The Wee Free Men Theme of Perseverance

It can be awfully easy to give up when things get hard, especially when things getting hard means that an evil queen will be chasing after you and trying to bring about your demise. Never fear, though—in The Wee Free Men, Tiffany Aching doesn't believe in giving up. Whenever things get hard, she grits her teeth and carries on, even if it means bodily harm and a lot of stress. Even when it seems like she'll be stuck in a nightmare forever, she cunningly figures a way out.

Tiffany doesn't just keep her eyes on the prize, though. Nope—she also doesn't believe in leaving anyone behind, even if it might make things easier. So when she runs into Roland in Fairyland, she makes up her mind right away to bring him back—even if he isn't exactly her favorite person. Now that's the mark of a real heroine.

Questions About Perseverance

  1. Why does Tiffany go looking for Wentworth anyway? Doesn't she hate him?
  2. How does Tiffany make her way through the strange new land? How does she defeat the Queen?
  3. Why don't the pictsies give up on Tiffany when they realize that she can't actually perform magic?
  4. Does Miss Tick just leave Tiffany to her own devices, or is she watching over her the whole time?

Chew on This

Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

Tiffany only manages to defeat the Queen because she never gives up, even when the Queen leaves her with the impression that she's let everyone down and Wentworth and the pictsies are lost forever.

The kelda chooses Tiffany as the next kelda because she knows that she can count on Tiffany to keep going even when things get tough—and it doesn't matter that she doesn't have real magical skills.