48 pages • 1 hour read
Keeper of Enchanted Rooms
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Symbols & Motifs
Whimbrel House
Whimbrel House serves as a character in the novel, through its animation via the spirit of wizard Owein Mansel, and also as a setting, the locale that brings the characters together. Whimbrel House further illustrates what magic signifies in this magical world and the reasons why people like Hulda and Myra want to preserve it. On their own, enchanted houses in this world function as resources: They can embed spells that can be transferred to or used by people, thus delaying the dilution of magic that happens over generations and preserving a precious gift. Hulda also suggests that enchanted houses serve as cultural heritage, sites of wonder or beauty that are valuable for their own sake.
Whimbrel House symbolizes Merritt’s specific family heritage and his personal future. Owein’s mischief, accomplished through altering the house, first parallels the chaos of Merritt’s own changing circumstances as he tries to find his feet and navigate the possibilities of his inheritance. Gradually, Whimbrel House awakens Merritt’s own magic, putting him in touch with the bloodline he shares with Owein, an inheritance that belongs to him as much as the house does. By the end of the novel, the house also evokes the future that he might share with Hulda.
Silas’s Dolls
Silas’s shrunken, withered figures—the remains of the people whose magic he drains and transfers to himself—symbolize the consequences of his own harmful actions and The Responsibilities of Power. Silas’s dolls are the physical trace of his transformations, both an asset and a liability. The dolls illustrate the rule of preservation that applies to the use of magic: If not retained in a house, which serves as a replacement, the source of the magic must be preserved in a physical body for the spell to continue to work. Silas retains his victims as puppets so that he can exercise their specific spells, but the shapes function as evidence of his crimes that can accuse him—as happens when Hulda exposes him to the King’s League—and as proof of his vulnerability since Silas loses that spell when the victim’s body is destroyed.
The Communion Stones
The communion stones are introduced as an example of the practical applications of the magic that inhabits this fictional world. Alongside inventions like the telegram or written letter—or, alternatively, windsource pigeons, another invention of the book—communion stones are a pair of enchanted rocks, comprising the mineral selenite, that can carry sound across distance.
The communion stones are introduced into Hulda and Merritt’s relationship at a time when they are enjoying a growing attraction and interdependency; the additional means of communication supports their evolving bond. The communion stones serve a practical plot purpose when Merritt hears Hulda scream, alerting him to her abduction by Silas. After Merritt urges Hulda to communicate with him via the stones when he is traveling to Manchester to see Ebba and Hulda returns to the island, her refusing to call indicates that she is preparing to break with him. The stones symbolize The Importance of Interpersonal Connections and the ways that their shared aims ultimately bring them together.
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