Name: Marco Campbell Nickname:Mordred Interests: sailing, being angsty, hating his halfbrother, being jealous of what he doesn't have, and believing that he is the darkness in the world
Name: Lance Reynolds Nickname:Lancelot Interests: Football, sailing, Jennifer, protecting Will, being strong, helping fight the darkness
Name: Jennifer Gold Nickname: Guinevere Interests: Lance, Will, cheerleading, and being dramatic
Name: Elaine Harrison Nickname: Lady of the Lake Interests: reading (NOT the The Lady of Shalott), Will Wagner, floating, and running
Name: A. William Wagner Nickname: The Bear, Your Highness, King Interests: Football, sailing, Medieval music, Elle Harrison, saving the world from the darkness, thinking, and being amazing
I can’t say I didn’t enjoy myself. I mean it’s been years since I’ve been able to have any sort of fun and believe me, I was going to enjoy myself.
So when I found out that the reincarnations, or what I believed to be, the reincarnations of the King Arthur legends was going to play out the story right in front of me, I mean come on? How could I not have fun! I needed to up the ante by at least a hundred.
I’ve been watching the same girl for a couple weeks now, Elaine Harrison, or Ellie as she likes it, Elle even more when it’s spoken by the magistical, blue eyed boy she’s fallen in love with. And I just so happened to overhear that he might by Arthur. The King Arthur. Of Camelot. The Once and Future King sworn to return! And there he is. On that stupid boulder of his, listening to medieval music as so he so often does. Looking dead. Wait. That could actually work to my advantage.
Time to up the ante. A little thunder here. Lightening there. Oh! And to really freak out Ellie I’ll turn the sky a nice bloody red color! Ha! Look at her face! She’s totally spooked! Okay, more lightening. A just to have a little more fun, let’s add some hail! Nice! Huh, I wonder what she’s holding? Can’t be that important. BLOOD RED SKY! Yes! Oh my god this is so fun. Oh she made it, lucky her. I bet she’s probably thinking ‘oh no, he’s dead! I can’t believe he’s dead! What am I going to do if I can’t swim in those crystal beautiful blue eyes!?’ Pfft. Pathetic. Shut up Ellie some people have real problems!
Wait.. Does his brother have a gun? HOLY CRAP! I have to add my own soundtrack to this! MORE LIGHTENING! MORE THUNDER! MORE BLOOD RED SKY!!!
Oh boy! This is the kicker! She doesn’t believe he’s King Arthur, pfft! I’ll show you Ellie. As soon as he touches that sword..wait for it...wait for it...CUE: ANGELICAL CHOIR! THE SKIES ARE CLEAR! EVERYTHING IS BRIGHTER! EVERYTHING IS MORE COLORFUL! THE EARTH IS MADE A NEW! KING ARTHUR HAS RETURNED!
Loyalty and forgiveness is a major theme in Avalon High. Many of the characters show loyalty in its many different forms.
Will is a great example of this. He is the personification of the devotion to duty that is found all throughout Arthurian literature. Will is a man who believes honor is important, he believes it is important to stand up for others and feels a responsibility toward maintaining peace and showing leadership. These are loyalties to duty and humanity. Will's actions also display the Arthurian ideal of chivalry, acts of honor, self-sacrifice, duty and loyalty against all odds. Will is loyal to his brother, his father, his team mates and his school mates. Even when Will finds out that Jennifer has been cheating with Lance behind his back he finds it in his heart to forgive them for this because he sees that they are truly happy with eachother (plus it doesn't hurt that Allie is way better). Even though the premise of this story was quite ridiculous it still held true to the themes that we've grown to be accustomed to seeing in Arthurian texts.
Then he said, "Hey," again-but in a different, much softer voice.
"Hey!?" I shouted back at Will. "Are you fucking kidding me! I thought you were dead! Dead! Gone! Kaput! Finito! That's it, see ya Will! And all you can say to me is fucking hey!?"
