Howl’s Moving Castle

by

Diana Wynne Jones

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Themes and Colors
Destiny vs. Free Will Theme Icon
Appearances and Assumptions Theme Icon
Family Theme Icon
Magic and Coming of Age Theme Icon
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

Howl’s Moving Castle follows 18-year-old Sophie, the eldest of three sisters who live in the fictional kingdom of Ingary. In Ingary, it’s considered a terrible fate to be the eldest of three children: the eldest is destined to “fail first, and worst.” So Sophie simply accepts it as fate when the evil Witch of the Waste curses Sophie to become an old lady, as Sophie figures it’s just part of her destiny. Destiny, according…

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Appearances and Assumptions

In Howl’s Moving Castle, few things are as they seem. Old people look young, young people look old, kings and princes look unassuming, and unlikely heroes appear evil. By presenting so many people, non-human beings, and objects that defy all expectations, the novel highlights the problems that come with prejudging someone. In some cases, a person’s inclination to make assumptions simply reflects their upbringing. For instance, Sophie, who’s from Market Chipping, has been…

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Family

In many ways, Howl’s Moving Castle is a story about family—about the difficulties of maintaining relationships with one’s blood family, and of the power of chosen family members to fill gaps left by one’s blood family. Howl has a strained relationship with his sister, Megan, who believes Howl is wasting his education and doing nothing with his life. But Megan believes this in part because she lives in Wales (which isn’t magical) and doesn’t…

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Magic and Coming of Age

Over the course of Howl’s Moving Castle, teenage Sophie comes of age. This process occurs for her as she slowly discovers her magical abilities and accepts that she is indeed capable of great things—if only she believes in herself. The novel suggests Sophie is magical early on when, during her apprenticeship in her stepmother Fanny’s hat shop, Sophie begins talking to the hats she trims. Unknowingly, Sophie charms the hats when she tells…

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