Wart realized then not to eat the hedgehog that implies what he chooses when to lead a kingdom in the future, either for tyranny or for freedom.
A lesson Wart learned from his fish transformation about how to handle with absolute power whether for the good of all his dominion or for the worst of it. In chapter 21 where Wart transformed into a badger, weakened him to devour the hedgehog but eventually realized upon a dialogue with a wise badger about the parable of Man’s power or control over animals. Wart was able to learn the differences between governing societies during the transformation.
Predators are considered to be the lone enemy of the goose colony which is not of the same specie unlike ants. Yet goose work for a common goal and common cause beneficial to the whole colony and do not suppresses freedom. Though both colonies are communal in nature but the difference of goose life differs in that of the ant because there are no territories or boundaries in their way of life. When Wart transformed into an owl where he learned to fly and then turn into a goose, he learned the difference between colonies of ant and colonies of goose. Any other ant not belonging to the same group of ant was considered to be enemy of the group thus waging war and violence is a common incident. During his stay with the ant, Wart also learned about territories defended by ants. Because the Wart is doing nothing, the ant thinks he is insane and reports him to the central command”, (Benson, Etienne and Phillips, Brian, 2008). The Wart comes across an ant who is busy arranging the corpses of two dead ants. “In his head, the Wart can hear repetitive broadcasts that alternate between giving orders and directions and playing repetitive, soothing gibberish. In the communal life of an ant, Wart experienced how to work for a common good not for the common goal but of what the society dictates even to the point of losing freedom yet embracing hard labor as a duty.
In chapters 13 and 18, Wart was transformed into an ant, an owl and a goose. Wart’s exposure to the rest of the birds as he stayed overnight with them exposed him to the life of a soldier fighting and defending his boundaries as to soldiers in his future kinghood demonstrates courage that endures to lead and rule. Wart’s response to the pike’s aggressive statement shows the capability of Wart to rule a just and good ruler. In chapters 5 and 8, Wart turned into a fish and merlin, a hunting bird, his first exposure as a fish to the new world as to what lies ahead when King rules with absolute power. This paper will focus only on Book 1- The Sword and The Stone describing the adventures of Wart in terms of the role of magic influenced by his tutor, Merlyn, focuses on animal transformation as Arthur’s educational training ground before becoming the King of medieval England.
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