How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"I do not know, nor do I wish to know, about such contracts," [Mrs. Pentstemmon] said. Her cane wobbled again, as if she might be shuddering. Her mouth quirked into a line, suggesting she had unexpectedly bitten on a peppercorn. "But I now see," she said, "what has happened to the Witch. She made a contract with a fire demon and, over the years, that demon has taken control of her. Demons do not understand good and evil. But they can be bribed into a contract, provided the human offers them something valuable, something only humans have." (12.56)
This idea of demons as creatures that do not understand good and evil—as opposed to creatures that are by their nature evil—is intriguing. This distinction is what allows Calcifer to be such a positive character in the novel despite his demonic nature, but it is also what permits Miss Angorian to be the main villain behind the Witch of the Waste. Demons appear to have the same differences in personality and moral value that humans do in Ingary.
Given the lack of a moral dimension to demonic nature here, what makes demons special in this book? Is there much material difference between Calcifer's character and Howl's or Michael's? Can you tell that he's a demon from anything other than his appearance?
Quote #5
More about Howl? Sophie thought desperately. I have to blacken his name! Her mind was such a blank that for a second it actually seemed to her that Howl had no faults at all. How stupid! "Well, he's fickle, careless, selfish, and hysterical," she said. "Half the time I think he doesn't care what happens to anyone as long as he's all right—but then I find out how awfully kind he's been to someone. Then I think he's kind just when it suits him—only then I find out he undercharges poor people. I don't know, Your Majesty. He's a mess." (13.16)
Poor Sophie is all turned inside-out over her man. Howl sends her to the King to make him look bad, but Sophie is so honest that she has to tell the King the exact truth as she is trying to blacken Howl's name—and maybe even more truth about what she thinks of Howl than she has totally admitted to herself.
All of the traits she lists here—that Howl is "careless, selfish, and hysterical" but that he is also "kind"—are fair assessments of Howl. But these kinds of contradictions are also what make Howl appealing as a character, both to Sophie and to us as readers. Howl seems more human and well-rounded because he has a good mixture of flaws and strong points—and because the book gives us time to get to know those strong points, instead of presenting them right off the bat.
Quote #6
"Make me young again and I'll run up [the stairs to the palace], even in this heat."
"That wouldn't be half so funny," said the Witch. "Up you go. And if you do persuade the King to see you, remind him that his grandfather sent me to the Waste and I bear him a grudge for that." (13.66-67)
Both Howl and the Witch of the Waste have fierce reputations in their neighborhoods. And both do have ethical failings: much as we love Howl, he is careless, untrustworthy with women's hearts, and extremely self-centered. But the Witch actively enjoys watching people suffer. She forces Sophie to go up the stairs to the palace in the glaring heat because Sophie is an old woman and it will be difficult for her to do so. The Witch's active cruelty obviously makes her a villain in this novel, whereas most of Howl's worst traits come from his irresponsibility, which is more self-destructive than anything else.