Crytal Cave and Narcissus

To live is as easy as it is to breathe, and as hard as it is to see through the dark. The path of ones life is never set out for them. To discover where life will lead, a person must search out where truth for them lies. When challenges arise, it is the truth that should stand out as the only acceptable solution. Two works of literature, The Crystal Cave, and Narcissus and Goldmund, show this search for a life’s path and the trials along the way.

Throughout the Crystal Cave, a fantasy about the life of Merlin, the author, Mary Stewart, runs the theme of knowledge which is ever present and always within our grasp. Through her story, she teaches that life is a cycle of continuous learning. She presents Merlin as a child born from a royal mother and an unknown father. As he grows, he learns that he has the destiny to bring a king to power who will bring peace back to the world. We are taught through the experience of young Merlin, in this first of four books, that we must be open at all times to what the world is offering to teach us. Merlin comes to the realization of his life’s destiny through three key events. These events come to pass without any provoking from Merlin. He reacts to what life is putting in front of hi

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From that point, Goldmund thinks that he has discovered his life’s destiny. Once a truth is realized, and a person understands that their life does have a purpose, the path can be found. Unlike Merlin, Goldmund chooses to make the drastic change and search out his destiny. His life after that first time is basically a search for that experience over and over again in many different forms.

The first event where Merlin is seen to be open to acquiring knowledge is when he is in a secret passage in which he hides to get away from the people of the court. That final event in that story is the conception of the High King, which takes place with that aid of Merlin.

The first meeting with Narcissus is what “awakens” Goldmund from the deception which he had been living under. He is blinded by what the physical world offers him.

Goldmund and Merlin both find their paths. Merlin knows that Uther is destines to be that father of the king that will bring peace. His visions and prophecies eventually bring him to the High King’s brother, Uther. He shows Merlin how to see inside himself and discover the truth. It takes Narcissus a long time to undo the lies which have been fed into Goldmund, but, when he does, there is a rush of truth lighting the next steps to his destiny

Goldmund’s first experience with a woman is the second event which shapes out his life. Goldmund’s anxiousness to discover his path leads him to ignore the entire truth.

Approximate Word count = 1102
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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