Howl's Moving Castle
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Howl's Moving Castle is a fantasy novel for young adults by British author Diana Wynne Jones, first published in 1986. It was adapted in 2004 as an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.
Image:Howl's Moving Castle (Book Cover).jpg
Contents |
Plot
The novel is about a young woman named Sophie Hatter, the oldest of three daughters living in the magical kingdom of Ingary, where many fairy-tale tropes are accepted ways of life. Resigned to the "fact" that the middle sister is the beautiful one and the youngest the talented one, Sophie steels herself for a dull life running the family hat shop—until she is turned into an old crone by the Witch of the Waste, a powerful witch whom she inadvertently offends, and finds work as a housekeeper for the notorious Wizard Howl (famed for eating the hearts of beautiful young women).
Sophie soon learns that Howl, a cavalier but ultimately good-natured playboy, spread the malicious rumours about himself to ensure his privacy. His castle actually exists simultaneously in four different places and with four different appearances: the moving castle Sophie first comes upon, Howl's boyhood home in Wales (Wizard Howl's real name is Howell Jenkins), the seaside city where Howl sells his services, and the royal capital.
Sophie strikes a bargain with Howl's resident fire demon, Calcifer: if Sophie can break the contract Howl and Calcifer have signed, then Calcifer will turn Sophie back into her original form. Part of the contract, however, stipulates that neither Howl nor Calcifer can disclose the terms of the contract to any third party; Sophie, therefore, has to guess what the contract is. Calcifer is, however, allowed to give hints.
Howl's apprentice Michael Fisher runs most of the day-to-day affairs of Howl's business, while Howl chases his latest crushes. Both Howl and Michael begin to court Sophie's sister Lettie, though Michael's Lettie turns out to be Sophie's sister Martha, magically disguised to look like Lettie.
When Prince Justin goes missing whilst in search of Wizard Suliman (Benjamin Sullivan, also Welsh), the king orders Howl to find Suliman and Justin and kill the Witch of the Waste. Howl attempts to weasel out of it by having Sophie, pretending to be his mother, petition against the appointment, but to no avail. Howl, however, has his own reasons for seeking a confrontation with the Witch of the Waste; the witch, a jaded former lover, has laid a curse on him.
Howl fights the Witch of the Waste, feigning reluctance to do so, and wins only to find that the Witch's fire demon is really Howl's nephew's teacher, whom Howl was previously courting. The Witch's fire demon was using her and once she was defeated, tried to take Howl's heart to become even more powerful. Sophie is able to stop the demon as she turns out to be a witch with life-giving abilities. She turns back to her original age and she and Howl fall in love. Wizard Suliman and Prince Justin had really been fused together and used to create a dog-man. By defeating the Witch and giving Howl back his heart which Calcifer was holding, Sophie is able to break the curse and free both of them.
Calcifer's Hints
Calcifer makes various hints to Sophie about how to break the contact between Howl and himself. They are repeated here:
- (Calcifer uses this line a number of times:) "Howl is pretty heartless, you know."
- (Sophie has a pain in her heart, and says to Calcifer that he won't understand because he hasn't got one:) "Yes I do!"
- (Calcifer speaking to Howl when Michael says that he tried to catch a star:) "You caught one yourself, didn’t you?"
- (After Howl says the witch has caught up with him:) "I felt it take."
- (To Sophie while they’re talking:) "I’m scared too, I will suffer, if Howl does."
- (After Sophie asks Calcifer if he was a falling star:) "I suggested a contract on the spot."
Castle in the Air
There is an Arabian Nights-themed sequel titled Castle in the Air. The protagonist is a young carpet merchant named Abdullah who is destined to marry a princess named Flower-in-the-Night, recently kidnapped by a powerful djinn; Sophie and other characters from the first book appear in a limited capacity. Castle in the Air is not to be confused with Hayao Miyazaki's similarly-named animated film Castle in the Sky, which is loosely based on the world of "Gulliver's Travels".
See also
Template:DWJ booksar:قلعة هاول المتحركة de:Das wandelnde Schloss fr:Le Château ambulant it:Il castello errante di Howl ja:ハウルの動く城 no:Det levende slottet pt:Hauru no ugoku shiro sv:Det levande slottet th:ฮาวล์สมูฟวิงแคสเสิล zh:哈尔移动城堡