Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Howl’s Moving Castle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Destiny vs. Free Will
Appearances and Assumptions
Family
Magic and Coming of Age
Summary
Analysis
The nothingness is only an inch thick, so Sophie passes onto a street lined with new houses. Once she joins Howl and Michael in the street, Howl says they need clothes to fit in: Michael is suddenly wearing stiff blue pants and canvas shoes, while Howl’s suit transforms into a jacket that says, inexplicably, WELSH RUGBY. Sophie’s skirt just gets a bit shorter. Howl then leads the way back up the path and into the house. There’s a magic box with moving and speaking pictures in it, a woman knitting, and a tiny girl—who runs straight into “Uncle Howell’s” arms. After speaking to the girl in a foreign language, Howl introduces Sophie and Michael to his niece, Mari, and his sister, Megan. Megan looks anxious and disapproving.
That the nothingness is pretty much just a curtain highlights again how characters in the novel bank on others’ tendency to make assumptions. Howl seems to have bet on the fact that nobody was going to walk into nothing—and he was right. This allowed him to keep it secret that he has a family through this door, in what seems like the reader’s world. Judging by Megan’s expression, Howl has a somewhat strained relationship with his sister, even as he develops a close and loving relationship with his niece.
Themes
Howl tells Megan he’s only here for a minute, and he asks if Neil is missing some English homework. Megan says he is: he gave his new English teacher, Miss Angorian, a “funny old piece of writing” that he found instead. He’s upstairs with “that machine of his.” So, Howl leads Sophie and Michael up the stairs, Mari’s hand in his. In a bedroom, two boys are crouched over one of several “magic boxes” growing on white stalks attached to the wall. One boy tells Howl to not distract Neil, since Neil will lose his life—but Howl pulls a plant’s roots out of the wall anyway.
The close third-person narration, which sticks to Sophie’s point of view, creates humor here. Ingary clearly isn’t a world where electronics exist: Neil and his friend seem to be on a computer, but Sophie doesn’t have any understanding of electronics. Similarly, Megan has no idea what Ingary is like when she calls Howl’s spell a “funny old piece of writing.”
Themes
Neil glares at his uncle, but when Howl promises to make a new computer game for Neil, Neil identifies the strange paper as a poem Miss Angorian gave them as homework last week. He says he gave her the funny writing he found, and she took it home. Once Neil tells Howl where Miss Angorian lives, Howl teases his nephew, hands over a flat packet, and plugs the roots back into the wall. Sophie is shocked by all she’s seen. But when she reaches the bottom of the stairs, Howl and Megan are arguing: Megan sold Howl’s books. Megan insists that Howl is a disgrace, and she can’t just store his stuff. He doesn’t have a job and just hangs around with “layabouts.” Sophie understands now how Howl learned to slither out of things—Megan is intimidating.
At first, Sophie is simply overwhelmed by how different this world is compared to her own. But when she comes upon Howl and Megan fighting, she discovers that some things don’t change much, no matter whether one has magic or not: family relationships can still be really difficult. Indeed, Howl’s chosen family with Michael and Calcifer seems far more supportive and healthier than Howl’s relationship with Megan’s family. Part of his bad relationship with her, though, is tied to the fact that she thinks Howl is just wasting his time—when Sophie and Michael know that this isn’t entirely true.
Themes
Sophie steps forward, suggests Howl’s servants are probably selling his valuables, and tells Megan that Howl is very busy. As she leads the way to the door, Howl asks Megan if his car is still here. She says he has the only key. With this, Howl leads Sophie and Michael out of the house to a small white building. Sophie desperately wants to forget what happens next: they ride in a very fast, horseless carriage over steep roads. They soon reach the appointed building and Howl rings a bell. Miss Angorian answers—and to everyone’s shock, she’s young and beautiful, with dark hair and huge eyes. She already knows who Howl is. Howl swallows his surprise and turns on the charm, and Sophie suspects his romance with Lettie is over.
Sophie is acting, mostly for Megan’s benefit. But it’s interesting that she’s essentially willing to say nice things about Howl under these circumstances—she may think better of him than she lets on most of the time. Miss Angorian’s young, beautiful appearance is a shock for everyone. But now, Sophie gets to see how exactly how Howl manages to draw in so many women and break their hearts. That Miss Angorian already knows who Howl is, however, raises questions about whether Howl will be successful—she may know about his reputation with women.
Themes
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Howl explains to Miss Angorian that he’s looking for the paper Neil turned in last week, and she invites him in. In the living room, Sophie sinks into an uncomfortable chair, and Michael blushes as Howl flirts. Finally, Miss Angorian locates the paper and asks Howl if he knows what it is. He tries to grab her hand as he takes the paper (she avoids him) and then Howl hands the spell to Michael. Michael identifies it as an enlargement spell, and Miss Angorian asks what Howl is doing with it. He reminds her that he wrote his doctoral thesis on spells and charms, and he swears that he doesn’t practice “black magic.” It’s just old, valuable, and an object of study.
It seems to go right over Michael and Sophie’s heads, but Howl reveals here that he’s highly educated (he’s earned a Ph.D.). This could explain why Megan is so disappointed in him: he’s spent a lot of time and money on his education, but she can’t see any of what he’s doing with that education due to her living in the non-magical world. It’s a bit odd, then, that Miss Angorian seems to imply that Howl might actually be practicing “black magic.” Her word choice suggests that she thinks magic is real, a view that seems incompatible with her living in the non-magical world.
Themes
In return, Miss Angorian asks for her photocopy back. As he dangles the paper in front of her, Howl asks who the poet is. She severely says it’s John Donne and reaches for the book on her shelf. When Howl asks Miss Angorian out, she insists she’s still engaged to Ben Sullivan who disappeared years ago. Then, she begins to read the second verse of the poem. It asks a reader who can see invisible things to ride 10,000 days and nights, until their hair is white, and then return with stories about what they saw. But that person, the speaker says, will still not be able to say that a faithful woman exists. Sophie notices that Howl’s face is white. He hurriedly says that he doesn’t need to hear the rest; the woman remains unfaithful, and it’s time to go.
Howl may have enough of a reputation in the real world for Miss Angorian to not want anything to do with him. Howl is correct about the ending of the John Donne poem: the final verse insists again that there’s no such thing as a faithful woman. It’s impossible to tell at this point why Howl finds this so disturbing, but it is worth considering that Howl hasn’t yet been able to commit to a woman, faithful or otherwise. And as a wizard, Howl no doubt has the ability to see invisible or impossible things. This poem, in other words, may have more implications for Howl’s life than simply being his nephew’s misplaced homework.
Themes
Assuring Miss Angorian he’s fine, Howl hurries Sophie and Michael out of the apartment and into the horseless carriage. Howl is clearly upset, but he refuses to tell Michael what’s going on when Michael asks. Finally, as they approach the yellow house again, Howl says the Witch of the Waste’s curse is catching up, and he’ll be 10,000 days old on Midsummer Day. He’ll have to go back to the Witch then. He mutters about avoiding mandrake roots and mermaids as he opens the door to reveal Calcifer inside. When Howl says the Witch has caught up, Calcifer says he “felt it take.”
Howl confirms here that the poem isn’t just a poem: it’s the Witch’s curse, and he won’t be able to evade it for much longer. Notice that Howl seems to frame it as destiny, or at least as a guarantee, that he’ll have to go back to the Witch. But unlike Sophie, he’s going out of his way to plan how to avoid the curse as much as possible. He doesn’t accept it as inevitable and instead, as Sophie’s sisters did, is fighting to live life his own way.
Themes
