An Analysis of the Character of Merlin in The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart Essay

The most important and knowledgeable people in history are not born with theirtalents or contributions. They, as everyone does, need a person to give them the optionand the encouragement to achieve their fate. In The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart portraysthe life of Merlin, the main character, as he grows into a reputable individual of the time. Merlin begins his childhood as a boy who not many care for. Through the help of someimportant people, such as Tremorinus, Galapas, and Ambrosius, Merlin develops into aintellectual and knowledgeable individual. Sometimes all it takes to advance in knowledge is a little space. Merlin is alreadya knowledgeable man when he meets Tremorinus, a master engineer, who openlywelcomes Merlin into his workshop. Merlin remarks on how Tremorinus, allows meto learn all I can from him, gives me space in the workshops and material toexperiment with. (181). Merlin is able to learn a myriad of information while inTremorinus' presence. This space that Tremorinus gives Merlin is the right tool to entitleMerlin to advance intellectually. Some mentors provide the space for knowledge to grow, but others are moreeffective because they set the foundation for the knowledge to develop. The personagewho is the most efficacious and who bestows the true idea of knowledge on Merlin isGalapas. One day Merlin travels through the forest and stumbles on what looks like aninhabited cave. In the cave Merlin meets Galapas for the first time. Galapas teachesMerlin an innumerable amount of information, but he, "hardly thought of his time withhim as lessons." (54). The information that Merlin receives is more useful than thesubjects of languages and geometry that he learns from Demetrius, his first tutor. Merlinlearns how to collect herbs for medicine, study dead animals to learn of their organs,stop bleeding, set broken bones, and cleanse a wound to stop infection. Merlin loves hisvisits with Galapas. Merlin states, Whenever I could, once and sometimes twice in theweek, I rode up the valley to the cave....

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