I'm the King of the Castle: Character Quotations (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature): Revision Note

“dead”, “disintegrated”, “dark dust”

Edmund has destroyed a prize specimen in his grandfather’s cherished dead moth collection

Childhood cruelty

• At the start of the book, Edmund is encouraged by his father to visit his dying grandfather’s dead moth collection in the Red Room 

• Edmund selects the largest moth in the collection and crumbles it to dust between his fingers: 

  • This shows a disregard for his grandfather’s passion and his father’s feelings and of family tradition 

  • It is also the first indication that Edmund is a cold, cruel boy 

• The dead moth collection is one of the first indicators that death will be a key theme in this book 

• Words such as “dead”, “disintegrated” and “dark dust” suggest a gloomy, gothic atmosphere 

“frighten”, “baby-boy” 

Edmund, the book’s bully, is teasing Charles after seeing him being chased and attacked by a crow 

Childhood cruelty 

• Early in the book, Edmund observes how frightened Charles is by a crow that chases and attacks him in a nearby field: 

• Charles thinks that it is his screaming that eventually scares the bird off 

• This scene reveals that Edmund is watching Charles, looking for weaknesses, and is delighted to see what a fearful child Charles is 

• The words of this taunt are especially childlike to reflect the fact the boys are only 11

• However, Edmund displays an evil streak:

• We know he is an unfriendly child, but this is our first glimpse of how quick he is to manipulate situations 

“Anything at all” 

Edmund discovers that Charles is planning to run away and is reminding Charles of his power over him, and that his cruelty knows no bounds 

Childhood cruelty 

• Once again, we become aware of how keenly Edmund is observing Charles, discovering the room he has been hiding in and that he has been collecting items together in preparation for running away: 

• He teases Charles that he is running away to escape him 

• Edmund is reminding Charles here of his power over him, and that there is no limit to what he might do to him 

• Edmund is starting to enjoy his role as hunter, with Charles as his prey, and he is boasting to Charles about his power over him 

“got to do what I say” 

This is Edmund reminding Charles of their different social standings: he is the son of the homeowner while Charles is the son of the housekeeper 

Power and class 

• This is at the point when Charles has run away and Edmund finds him in the woods: 

• Charles reflects that Hooper always knew things, and that was the way things were

• Edmund realises he has power over Charles because he knows how to play on his multiple fears 

• But he also likes to remind him of their different social standing: 

• “She’s a servant, that’s all” 

• He is smart enough to know that this comment hurts Charles because he knows it to be based on truth: 

• His mother had told him not to be a nuisance because it is “their house, not our house” 

“not properly belong” 

This is at the start of the book before Charles meets Edmund and reveals that this is the latest in a succession of temporary homes that Charles and his mother have moved to

Isolation and loneliness

• Even before meeting Edmund, Charles is in an unhappy mood when he arrives at Warings with his mother: 

  • “I didn’t want to come, I didn’t want to come” 

• We get the impression that Charles has been involved in a lot of moves in his young life, as he followed his mother between jobs and temporary accommodation 

• It also demonstrates that Charles has a somewhat gloomy outlook on life, preparing to be disappointed 

"hopeless” 

Edmund has found the room in which Charles has secreted himself to find some peace and to carry out pursuits such as model-making. This is him reflecting on the hopelessness of his position 

Isolation and loneliness

• This quote from Charles is interesting in that it reveals a degree of self-awareness, even if inaccurate:

• Some readers might suggest that the range of his fears would suggest that Charles is, if not cowardly, an extremely fearful child 

• His assertion that he is realistic rings true, but his fatalistic attitude perhaps disguises the extent to which his own nervous disposition makes him one of life’s victims:

• “He did not attract luck to himself, he attracted un-luck" 

• That he is hopeless, as in without hope rather than useless, is self-evident throughout the book 

"they did not really know him” 

Edmund has lied to his parents about Charles leading him into the woods and attacking him, and they seem to believe him. Charles is shocked, but more by the adults’ reaction than by Edmund’s storytelling 

Isolation and loneliness 

• This seems to be the point where Charles becomes aware that, however unbelievable Edmund’s lies are, the adults seem more inclined to believe his version of events: 

  • “They had been completely unaware of everything he thought and felt, quite ready to believe Hooper’s lies and complaints” 

• He says “they”, but he has not known Mr Hooper for very long, and he is Edmund’s father, so we must assume that he is really aiming this complaint at his mother:

  • She seems a very poor judge of personality and character and completely unaware of what her son is going through 

"what he was going to do” 

Charles believes he cannot take any more. He lists his accumulated fears and reasons to be unhappy prior to taking his own life 

Isolation and loneliness
Childhood cruelty and fear

• Charles is weighing everything up in his head and can see nothing but fear and unhappiness ahead:

  • “The moment he came awake, it was just dawn, and he knew, quite suddenly, what to do” 

• HIs fear of Edmund has grown throughout the book, and the fact Edmund has told him something will happen to him in revenge for destroying his battle chart has left him with a terrible sense of foreboding 

• The new school is Edmund’s school, and Edmund will be able to make his life a misery: 

  • “I can do what I like and the others have got to do what I say,” Edmund had told him 

• The wedding of his mother to Mr Hooper means that, outside of term time, he will be returning to Warings 

• Charles’s fatalistic personality means his suicide is inevitable

“make up for a great deal” 

