Crystal Cave Essay, Research Paper

People or events that appear very briefly in life may have dramatic effects on

the lives of people they touch upon. Basketball coaches from the junior high

school level often influence their athletes to take up playing basketball in

their high school career. Dying friends often compel people to conduct research

and dedicate their lives to the study of medicine. Galapas’ short stint with

Merlin turns Merlin’s life around in the novel, The Crystal Cave by Mary

Stewart. From the beginning, Galapas was an influential figure in young Merlin’s

life. Galapas is an old man with a mysterious past. He possesses great knowledge

of the arts, sciences, and magic. Merlin first met him when he was wandering the

countryside with his horse, Aster. Galapas soon becomes his teacher and mentor,

in spite of Merlin’s already having a conventional tutor. In time, he shares all

of his knowledge and wisdom with Merlin. "He taught me practical things,

too; how to gather herbs and dry them to keep, how to use them for medicines, .

. . poisons. He made me study the beasts and birds, . . . and-with the dead

deer-I learnt about the organs and bones of the body. . . The map Galapas showed

me was a copy from a book by Ptolemy of Alexandria." (The Crystal Cave,

Pgs. 59-60) Galapas also helps Merlin to put the meanings of his periodic

visions of the future and of events far away into action. "’Go? But if I go

back, they’ll kill me, or shut me up. . . Won’t they?’. . . ‘You can no more be

hidden now, than your merlin could go back into its egg." (The Crystal

Cave, Pg. 100) At the end of Merlin’s adventures with Ambrosius, his father and

Emperor, he returns to the Crystal Cave to seek out Galapas. Nearby the cave, in

a patch of grass, Galapas’ bones are scattered about in the dirt. Merlin lays

his bones down to rest in the proper fashion and begins to occupy the cave; just

like Galapas used to. Merlin studies and meditates in the Crystal Cave with his

servant, Cadal. "My books had come form Less Britain; the great chest was

backed against the wall of the cave, where Galapas’ box had been. . . I was

wearing my oldest clothes, a tunic with grass stains that not even Cadal could

remove, and my mantle was burred and pulled by thorns and brambles. My sandals

were of canvas like a slave’s. . . Compared even with the plainly dressed young

men. . . I must look like a beggar." (The Crystal Cave, Pgs. 396, 400) He

becomes older, grizzled looking, and wiser in the cave and soon becomes a mirror

image of Galapas. Thus, Galapas still has a great impact on Merlin’s life even

after his death. Therefore, Galapas’ short time with young Merlin took at firm

grasp on his life and helped shape it even beyond the grave. At an early age,

Merlin is introduced to the fine arts and sciences and magic. Later in life,

Merlin returns to find Galapas, but in turn finds Galapas in himself and becomes

a facsimile of Galapas. Galapas is truly a stepping stone in the advancement of

Merlin’s personality.