In 1986, the British writer Diana Wynne Jones created the story of Howl's Moving Castle.
adapted the original story written by Diana Wynne Jones and turned it into an animation movie.
Discussion Question:
How did Sophie manage to break
(1) the bond between Howl and Calcifer, and
(2) the curse imposed upon her by the Witch of the Wasteland?
She showed a lot of courage in facing odds. She also made good uses of her resources, such as intelligence and patience. However, the most important thing was that she had won the hearts of many other characters, including the fire demon, the boy, and Howl.
ReplyDelete~Vinia
I think the main reason why Sophie breaks the curses between Howl and Calcifer is attribute to the power of love. When Howl was a little boy, Sophie had made a promise to Howl that she would come to save his life. It is an important mental support for Howl waiting for his love.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, fate is another key point for breaking curse. I believe the destiny help them become a couple. They met with each other and fell in love afterward. Sophie put all her heart and strength on finding a solution to break the curse and taking care of him. Howl was so affected by the warmth of Sophie that he revealed his secret to her.
Their mutual affection is growing stronger and stronger. Despite the fact that Sophie’s appearance is old and wrinkled, Howl still deeply in love with her because of her benevolence. All these proofs show that the power of the love is magnificent and influential on a couple confronting obstacles.
saleishia student ID:98540315
(1) Calcifer is actually a meteor. In childhood, Howl takes pity on the meteor disappearing when reaching the earth so they agree on a contract where Howl’s heart is given for Calcifer’s survival but Howl can lose his soul gradually in return. The only method that can break the contract is to know the secret between Howl and Calcifer. Sophie is the one who meets Howl in the past and knows their shared secret. Sophie reveals the secret and thus breaks the curse.
ReplyDelete(2) When Sophie thinks of Howl and her mind is engaged in worrying about Howl, she becomes young. Falling in love can make one flourish and blossom. The appearance can be disguised but not the case with mind and heart. Although Sophie is cursed to look old and hunchbacked, her true mind and heart cannot be concealed. Once there is stimulus, Sophie’s mind can be revealed. The stimulus in illustrated in Howl’s Moving Castle is occupation with and care about Howl. Sophie doesn’t manage to fight the curse; instead, she makes fun of herself as an old grandma. However, she unintentionally breaks the curse by the effusive love for Howl plus her active and optimistic personalities.
Cherry studentID:98540339
How did Sophie manage to break
ReplyDelete(1) the bond between Howl and Calcifer, and
(2) the curse imposed upon her by the Witch of the Wasteland?
Calcifer is the heart of Howl. Howl without the heart should become devil but he dosen't because his innocence and kind that make him and calcifer maintain kind-hearted. But the witch finds that the heart is the treasure that she looks for a long time. At that time, Sophie pours the water on Calcifer, unexpectedly finds that the secret of Calcifer and Howl so she decides to save them both. Luckily, she has an ability that what she said can become true. She puts Calcifer into Howl's heart so Howl get his heart again. Besides, she says that she hopes Calcifer can exist so he doesn't fade away.
The witch put curse on Sophie. At first, Sophie is lack of confidence so she looks like a old woman but after getting along with Howl, she becomes more confident. She even get the courage to save who she loves. She is brave to against the enemy so she gradually becomes younger and younger. In the middle of the movie, she likes Howl but she refuses to love him because she is afraid. But at the end, she can love Howl and stay with him happily.
98540311
Sophie loves Howl very much. Howl was a person who loves himself very much. His magical power always uses on himself. However, after meeting Sophie, Howl starts to love her. Gradually, Howl cares about Sophie more and more and his magical power no longer uses just on himself but uses on others’. On the other hand, Sophie was a shy person. Besides, she had no confident and she had no ideas of her own. However, after she falls in love with Howl, she becomes a courageous and a firm person. She is brave enough to face the king alone just to save Howl from war. When she becomes confident in herself, her curse will be broken. It is their love for each other that break the curse.
