Section+5+(Chapters+XXXIX-XLIV)


 * Synopsis **

After being rescued by Clarence, Sir Launcelot, and the rest of the knights of Camelot (on bikes, no less), Hank returns home. He breaks the back of the "knight-errantry" by defeating Sir Sagramor and several other knights (including Launcelot) in a joust with only his lariat, and then holds off numerous other knights who challenge him afterwards with a revolver. Sagramor is killed in the process. Hank, with little apparent opposition left, reveals his modernizing plan to all of Camelot, and the kingdom prospers for 3 years. He marries Sandy and they have a daughter together, Hello-Central. After a time, Hello-Central falls ill, and Hank and Sandy travel to France to care for her. Hank soon realizes something is amiss and returns back to Camelot after a month has gone by without any sign of communication. He finds out that Camelot has been placed under the interdict of the Church. It turns out that a civil war caused by Guenever's affair with Launcelot has killed many of the knights of the Round Table and even Arthur himself. Hank's improvements were abandoned or destroyed, and the people returned to their superstitious ways once more. Frustrated by this turn of events, Hank gathers 52 young boys who have been raised under his "enlightened" system, declare a republic, and destroys all of his factories to prevent capture or use by the enemy. He then retreats to Merlin's cave and fortifies it. The cave is attacked by almost the entirety of English society, but they are easily defeated by Hank's army's modern technology. However, it turns out that Hank ultimately suffers the greatest defeat, as Merlin, disguised as a cook, puts him to sleep for the next 13 centuries. A plague caused by the many rotting bodies has also caused many of Hank's troops to become ill. The manuscript is finished by Clarence, who despairs and wonders if they will ever get out of the cave alive.

After finishing the manuscript, the narrator heads to the stranger's room and finds him delirious. After describing his dream and his separation (by 13 centuries) of his friends and his love, the stranger dies.
 * Archetypes **

//Situational // **The Fall** (Hank and his students lose) Although they had beaten all of the knights, Hank was unable to think of how he and the students were going to leave their fortress without being killed. Hank had always though he was the smartest but by the end of the story his ignorance towards the power of the Church and the hope that man would be able to understand. Clarence was the one who revealed it to Hank because he knew that those people were never going to change since they had grown up with the church.

//Character // **Unfaithful Wife** (Guenever) In the beginning of the third section Hank told Arthur to stay with the knight even though he wanted to go. Hank said that Guenever would miss him but the king said that she was busy with Sir Lancelot. Later by the end of the book both he and Sir Lancelot have a war over Guenever.



Devil Figure (Merlin) After Hank and Clarence defeated the knights Hank gets stabbed by one of the knight who was calling for help. His students try to take care of him and are helped by a woman who was actually Merlin disguised. One night Clarence sees that he is putting a spell on Hank to make him sleep until the 19th century and all throughout the story he tried to make Hank look bad.

//Symbolic // **Light vs. Darkness** (The War) Hank and his students fought against the church which had ruled throughout the whole story. While Hank and his students tried to change the society into a republic he thought that by killing all of the knight gentry he would be able to change them. In the end they saw that was not going to be possible since they had trapped themselves in their own fortress and were going to die sooner or later. Ultimately the darkness prevailed.



**The Cave** (Hank's fortress at the end of the story) <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Hank and the students stay at Merlin's cave which is used as their fortress. The cave represents femininity which could be interpreted to represent the safety of a mother. The cave itself protects them from the knights. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**Number 4** (The king was the fourth one that was going to be hung) <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The king is humanity and his death would have represented the end of it. Later whenever he dies the war between Hank and the church begins which caused a lot of deaths. Ultimately changing the course of humanity.

//<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Training // <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This theme can be seen throughout the entire novel when Hank is trying to change them and their “training” as he calls it. He tries to change their view point and thoughts with his factories and inventions. He thinks he has succeeded but in reality he hasn’t because when the church turns on him, so do all the people he thought he trained turn on him too. He has to run into safety with his 52 students. These were the only in the entire kingdom that stood with because he trained him in his ways at a younger age. They stayed and fought with him because of their training and they didn’t believe much in the church. In this book it can be seen that training in our early stages of our life direct our outcome in the rest of our life.
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Themes **

//<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Your Best Asset Can Cause Your Downfall // <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This theme can be seen when Hank successfully stops the knights with help of his students. His greatest asset was that they were protected in the cave. What they didn’t think about was that since they were the only ones on their side they couldn’t leave their haven but when all the bodies decomposed the air got polluted and the people started to get sick and die, showing that they died because of their ignorance and because of their best asset.


 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Real World Connection **



<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">This picture depicts the Bubonic Plague or Black Death that ravaged Europe during the 14th Century. The Plague was spread along trade routes as trade became more globalized, especially along the Silk Road. Because the humans tried to increase their power and influence through trade, they ended up bringing death and decay into their society. In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court Hank Morgan and his followers attempt to secure the advancement of their society by killing the thousands of knights attacking them. The ensuing decay of the dead bodies brings disease and death to the revolutionaries in a massive scope. In both cases, real world and fictional, the humans defeat themselves by trying to improve their way of life.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Group Discussion **

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">In our group discussion for part 5, we discussed the meaning of Hank's defeat of the knight-errantry and its possible counter-productiveness. We also put forth the idea that Hank had only believed that everybody had left their suspicion behind, and he should have destroyed the Church and all possible opposition first before revealing his "man-factories" and other modernizing elements of society. Hank, according to our group, was clearly human and ignorant of his flaws, even though he came from a "more-civilized" era with higher levels of development and technology. It turns out that Clarence has become superior to Hank in terms of character and personality, because he fully understands both worlds (the 6th century and the 19th century). We debated if Merlin was truly a devil figure who triumphs in the end, or simply a superstitious magician who wanted to keep his reputation intact. Finally, our group discussed major archetypes and themes, coming up with the importance and effect of "training" in changing a society's views, as well as the statement "Your Best Asset Can Cause Your Downfall."


 * <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Questions for Further Discussion **

//<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Level 1 // <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">1. How does Hank defeat the rebels? <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">2. What reforms does Hank introduce into 6th-century English society? <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">3. What happens to Hank at the end of the book?

//<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Level 2 // <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">1. What is Mark Twain's message on technology and "modernization"? <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">2. How does Hank's defeat of the rebels contradict his support of "bloodless reform"? <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">3. Who ultimately wins: Hank or society?

//<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Level 3 // <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">1. Is it possible to completely alter a society? <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">2. How can technology both help and hurt humankind? <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">3. Is a belief in the supernatural and/or illusion essential for society to function properly?