Michelene M. O’Neil
The Tale of Despereaux
The Tale of Despereaux
The following passages from The Tale of Despereaux, had meaningful dialogue and were selected because of the special content I found to be important.
Chapter 4, pages 26-29.
And so Despereaux was free.
He spent his days as he wanted: He wandered through the rooms of the castle, staring dreamily at the light streaming in from the stained- glass windows. He went to the library and read over and over again the story of the fair maiden and the knight who rescued her. And he discovered, finally, the source of the honey-sweet sound.
The sound was music. (p. 26)
I found this particular passage to be magical and beautiful. Even though Despereaux was not conforming to the rules of the mice and acting like a mouse, he was free. What touched me most was “freedom”. Despereaux was happy being himself and wanted to be free to wander the rooms of the castle and reading fairy tales. Don’t we all want to be free, to be ourselves and to use our talents and gifts that are given to us? Despereaux wanted to do the things that made him happy. But, the question I raised while reading this passage was, “Do the other mice also have these gifts, but are afraid to use them?” Finally, he found the source of the honey-sweet sound and it was music. Personally, if I don’t have music in my life, I am not happy. I could relate to Despereaux on this important area.
Chapter 4:
The sound of the king’s music made Despereaux’s soul grow large and light inside of him. “Oh,” he said, “it sounds like heaven. It smells like honey.”
(p. 27)
I had a few questions that came to mind while reading this passage. Why was Despereaux so different? Or, was he different from the other mice? Was Despereaux turning into a human? Why did the music smell like honey? This was very interesting to me because the sound of music makes your soul feel large and light. How would he know what heaven is? Although we know that certain music sounds like heaven.
Chapter 4:
The song was as sweet as light shining through stained-glass windows, as captivating as the story in a book.
Despereaux forgot all his fear. He only wanted to hear the music. (p. 29)
This page reminded myself of fear and the ability of music to take it away. He did not care or even think about the consequences of what could happen if his family found out what happened. Although his family did find out his contact with humans, the music kept him in a magical trance that erased all of his fear. Despereaux wanted life like the fairy tale and to live “happily ever after”. I think we all want to live happily ever after. I do think it is possible. Does the author think it’s possible? Probably.
Chapter 5:
Love is ridiculous.
But love is also wonderful. And powerful. And Despereaux’s love for the
Princess Pea would prove, in time, to be all of these things: powerful, wonderful, and ridiculous. (p. 32)
In this chapter, the love of Despereaux to the Princess was so heartfelt. I felt that the words mentioned above were again, beautiful. It is interesting that the author asked before this passage if it is possible for a mouse to fall in love with a princess? The author also said that it is ridiculous. But is it possible? Yes, he said. Then the passage continued with the above statement. The author made this particular chapter mysterious to keep us curious on what would happen next. Why would all of this happiness and love be so wrong?
This book in my opinion is fantasy. It also touches the realistic fiction genre, but more of fantasy and fairy tale genres. It is similar to fairy tales such as Cinderella, Snow White, and other fairy tales. These came to mind along with other Disney favorites and classic fairy tales. My mom always read the Disney fairy tales to us when my sisters and I were little. I have the book with the collection from childhood. Hopefully, I can pass it down.
This book has reminded me of many personal experiences. From the first page onward, I felt very similar to the mouse. I was born premature (little) and always felt different or unique from my family. I started ballet at a very young age after seeing my first production of Ruth Page’s The Nutcracker at Christmastime. After seeing it once, I was in a trance. I wanted to be on stage in the “fantasy-like” world of classical ballet. To me, it was a beautiful “world”. The music entered my soul and has never left. It brings me peace and I have so many stories and experiences from my classical ballet training and from the classic ballets such as; Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, etc. I can remember music from my dancing and can recall the names of certain classical works including some opera. I like powerful opera pieces and adagio pieces and I am fortunate to have my own ear for the music that I like to dance to. I understand fully the power and passion of music and how it touches your soul. For me, I love to go to Borders or Barnes and Noble to listen to music as well as read. I listen to all music, but I can dance to music that represents me. I love the sound of Spanish-flamenco guitar style as well as the mandolin. It’s upbeat as well as powerful. It is very good to dance to. I have always been a romantic and passionate individual. I have many other experiences that I can go on with. This is just a little glance of my personal experiences.
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