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
Sophie is disoriented when she wakes up in a shaft of sunlight—the castle didn’t seem like it had windows last night. She opens her eyes to an almost-dead fire; the fire demon must’ve been a dream. However, Sophie aches all over and angrily shouts that she’d like to get back at the Witch of the Waste for making her old. Her anger propels her up and to the window, which looks over an unpaved street she doesn’t recognize. Turning to inspect the small room, Sophie realizes it’s extremely dirty, with dust everywhere and sludge in the sink—Howl clearly doesn’t care about his servants.
Sophie continues to assume that a wizard’s home must look a certain way: dark and cold. However, the castle is very different than it initially seemed—and it doesn’t paint a very flattering picture of Howl, given how dirty it is. Still, Sophie doesn’t expect the castle to be as magical as it actually is. Readers know Sophie’s conversation with the fire demon wasn’t a dream, so the castle is really more magical than Sophie thinks.
Themes
Sophie starts opening doors, looking for the rest of the castle. The first door just leads to a bathroom that’s as disgusting as the main room. There’s a shelf filled with jars and powders with odd names like “DRYING POWER,” though this is perhaps a misspelling. The second door seems to just lead to a loft, while the third door opens onto a backyard filled with junk—the exterior doesn’t match the castle at all. The final door is a broom cupboard. Sophie returns to the door she came in yesterday, which opens onto the moving hills. Returning to the window, she’s looking out on the mysterious seaside town. Sophie tells the skull she doesn’t get it.
Sophie continues to assume that the castle must be more than it looks like—but instead, all she finds is that each part of the castle is as dirty as the main room. Finally, Sophie is forced to admit that she doesn’t understand what’s going on. More broadly, this speaks to Sophie’s current state: she’s been made old for reasons she doesn’t understand, and she doesn’t know where to go from here.
Themes
When Sophie puts a log on the fire, the fire demon roars to life and reminds her they have a bargain. Sophie sits back in the chair and cries—when Michael comes in and asks what’s wrong, Sophie sniffs that she’s old. Cheerfully, Michael says it happens to everyone and offers her breakfast, but he says there’s only bread and cheese. The fire demon Calcifer, Michael explains, only allows Howl to cook on him. Annoyed, Sophie wrenches the frying pan from Michael, puts bacon in it, and tells Calcifer to stop being silly—she’ll pour water on him if he doesn’t bend down. In a whisper, she reminds him of their bargain and at this, he leans forward. Just as Sophie prepares to crack eggs, Howl gets home.
Michael, of course, doesn’t realize that Sophie was a few years older than he is only a day ago, so he totally misses why Sophie is suddenly so upset. As Michael introduces Calcifer, Calcifer emerges as a being who’s hungry for any power he can get from his trapped spot in the grate. But Sophie shows that in her new persona as an old lady, she’s not willing to put up with nonsense like this—and she’s not afraid to bully a demon if it means she gets a warm breakfast. Michael also insinuates, however, that Howl and Calcifer have a close relationship, which may be part of their contract.
Themes
Sophie turns and stares: Howl is the young man in the blue and silver suit who tried to buy her a drink. He thinks Sophie looks familiar, but Sophie insists she’s a stranger. She’s shocked to find herself thinking that Howl is so young—it’s so different being old. As Michael and Calcifer explain that Sophie “bullied” Calcifer into letting her cook on him, Howl shrugs, takes over cooking, and asks why Sophie is here. Sophie says she’s the new cleaning lady—even if she can’t “clean [Howl] from [his] wickedness,” she can clean his castle. He tells her to set the table, but Michael does it instead.
When Sophie met Howl on May Day, he seemed too old for her. But now, Sophie has a new perspective on so many things. So, even though Sophie believes Howl is evil and has even been afraid of him before, she caustically insists that she’s come to try and reform him. It starts to cut into the idea that Howl is wholly evil when he doesn’t just tell Sophie to get out—he might not be as bad as Sophie thinks he is.
Themes
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Once Sophie, Michael, and Howl are eating around the counter, Sophie asks where the rest of the castle is. The men laugh and later, Michael explains there is no more: Howl and Calcifer just turned Howl’s old house in Porthaven into a castle. To explain why the castle moves, Howl shrugs that he must frighten people so the King doesn’t take a liking to him—he’s trying to stay out of the way of someone very powerful. Sophie thinks this is an odd way to avoid someone, but wizards must just be different than normal people.
Essentially, Howl and Michael insist that Howl is more or less a normal person who’s just trying to get by. His methods for evading the powerful person, however, suggest that he's dramatic and doesn’t go about things in what Sophie would call a normal way. The note that Howl and Calcifer created the castle together uses language that suggests they have some sort of partnership; their relationship is, perhaps, not all bad.
Themes
After breakfast, someone knocks at the door and Calcifer bellows that it’s the Kingsbury door. Sophie watches, fascinated, as Howl turns a square wooden knob above the door. Each side of the square has a different color of paint on it, and Howl turns it green-side down before opening the door to a man who clearly works for the King. The man offers Howl payment for 2,000 pairs of seven-league boots. Howl pockets the bag of coins and disappears into the bathroom. Michael then explains to Sophie that that door opens in Kingsbury. He exchanges a look with Calcifer; he wishes Howl hadn’t gotten ahold of the money. When Sophie asks if she can stay, Michael says it's impossible to know—Howl is hard to pin down.
Sophie learns once again that the castle is way more than it seems: it opens to different places in Ingary. Discovering that Howl is providing the King with seven-league boots suggests that Howl is a pretty accomplished wizard; he can create useful magical items on such a scale that he can outfit an army. However, the look that Michael and Calcifer exchange suggests that Howl isn’t competent in all areas—for one thing, they seem concerned about what he might do with the money.
Themes