Will stood there with a blank expression on his face. Could he really not understand why I was so upset? Why I was so angry. With Will still sitting there silently, "I thought you were dead," I whispered raggedly.
"Far from it," he whispered back.
And then suddenly he was kissing me. Figures, a boy trying to solve his problems without words and simply by kissing it away. I'm not saying that it was bad or that I didn't completely want him to kiss me. I'm just saying that after all of this he has some serious explaining to do.
"What the hell were you thinking?" I shouted at him.
"What do you mean? I was just laying down listening to my iPod. You came down and blew things way out of proportion." He replied with an attitude in his voice.
"Well... But... I..." I was stunned. I didn't even know what to say back to him. He was kinda right, wasn't he?
"Just come here," he said, pulling me in close to him and kissing me again. "I am right here and I am fine. And Nothing is going to change that."
No one can ever put their finger on the exact origin, but this song is consistently heard playing softly in the background whereever Will is spotted. Little known fact, but I heard he was also the Karate Kid in a past generation.
By this definition, King Arthur is a legend. Texts like Avalon High prove that though King Arthur stands on his own, the way authors and storytellers continue to adapt the story perpetuate the tale in new ways. Mr. Morton/The Order of the Bear/Professors Harrison help demonstrate this point; Meg Cabot chose not to simply tell the story of King Arthur, but transform it into a Christ-like tale of resurrection, using Will as the hero of the world to save humanity the way Arthur did. With a sprinkle of cheesy teenage love.
With this kind of story, it allows the story of Arthur to take on new life and evolve in a way that wouldn't be possible with a simple regurgitation of the legend. Through a teenage girl discovering the similarities of her high school crush to the great King Arthur, the story has now evolved into a modern tale that uses the original as a stepping stone. Without competing with the legend, stories like this one play with the idea of expanding. By taking the impressions left by the legend and creating something new, Cabot is taking the potential of expanding the legend and allowing it to flourish for a new audience. In this way, Arthur is no longer a hero, because he is not simply being remembered. He is a legend because he can't die with the, in this case literal, rebirth.
Okay……that was a lot weirder than I thought it was going to be, and I am kind of sick to my stomach. These people really took the whole bear thing too far, in my opinion. I got to the so called “Lodge” and the first thing I saw when I went in the front door were all the people and all the food. The selection was weird though……they had a lot of berries. Blue berries, red berries, gooseberries, they had bear claws, a pot of honey, and huge pot of porridge that was being bogarted by one of the blonde members of the Order.
After awhile came the ceremony. I can’t reveal the secrets of the Order but I can describe the ceremony somewhat. First they told me to get bare foot and to wear this bear cub costume. After a bunch of seemingly random movements and chanted phrases by the conductors of the ritual, I was put in the middle of the room on my knees and asked “Mr. Morton, are you ready to receive the secrets of the Order of the Bear”, I said “yes” but then someone behind me whispered in my ear. The person in front of me asked me the same question another time and then the person behind me whispered in my ear again. I think I was supposed to say what he whispered in my ear…..I then said in a confused manner....”does a bear shit in the woods?”. I then heard a loud VERY WELL! To which proceeded a costume battle between a bear and a wolf. It kinda looked like the marionette fight in Team America since all the members of the Order were so ancient. The ceremony ended with the death of the bear to which then I was forced to literally eat a piece of raw bear heart while everyone sang the bear necessities!…..I need to go throw up now.
I was out on the front balcony of the house when a man stepped off of the sidewalk and approached. "Mrs. Wagner, I'm Mr. Morton, the literature teacher from Avalon High School. I think we need to talk."
"Oh, Mr. Morton, of course I remember you. But... are you allowed to be here, considering Marco lives here?" I asked.
"The restraining order is on him, ma'am, on me. But I didn't come here to talk about Marco. I came here to talk about Will."
