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Howl’s Moving Castle: An Ethereal Dream 投稿類別：英文寫作類 篇名： Howl’s Moving Castle: An Ethereal Dream 作者： 張元齡。高雄市立高雄女子高級中學。高二11班 (Chang, Yuan-Ling. Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Girls' Senior High School. Class 2-11) 指導老師： 王儷蓉 老師 0 Howl’s Moving Castle: An Ethereal Dream Table of Contents: I. Introduction A. Motivation of the Study P.2 B. Purpose of the Study P.2 C. Scope & Methods of the Study P.2 II. Thesis A. Introduction of Howl’s Moving Castle (film and novel) P.2 a) film b) novel B. Biography of Diana Wynne Jones P.4 C. Biography of Hayao Miyazaki P.4 D. Comparison of the Plot P.5 E. Comparison of the Main Characters P.6 F. Comparison of the Creators P.8 III. Conclusion P.9 IV. References P.9 V. Appendix P.10 A. Other Works by Diana Wynne Jones P.10 B. Other Works by Hayao Miyazaki P.10 1 Howl’s Moving Castle: An Ethereal Dream I. Introduction A. Motivation of the Study: Hayao Miyazaki’s animated version of Howl’s Moving Castle is a timeless classic that has accompanied many of us through our childhood. Whenever watching it, a sense of nostalgia stoles over me, stirring and reawakening the child in me. As I grew older, I became a great fan of English fantasy, thus acquainting myself with the Diana Wynne Jones’s version through reading her novel. However, I became mystified by the fact that there are two versions of the beloved story and apparently two creators. Each has similar cast and plot, yet the style of the story telling and the finer details of the under-lying scheme differs. Hence, I set out on my quest to unravel the inter-connection between the two Sophie Hatters whose journeys began in separate realms—one of film, the other of words. B. Purpose of the Study: Through this study, I aim to find out more about the ethereal story that has accompanied many of us through our childhood. In the process, I also hope to compare the similarities and differences between the film and novel, thus learn more about the two creators. By learning more about the two creators, whose backgrounds are so diverse, it can be shown that though the plots are similar, different expressive ideas and styles can still be shown. Thus allowing later generation of young writers to better grasp the delicacy and art of creating fantasy. C. Scope and Method of the Study: By browsing through various websites, rereading Diana Wynne Jones’s novel, and rewatching Hayao’s animated film. I compiled a sufficient amount of data. I then rearranged the gathered information into charts to better compare and associate the novel and film, and more importantly study the connections and diversities of the ideas that can be portrayed through the same story when told by different people. II. Thesis A. Introduction of Howl’s Moving Castle (novel and film): a) Novel: Howl's Moving Castle is a fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, published in 1986. The main character, Sophie, is the eldest of three daughters and because in fairy tales, the eldest is always doomed to fail, she is thus condemned to a dull future as a hatter. But who would have thought adventure would seek her out as the wicked Witch of the Waste turns her into a wizened, old woman. She then takes refuge in the strange moving castle of the wizard Howl and struck up a bargain with the resident fire demon, Calcifer. Meanwhile, Howl, rumored as an eater of women’s 2 Howl’s Moving Castle: An Ethereal Dream souls, has enough on his plate trying to escape the curse the Witch has placed on him, find the girl of his dreams and end the contract he and his fire demon have entered. To top off the madness, when Prince Justin goes missing while searching for Wizard Suliman, the King orders Howl to find Suliman and Justin and kill the Witch. Despite not keen on a confrontation with the Witch, he comes to the rescue and defeats her when she entraps Sophie. Yet the real danger is not to be thwarted so easily, the Witch's fire demon tries to take Howl's heart by grabbing Calcifer. Sophie uses her magic to break the contract returning Howl’s heart back to the place it belongs. When Howl awakens, he destroys the fire demon, breaking the curse on Suliman and Justin, whom the Witch had fused together into a puppet. In the end, Sophie discovers that there's far more to Howl and herself than first meets the eye. b) Film: Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Sophie starts out as a young hatter, but as the witch's curse