ReplyDeletestudent ID：98540343
Sophie breaks the curse at the same time actually. In the movie, Calcifer says that if Sohpie break the contract between Calcifer and Howl, then Calcifer will help her break the curse upon Sophie. Sophie is a kind-hearted girl. She breaks the curse upon Howl and herself by the true love. She loves Howl very much. She even becomes confident in the end. I think these are the reasons why Sophie breaks the curses on Howl and herself.
ReplyDeletestudent ID:98540334
There was a curse on Hawl and Calcifer, and also one on Sophie. I think the two curses were broken because of love. Sophie became old because she lacked of confidence. However, she gained confidence after meeting Hawl and falling in love with him. Then, she broke the curse and returned young. With Sophie's love, she also broke the curse on Hawl and Calcifer. She knew the secret between them and saved them in the end.
ReplyDeletestudent id:98540332
In my opinion, the bond between Howl and Calcifer is not a curse any more because they have dragged each other. Maybe it is the invisible and powerful love that breaks the curse between Howl and Calcifer.
ReplyDeleteI think that Sophie herself breaks her curse by the Witch of the Wasteland. Sophie is a depressive person and she always constrained her ideas. Therefore, when she turned into a old woman, she found that as long as she bravely spoke out her thoughts, she would regain young. In the end, she admitted that she had fallen in love with Hawl and then broke her own cures.
Student ID: 98540335
(1) Sophie tries hard to know the secret between Howl and Calcifer, but it is a contract, which can not be told by both of them. Sophie is patiently takes care of Howl very well and it touches Howl’s heart. Finally, she walks into Howl’s world discovering the secret of contract, and saves Howl’s soul from being a monster.
ReplyDelete(2) I think Sophie doesn’t concern that much about her curse than the bone between Howl and Calcifer. Maybe she even doesn’t know that she returns to the young appearance when she shows her bravery and confidence. The curse actually makes Sophie show her age of mentality condition. Luckily, Sophie faces her love toward Howl in the end, which breaks the curse!
student ID:98540338
(1) After Howl got along with Sophie, he began to take others’ need into consideration especially Sophie’s. Besides, he fell in love with Sophie and it was the love that breaks the bond between Howl and Calcifer. And when Sophie watered Calcifer, her love toward Howl saved Calcifer and Howl from the death. Sophie’s attitude let Howl understand that it was no use escaping from the difficulty which he has confronted and this kind of attitude helped Howl face the music and retrieve his heart which was still young and energetic.
ReplyDelete(2) As long as Sophie had confidence in herself, she could easily break the curse which was imposed by the witch. When she was lack of confidence, she would become an old woman and I thought that it referred to a withered flower. A withered flower was not as glamorous as a full-blown flower and so did a girl. As an old saying goes,” A girl is beautiful when she is confident of herself and does something by all means.” Therefore, she could recover because she had confidence in herself and she also had Howl’s love which supported her.
(1)The bond between Howl and Calcifer was the secret contract made when Howl was just a little boy. In this contract, Howl got magic power by swallowing Calcifer but he could not tell anyone about this. In the movie, there was a part that Sophie fell into a time tunnel and knew about the childhood of Howl. She found the secret between these two men so the contract was broken.
ReplyDelete(2)At first, Sophie was an ordinary girl who has no passion toward things in the world. Afterwards, the witch of the wasteland imposed the curse upon Sophie due to jealousy and this curse makes Sophie’s appearance change with her mental age. However, the incident of meeting Howl changes her life. After getting along with howl, Sophie found that he is actually a good guy. She gradually falls in love with Howl. The more she tries to help Howl, the more passion she inspired in her mind. Finally, Sophie breaks the curse by the strong will power inspired from her love toward Howl.
from Eric 鍾昕展, Student ID 95360305
(1)In my opinion, I think Sophie can break the bond between Howl and Calcifer is because of her love toward Howl. From the movie, Sophie actually made a promise with Howl that she wants to break the bond between Howl and Calcifer in the future when he was at his childhood. That’s why Howl keeps waiting for her.
