The Castle in the Attic

Mrs. Phillips is William’s caretaker. She’s been his chief caregiver since he was an infant, filling in for his busy parents and becoming the closest person in his life. The story begins with her announcement that she’s returning from America to her hometown in England. As a going-away gift, she presents William with a huge toy castle, and William discovers within it a way to capture and keep her with him. Calling her “Lady Elinore,” William convinces Sir Simon to help him shrink her down and bring her to the castle.

Mrs. Phillips hates being miniaturized, but the boy’s remorse, and his willingness to join her there and try to find a way out for her, softens her heart. She knows a great deal about the toy castle’s history, and she helps him with his quest to put things right. Mrs. Phillips serves William as a loving and encouraging mentor.

Sir Simon of Hargrave, the Silver Knight, is a toy soldier who comes to life in William’s hand. Proud and brave, Sir Simon explains that his father, Lord Aquila (aquila means “eagle” in Latin), was manipulated by Alastor into giving him Simon’s rightful inheritance of the Aquila’s territories. The knight resists this fate but loses when Alastor transforms him into a leaden statue, miniaturizes him, and transplants him into the toy castle as a tiny soldier.

Sir Simon agrees to miniaturize Mrs. Phillips and bring her to the castle, without knowledge that William plans to trick her. When William quickly realizes his terrible mistake, Sir Simon joins forces with William to try to set things right. To do this, Sir Simon enlists William’s aid in his quest to win back his ancestral lands from the evil wizard Alastor, whose magical medallions can restore Mrs. Phillips and William to their regular sizes. Sir Simon again gets transformed by the wizard into a lead statue, but William rescues him, and he donates the size-converting medallion to the boy so he can complete their quest.

In the story, Sir Simon represents the ideals of chivalry, and he serves William as a mentor during the boy’s heroic journey. Like a toy soldier, he’s fated to redeem himself and his kingdom, but it’s William who learns the important lessons of the quest.

The central antagonist of the story, Alastor is a cruel wizard driven by the urge for power and a great need to torment others. He manipulates Aquila out of his lands, defeats Sir Simon’s attempts to win them back, tyrannizes the populace, and causes the countryside to fall into ruin. Alastor’s greed and villainy make their marks on him:

Lines creased the man’s forehead, and his gray hair lay across the shiny skin of his head in thin, matted strands. His right shoulder twitched constantly as if it were jerking up to swat a fly off his ear. His eyes made William shiver. They darted about, never resting for too long on any one object. They were the eyes of a hunted man […] (141-42).

William and Sir Simon journey to the kingdom to set things right, but the wizard imprisons the knight and kidnaps the boy, whom he torments for his own pleasure. The wizard’s great weakness is his universal contempt for all other people; this makes him oblivious to the strengths of William, who proves immune to the tyrant’s last line of defense, a mirror that reflects sin back onto the sinner.

Alastor meets justice when Calendar converts him to the same kind of leaden statue as his victims. She also miniaturizes him, which sends him to the toy castle where, after returning to her normal size, Mrs. Phillips pockets the frozen wizard for her voyage home, during which she’ll drop him into the deep ocean.

Alastor’s deterioration, and his fate, represent the outcome faced by many tyrants, whose hateful contempt for others can be their undoing.

Nursemaid to Sir Simon when he was an infant, Calendar later is forced to become Alastor’s aide; the wizard rewards her sadistically by transforming her into a bent-over “crone.” She gets a message to her son-in-law, explaining how to defeat the dragon and get inside the castle; William receives this information and uses it to free the castle, and Calendar, from their tormentor. Calendar’s guilt about remaining in the castle during the wizard’s regime contributes to her cynicism. It takes Sir Simon’s loving embrace to return her to her younger, happier self. Hers is an example of regret forgiven and hope restored.

A young boy, Tolliver, meets William at the edge of the dark forest. He promises to notify the Silver Knight that William has successfully crossed the treacherous woods. Later, he joins the knight and they confront Alastor, only to be transformed into leaden statues. William revives them, and Tolliver reunites with his father, Dick, and becomes a page at Sir Simon’s castle. Tolliver echoes William as a boy who wants to become a knight and begins by strengthening his hope and courage.

An old, bent man begs William to bring him an apple that, on biting into it, transforms him into a tall young man, Dick. He rewards William with advice passed along to him by his mother-in-law, Calendar, who’s trapped in the castle by Alastor. Her advice enables William to get inside the castle. Dick’s son, Tolliver, joins Sir Simon’s failed attempt to confront Alastor. After William frees them, Tolliver reunites with his father. Dick serves the story as a helper on William’s heroic journey. William’s assistance in freeing Dick from the magic curse shows that the boy understands compassion and can express it in daily life.

A fire-breathing dragon guards the entrance to Alastor’s castle. Created from Calendar’s pet cat, the dragon burns everything that gets near it. Anyone who can stare into its terrifying eyes and withstand the horrors therein can get close enough to overpower the beast. William does so, and the dragon reverts to its peaceful, catlike personality. The dragon represents the aggression of those forced by others to be cruel.

The Lawrences are William’s parents, both of them busy professionals with little time for their son. They love William but let Mrs. Phillips do most of the child-rearing. This causes William to become highly dependent on her.

Mr. Lawrence spends long hours each day in real estate development. On several occasions over the years, he's tried to get involved in one of William's projects, but usually he loses interest and never finishes. When Mrs. Phillips leaves, Mr. Lawrence improves his relationship with William by completing a platform and moat for the toy castle, and by working with him to prepare interesting meals that they can enjoy together.

William’s mother, Dr. Lawrence, has a busy medical practice and is on the school board. She often is home in time to tuck her son into bed, and they chat briefly about their day. Like William’s dad, she’s absent a great deal, which contributes to the boy’s dependence on Mrs. Phillips.