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13. Bruno
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Witches, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Fate and Perspective
Fear of Female Power
Trickery and Deceit
Trust and Belief
Love and Family
Summary
Analysis
The boy and Bruno dash like mad across the ground floor of the hotel, up the stairs to the fifth floor, and down the corridor to Grandmamma’s room. The door is closed, but a pair of Grandmamma’s shoes sit outside it, waiting to be cleaned. When the room maid who dislikes the boy appears at the end of the corridor, he and Bruno slip into the shoes to hide. When the room maid then picks up the shoes, the boy bites her finger on instinct. She shrieks, drops the shoes, and runs off, and when Grandmama opens the door to see what has caused the commotion, the boy and Bruno quickly slip into her room.
The room maid’s (over)reaction to discovering mice (really Bruno and the boy) in Grandmamma’s shoes provides a timely reminder of why it’s dangerous to be a mouse—and not just in general, but in the moment, where the maid is on high alert thanks to her dislike toward William and Mary. Despite the danger, however, the boy shows off his strength of character and steely will by not losing his head.
Active
Themes
Grandmamma doesn’t see the mice until the boy asks her to close the door before someone can come along and see him. When she hears her grandson’s voice coming from the mouse’s body, she goes pale and begins to weep. She gathers her wits enough to close the door and place the boy and Bruno gently on the table. Bruno quickly disappears into the fruit bowl and begins to eat. As Grandmamma sits down and lights one of her cigars, the boy assures her that he doesn’t regret his metamorphosis. Then, when she has calmed down a little, the boy tells her all about the convention, the Grand High Witch frying one of the English witches, and the plan to turn all the English children into mice. As he talks, a twinkle of interest returns to Grandmamma’s eye.
Grandmamma is far more shocked to see the boy’s transformation than the boy was to undergo it. But then, Grandmamma wasn’t in the ballroom and is (as of now) unaware that the hotel is crawling with witches. But, like the boy, she doesn’t let her preconceived notions or expectations (for instance, that her grandson is a boy, not a mouse) distract her from the evidence that’s right in front of her eyes. Also like the boy, although the transformation is a tremendous shock to Grandmamma, she quickly bounces back, her ability to accept the unexpected giving her resilience and grace in the face of life’s unexpected adventures. Besides, the boy is right: she will love him always, no matter what shape he happens to assume.
Active
Themes
The one thing the boy doesn’t understand is why he and Bruno (who’s still stuffing his face in the fruit bowl) can still think and talk like boys rather than mice. Grandmamma places the boy on her lap and begins to stroke his fur in a soothing manner while she explains that the witches have only changed his shape, not his essential nature.
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Themes
As he sits in Grandmamma’s lap, the boy finds himself working out a plan. His room is 554, which, he realizes, is almost certainly above the Grand High Witch’s—she told the Ancient Ones to come to room 454 at 6:00 to get their potion. If he can get into the Grand High Witch’s room, he figures he can steal a bottle of Formula 86, lace the witches’ banquet food with it, and turn them all into mice. Grandmamma doesn’t want him to put himself in such danger, but the prospect of ridding England of witches (and taking out the Grand High Witch in the process) is too good to pass up. She agrees to give it a try.
Active
Themes
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First, Grandmamma and the boy carefully investigate the fourth and fifth floors to make sure that the rooms are stacked on top of each other. Then, they go out on the boy’s balcony and look over the edge to the Grand High Witch’s below. She’s left her balcony door open. If they can get the boy down there, he'll be able to get inside without a problem.
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