The Differences Between Wart And Kay

The Differences between Wart and Kay

The characters of Wart and Kay in the book The Once and Future King are dissimilar in many ways. In book 1, “The Sword and the Stone” we begin to hear about the life of a young boy, Wart, who will one day be known as King Arthur. Wart grows up in the castle of Sir Ector, his foster father. Kay is the true son of Sir Ector and will inherit his title. There are numerous differences between the two young boys. Wart is unlike Kay in his eager to please manner, the way he handles power, and his openness to learning new things.

In the beginning of the book Wart is a naÐ"Їve, easily influenced, and apparently insignificant young boy. He grows up in the shadow of his brother, Kay, who is proud, haughty, and controlling. Kay rarely gets in trouble or does something wrong because of his status in the house. He will one day become a knight and inherit the title of his father. Because Wart is not a true son of Sir Ector, Kay looks down on Wart. Wart accepts his status and idolizes Kay because of his connection to knighthood. This classifies Wart as a “born hero-worshipper”. Unlike Wart, Kay would never put himself below someone else. This can be shown in the example where the hawk Cully flies off in the woods. Wart is worried that the hawk’s trainer, Hob, would be upset to find so much hard work put to waste. Wart then stays the night in the woods looking for the hawk. Kay, however, dismisses the bird saying that Hob is just a servant and not worthy enough to worry about. The differences between the two boys are quite apparent in this situation. It shows how well mannered and eager to please Wart is and how pretentious Kay is.

There are many differences in the way the two boys handle power. Kay is an overconfident young boy who is spoiled by his own dominance, that he cannot stand to be challenged. He knows Wart looks up to him and takes that for granted. He belittles Wart when he gets praise. However as time progresses, Kay’s character develops. He remains haughty and exceedingly proud, but he becomes more likeable. He shows that he can be a good leader when he shoots the griffin and saves his companions. This gives you and idea about what kind of leader Kay is, triumphant and courageous. In this quest Wart does not show the same type of heroics as