ReplyDelete(2)As far as I am concerned, I think that Sophie can break the curse imposed upon her by the Witch of the Wasteland is also because of change. Sophie becomes an old woman because of the Witch of the Wasteland’s jealousy. Although Sophie becomes an old woman and she loses her beautiful face, she changes a lot in her mind. To protect the people she loves, she becomes much braver than before. The iron-willed and unbending minds make her break the course.
98540349 顏筱瑄
I think that why the spell was broken was mainly because the love and care sophie had for Howl. And the courage she had to do anything for him.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie we can see the idea of true love, no matter how hard and how many obstacles there have, Sophie never quit. She tried so hard to find any ways that could save Howl and break the curse. But until the end we can learn that it was the greatest love for someone to break the strongest curse. And the love Howl have for Sophie is also strong. Because when Sophie was turned into an aged and old lady, Howl still cared for her and loved her no matter what she was like. Due to Sophie's kindness and love.
Wanting to get the magical power and making his own life better, Howl decides to make a contract with Calcifer by giving him his heart. If Calcifer figures out the secret of the contract, it would be able to become its original form. Howl is an individualist. He, for example, only cares about his house cleanness and not cares about things he does not possess. He only use magic on himself and never use it for helping others. Until he and Calcifer meet Sophie, she changes their fate and her fate completely. Because of love for Howl, she change herself from diffident to confident, which also helps her break the witch’s curse. Affected by Sophie, Howl and Calcifer finally understand the importance of “love”. They start to care about others and use the magic to assist others. They are no longer selfish and get rid of individualism. As a consequence, Calcifer knows the secret of the curse when he tries to save all the people in the Moving Castle when Howl is not at home. Both Howl and Calcifer realize they should be compassionate, accommodating and most importantly full of “love.”
ReplyDeleteFROM:Sally侯怡如 ID:98540320
At first, Sophie doesn't know that there is a bond between Howl and Calcifer, and after she knoes it, she wants to break the bond but doesn't know how. and during they live together Howl and Sophie's relationship is getting better and better, and they love each other. We all know that Howl is a guy who only cares about himself, however, when he meets Sophie and he began to care much for her. On the other hand, Sophie is shy and doesn't have much confidence about herself, and when she meets Howl and falls in love with him, she becomes much courageous and brave. and all because of that, Howl and Sophie break their curses.
ReplyDeleteHowl contracts with Calcifer by giving heart to Calcifer and makes Calcifer survive. That means Howl loses his soul, the most important part of human beings. Sophie gets Howl’s heart back by using her love for everyone including Calcifer. Love is a powerful thing that can conquer many things and Calcifer is also touched by her love.
ReplyDeleteSophie is considerate that she always cares about people around her, so everyone treats her well from the bottom of heart.
In the beginning, Sophie is diffidence about herself so the Witch of the Wasteland turns Sophie into an old lady. However, when Sophie forgets about her defects, she will be a young lady again. After falling in love with Howl, she understands how to be a confident person and how to show her concerns for others and Howl’s love also gives her courage.
student ID:98540329
Sophie used her pure mind and sincere love to break both the bond between Howl and Calcifer, and the curse made by the Witch of the Wasteland. Originally, Howl and Sophie did not know they love each other in their deepest mind. However, when Sophie became an old woman and lived with the little boy and Howl, she and Howl gradually cultivated some affection through overcoming lots of difficulties together. Because of her pure love, she can be young again and be with Howl together. In my opinion, I think the power of love is really grand. Whenever we meet hard times, affections among family members or the beloved one are the best support. Owing to “love”, everything can be overcome, and those who have difficulty dealing with things can make it through without a doubt.
ReplyDelete~from Moranda Huang Student ID:98540324~
I think Sophie is the only person who know the bond between Howl and Calcifer because she saw the scean that they made a contract. The only method that can break the contract is to know the secret between Howl and Calcifer. Therefore, Sophie trys her best and put all her efforts to find the solution to break the curse.
