Inherited Magic

Dustfinger and Farid left their hiding place to meet Capricorn’s maid named Resa. She didn’t always play the part of Capricorn’s maid for she was taken out of the book Inkheart by Darius. Unfortunately he brought Resa out incorrectly for she came without her voice. Dustfinger and Resa communicated by writing. Dustfinger asked her if she had seen a copy of the book Inkheart. Even though she didn’t know where the copy was, she offered to search for it. Dustfinger and Farid returned to their hiding place, where they saw Mo’s car pass by. They dashed after it and they reached the car. Elinor and Mo were furious at Dustfinger for he made their most precious things be taken away by Capricorn. After a tense conversation, Dustfinger ordered Farid to tie up Mo and Elinor. That night, Dustfinger left to see Resa again, but when he was in Resa’s room Basta, Flatnose, and Mortola were waiting for him.  Farid saw that Dustfinger hadn’t arrived so he untied Elinor and Mo and departed with Gwin to search for his “master”. Mo gave him a letter so that he could give it to Meggie if he had a chance.

Meanwhile, Meggie and Fengolio arrived at Capricorn’s Church. Fengolio had the same reaction to Capricorn as when he first saw Basta. Capricorn saw Fengolio as an ordinary man, but when he said one of Capricorn’s deepest secret, he was shocked and knew that he was the author of his story. Soon he ordered Flatnose to lock Meggie and Fengolio in Darius’ old room. Meggie couldn’t sleep that night, so she decided to read Peter Pan, all of a sudden she saw a light in the room, it was Tinker Bell! She had read her out of the story; 

Basta came inside because of the noise that they made, and he couldn’t believe his eyes, he captured the fairy and took Meggie to see Capricorn. Meggie was entering the church and she saw Dustfinger and a maid hanging from the ceiling in nets; Capricorn was also amazed at Meggie’s power, so he jumped to the conclusion that she could bring his friend from the book. Basta returned Meggie to the room. Fengolio was worried about her, Meggie asked Fengolio if he knew any character that Capricorn will like to bring so he said maybe the Shadow, an immortal character that is a devil which is able to control anybody with fear. Meggie got scared about the friend that Capricorn wanted to bring. Sunrise arrived, Fengolio asked Meggie to make sure that after she read to Mortola, the book that Darius gave her, to ask for the character she pulled out back; Mortola arrived and Meggie needed to read the book Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson, she read the story of The Steadfast Tin Soldier when all of a sudden, a soldier popped out. Magpie reached for it faster than Meggie. Meggie asked if she could have the soldier and she agreed but after she showed it to Capricorn. After Magpie left, Meggie saw something crawling up the window, it was Gwin, with a paper rolled up in his collar.  It was from Mo she knew because of the Elvish writing, their secret language. Meggie ripped out a page from the book and answered him with a pencil that Fengolio gave to her. She gave bread to Gwin and let him go.

That morning, Dustfinger and Resa were taken to the crypt by Capricorn’s orders, it was terrifying down there, so Resa wrote down a story and Dustfinger finished it; Resa was

interested in Silvertongue and Meggie but Dustfinger didn’t tell her the truth about them.  Farid returned with Gwin and Mo was really happy, Farid gave Mortimer the letter that Meggie had wrote and he was so happy that Meggie had the same power as he.  Then Farid also gave him some uniforms he had stolen and some guns, so that they could go save Meggie and Dustfinger. Fengolio made a deal with Basta, if he brought him paper and a pen, he would write Basta a spell so he could put Mortola to sleep and get his keys back, Basta agreed. Meggie couldn’t sleep she keep thinking about the maid she saw in the net, it seemed to be her mother but with dark hair because of the time she had spent in that village. The name was pretty similar, they called her Resa and her mother’s name was TeResa.  Fengolio wrote a happy ending for the soldier and to return him to his book, Meggie read it and it worked! The soldier returned to his story, Fengolio’s and Mo’s plan had worked. Immediately Fengolio started to write. Mo, Elinor and Farid went to the village but their attempt to save Meggie and Dustfinger was useless. Everybody went to sleep except Elinor she wrote a note on Mo’s hand and drove to search for the police.

There was a quote in the book with which I had an immediate connection, it was when Elinor was getting strength to go save Meggie:

“Whatever’s happened to her father, you must help the girl – get her out of this thrice-accursed village… If you don’t, she’ll end up as one of those timid maidservants who scarcely dare to raise their heads and whose only purpose is to clean and cook for their ghastly master” (Funke, 426)

This quote made me remember of Syria and the past since women didn’t have rights and they were used for everything that man wanted. Men were the central figure of society and the ones who made decisions. In Capricorn’s village, we have the same circumstance since women did as men said and they weren’t allowed to protest or raise up their heads at a male presence or they will suffer the consequences which included physical pain. Like the maid, Resa, who was hanging from the net in the ceiling.  Also, in Capricorn’s village, women were treated as objects and men thought that they were useless for everything except cooking and cleaning, just like now a days Syria. It is important to make sure that men and women are all the same and need to have the same respect towards each other, and value women as a person not an object.

There was a quote in the book which made me think about it strongly, it was when Capricorn was talking to Fengolio about family:

“With a satisfied smile, Capricorn puts his hands in his pants pockets. ‘Yes, you all love something, softhearted as you are,’ he said. ‘Children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, parents, dogs, cats, canary birds … There are no exceptions: farmers, shopkeepers, even policemen have families or at least keep a dog… He’ll come here even though he knows I won’t let him go again, any more than I will let his daughter go. He’ll come all the same. Isn’t this world an amazing place?’” (Funke, 341)

  Family is a group people who give you unconditional love composed by animals and humans; they always demonstrate their love and affection. Family is willing to sacrifice their life and freedom for you. Ever since you were born they support your ideas and your thoughts, they are with you in the saddest moments and in the happiest ones. They care for you that is why it is important to value every moment you have with them for you don’t know when they will go.

Family: 

“a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for”  

  (Dictionary.com)

Through the book, Cornelia Funke is trying to communicate us that you need to be careful with the people that you trust for they can turn against you. People betray you because they find better deals in other places or they are threatened and forced to turn against you. You should be careful who you trust and what you trust in that person for once you said something they might change the way they look at you.

Works Cited

Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 11 Aug. 2015.