How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
Howl shot Michael an alarmed look and picked up the flower in its pot. He slide it out of the pot into his hand, where he carefully separated the white, thready roots and the soot and the remains of the manure spell, until he uncovered the brown, forked root Sophie had grown it from. "I might have guessed," he said. "It's mandrake root. Sophie strikes again. You do have a touch, don't you, Sophie?" He put the plant carefully back, passed it to Sophie, and went away, looking rather pale. (18.18)
The Witch's curse on Howl is a lot like an act of fate—no matter how he tries to avoid or deny the Witch, the signs of his curse keep turning up. Sophie was trying to grow roots harvested from a beautiful blue rose she enchanted, but somehow a mandrake gets mixed in without her intention at all. What's interesting about this surprise mandrake is that it also helps the novel's plot to move forward.
The curse is basically a plot device to remind us that a showdown is coming between Howl and the Witch of the Waste, so that we keep up our sense of suspense. Is there any practical difference between a curse, a spell, or an act of fate in a novel? How can these plot elements be used in fantasy stories to achieve specific narrative goals?