Howl’s Moving Castle: Chapter Two Summary & Analysis

Sophie is shocked, but she soon sees that the girl in front of her is indeed Martha, not Lettie. Swearing Sophie to secrecy, Martha explains that since Lettie wanted to learn witchcraft, she and Lettie decided to switch places rather than fight with Fanny. Fanny, Martha insists, is jealous of Lettie. Martha continues that it took her two weeks with Mrs. Fairfax to find the spell they’re using, and then she came home to visit and she and Lettie switched places. When Sophie asks why Martha agreed to switch, Martha says she just wants to get married and have 10 kids. Now she has time to see if her future husband likes her for who she is (the spell will wear off gradually).

When Sophie exclaims she never knew Martha wanted to have so many children, Martha insists Sophie and Fanny were both too caught up in pushing Martha to make her fortune. It only became clear to her how manipulative Fanny is once she and Lettie got out—and now, she and Lettie are happy, but they feel bad for Sophie. Sophie fidgets uncomfortably as Martha says she’s sure Fanny isn’t paying Sophie. Instead, Fanny is just exploiting Sophie’s skill at sewing and trimming hats while she’s off buying new clothes and checking out mansions to buy with all the money Sophie is bringing in. Sophie suggests Fanny deserves some fun after working hard for so long, but a boy appears and tells Martha that new cakes are ready. Martha and Sophie haul a rack into the main shop, and then Martha is called back to work.

Sophie hurries home, feeling older and frailer than ever. Over the next week she realizes she severely misjudged her sisters, but she’s not sure Martha is right about Fanny. Just over a week after May Day, Sophie works up the courage to ask for a wage—but as days pass, nothing changes and Sophie suspects Martha was right. Sophie wonders aloud to the hats if she’s being exploited, and she considers leaving. But she remembers that there’s no point, since she’s the eldest. She’s so annoyed that the next morning, when a young woman bursts into the shop with a mushroom bonnet and shrieks that the bonnet didn’t do for her what a similar bonnet did for Jane Farrier, Sophie snaps that this is because the bonnet is an awful shape for the woman’s face. The woman throws the bonnet at Sophie and leaves.

Sophie is worried, as losing her temper at the customer was fun. But she doesn’t have time to recover before a grand lady steps into the shop. Her hat has a real ostrich plume on it. A plain, nervous-looking man with red hair follows her in, looking horrified. The woman asks Sophie to show her the hats and Sophie complies, though she knows her hats aren’t fancy enough for this woman. Sophie pulls out hat after hat. The woman rejects them all, and Sophie finally asks what the woman wants—this is just a small-town hat shop. The man behind the woman is signaling wildly. Imperiously, the woman says she always steps in when someone challenges the Witch of the Waste, and she doesn’t like Sophie giving her competition. She throws her hand out like she’s tossing something at Sophie’s face.

Shaking, Sophie confirms that the lady is indeed the Witch of the Waste. She says there must be a mistake, as she’s doing nothing to compete with the Witch. But the Witch turns to leave and tells Sophie that she won’t be able to tell anyone outright that she’s under a spell. Curious, Sophie puts her hands to her face—which is wrinkly. Her hands are knobby. Running to a mirror, Sophie looks into a gaunt, 90-year-old woman’s face. Calmly, Sophie tells her reflection that this persona fits better anyway. She decides that she’ll get back at the Witch eventually, but now she has to leave so Fanny doesn’t get upset. As Sophie gathers bread and cheese, she discovers she’s just stiff and old, not ill. Then, taking a few coins, she leaves her house.

As Sophie shuffles toward the edge of town, she decides to write to Lettie and Martha later. She reaches the country lanes and enjoys the warm day. Sophie keeps an eye out for a walking stick and thinks she finds one—but it’s just an abandoned scarecrow with a turnip as a face. Setting it upright, Sophie speaks kindly to the scarecrow and wishes it luck. An hour later, Sophie sits to rest and hears squeaking in a hedge. Inside is a thin dog with a rope wound around its neck. The rope is tied to a stick, which is caught in the hedge. Sophie carefully cuts the rope and offers the dog cheese. It’s too afraid and runs away, but the stick it was tied to is a real walking stick with an iron tip. As she continues on, Sophie begins to speak to it.

Sophie tells the stick she’s had two encounters now, and she expects a third. The third one comes late in the afternoon, when a shepherd of about 40 passes her. Sophie muses to herself that she would’ve thought him old this morning—but now, he looks young. The shepherd looks visibly worried when he sees Sophie talking to herself, and his worry turns to fear when Sophie says she’s off to seek her fortune. As he hurries away, Sophie harumphs: he thought she was a witch. She continues to climb into the hills until her old body can go no further. Sitting on a stone, Sophie admires the sunset over the valley—but she’s annoyed that Market Chipping still looks so close.

It gets cold as the sun sets, and Sophie thinks more and more of a fire and a comfy chair. She won’t make it back to Market Chipping before midnight, though, so she decides to continue walking. The creak of her own bones is so loud that it takes her a bit to realize that she’s also hearing puffing and rumbles from Wizard Howl’s castle, which is coming slowly toward her. Sophie isn’t afraid—indeed, seeing the chimneys, she knows there must be a fireplace inside. Reasoning that she should be safe because Wizard Howl only hunts young girls, Sophie waves her stick at the castle and shrieks for it to stop. To her immense satisfaction, it obeys.