The Ogress and the Orphans

The changes the townspeople experience in these chapters show the power of stories to impact us. The books themselves are not responsible for the changes. Rather, the books introduce new ideas, which the majority of the townspeople choose to accept, but there are likely a few people who reject the books’ ideas of inclusion and acceptance. While rejecting these ideas does not promote community or kindness, the townspeople are free to refuse the messages the books offer as long as they live with the consequences. By rejecting these ideas, they remove themselves from the community and its support. Choosing isolation and rejection also leads to negative feelings, and the townspeople who don’t accept the messages will likely remain bitter and angry.

The Mayor’s reaction to the book in Chapter 43 is an example of someone who does not accept the messages. Instead of seeing the benefit of community and sharing, the Mayor continues to believe he is above other people. His idea that people won’t believe what’s in front of them if someone tells them not to only works if the people don’t want to believe what they see. Until now, the people haven’t wanted to believe Stone-in-the-Glen is an ugly place that was once lovely, so they’ve trusted that the Mayor will fix things because doing so was easier than admitting the truth. Seeing the proof in themselves and the town changes their outlook and allows them to see through the Mayor’s schemes. Similarly, they don’t believe the Mayor’s new signs about books because they’ve been reminded how much books promote community and the exchange of ideas.

In earlier chapters, the Matron and Myron were reluctant to believe the children about events, such as the truth of Cass’s disappearance. In Chapter 46, they suddenly believe the tales the children tell, showing they are ready to listen. No reason is given for why they suddenly believe the stories, but it may be that the books have opened their minds. It may also be that the children have been acting strangely lately, and rather than invent a complicated reason to explain their behavior, they see that the truth makes sense. The Matron’s ready acceptance of the Ogress foreshadows how the townspeople also will accept the Ogress as part of their community.

In Chapter 47, Bartleby argues that people only change their behavior when they change how they think. The book explores this idea in terms of being neighborly, but Bartleby’s logic applies in most situations. The books the children have left thus far have reintroduced the townspeople to how life was before the Library burned. They remember what it was like to work together and enjoy one another’s company, and Bartleby understands that this is only one step in the process of integrating the Ogress into the town. Forcing change too quickly would make the townspeople afraid, and they would reject more new ideas without even considering them. Big changes in thoughts take time, and they need to be approached from a place of understanding. Using anger or guilt to make someone change only makes them resist the change more.

Chapter 48 shows the Mayor losing his influence over the townspeople. In the past, a speech of empty words was enough to sway them to his side, and his dragon magic helped to enthrall them. Since the Mayor hasn’t rejuvenated his power in a long time, he grows weak, and that weakness, combined with the changes brought by the books, means he can no longer control the people. While his dragon magic does play a role here, the changes in the people are more responsible for the Mayor losing his rapport. People only change when they are ready to do so, and it is likely that, even if his dragon magic was at full power, the Mayor might no longer be able to keep the people mesmerized. He did so once, but the people have learned since then and are starting to realize that the Mayor has done nothing for them or the town.

The definition of a neighbor in Chapter 49 may also be the definition of a person—meaning that neighbors are just people and that anyone may be a neighbor, regardless of physical proximity. Neighbors may live across the street or across the world. The world is both large and small, and if we treat people and the world well, they are our neighbors, no matter where they live. This is the idea behind a global community where people and nations help one another and have open, honest conversations about ideas and differences. The children use this idea to introduce the Ogress as a neighbor to the town, which the townspeople accept because they realize now that the Ogress has never done anything to harm them. When they meet the Ogress, they like her, showing how opinions we form about people we’ve never met are often biased and incorrect.