41 pages • 1 hour read
J. K. RowlingThe Ickabog
Fiction | Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Fancy Food and Clothing
The good life in Cornucopia is frequently demonstrated by the delicacies that each region produces: cheeses, wines, smoked hams, and baked goods. Similarly, the characters’ rich clothing is also a means of expressing their prosperity. Even as the country grows poorer, King Fred enjoys all the material pleasures Cornucopia can produce. His people become ragged and hungry, embodying the contrast between the easy life of Chouxville and the rest of the region. While in the orphanage, Daisy wears a threadbare pair of coveralls because they are the last link with her father. She keeps patching and lengthening the garment to remind herself that she once had a home.
The heartless acquisition of specialty goods for the king’s benefit while the people suffer symbolizes his bad rulership. He doesn’t distribute resources equitably. Instead, he appropriates the best for his own use, as do his cronies. When Fred demands a new suit to wear in time to greet a foreign dignitary, Daisy’s mother literally works herself to death to complete it. Rather than appreciating the sacrifice, Fred is annoyed that Mrs. Dovetail didn’t finish sewing on the last amethyst button before dying. Flapoon demonstrates a similarly greedy attitude when he can barely stop stuffing himself long enough to commiserate with Mrs. Beamish over her husband’s death, which Flapoon himself caused.
Ironically, the desire to indulge the king’s appetite for pastries leads to the overthrow of the monarchy. Spittleworth knows that he must keep Mrs. Beamish alive to satisfy the king’s taste buds. As a result, he gives her all the utensils she needs for cooking while in prison. These later become a convenient means of breaking out of jail and taking the king hostage.
Henchfolk
Spittleworth would have no luck taking over the kingdom without the collusion of multiple hench-people to carry out his orders. Their rise and fall symbolize the lifecycle of greed and duplicity that motivate underlings to support an unscrupulous leader. Roach becomes the first of Spittleworth’s lackeys because he covets the title of his dead commander. When Spittleworth tells the tall tale of Nobby Buttons being eaten by the Ickabog, he enlists his butler to play the role of the dead boy’s grieving mother. He uses the same man to disguise himself as Professor Fraudysham. The author explicitly states that the butler will do anything for money.
Aside from these confederates, Spittleworth bribes servants in the castle to report gossip to him so that he can silence anyone who might interfere. His lordship eventually extends this tactic to an army of spies deployed throughout Cornucopia to report on any rebellious behavior. When he learns of a butcher holding protests in Baronstown, Spittleworth has the man murdered by the fictional Ickabog, thus instilling fear among the malcontents. Beyond the castle walls, Spittleworth finds a cooperative confederate in Ma Grunter and her bully, Basher John. Grunter cares only for profit, and Spittleworth’s shadow government gives her plenty of opportunities to amass wealth.
Ironically, the greatest enablers of Spittleworth’s reign of terror are the very men who are supposed to protect the populace. The defense brigade is used less to patrol the Marshlands than as the secret police to make sure that no one starts suspecting the truth. Their tactics include the comical fan letters they are forced to write to Fred and the much grimmer Dark Footer attacks on innocent citizens to instill even more fear of the Ickabog into the populace. In all cases, the soldiers’ despicable behavior is induced by greed and fear. They are afraid of being killed by Spittleworth if they disobey and are greedy for the wealth he promises if they comply. Without their twin weaknesses, his sham government couldn’t operate at all. In the end, it doesn’t.
The Ickabog
The mysterious creature of the marshes becomes a living symbol of the assertion of hope over fear. The mythology of the Ickabog is complex, as the choice of hope or fear depends on the birth experience of each new generation of Ickaboggles. Those who come into this world feeling calm and peaceful will carry those qualities throughout life. Similarly, those who have a “bad Bornding” are prone to fear and rage. The Ickabog claims that such a bad Bornding created the first human.
While it is obvious that the Ickabog wants to instill hope in its offspring, it begins from the flawed premise that this hope can be fulfilled only by killing humans to stop their persecution. Daisy quickly understands the need for hope since she has struggled so long to maintain her belief that her father is alive. Therefore, she recognizes the need to nurture the Ickabog’s hope without destroying anybody else in the process. She convinces the Ickabog to believe that peace with humans might be possible, resulting in the march toward Chouxville.
Initially, the citizens of Cornucopia regard the Ickabog with fear and seek to kill it. Through Daisy’s intervention and that of her friends, they can see with their own eyes that the Ickabog is friendly, which acts as a catalyst for bringing out their own hope that peace between the two species might be possible.
A good Bornding for the Ickabog’s offspring is almost achieved until Flapoon shoots his gun, precipitating a violent reaction from the first baby. The second baby receives a nurturing introduction to the world through Daisy’s comforting presence. The difference between the two Ickaboggles indicates that the choice between fear and hope is an individual one and needs to be made by every being on the planet. Fortunately, the author chooses to conclude the story of Cornucopia with the triumph of hope so that everyone can live happily ever after.
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By J. K. Rowling
