Identity and Appearance - Howls Moving Castle

Identity and Appearance

“Howls Moving Castle” is a novel written by Diana Wynne Jones. In the land of Ingary everyone must follow the rules that they oppose. It is known that the eldest shall be cursed, as for the youngest that lives a life of joy and adventure. Along the way a mysterious thing happens when the eldest sister, Sophie Hatter is cursed by a wicked witch who curses her with old age. Desperate and afraid she sets out in hopes of finding a way to break her curse and finds a castle with a powerful wizard named Howl. In howls moving castle, the bond between magic and identity is fairly complicated. Identity is what or who a person or thing really is. The theme of appearance and Identity are used throughout the novel when not everyone is who or what they make themselves out to be. Whether it’s a young girl in an old woman’s body or a young man appearing to be different than how he really looks.

We all know the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Looks can be very deceiving, the same way Sophie was able to play off being an old cleaning lady when she was actually a young girl the whole time. The Magic in the book helps the characters in the novel match their true identity. Although Sophie isn’t truly a 90-year-old-women, she was able to take advantage of her old age curse. It didn’t seem to bother Sophie as much. “ I had several goes of taking the spell of you when you weren’t looking but nothing seemed to work. I came to a conclusion that you liked being in disguise”. (Diana 84) Her being old helped her match her inner identity, anxious, worried and always working because she feels the need to.

Howl as well uses his magic to enhance the way he looks due to that face that he is obsessed with making sure he always looks good. “He was such a dashing