-
Essay / The Former and Future King: "The Ants" Summary
Although he protests, Wart is confined to his room for three days straight to heal his broken collarbone. The only company Wart would ever have was at night, when Kay visited him. Merlyn was teaching Wart some lessons by shouting them through the keyhole. The only entertainment Wart could have in the room was observing the ants inside the ant nests between the glass plates of Merlyn's old house in the forest. Wart asks Merlyn if he can turn it into something through the keyhole, but Merlyn announces that he is unable to do so. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. The Wart then asks Merlyn if he could turn him into an ant, to which he replies that it would be dangerous at this point. Merlyn tells him that the ants are dangerous and belligerent. He says that this lesson is much too early to happen in Wart's education, but he decides that he will because Wart has to learn it at some point. Merlyn then tells the wart to take part of the ground and make a bridge by placing the part between the two ant nests. He then notices himself in a place apparently filled with rocks, a bit like a fortress. There were two tunnels that had a notice saying “EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT FORBIDDEN IS OBLIGATORY”. The wart reads this review and doesn't like it, then it starts to shrink until it's the size of an ant. He starts waving his antennae and was able to hear something like a wireless broadcast. The show seems to repeat a rhythm over and over again, mainly with the sounds June, Mammy, Ever, Blue and Love. The wart likes these repetitive sounds at first, but after an hour, the sounds start to make him feel nauseous inside. Wart then hears higher-ranking ants announce the directions the numbered ants should go based on their age. He then walks certain paths and finds two dead ants in a hollow. Dead ants do not seem to show joy or sadness over their own deaths. A live ant then walks down the path with another corpse ant and says "Hello!" to the wart. The wart observes the confused wandering and unusual movements of the ants. He also realizes that he can't ask the ants many questions like in the human world; it can only define something as finished or not finished. The living ant then says “Hello! " at the wart again and asks him what he's doing, to which he honestly replies that he's not doing anything. Surprised by his response, the ant speaks through its antennae and announces that the wart is crazy. The show told the ant to ask for the wart's number and her personal account, but she lost her comfort in answering these questions. Instead, Wart used sarcasm in his response saying he had fallen on his head and was unable to remember any of his personal information. The ant and the transmitter accept this response and tell him to leave. The wart heads in the opposite direction and remembers its own number like an ant. He joins the squad of ants and starts eating crops with them. He realizes, however, that the food he eats does not go directly to his stomach but rather to his private parts and upper stomach, where the food could be discharged. Wart then hears the squad of ants conversing with each other, and he likes the sound. Two of the ants discuss the monotonous rhythms coming from the antennae and enjoy the sound. They also discuss the greatness of their leader ant, a female. They mention his.