FREE ESSAY ON THE LEGEND OF HUMA

THE LEGEND OF HUMA

1. The theme of this novel is that which one would expect from a story about a knight.
Much of the novel deals with the honor of one's country, one's countrymen, and one's god.
Huma, the hero of the novel, has a chance to run off with the girl he loves and abandon
his mission because he is presumed dead. He overcomes this temptation , however, and
continues his brave mission to save his world. Another instance of temptation to take the
easy way out, but lose honor, occours at the very instant that he was about to complete
his quest. While fighting the Dragonqueen, she offers him the chance to rule by her side
for an eternity. He refuses her and eventually dies while defeating her, and maintains
his honor.
10. Huma's close friend and fellow knight, Rennard, had been strangely stricken with the
plague earlier in his life. He also befriends Huma when many criticize him. His features
were very pale, and he did not show much emotion at all. These things are all common in
the followers of the god of disease. Because Rennard had been a Knight for so long, no
one thought anything about his resemblance to the god of disease. Later, it is discovered
by Huma that Rennard was indeed a follower of the god of disease. Huma discovers this as
Rennard is about to kill Grand Master, the knighthood's leader. The author chose to use
this foreshadowing as a complete surprise to the reader. It was only a small hint, but it
was enough to make one take notice. In another part of the story, Huma was separated from
his friend Kaz , a monitor. Huma found a knight's outpost on the edge of the forest and
hopes Kaz will find him. Later the knights went out to capture a beast that the elves
told them was in the forest. To Huma's surprise the searching party returned with poor
Kaz trapped in their nets. The author obviously used this as a good way to re-enter Kaz
into the story after Kaz had been lost.
2. Dragon Mountain was a particularly important place in the story. While exploring its
vast caves , Huma defeated the three trials of honor. At the end of these trials he
became a worthy knight to defeat the Dragonqueen. Also, he met a ancient blacksmith who
gave him twenty dragon lances that were used to defeat the Dragonqueen.
5. The novel basically ends in Huma defeating the Dragonqueen. Huma is riding his dragon,
who also takes the human form of Gwyneth ( Huma's love), and drives the dragonlance into
the Dragonqueen. The dragonlance breaks off into the Dragonqueen's body; this does not
kill her, but she cannot remove the lance. Huma and Gwyneth are plummeted toward the
mountain below and barely survive the inncedent. After a short while , Huma decides it is
best to let the Dragonqueen go with the exception that she will never return to his world
again. After the queen departs Huma and Gwyneth die in each others arms and go to a form
of paradise. The novels ending is a good one in that it ends Huma's quest to save his
world. Huma gains great honor and even becomes a legend for the deeds he did for his
world. Also, I must voice my opinion about the deaths of both Huma and Gwyneth. I feel
that their deaths were a bad choice by the author. Although this made the story more
realistic, it left the story on a downfall that , to me , overshadowed Huma's victory. I
would have ended on a happy note.
7. There were two big examples of irony in this novel.
One was the shock of Rennard's betrayal to the knighthood. Rennard and Huma were the
Grand Master's closest colleagues. This was proven to be a false front on Rennard's part
to try to get in close enough to kill the Grand Master. Also, when Huma faced the
decision whether to kill or free the Dragonqueen, he found himself with a delima. His
whole quest had been based on seeking and destroying the queen. When faced with the
opportunity, he realized that he could not kill her. If he did, the balance between good
and evil would be altered drastically. This would destroy his world. He was forced to let
the Dragonqueen go free on the condition that she never return to his world again.