Inkling

While Oppel has spent most of the novel building up the essential threads of each character’s inner conflict, most of the character growth occurs in this final, crucial part of the story and is primarily focused on illustrating the various ways that each person breaks free of their previous limitations. For example, Inkling’s influence helps Sarah begin to move past her repetitive behaviors, for interacting with Inkling gives Sarah new stories to tell, and even when Vika kidnaps Inkling, this occurrence allows Sarah to express her own grief for the first time since her mother died. As the narrative states when Sarah sobs at the loss of “Lucy,” “Sarah hardly ever cried. So when it happened, it was a big deal” (209). Sarah’s emotional crisis represents a sharp deviation from her usual, cheerful character and marks a vital turning point in her character development. This pattern is further emphasized when Peter gets her a real puppy at the story’s conclusion, for Sarah speaks in the first person for the first time, demonstrating even further progress. Up until this point Sarah has always spoken in the third person, despite the efforts of teachers, speech therapists, and family members to change her speech habits. Utilizing the first person indicates that Sarah is now an active participant in her own life rather than an observer of the actions that occur around her.

Even secondary characters like Vika show significant growth. While Vika first enters the story as an unsympathetic antagonist who bullies Ethan without reason, the events of the story soon demonstrate that she has far more of a conscience than her father does. Similarly, Oppel makes it a point to provide context for even her more harmful actions, for she is primarily motivated by her own pride as an artist and her desires to help her family succeed. As the story continues, the motivations behind her actions and attitudes make her a more sympathetic character, and by the story’s end, she even helps Ethan to save Inkling, violating her father’s trust in order to obey the dictates of her conscience. Thus, Vika’s shifting relationship with her father reveals a different angle on the novel’s recurring theme of Family Conflicts and Communication. Although Blotter’s presence makes Vika more willing to let Inkling go, she still takes a risk to help the Rylance family, distinguishing her own moral code as superior to and independent of her father’s. While Ethan and Vika may never be friends, they ultimately come to understand and respect each other. 

While Vika moves from antagonist to an almost-friend, Karl shifts from a mere foil of Peter to an outright antagonist. At first, their relationship is portrayed as balanced and mutually beneficial; Peter creates, and Karl supports him and sells his product. This is a lucrative and symbiotic relationship for both men, but the relationship takes a downward turn when Peter’s grief and depression prevent him from creating anything for two years, which places both Peter and Karl in a difficult financial situation. While Peter is engulfed in his struggles with Coping With Grief, Karl finds himself engulfed by greed when he realizes the profitable implications of Inkling’s abilities. In this moment, he becomes a true villain, for instead of art imitating life, Karl’s life imitates the art he publishes. As he loses all morality in the pursuit of his own greed, he disregards the fact that Inkling is a sentient creature and cruelly exploits and abuses him for his own profit. Thus, just as Vika transitions to a more sympathetic character, Karl becomes utterly irredeemable, and his over-the-top antics render him a caricature of the very comics he sells, for he takes on the role of a typical comic-book style villain. Significantly, Oppel leaves Karl’s fate unresolved, which also reflects the comic-book-style mood of the novel as a whole. At the end of the story, Karl experiences no real consequences for his actions and even has three new ink splotches, implying that his story and his moral transgressions will continue indefinitely, just like those of a typical comic book villain who reappears again and again to wreak new havoc.

Contrasted with Karl’s moral downfall is Peter’s ultimate redemption in the eyes of his family. While he experiences moderate growth throughout the narrative, the conclusion marks a profound shift in his character. Peter finally becomes “unstuck” after Inkling reveals the letter from Olivia, for this discovery allows Peter to acknowledge his grief and depression openly in front of his children and explain his past actions. As he states, “Toward the end, I was just angry with everything. I was worried about you guys and how we’d be without her. […] I wanted to make sure she knew […] that I loved her, but I didn’t even get a chance to say good-bye properly” (234). This guilt and grief contribute to Peter’s depression, hindering his ability to write, draw, or care for his family. Reading the note relieves Peter of his guilt and helps his ongoing efforts of Coping With Grief, thereby enabling him to move forward and reconnect with his children. By the story’s conclusion, he once again actively engages in Ethan and Sarah’s lives, transforming back into an involved parent. Fittingly, his new art project focuses on his family, and this shift represents a complete departure from his behavior at the narrative’s beginning. Underlying these positive transformations is the knowledge of Inkling’s sacrifice for the family’s well-being, and in this as in many other aspects of the story, Oppel utilizes a neatly delivered form of symmetry. In order for the Rylance family to become “unstuck,” Inkling must allow himself to become quite literally stuck to the sketchbook. His sacrifice therefore symbolizes the cost of art created by greed, for the very existence of Blotter—a manifestation of greed—threatens the existence of Inkling, who represents creative artistic expression in its purest form.