73 pages • 2 hours read
Diana Wynne JonesHowl’s Moving Castle
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
Age and Moral Growth
Sophie Hatter’s life seems to be laid out for her: As the eldest daughter of three, she believes she is consigned to a mundane life with no opportunity for romance or improving her social circumstances by seeking her fortune. Though she is 18 at the start of the novel and wishes her life were different, Sophie has accepted her fate as an apprentice in her stepmother’s hat shop. When the Witch of the Waste curses her into appearing as an old woman, Sophie feels the old age she has acquired has given her license to take more risks in her life. However, Sophie’s moral and character growth do not correspond with her age, and she must confront the internal conflicts of love, self-confidence, and acceptance before returning to her true age again.
That it is the Witch of the Waste who curses Sophie is significant, as the Witch is over a century old. Her contract with her fire demon, appearing as Miss Angorian in the novel, has extended her life unnaturally. Despite the Witch’s extreme old age, she pursues evil actions. Her scheme to concoct a new King of Ingary from parts taken from the Wizard Suliman, Prince Justin, and Howl displays not only her role as the novel’s main evil antagonist but also reveals the Witch’s ever-mounting selfishness, greed, and malice. Her old age does not correspond with the accumulation of wisdom or magical talent but rather a greater disposition for taking evil actions.
When Sophie visits Mrs. Pentstemmon in preparation for meeting the King, one of the first things Mrs. Pentstemmon speaks about is their relative ages (230). By comparing ages, Mrs. Pentstemmon apparently wishes to compare wisdom and influence. Age, or the appearance of age, corresponds to how powerful a person in Ingary’s society is.
It is not until Howl and Michael reveal that they have known about Sophie’s curse that Sophie realizes the nuance of her conversation with Mrs. Pentstemmon. A woman of such age and magical ability would of course have recognized Sophie was under a curse. Sophie’s moral growth as a character corresponds with her embracing her actual age. Just before returning Howl’s heart back to his chest, Sophie has accomplished both a recognition of her own inherent magical abilities, has reconciled with her family, and has accepted the fact that she loves Howl. She has, in essence, grown into a morally honest and responsible character. Her appearance changes to correspond to this growth, and she returns to her natural appearance as an 18-year-old young woman. These examples combined suggest the novel’s theme of Age and Moral Growth does not inherently imply that every old person has reached a sense of wisdom and maturity. Rather, the novel explores how changing one’s appearance to put up a semblance of being wise—such as the Witch of the Waste and Sophie—does not automatically imply the character is morally sound like Mrs. Pentstemmon.
Compensation and Exploitation
The characters of Howl’s Moving Castle are largely working individuals, who need to sell goods, magic, or services to survive Ingary society. The novel begins with Sophie’s understanding of seeking a “fortune” as being unattainable for her but one that her youngest sister Martha can attain to escape their working class life. Compensation and exploitation in work, services, and relationships therefore is a major theme in the novel, as each of the characters understands their relations with the others based on how or why they are being exploited.
The reader first encounters exploitation in relation to Sophie, who suspects that her stepmother Fanny is exploiting the work she does in the hat shop. When Sophie asks for compensation and Fanny is slow to provide it, Sophie concludes she is being taken advantage of. This contributes to the ease in which Sophie is able to leave her old life in Market Chipping behind after being turned into an old woman, as she doesn’t feel her work is being respected by Fanny. Exploitation, then, plays a major factor in Sophie’s life, as it compels her to seek a fortune despite her strong belief that an eldest daughter is not worthy of such an adventure.
Sophie becomes somewhat of an expert on exploited workers. She suggests to Michael that he is being exploited by Howl because he is not allowed to cook on Calcifer’s fire and must consign himself to a cold meal if Howl is out of the castle. Sophie uses this as a reason to not trust Howl’s actions. While Howl does not compensate Sophie or Michael monetarily for their work, he gives them a place to live and small gifts. This seems amenable enough to Sophie’s definition of compensation. When the three visit Wales, however, Howl is accused of being a lay-about without a job by his sister Megan. The kinds of compensation and exploitation at work in Ingary are different in Wales, as Megan is unwilling to think kindly of her brother if he does not hold a job with an actual salary.
Though Sophie is strict about possible exploitations, particularly in Howl’s case, she relaxes her sometimes unreasonable expectations when she begins acknowledging the things she has been too afraid to face about herself. Reuniting with Fanny absolves Sophie of her harsh criticism of her stepmother, as she realizes that Fanny did not fully mean to exploit her so much. Then, after turning back into a young woman and receiving Howl’s offer to live happily and in love together, Sophie responds jokingly: “And you’ll exploit me.” Similar to the way Age and Moral Growth work in the novel, Sophie’s understanding of true exploitation and compensation corresponds to her own self-acceptance and character growth.
Identity
In Howl’s Moving Castle, one’s identity does not always correspond to the appearance one displays to the world. In fact, more often than not, multiple characters have changed their appearances at any given time, willingly or not. Part of Sophie’s character development then relies on being able to perceive the true identity or goodness of a person despite their supposed appearance. The central characters of the novel and their shifting appearances explore this theme in that misjudgments based on a character’s appearance often introduce a new conflict in the plot.
Martha and Lettie Hatter are the first characters in the novel to swap appearances. They do this so each can pursue their chosen futures: Martha wants to marry and have children; Lettie would like to continue studying magic. Their appearance spells are to wear off gradually over time until they return to fully looking like themselves. For Lettie and Martha, how they appear is much less important than the work they are able to do.
Howl has extensive rumors surrounding his identity that imply he is a heartless, cruel, and evil man, but the appearance of a generous if somewhat vain magician Sophie encounters does not correspond with her expectation. Sophie must see beyond Howl’s appearance to know his true identity; in so doing, she falls in love with him. Sophie initially misjudges Calcifer as well, believing his face to look evil and menacing at first. Upon getting to know the fire demon and developing a strong friendship with him, Sophie discovers that Calcifer is nervous, dependent, and loyal, directly contradicting her initial judgement of him.
When Sophie is cursed to look like an old woman, she makes the major life change of seeking her fortune, living in Howl’s castle, and assuming a false identity. Her behavior also changes, as she feels more comfortable acting as she has always wanted to when she doesn’t look like herself: “As an old woman, she did not mind what she did or said” (83). This change in appearance and behavior corresponds to Sophie’s growing magical abilities, as she struggles to acknowledge them as part of her identity. Magic doesn’t seem to fit with the cranky, clean old woman Sophie pretends to be, and so her character experiences significant internal conflict until the time Sophie is confident enough with her true self to embrace her magic.