befalls her, she sets out wrinkled and old, and meets the fire demon Calcifer, who struck up a deal with her. In the background of Sophie’s queer misfortunes is war beginning to seep into her country following the mysterious disappearance of the other realm’s Prince. For pacist reasons, Howl sends Sophie to discourage the king from summoning him to participate in the carnage, by declaring that he is a coward. At the palace, Sophie encounters a dog that she suspects is Howl in disguise. She also meets the witch, now drained of power and reduced into a harmless old lady with little memory of her past deeds. Suliman informs Sophie the demise of the witch is a mirror of Howl’s if he doesn’t fight. As Sophie violently opposes, the curse temporarily weakens, causing Suliman to realize her true relation to Howl. Only Howl’s timely rescue allows them to slip througn her grasp. Sophie soon learns that Howl morphs into a bird-like creature to interfere in the war, but each transformation makes it harder to return to humanity. After a string of events, Sophie has reason to deduce that Howl is now lost to humanity and must be saved. She moves everyone out of the castle, removing Calcifer from the hearth and gave him a piece of her hair to allow him power over a portion of the castle. They head toward Howl when the former witch discovers Howl’s heart within the fire demon. To make her let go, Sophie pours water on Calcifer, causing his power to fail. The castle splits, and she and Howl tumble down a chasm. Making her way towards Howl’s heart, she stumbles upon a recollection of how Howl and Calcifer met. Amidst the vortex of memory, Sophie finds Howl, lost to humanity in bird form, and tows him back to the group. By returning his heart to its rightful place, she resurrects him and frees Calcifer. Then she kisses the scarecrow revealing that he is actually the missing prince. In the end, 3 Howl’s Moving Castle: An Ethereal Dream Howl, Sophie, and the others are seen high above the bomber planes returning home from the end of war. B. Biography of Diana Wynne Jones Diana Wynne Jones was born in 1934, London, where she had a chaotic childhood that was “very vivid and often very distressing” amidst the depressing background of World War II. When the raids reached London in 1939, the five-year-old girl and her two younger sisters were torn from their suburban life and sent to Wales to live with their grandparents. This was to be the first of many migrations, before the family finally settled in rural Essex. As children, Diana and her two sisters were deprived a good, steady supply of books by a father, “who could beat scrooge in a meanness contest.” So, she decided that she would have to write them herself. Unfortunately, she was dyslexic and her parents scoffed at her ambition. But she managed to write her first novel at age twelve and entertained her sisters with readings of her stories. Those early stories—and much of her future work—were inspired by a limited but crucial foundation of classics, Malory’s Morte D’Arthur, The Arabian Nights, and Epics and Romances of the Middle Ages. Fantasy was Jones’s passion, despite receiving little support from her parents. This passion was fueled during her tenure at St. Anne’s College in Oxford, where lectures by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis increased her fascination with myth and legend. Diana Wynne Jones has been honored with many prestigious awards for her work. She was given the British Fantasy Society’s Karl Edward Wagner Award in 1999 for having made a significant impact on fantasy, received a D.Lit from Bristol University in 2006, and won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Fantasy Convention in 2007. Diana Wynne Jones continued to write during her battle with lung cancer, which ultimately took her life in March 2011. Her last book, Earwig and the Witch, was published by Greenwillow Books in 2012. C. Biography of Hayao Miyazaki Miyazaki, the second of four brothers, was born in the town of Akebono-cho, part of Tokyo. During World War II, due to the fact that Miyazaki's father was director of Miyazaki Airplane which made rudders for fighter planes, he drew aircrafts and formed a special bond with aviation, which later manifested into a recurring theme in his films. Miyazaki said that he inherited his skeptical mind from his mother, who was a voracious reader often questioning socially accepted norms.

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