts to get the concept of compassion, this family of fish is going into mass hysteria because they do not have access to the right medical care because of their selfish