The Girl Who Drank the Moon

by

Kelly Barnhill

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The Girl Who Drank the Moon: Chapter 39 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
As night falls, Luna invites the sleepy crow to rest in her hood. Luna isn’t tired and can’t wait for the moon to rise. She remembers Xan teaching her about compasses and wonders if she’s drawn to the moon like a compass needle points north. She also feels drawn to Xan and can hear the clicking inside her.
When Luna specifically wonders if she’s drawn to Xan like a compass, it again makes the case that familial love is an inherently strong and powerful force that draws parents and children together regardless of the distance between them.
Themes
Family and Love Theme Icon
Fyrian shouts that he doesn’t fit on Glerk’s back anymore, and asks if Glerk is shrinking. Glerk says that Fyrian is growing and watches Fyrian’s nose enlarge, then one eye, then his feet. Fyrian is confused and asks how it’s possible to be bigger than Simply Enormous. Glerk tries to dance around the truth and says that Fyrian’s heart has always been enormous. Gravely, Fyrian asks if he looks strange. Glerk decides to be honest and says that he doesn’t know why Fyrian is the way he is. He’s growing and will be big like Fyrian’s mother. Dragonlings normally don’t stay dragonlings for 500 years, but Fyrian did—maybe because of Xan’s spells or his own grief. Glerk admits that he, Xan, and Luna aren’t giants.
When Glerk chooses to finally tell Fyrian the truth, it doesn’t illuminate much for the reader (or for Fyrian, for that matter), especially since Glerk can’t identify why Fyrian never grew in the first place. However, giving Fyrian this information allows Fyrian to get a better sense of who he is and how he fits into his family, which in turn will help him decide what kind of an adult dragon he’d like to be. Glerk’s honesty in this situation means that it’s more likely that Fyrian will continue to rely on him for love and support in the future.
Themes
Family and Love Theme Icon
Storytelling, Censorship, and Control Theme Icon
With tears in his eyes, Fyrian asks what this means. Glerk admits that he doesn’t know, but soon they’ll know more and they’ll always be friends. Glerk lifts himself high on his tail and points down the hill. He can see Luna’s magic emerging and says that Xan tried unsuccessfully to hold onto Luna’s childhood. Fyrian asks if Luna is turning into a dragon, but Glerk says that Luna is becoming an adult and a witch at the same time. Fyrian puts his ear to the ground and tries to attract Glerk’s attention as Glerk watches Xan transform. Fyrian roars that the mountain is on fire and that he remembers that he and his mother felt it first last time. They need to warn Xan.
By reaffirming that he’ll always be Fyrian’s friend, Glerk makes it clear that growing up doesn’t mean that Fyrian will be alone. It’s important to note the shift here between Glerk being the expert and Fyrian being the expert. Now that Fyrian knows better who he is and that something odd happened to his childhood, he can remember that he’s experienced similar things with the volcano before—and together, he and Glerk can decide what to do with that information.
Themes
Family and Love Theme Icon
Storytelling, Censorship, and Control Theme Icon
Memory, Forgetting, and the Future Theme Icon
Quotes
Xan feels horrible and doubtful. She tells herself that she loved and protected the babies, but thinks that she should’ve been curious. Antain tells Xan that once the moon rises, he’ll kill the Witch and they can go home. Xan thinks that she’d love to transform and tell Antain everything once the moon rises. She might even be able to magically send him home. Antain hears something and suggests that the Witch might be coming. Xan rolls her eyes and looks down the hill. She sees Luna and another figure she doesn’t recognize. Antain hides with a knife so he can slit the Witch’s throat.
Remember that according to the stories Antain has heard, the Witch can take the form of a young girl. As far as he’s concerned, the Witch could very well be Luna. This shows that by choosing to tell stories in which the Witch can take ay number of forms, the storytellers in the Protectorate can make it so that it’s easy to shift the blame onto anyone female who has the misfortune of ending up in their path.
Themes
Storytelling, Censorship, and Control Theme Icon
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