"Will?" I was shocked, no one, and I mean no one, had ever had a problem with Will.
"Yes, Mrs. Wagner. Will, your son," he said.
"Yes, I Know who you are talking about Mr. Morton. What is the issue."
"No, no, Mrs Wagner. Will, YOUR son. Your biological son." He said.
I need to sit. I need to sit down. How did he find out? My mind ran a mile a minute. No one was supposed to know. How?! When?!
"I don't know what your talking about," my faked calm not convincing him.
"Yes, you do. I have known for some time, that Will is, in fact, your son with Arthur Wagner and not Marco's father. They are half brothers."
Each comment hit me like bullets.
"Mrs. Wagner," he said. "You need to tell him. You need to tell Will the truth."
"Why?!" Tears ran down my face as I sniffled. "Why does he need to know?!"
"His life, and the lives of many others, depends on it. The truth must be know, Mrs. Wagner." He said.
Okay, so, where do I begin? Hmmmm, well I guess it started in
college; I got just a little high…on a lot of occasions… whoops, too far back. I
met this girl, I think she was a girl. Well, whatever. That's not important. What is is that "it" introduced me to the Order of
the Bears. They all liked getting really baked…. Off topic again! Okay! Well,
my life’s goal I to find Arthur; he will return. The voices tell so! Okay, so, if
that is all true, then why doesn’t she believe me? How does she not believe me? I am not crazy. Am I crazy? NO! Ms.
Harrison must know that I am telling the truth. The Order of the Bears, it’s not
cult… I mean we idolize and look for King Arthur, but I know that Will is HIM!
I am not crazy. I cannot be crazy; I know that King Arthur will return, and he
has. I tried to reason with her in the classroom:
“I am not lying, please listen to me! Miss Harrison, you are
the Lady of the Lake; you have returned. Will is the King, but ow he will die!
I ruined everything; he will die because of me! What have I done? I told Marco
he is Mordred and now he will kill King Arthur!”
But, alas, I am here. I’m stuck in this “hospital”. She put me in here! Why!? I need
to get out, back to my Order. I need to save this teenager from being killed! I
am not craz… Oh for Arthur’s sake! My roommate is killing me! He keeps talking
about aliens, and how it is that they are real!
“WELL THEY ARE NOT SO STOP SCREAMING ABOUT IT! I NEED TO
SAVE OUR KING! LET ME OUT!”
"It used to be all he cared about was sailing and football. Then he got into student council. Sometimes" -she threw me a horrified look- "he even wants to talk about politics. Politics!" (Cabot, Pg. 219)
"It would be so cool if you and Will started going out." Jennifer said, her eyes lighting up. "Because then people would get off my back about the whole Lance thing." (Cabot, Pg. 220)
I chose these quotes for analysis because I thought they established an amusing character for this interpretation of Guinevere. We've known for quite a while that Guinevere wasn't exactly a faithful wife to Arthur, and neither of them ever truly seemed to be particularly invested in each other, from what we've read. We saw far more romance between Guinevere and Lancelot than we did her and Arthur, and the same is true here. I was highly amused by the fact that Jennifer was only interested Will's more athletic and adventurous activities (the sort of thing Arthur and his knights were famous for) and completely 'horrified' by the political aspect of being a King, which provides an amusing background for why Guinevere was more attracted to Lancelot; once she realized being a King is rarely very macho and romantic, she lost interest. But it also establishes a slightly more cunning side to her; she's excited by the prospect of Will dating Ellie not only because it would make Will happy, but more importantly, because then everyone will leave her alone and stop scrutinizing her infidelity. This is funny in itself, because it's actually a very political move to make; distracting the public with some new spectacle, in this case a new popular couple, so that they forget about something bad that she has done- which is highly ironic when you consider her disgust towards politics. She's more of a queen than she thinks she is.
