I think Howl's Moving Castle is becoming one of my all-time favorite books. Right now, I keep a copy of the book next to the rocking chair I use to put Cordy down for her naps. I read random chapters while I am rocking her to sleep.
I think one of my favorite aspects of the book is the relationship between Howl and Sophie. I like the fact that they constantly give each other crap. I always laugh whenever anything not great for Howl happens, he says, "Sophie strikes again!" It's funny that she seems to always be driving him toward his destiny. I also enjoy the fact that even though both Sophie and Howl are well aware of each others' weaknesses, that really is ultimately what brings them together in the end. Howl may shake his head and be convinced that Sophie is always doing things to bring him closer to his doom, but at the same time, he works hard to try to get the spell off of her and keep her safe. Sophie, on the other hand, may complain about how heartless Howl is or how frustrated she is with him chasing girls all the time, but through their interactions, she comes to recognize that Howl really has a tender heart underneath all the fluff. I just really like the reality that their relationship has. Both of them recognize the weaknesses in each other, but also see the huge potential that the other one has.
I also am struck by Sophie's desire to stay in disguise through most of the story. It seems like it's easier for her to be herself when other people don't really know it's her. It's only at the end when she and Howl realize that they care for each other that she finally lets her disguise go. I think that one of the challenges in life is to be comfortable enough with ourselves to allow others to see us as we really are. I think sometimes it may be easier to pretend to be what we're not than to let others see us warts and all. Sometimes the superficial change is what we need to have the confidence to be ourselves.
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Emily, I'm so glad you posted about this book! I agree that the relationships are one of the many aspects that make this book worth reading, in addition to being thought-provoking. I was just rereading some parts, and I think one of the scenes that illustrates how Sophie cares for Howl is when she's trying to blacken Howl's name to the king so that Howl won't actually have to go find the king's brother. She lists out all of Howl's faults, but then his positive characteristics start slipping in as well. Here's just a sample (Sophie speaking to the king): "Half the time I think he doesn't care what happens to anyone as long as he's all right--but then I find out how awfully kind he's been to someone. Then I think he's kind just when it suits him--only then I find out he undercharges poor people. I don't know, Your Majesty. He's a mess."
ReplyDeleteThis makes me think how often I get stuck in thinking that a person is just one way, instead of reserving my judgment and letting myself notice more facets of their character as they come out. It's true that choosing friends/spouses/people-to-spend-time-with is a time that calls for righteous judgment, but it's important not to dismiss lightly the good things we find people doing. Sometimes I'm prone to focus on the more negative things. Anyway, I think that this is one thing that shows that their relationship is becoming deeper. Even at the end Howl is still giving Sophie surprises when she finds out that he was intending to rescue the prince the whole time. I think it says a lot about Howl that he tries to do courageous things even though he admits "the only way i can do something this frightening is to tell myself I'm not doing it!"
Just a final note, I think that it's also interesting that Sophie broke the curse when she was more focused on saving Howl. I think we are most ourselves when we aren't thinking about ourselves. When we believe bad things about ourselves, we in effect create our own curses.