The Tale of Despereaux

Most of the characters express a ridiculous, yet hopeful sense of desire. For example, Miggery Sow longs for her deceased mother; Pea shares this sentiment. Mig also has a dream that transcends her social status: She wants to be a princess, but since she is an orphan, she is destined to be nothing more than a servant.

Such desires are presented as ridiculous, but possible if one perseveres. Despereaux is a nontraditional hero, but he comes to wear the metaphorical armor of a knight as he saves Pea from the dungeon. Likewise, Pea feels her mother’s presence through the reintroduction of soup, the food the latter loved most. Even Mig ends up becoming a princess through familial love, her imprisoned father learning to treasure her always. In these examples, the motif of desire ends up being not so unattainable.

The color red manifests as two prominent symbols: Hovis’s spool of thread and the tablecloth sold in exchange for Miggery Sow. The spool is not only the “red thread of death” used for Mouse Council sentences, but it is also the coveted red thread Pea uses for her family tapestry.

Roscuro finds himself fascinated by a new prisoner’s red cloth suspended in the sunlight, the color evocative of blood. Despite its brightness, red pales in comparison to the golden color of sunlight; the rat soon realizes he was in love with the sun and not the red cloth. Despereaux also realizes that the blood from his injury and the red of the “thread of death” mean little compared to his quest of saving Pea and restoring light throughout the castle.

As demonstrated by Despereaux and Gregory’s lifelines, different forms of thread help orient characters as they navigate unfamiliar territory. They provide safety and track people’s progress—literal and metaphorical.

There is also an artistic side to thread as a symbol: Princess Pea uses red thread in her family tapestry. In doing so, she becomes the author of her own story.

Soup (and its related silverware) is a somewhat ridiculous symbol of love—but such is the nature of love in the story. Even when the king outlaws soup and kettles, the evidence of his love for the queen does not go away; it merely piles up in the dungeon as a literal monument to his grief. Roscuro also takes the soup spoon from the banquet and wears it as a makeshift crown—which mocks the queen’s memory but also serves as the only bit of brightness he can bring back to the darkness where he supposedly belongs.

The kingdom begins to heal when Cook makes the soup served during the banquet. The smell and taste of the dish unite Despereaux, Pea, Roscuro, and Mig in shared memories and understanding.

While recovering from his injury, Despereaux dreams of an empty suit of shining armor that saves him from darkness—but later realizes he himself must take on the role of knight. The knight symbolizes the ongoing fight for goodness and light in the world, with all light reflecting off of it. This archetype is crucial to the traditional fairy tales that catch Despereaux’s eye in the library.

Moreover, the suit of armor acts as an impenetrable barrier that protects the wearer. Despereaux is attracted to this means of protection because of his small size; the armor’s literal strength only expands the knight’s symbolic power in his mind.

In embodying the knight, one becomes emblematic of all that is good and kind in the face of darkness. Despereaux accepts this responsibility as a hero only need be strong of heart—regardless of literal armor.