A while back, I reread Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle and found it as charming as I had when I was younger. It’s such a cozy book with lovable characters and I thought I’d write a quick post spotlighting its trope subversion today.
*spoilers involved*
Howl’s Moving Castle
“How about making a bargain with me?” said the demon. “I’ll break your spell if you agree to break this contract I’m under.”
In the land of Ingary, where seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, Sophie Hatter attracts the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste, who puts a curse on her. Determined to make the best of things, Sophie travels to the one place where she might get help – the moving castle which hovers on the nearby hills.
But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the hearts of young girls…
A Different Kind of Fairy Tale
To begin with, Howl’s Moving Castle is set up as a typical fairy tale. First, a hatter with two daughters remarries a younger woman after his first wife dies. When said stepmother moves in with the family, she gives birth to a third daughter. With this familiar setup, one would typically assume that the stepmother, Fanny, would favor her youngest daughter and mistreat the other two girls. However, this is not so. Fanny proves to be a kind person, treating her three daughters equally, and even though she doesn’t always make the best decisions for them, she means well.
Additionally, rather than focusing on the youngest child like in many fairy tales — it’s explicitly stated that Martha, the youngest daughter, will eventually “have the best of it” (p.10) simply because she is the youngest — the story’s main character is Sophie, the eldest child. Destined to “fail first” (p.9) if the three sisters ever set out to seek their fortunes, Sophie is still able to find her happy ending by the end of the book. Similarly, her younger sisters also end up well, and the three remain close.
A Different Kind of Hero
I think Howl has to be one of the most iconic parts of Howl’s Moving Castle (he even has his name in the title). Dramatic, cowardly, and self-absorbed, he’s not a conventional hero, love interest, or secondary character at all. In fact, the reader hardly notices the progression of Sophie and Howl’s relationship until the end of the book. Howl is described to be a “slitherer-outer” (p.78) as his cowardice prevents him from being a hero. He even admits to Sophie the the only way he can do something frightening “is to tell [himself he’s] not doing it” (p.292). Unlike conventional heroes from many fairy tales and legends, he’s reluctant to step up when no one else can, but still manages to be a likeable character.
A Different Kind of Setting
This is probably my weakest point, but hear me out. Because Howl is established to be a villain at first, it makes sense that his moving castle is “tall and thin and heavy and ugly and very sinister” (p.39). Yet when it’s revealed that Howl is not wicked at all, the castle becomes an unexpected place to find a good person (and perhaps even a hero, depending on the way you look at it).
The castle is also a façade. Although it looks large on the outside, the interior is really “Howl’s old house in Porthaven”(p.61). That’s why the house itself is a subversion of expectations even within the story. It certainly surprised Sophie, at least.
That’s all for now!
Have you read Howl’s Moving Castle? Let me know if you liked the book and what your thoughts on it are. Also, if you’ve seen the movie (I haven’t yet), let me know what you thought about that!
Make your mark,
OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:
How Jason Reynolds’ “Long Way Down” Ties Symbolism to its Themes
LEIGH BARDUGO’S “SIX OF CROWS” IS AN ACTUAL MASTERPIECE (Spoiler-free)
