Embedded Files
Howl's Moving Castle
by Diana Wynne Jones
Published in 1986
Parker Ashby
House: Gryffindor
It’s one of those few novels you find that has a huge number of female characters, typically in novels the cast is predominantly male which makes very little sense considering there are an equal number of males and females in the world, even in Harry Potter there are way more male characters than female and this book really has more female than male and in a way that feels so natural. And the way magic is used in this novel is so unique, everyone’s magic is different, Sophie does magic just by talking to the hats and clothing she makes and treating them as if they were alive, oftentimes characters don’t even notice they are doing magic and honestly Sophie isn’t aware that she does it throughout most of the novel. The power of words in a theme in the novel and it’s a really interesting one in my opinion; also, it has the strangest romance I’ve ever seen in a fantasy novel and I really love it.
Heroine
The heroine is Sophie Hatter, the eldest of three sisters.
Plot Summary
Sophie Hatter, a young woman, is mistaken for her sister by The Witch of the Waste and turned into an old woman who is jealous of the wizard’s Howl affection for Miss Hatter. Realizing she can’t stay at home looking like an old woman yet fearful of leaving her life Sophie ventures out into the Waste looking for a cure to her curse. Stumbling into Howls’ moving castle she makes a deal with the fire demon, Calcifer, in Howl’s fire place to help break his curse/ deal with Howl so that he will help her break her own curse - which she is incapable of speaking about. Becoming Howl’s maid (on her own accord - he really didn’t have a say in it) she discovers things not only about her sisters and Howl but also about herself, discovering her own magic and falling in love in the process.
Departure
Call to Adventure
Crossing of the First Threshold
Belly of the Whale
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse