Howl's Moving Castle Themes

When a story is taken from its original text and transferred onto the big screen, plot points, themes, and the author’s intent are often lost in the adaptation. In particular, the young adult fantasy novel Howl’s Moving Castle, published by Diana Wynne Jones in 1986, was adapted into an anime film in 2004 by Hayao Miyazaki, the director of Spirited Away and Ponyo, among other works. Since the film’s debut, reviewers, scholars, and fans have argued about the changes Miyazaki has made in adapting the film. They argue about whether or not the famous Japanese director has strayed too far from the text – focusing too much on the war plot and not enough on Jones’s characters’ storylines.

The conversation that revolves around the agency of Sophie

At the beginning, Sophie has decided to stay at the hat shop and resigned herself to accepting that as the oldest, she is destined to be the least successful Hatter sister. She doesn’t try to change her destiny, and doesn’t speak up about what she wants, though her sisters encourage her to. As a young woman Sophie cares about her family, and has an internal need to care for others before herself, which causes her to repress her own desires: “It was a disappointment to her, but she was happy enough, looking after her sisters and grooming” (Jones 2). Wilcox suggests: “Arguably more talented than either of her sisters, Sophie has internalized socially-accepted concepts of duty, and this abdication of personal agency is ultimately what gives the Witch of the Waste’s curse its hold over her” (165-166). The transformation into a crone, brought upon by the Witch, triggers a response in Sophie – to not accept this life as a hat maker as her fate. She is now free from the responsibilities that dictated her life, in order to Sophie accepts her transformation more quickly than her film counterpart: “Don’t worry old thing,’ Sophie said to the face. ‘You look quite healthy. Besides, this is much more like you really are” (Jones 36). Jones immediately asserts agency into Sophie when she becomes a crone, because one of her first actions was that she “thought about her situation, quite calmly,” (36). Sophie decides it is time to venture out into the world – which puts her in a position to change her own identity and gives her authority over her own choices while placing herself in the position to meet Howl and Calcifer. Her transition into a crone is what provokes her agency to blossom. Sophie is no longer responsible for her sisters, the hat shop, her stepmother. She is free of