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Allusions
Book 1, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—A First-Rate Eddication:
At the beginning of the novel, White introduces Sir Ector's character through the dialect he uses in conversation with Sir Grummore about finding a tutor for Kay and Wart:
When they had got rid of the governess, Sir Ector said, "After all, damn it all, we can't have the boys runnin' about all day like hooligans—after all, damn it all? Ought to be havin' a first-rate eddication, at their age. When I was their age, I was doin' all this Latin and stuff at five o'clock every mornin'. Happiest time of me life. Pass the port."
Book 1, Chapter 13
Explanation and Analysis—Beloved Leader:
Throughout the animal adventures on which Merlyn sends Kay in The Sword in the Stone, the encounter with the ants in Chapter 13 is perhaps the most compelling for its own sake. Of the many important comments that White makes in that chapter—on groupthink, labor, and authority—the most relevant as a literary device is the dialect of the ants, a distinctive Cockney whine:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"I dew think our beloved Leader is wonderful, don't yew? They sigh she was stung three hundred times in the last war, and was awarded the Ant Cross for Valor."
"How lucky we are to be born in the 'A' nest, don't yew think, and wouldn't it be hawful to be one of those orrid 'B's."
"Wasn't it hawful about 310099/WD! Of course e was hexecuted at once, by special order of ar beloved Leader."
Book 4, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Muckle Strong:
Gawaine's dialect, in Chapter 2 of The Candle in the Wind, is certainly the most strongly inflected dialect in the entire novel. He is speaking with Agravaine and Gaheris and Gareth, the three brothers meeting with Arthur's son. The brothers became more kind and moral over the years, contrasting with Agravaine. But Gawaine's way of speaking remains unique:
Unlock with LitCharts A+"I am'na muckle strong, brother, and I dinna trade upon it."
"For masel', I dinna wish to speak of it."
"Nane o' that! Ye think I winna hit ye because ye are crookit, and ye take advantage."
