Light and Dark

Descriptions of Light and Dark in The Tale of Despereaux

Throughout the book Kate DiCamillo writes about light or dark and sometimes the combination of the two in order to highlight important aspects of the story.

Some noteworthy examples are:

-          When Despereaux is born: “The April sun, weak but determined, shone through a castle window and from there squeezed itself through a small hole in the wall and placed on golden finger on the little mouse.” (p. 13, line 1)

-          As Despereaux reaches the bottom of the dungeon:

“And it was so dark. Despereaux had never before encountered a darkness so awful, so all-encompassing. The darkness had a physical presence as if it were a being all of its own. The mouse held one small paw up in front of his whiskers. He could not see it, and he had the truly alarming thought that perhaps he, Despereaux Tilling, did not even exist.” (p. 73-74)

-          The description of Despereaux’s dream (p. 181-182)

-          The description of Princess Pea’s heart (p. 197-198). This shows us that the Princess is a complicated character with contrasting feelings and emotions as the images show both darkness and light.

-          The way the Princess appears to Miggery Sow as she rides past and also how this turns on a light within Miggery (p. 131-132 + p. 136)

-          What Gregory, the jailor, says about stories: “Stories are light” (p. 81)

There are many other important examples listed here:

Light images	Light and dark images in contrast or together	Dark images
p. 20-21 p. 26 p. 88 p. 92-93 p. 95-96 p. 102 p. 103-5 p. 109	p. 85	p. 56 p. 77 p. 71