Character Clues
Character Analysis
Actions
In The Tale of Despereaux, the characters' actions are pretty good reflections of their true natures. Especially in the case of those lying rats, you have to watch what they do rather than what they say.
We can tell that Despereaux is a brave, noble creature because he rushes in to save the princess even after his horrible experience in the dungeons. We can also tell that Mig's father isn't the best family man—after all, he sold his daughter for a red tablecloth, a hen, and some cigarettes… and just walks away without feeling sorry for his little girl.
"Papa?" said Mig, when her father was walking away from her with the hen in his arms, a cigarette in his mouth, and the red tablecloth draped across his shoulders like a cape.
"Go on, Mig," he said. "You belong to that man now." (24.11-12)
Not even a goodbye hug? Harsh.
And Mig, although she initially goes along with Roscuro's plan, isn't all that bad. Because she switches sides and ends up on Princess Pea's team, it's clear that Mig never meant anyone serious harm. She was just easily led astray and manipulated by Roscuro.
Direct Characterization
The narrator of The Tale of Despereaux is quite intimate and friendly with the reader, and so he or she often drops in their own observations about specific persons and creatures. There's a lot of direct description of our characters. For example, the narrator comes out and tells us that Mig isn't the smartest girl in the world.
No one would ever, not for one blind minute, mistake Mig for the princess or the princess for Mig. But Miggery Sow, as I pointed out to you before, was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. And, reader, too, she wanted so desperately to become a princess. She wanted, oh, how she wanted. And it was because of this terrible wanting that she was able to believe in Roscuro's plan with every ounce of her heart. (36.24)
The narrator also tells us that Princess Pea is filled with empathy and compassion, and directly describes the character's goodness and capacity for forgiveness. And we get very thorough descriptions of Despereaux's thoughts and feelings about art, music, princesses, and rats.
Appearance
The illustrations supplement the impressions that the reader gets from the text. (Head over to our "Symbols" section for more on that.) We can see the difference in social status between the Princess (in her beautiful gowns and glowing blonde hair) and the impoverished Mig, dressed in dark and plain clothing. We can also see how the ugliness of the rats' appearances—sharp teeth, ridiculously long and skinny snouts—mirrors their scary and nasty personalities. And Despereaux is just as cute as can be—he can't be anything but goodhearted.
Speech and Language
Many of the characters, humans and rodents alike, speak in a similar way—a kind of old-fashioned, fancy language that sounds like a fairy tale. The mice children sound more like excited kids—direct and simple language:
"Cripes!" shouted Furlough again. "Oh cripes! He's nuts! He's a goner!"
The rats have an especially pretentious, smarmy, formal way of speaking. Here's an example from Botticelli:
This little treasure is all mine, ladies and gentlemen. Please, I beg you. Do not infringe on my discovery. (48.17)
With the exception of Despereaux's French mother and her mangled English, most of the characters are well-spoken. The exceptions are Cook, Mig and her uncle, and Gregory the jailer. They have little education and have worked in harsh conditions, and it shows.
"Gor" said Mig, "look at them things. I ain't never imagined there could be so many spoons in the whole wide world." (31.19)
"I would like…," Mig said shyly. "I wish to be one of them princesses."
"Har," laughed Uncle. An ugly, dumb thing like you? You ain't even worth the enormous lot I paid for you." (27.10-11)
None of these folks have had many opportunities in life, and their gruff, coarse language reflects that.