TOAFK - Allegory in the Lesson of the Ants in "The Sword in the Stone"
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The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Lesson Plans by Kristy Littlehale
The Once and Future King is divided into four books. Each book deals with a distinctive period of King Arthur’s life and important lessons for readers. Engage students with premade activities and lessons from Storyboard That!
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![The Once and Future King by T.H. White - Allegory in "The Sword and the Stone"](http://cdn.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-cells/984440/cell-col-0-row-0-w400.png "The Once and Future King by T.H. White - Allegory in "The Sword and the Stone"")
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Storyboard Description
Allegory The Once and Future King by TH White - The Sword in the Stone Allegory
Storyboard Text
- LANGUAGE
- BOOK
- Done.
- Done.
- ALLEGORICAL MEANING
- For Arthur, the ants’ language is one of the most frustrating things he encounters. Their entire vocabulary is reduced to phrases such as “done” and “not done” which apply to all questions of value. There are no words for independent thought, or for emotions, such as “freedom”,“happiness”, or “liking”. If a word does not exist then what it represents cannot be pondered.
- 105978/UDC
- Not done.
- Done.
- Not done.
- 105978/UDC
- In a totalitarian state, free thought is repressed because duty outweighs free will. Just like Hitler demanded full obedience and the repression of differentiated ideas through book burnings and the Hitler youth, the ants demand uniformity, and individuality is not tolerated.
- NUMBERS
- In Arthur’s experience, he becomes known as “number 42436/WD.”There are no names in the ant colony; every ant is assigned a number.
- 42436/WD
- During the time that this portion of the novel was being written, White was watching the basic civil rights of the Jews being stripped away. They were forced to register with the government and were stripped of their freedoms and individual rights. In Nazi Germany, they quickly became numbers, even before they were sent to the concentration camps.
- THE LEADER
- “In the middle, the Leader sat complacently, laying eggs, attending to the broadcasts, issuing directions or commanding executions, surrounded by a sea of adulation.”
- This is a comparison to how Hitler was running the Nazi party. While men were being killed in war, Hitler was being exalted as the leader of the Third Reich. He was also in control of everything, much like the Leader of the ants.
- THISNEST vs OTHERNEST
- Ant the Father has ordained that Othernest ants will be the slaves of Thisnest ants. The Othernest ants are threatening the property, boundaries, and food supplies. “We are a mighty race and have a natural right to subjugate their puny one. They are a mighty race and are unnaturally trying to subjugate our inoffensive ones.”
- This broadcast highlights the reasoning behind the Nazi’s persecution of the Jews (“they are a threat”), and their justification for waging war and expanding territory in Europe (“we are a mighty race”).
- THE RELIGIOUS CEREMONY
- “After the second kind of address, the religious services began. These dated—the Wart discovered later—from a fabulous past so ancient that once could scarcely find a date for it—a past in which the emmets had not yet settled down to communism. They came from a time when ants were still like men, and very impressive some of the services were.”
- The psalms that the ants sing are filled with war imagery. Religion has been distorted to highlight warfare and war as something the “King of Glory” has ordained. The ants have turned religion into a weapon, just as Hitler capitalizes on the patriotism of the German people by promising the restoration of glory to the Fatherland. This also relates to the Nazi propaganda machine.
Image Attributions
- 160429-D-FW736-015 - DoD News Photos - (License Attribution )
- Anti-Semitic Poster (2)Detail with a star of David - zeevveez - (License Attribution )
- Book burning - pcorreia - (License Attribution )
- Hitler and Rohm, leader of the Nazi SA - History In An Hour - (License Attribution )
- Tanks on parade in London at the end of World War I, 1918 - National Library NZ on The Commons - (License No known copyright restrictions )
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