The Tale of Despereaux
By Kate DiCamillo
The (a) story follows a tiny mouse, born in the upper rooms of a castle with his eyes turned toward the sun; a rat, living in the deep, dark dungeons of the same castle, who longs to bask in the light; a princess born to the splendors of palace life, and a servant girl who longs to be a princess. Their paths will crisscross throughout the course of the story, and their lives will forever be altered—sometimes for better, sometimes for worse—by each other, and by the different passions that drive them.
The (A) story is about how all things are connected. Even if we do not realize it, the smallest actions we take fan out from us like ripples across a pond, and quite often those ripples collide. We see this in the inevitable string of events that lead to soup being banned from the kingdom, and in turn, how the character of Miggery Sow enters the castle and how she crosses paths with Roscuro the rat, etc., etc. But we also see it in the creation of cycles—specifically, the vicious ones—such as poor Mig and the constant clouts to her ear. As the narration states: “The less Mig heard, the less she understood. The less she understood, the more things she did wrong; and the more things she did wrong, the more clouts to her ear she received, and the less she heard.”
In a similar vein, the story is also about self-fulfilling prophesies, and how the labels and stereotypes we assign to others can be harmful. We see this especially through the character of Roscuro, who longs for light and beauty but is told his whole life that he is a rat and therefore cannot have such things— to the point that he, inevitably, starts to believe it. And, of course, we also see how this perspective hurts even those outside of the stereotype through the king, who refuses to listen to Despereaux because “all rodents are liars and thieves,” even though the mouse is trying desperately to help him.
Lastly, but also most importantly, The Tale of Despereaux is about empathy. Through the crisscrossing paths the characters take, we see how their personalities have been molded over time and why they make the choices and the mistakes that they do. As readers, we are given the opportunity to understand even the most villainous characters, whether we agree with their actions or not, and see them as three-dimensional beings with feelings and pasts and learning curves. This empathetic viewpoint is provided to us as the audience, but we also see it in action through the characters, such as when someone finally asks Miggery Sow what she wants.
I adored this story. But I feel a little unfair saying that, because in a few ways this book is quite similar to Poppy, which I sort of looked down my nose at when examining it through an adult lens. Not only are they both rather simple stories with an heroic mouse as the main character, but they are also both clearly meant for a much younger audience than myself.
But where Poppy was just a cute little adventure book, The Tale of Despereaux is a powerfully written moral lesson, like a longer and more in-depth traditional fairytale. And I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much: while I could see myself recommending Poppy to kids, I could very clearly see myself reading Despereaux to kids and discussing it together. In fact, I’ve already been considering gifting the book to a few of my younger cousins.
Perhaps it is a bit too young for the average adult reader, but if you have a special little kid in your life that you would love to share a fun, inspirational story with, I would highly recommend The Tale of Despereaux.