Holy shit, we're going to do this. we might actually do this. Don't get me wrong, I believe in my team: those are my guys. Plus, we have a genuinely talented squad this year. But up 14 on Avalon? We're killing it, man, these guys are legit. As long as we can keep their offense and that prettyboy quarterback of theirs from heating up, we got this. I'm confident though, we've had him shook ever since we starting shifting the entire defensive front pre-snap. What's that? We punted? Oh shit better strap up.
Okay let's see what we got here. Hmm, their huddle looks a little weird, maybe they put something new in at halftime. Maybe they're going gun, or pistol? No. I know everyone calls this kid that chosen one, but no high school quarterback is cycling through formations like that. Oh, shit, they're getting to the line. Okay, let's see here, receiver out left, weak side, one split right on the strong side, two backs split in the backfield with the QB, four linemen. Wait a minute! One, two, three... HOLY SHIT FOUR LINEMEN. They're missing a guard, but where is he. Is that him? On the sideline talking to a cheerleader? Hey, there's a game going on, bud. You might be interested in it.
Holy shit they really aren't gonna block me. There he is, the QB. You ain't gonna be so pretty after this, boy.
"UHG. WHOOO! YEAH BABY! EXCALIBUR THAT, PUSSY! SAY HI TO THE GROUND FOR ME, BITCH!"
Oh shit, he's down. I really got him. Hell yeah. Serves them right for not having control enough over their players to have the right amount of people on the field. Oh shit, he's up. That was quick. Oh, damn, they're already lining up. Here's their guard, a play too late.
"Nice of you to show up, bud."
"READY READY! BLUE 90, BLUE 90 SET HUT SET HUTHUT."
Ow! Shit, oh my god, did I get hit by a truck? What the hell happened? 21-13. What? How did that happen. They, what? Who are these people? Why are they running towards me? No, I'm fine, I'll get up off the ground in a little bit. Concussion? What? I've never even been to Europe. Oh man. Well, I think we'll be okay. They got one lucky score, but we'll get the win.
Ellie is having the sport of football being explained to her by Liz and all I can think of is the positions going through her head, and the rules, and how many points are earned for certain plays, etc probably looked like this.
Considering that Meg Cabot set King Arthur's court in high school, it works fairly well. All of the drama makes more sense, except Marco's supposed murder attempt. Arthur's ideals make more sense today than they would have when the legend was started. I think that Arthur's ideals fit in today's settings because more people have a voice and issues are being acknowledged and talked about.
I feel that Will and Ellie's characters portray King Arthur's ideals and high school well because that is what we have come to expect from fictional high school settings. Drama, the geeky girl and perfect jock guy, that perfect jock guy who also defends the little guy. King Arthur's legendary court fits in with high school because they act like high schoolers, running off to do dumb shit without a care in the world of what might happen. Not to mention the love triangle that is oh so common in modern fiction.
“‘I don’t know,’ Will said. ‘My dad says Wagner men have always been in the military’— he raised his hands and made quotation marks in the air as he added sarcastically— ‘’making a difference in the world.’”(67).
This version of Arthur poses an interesting question, that other versions have not addressed— did Arthur want to be king? Arthur’s reluctance to attend the Academy makes me wonder if other versions of Arthur also did not want to fulfill their destiny. The other legends, so far, have depicted Arthur easily accepting his fate after getting Excalibur.
While I was reading Avalon High, Will's stepbrother Marco reminded me of Jason Dean (aka J.D.) from Heathers. Maybe what Ellie's friends say about Marco is true, or maybe it's all empty rumor—maybe he didn't actually attempt to kill Mr. Morton—but there's still something off about him. In "Freeze Your Brain" (from the Heathers musical), there's clearly something off about J.D. (Y'all know he's also a creepy, good-looking, murderous teen in a high school story, right?) Oh, and he's lost a parent, too, just like Marco.
I picked this song because as I was reading the first part of the book, the first thing that came to my mind was "Man, this reads exactly like one of those Disney Channel tween movies." I still stand by that thought.
