Literary Devices in Howl's Moving Castle
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Diana Wynne Jones starts Howl's Moving Castle with a description of the setting: "In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite...
Narrator Point of View
At first the narrative perspective of Howl's Moving Castle seems like your standard third-person, all-knowing point of view. The narrator has no name and plays no direct part in the plot, but it ha...
Genre
Howl's Moving Castle has the (mostly) lighthearted, simple narration of a chapter book for older kids and younger teenagers, which is why we're putting it in the children's lit genre. After all, wh...
Tone
Don't get us wrong: there are some surprisingly serious plot elements in this book, such as Howl's terrible relationship with his sister (okay, not as bad as most of the sibling relationships in A...
Writing Style
As we mention in our section on "Genre," Howl's Moving Castle fits into the category of children's literature. Certainly, given the intended audience, Diana Wynne Jones does not get exactly Shakesp...
What's Up With the Title?
Howl's Moving Castle raises a lot of questions: Who or what is Howl? Why does his castle move? Is the castle going to be the general setting of the book, or is it going to be the goal of a long jou...
What's Up With the Ending?
The last chapter of Howl's Moving Castle is action-packed, what with the destruction of both the Witch of the Waste and Miss Angorian, and the reversal of Sophie's curse. Of course, since this is a...
Tough-o-Meter
Oh man, Howl's Moving Castle is a great, easy read—as a book for kids written in 1986, everything about it is (mostly) contemporary and (totally) understandable. Sure Diana Wynne Jones definitely...
Plot Analysis
Nobody Loves Me, Everybody Hates Me, Guess I'll Go Eat WormsWhen Howl's Moving Castle begins, Sophie Hatter believes all of the fairytale clichés she has been told about the eldest child of three...
Trivia
No wonder Diana Wynne Jones portrays Howl more-or-less falling for Sophie at first sight. After all, she had some personal experience with the topic, as she reports in her official autobiography: O...
Steaminess Rating
Sorry, everyone, but this book could scarcely be less steamy. Not only is it written to be appropriate for kids and young adults, but it also stars a character that firmly believes it's her fate to...
Allusions
John Donne, "Song" (9.37, 11.81, and throughout) Rivendell, The Lord of the Rings (11.6, 11.86) Walter Raleigh, English Renaissance poet and explorer (11.75) The Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland(12....