The Wee Free Men Theme of Strength and Skill

In The Wee Free Men, Tiffany manages to find and rescue her brother not because she's big or particularly strong, but because she has a strong character, determination, and a whole lot of street smarts. Tiffany may be smaller, younger, and less magically-inclined than the Queen, but she defeats her anyway because she knows how to work the system. With intelligence and the help of a pictsie army, Tiffany is able to bend the rules of Fairyland to do what she wants instead of becoming a pawn in the Queen's world. What a smart cookie.

Questions About Strength and Skill

  1. In what ways is Tiffany stronger than her nemesis, the Queen?
  2. How are the pictsies so strong when they're so little?
  3. Why is Tiffany able to defeat the Queen with nothing but a frying pan?
  4. Does Tiffany really need Grandma Aching's help at the end, or is she okay on her own?

Chew on This

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

The fact that Tiffany has the loyalty of the pictsies actually makes her stronger than the Queen because she knows how to work with people, unlike the Queen who is alone in the world.

Tiffany doesn't tell the world that she's the one who saved Roland because no one would believe her. It's this ability to understand the way things work around her that is Tiffany's greatest strength.