Meeting the author

They arrived at a hut on top of a hill where they passed the night. Basta and Flatnose find them, but luckily Dustfinger held the dogs back and Mo was able to beat them even though a dog bit him. When they arrived at the coast, Elinor invited everyone to eat at the finest hotel in town.  Meanwhile, Dustfinger and Farid disappeared. Elinor gave Meggie two books and the address of a man named Fengolio before she went back home. When they were walking in the street, Meggie found Farid and Dustfinger juggling to earn some money. They arrived at Fengolio’s house which turned out to be the author of Inkheart. Meggie played with Fengolio’s grandsons named, Pippo, Rico and Paula. It didn’t take Fengolio much time to believe that Mo is able to take character out of a book and that he took three people from

the book.  They left to find Dustfinger.  Meggie told Dustfinger that he dies in the end of the story but he still wanted to return so he ran and Fengolio was never able to talk to him.  Fengolio gave Mo an apartment to stay at. Elinor arrived home but she was feeling strange.  When Elinor entered her library, the books were on the floor with mud all around them. She went to the other room and found a Red Rooster hanging from the door and all her books burned outside. Elinor called Mo and desperately asks him to pick her up at the airport. Mo left immediately. Meggie tried to go behind but she couldn’t so she sat down on a bench in front of the Memorial place. She found a very hungry kitty so he took the kitty to the apartment and gave him some food. While she was in there, Pippo was outside and knocked on the door various times. Meggie finally opened the door and found Basta and Flatnose there holding Pippo. They took Pippo and Meggie to Fengolio’s house to search for the book. Even though, Capricorns man couldn’t read or write, Basta knew how to read his own name and the two first letters of Inkeart. Fengolio was amazed for he had seen his best characters, Basta and Flatnose, in real life. They took Fengolio and Meggie back to Capricorn’s village but before they left, they went to the apartment set the cat free. They left a note on the desk which said “Basta”. Dustfinger was still with Farid but he wanted to get rid of him, so he agreed to take him to Capricorn’s village, this time he knew he was safe for he told Basta where Mo was. When Meggie and Fengolio arrived, Capricorn’s mom Mortola also known as Magpie received she was in charge until Capricorn returned, she talked harshly to Basta since his job was poorly done. Mortola herself locked up Meggie and Fengolio.

There was a quote in the book that got my attention when Meggie was seeing the other people’s actions and thinking about them and relating them to Capricorn:

“Even the most harmless things seem to be casting suspicious shadows. A woman smiled at Meggie, then stood looking at the bloody display in a butcher’s window. A man pulled a child along after him so impatiently that the little boy stumbled and cried as he rubbed his grazed knee. And why was that man’s jacket bulging over his belt? Was he carrying a knife, like Basta? ”  (Funke, 228)

I can infer that Maggie is traumatized by all she had seen in Capricorn’s village; the demon statues, Basta’s knife on her father’s neck, the way they were treated and the darkness that the air brought tormenting her thoughts. That is why in the real world Meggie is taking everything the wrong way and the normal things making them a big deal. I can also infer that Meggie has also changed her way of viewing the world now she has become more observant. She pays much more attention to the little details. Meggie now sees the world in a different perspective because she relates everything to Capricorn.   She makes sure she is more kind and nice with other people or animals. Just like when she was with the cat and gave him food and took care of him.

There was also another quote in the book that got my attention; it is when Dustfinger was talking to Mo,

“‘Don’t you dare tell that man about me!’ he said. ‘I don’t want to see him. I’ll wait in the car. I only want to know if he has a copy of the book, understand?’… Dustfinger inspected his reddened fingers and felt the taut skin. ‘He might tell me how the story ends,’ he murmured.” (Funke, 243)

This quote made me think a lot for I had many questions. Why doesn’t Dustfinger want to

know how the book ends? When a character is pulled out of the book, like Dustfinger, does he disappear from the story? What happens to the story line when main characters are missing? What if a new character comes into the story, just like Meggie’s mom, what happens to them? I think that maybe Dustfinger doesn’t want to know his end because no one knows their end, or when it’s going to happen. You don’t know how your story will end neither will Dustfinger. I think that when a character is pulled out of the story the place stays frozen and no one moves because there is a character missing.

One of the themes that is presented in Inkheart is memories and events of the past. That is hold on to people that make them who they are. Cornelia Funke through the characters has transmitted this theme, like with Mo. When he fights against evil forces to obtain the book of Inkheart so that he could read the book out loud and try to find his love back. It is important to keep the past experiences with us for they prepare us for the future and keep us close to the people we love.