The Black Cauldron
No. 2 in The Chronicles of Prydain series
by Lloyd Alexander
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Bantam, Yearling (New York): 1965. Trade paperback: 229 pages. ISBN-10: 0-440-40649-8 ISBN-13: 978-0440406495 Suggested retail price: $2.99 (US) Tags: fantasy; made into movie; swords; witches; Youth Tactical strength: [4/10] |
Alexander opens The Black Cauldron with the conflict between the protagonist, Taran, and the antagonist, Ellidyr, but all action stops for a boring war council. Alexander assumes the reader already knows the backstory. For example, Alexander gives no clues about Taran's age. The other characters never treat Taran as an adult. Based on Taran's behavior, I would guess his age at close to 12 years old, but based on his strength and interest in girls, he's more likely around 16. Also, Alexander never provides a description of Taran's nonhuman companion Gurgi, yet Gurgi appears in almost every scene.
The war council decides they must destroy the black cauldron. To the north, Arawn, who never appears in this story, uses the cauldron to create unkillable fighters. Somehow, the council feels that Taran might be an asset in the battle. The attack on Arawn fails when the war party discovers Arawn no longer has the cauldron. Taran learns that some witches have taken the cauldron into a nearby swamp, and Taran chooses to pursue the cauldon rather than follow orders and rendezvous with his war companions.
Taran and his followers don't exhibit the greatest wisdom. For example, Taran's party learns that the witches have the cauldron in their barn. When the hags refuse to give up the cauldron, the adventurers sit directly in front of the witches' house and make plans to steal the cauldron.
In The Black Cauldron, Alexander tries to show that real men don't seek honor in war; rather, they demonstrate their honor through their character and actions. Taran sets out seeking honor in war (in spite of advice to the contrary) and flubs up every opportunity to prove himself in battle. Since most protagonists fail at their first attempt, you would conclude that Taran will learn from his mistakes and eventually earn honor through his subsequenct actions. To the contrary, Taran seems to perpetuate the same mistakes and limited decisionmaking abilities.
In fact, Taran almost never acts for himself. In several battles, he gets confused or freezes and someone else conviently saves his butt. Taran even loses the cauldron through inaction. The only time Taran actually leads his party, he does so through the power of a magic amulet. Taran never has to think his way out of a situation -- one of the other characters always shows up, solves the problem at hand, and relieves Taran of the burden of thinking.
At the conclusion, Alexander would have us feel that Taran has earned honor because he found the cauldron and later turned down an offer to join the traitorous evil overlord. However, since acquiring the cauldron, Taran has known how to destroy it, but does not destroy it. If Taran were truly honorable, would he not sacrifice his life to destroy the cauldron? Wouldn't self-sacrifice demonstrate the greatest honor? Taran had many opportunities to destroy the cauldron, but instead, he allows Ellidyr to steal the cauldron. Taran doesn't even seem to consider the possibility that he could destroy the cauldron and thus gain this book's ultimate honor.
Suprisingly, Ellidyr, who Alexander set up as Taran's antagonist, turns out to be the only character who learns from his mistakes and shows he understands honor. Ellidyr reaps the ultimate honor for himself by giving his life to destroy the cauldron. Taran proves that he doesn't have the brains or wits needed to take his place in a fantasy adventure, and we hope he will quickly return to his position as an assistant pig keeper and not seek adventure again.
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