ReplyDeleteAs for the curse that witch of the wasteland put on Sophie, I think although Sophie’s appearance is old, her heart is definitely young. This is perhaps the reason Howl love her that much and willing to share his everything with Sophie.
First, I want to be ashamed of myself. Because when I watched this movie I just as the fan of Miyazaki. All I care about is how he drew the pictures of the movie. And how difficult for him to make this great work.And how handsome Howl is!!!!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading other classmates' comments , I agree with Saleishia's more. There is a point,no matter how Sophie manage to break the bond between Howl and Calcifer or the curse imposed upon her by the Witch of the Wasteland,all things have to do is about "love"! Love has the magnificent power to help people solve every problems!
Serene is 98540326 ^^
ReplyDeleteI think is the love and courage of Sophie break the cruse which imopsed her. Meantime, Sophie's beautiful personality make all the characters belive her and want stay aside of Sophie, includ Howl and Calcifer.
ReplyDeletefrom: 小玠 ID: 95820317
1. In the movie, there was a contract between Howl and Calcifer. When Howl was young, he gave his heart to Calcifer in order to make it live longer. As a result, Howl had magical power to do what he wanted to do and what he only cared about was himself. After meeting Sophie, Howl changed his personality and learned to know how to care about others. I think it was Sophie’s love toward Howl that made him become another person and lifted the curse from him.
ReplyDelete2. I think it was Sophie’s courage and confidence in herself that made her break the curse upon her by the Witch of the Wasteland. Although Sophie was cursed and changed her young appearance into an old woman’s, she still kept a young mind and held a positive attitude toward everything. Whenever she felt confident in herself, her appearance would turn back to the original one and become young again. After meeting Howl, she not only fell in love with him but also became a person who was full of confidence and positive thinking.
from 98540345 Nicky Kuo
Calcifer is a meteor and he would be dead when he plummet from the sky. Howl catch and save Calcifer at Howl's young age. So they make a contract: Howl eat Calcifer and they be a ONE.
ReplyDeleteThe fire in this castle is actually controlled by a fire demon named Calcifer. Like Sophie, Calcifer is cursed, and they make a pact, each to discover the nature of the other's curse and break it. This, of course, requires Sophie to find a pretext for staying at the castle.
Then, Sophie enrages the witch of the west with her incredible skill at making hats. The witch descends upon Sophie and casts a curse which turns Sophie into an old woman. Worse, Sophie is cursed to be physically unable to tell anybody she's under a curse. The horror of the curse breaks Sophie from her appalling state of mousy discontent.
Sunny ID 98540317
1.How did Sophie manage to break
ReplyDelete(1) the bond between Howl and Calcifer, and
(2) the curse imposed upon her by the Witch of the Wasteland?
(1) Calcifer has Howl’s heart and Howl can support Calcifer’s life, so both of them couldn’t lose each other. However, the witch tries to find out where the Howl’s heart is. After Sophie pours water onto Calcifer, she realizes everything and feels very worried about she may loose Howl and Calcifer. In the meanwhile, Sophie uses her ability that what she said would be fulfilled. Therefore, she puts Calcifer into Howl’s heart and then Howl gets his heart. Furthermore, she promises that she hopes Calicifer can live forever so he won’t disappear any more. That is how Sophie manages to break their bond. Finally, both of them don’t have to rely on each other and they can live individually and independently.
(2)The witch’s cure imposed upon Sophie makes her look like a very old woman. At first, Sophie kind of gets used to this life without confidence and dream. Therefore, she doesn’t really care about everything. However, on the ground of love and confidence to know and save Howl, she becomes strong enough to express what she wants. She tries to save Howl who she loves and confesses what she thinks about. In sum, love and confidence give Sophie the ability to break the witch’s curse.
~from 賴幼鳳 Student ID number: 98540348