On inheriting Warings after the death of his father, Mr Hooper is starting to think of himself as an important, powerful man 

Power and class

• At the start of the book, we learn that Mr Hooper sees himself as “an ineffectual man, without any strength or imposing qualities”:

  • “He was a dull man, a man who got by” 

• But on inheriting the house, he starts to think of himself differently: 

  • “He was a Hooper, his father’s son and so he had come to admire the solidity and the gloom” of Warings, a house of which he had unhappy memories 

• This quote shows him coming to terms with his new status as a man of substantial, property 

• The “great deal” it will make up for is, presumably, his unfulfilling life up to this point and his lack of achievement 

“cannot fathom” 

This reflection from Mr Hooper comes on a train journey to London with Edmund, and illustrates his own lack of insight, and perhaps interest, in what is happening between his son and Charles 

Lack of love 

• Mr Hooper does seem to feel uncomfortable about his lack of insight:

  • He tried to find some clue in his son’s facial expression 

• But he quickly compares it to his own relationship with his own father and concludes that he came out of it okay 

• He takes the view that Edmund will be like any other normal boy 

• But, perhaps suspecting this may not be the case, he tells himself that he is not to blame 

• Parental negligence on this scale equates to a lack of love 

“twitched with desire” 

This comes at the end of the book as Mr Hooper and Mrs Kingshaw prepare for their wedding and honeymoon. It reveals his thoughts are purely of self-satisfaction

Lack of love 

• The planned marriage of Mr Hooper and Mrs Kingshaw would seem an unlikely alliance, given that he is a wealthy property owner and she is his housekeeper 

• But it makes sense because Mrs Kingshaw is seeking stability and a higher social status and Mr Hooper finds her, a woman 14 years younger than him, sexually desirable

• The suspicion is that, on her part, the marriage is really one of convenience, as Mr Hooper describes himself as dull and he is said to look “crow-like”: 

  • Looking in the mirror, he thought “there is nothing much to be proud of, nothing so very special about me” 

• But he is also lonely and had lost confidence, and Mrs Kingshaw accepting his proposal had given him a boost 

“spoil”, “chance” 

Mrs Kingshaw is concerned about Charles’ behaviour, only in so much as it could have a negative impact on her future 

Lack of love 

• Mrs Kingshaw sees Warings as her potential “forever home”, but is concerned that Charles may negatively impact her blossoming relationship with Mr Hooper 

• Charles has seen a new eagerness and hopefulness about her now she is at Warings 

• She thinks her life is changing and that she made the right decision 

• But her thoughts are of a selfish nature: she often thinks in terms of “I” rather than “we” and she is totally blind to what Charles is going through at the hands of Edmund:

  • “Charles is settling down so happily,”

“where we would be” 

Mrs Kingshaw is reinforcing to Charles the need to be well-behaved and polite to Mr Hooper, again unaware of what Charles is going through, but here she is stressing how difficult a position they would be in if the opportunity at Warings had not come along 

Power and class 

• Mrs Kingshaw is putting pressure on Charles by linking his actions to their future prosperity 

• She is stressing that their position in society, and presumably their financial situation, puts them at risk if this opportunity fails 

• But she talks of Mr Hooper as if he is a benevolent force, or even a charity, when their relationship is actually intended to be employer and employee 

“lonely”, “in the past” 

This quote shows Mrs Kingshaw has succeeded in obtaining the security and increased social standing she desired from agreeing to marry Mr Hooper 

Isolation and loneliness 

• Mrs Kingshaw appears to have used her charms to attract Mr Hooper, an older, unattractive man:

  • She uses the threat of moving on to force his hand into proposing to her 

• It is up to the reader to decide whether she has been manipulative, or has simply played the cards she has been dealt to secure a better future for her and Charles:

  • it is perhaps a bit of both

• But what is clear from her comments is that she has felt lonely since the death of her husband:

  • “I am not a woman who can cope easily alone”

“catch the heads” 

Fielding is telling Charles about his role in slaughtering turkeys, but he is not doing it to shock or horrify him. He is merely saying what he does and stops talking about it when he sees Charles’ reaction 

Death

• As a farmer’s son, death is part of everyday life for Fielding, but he is a sensitive boy and, seeing Charles’ reaction to the story about killing turkeys, he seeks to reassure him:

  • “They don’t know anything about it. It’s very quick. It’s not cruel” 

• This is in sharp contrast to the way Edmund uses dead animals and stories about them to terrify Charles 

“he must be like Fielding” 

Charles is amazed by Fielding’s ease, assurance and lack of fear, and would love to be like him 

Lack of love

• Fielding is introduced at the end of the novel as a device to demonstrate how children might develop differently depending on whether they are loved or not 

• In her afterword, the author says only Fielding, among the novel’s characters, has goodness, innocence, openness and warmth and this is because he has known “normal human love” 

“not frightened” 

This is Fielding talking to Edmund when he is invited over to tea by Mrs Kingshaw, and Edmund threatens to show him something that will frighten him. It reveals Edmund’s inexperience as a bully in thinking every other boy will be as easy to torment as Charles 

Childhood cruelty and fear

• Edmund is just as startled by Fielding’s personality as Charles is: 

  • “He had not yet got the measure of Fielding, had not met anyone so honest about himself and able to say and do anything at all” 

• It shows the “bubble” Edmund and Charles are living in at Warings, in which Edmund could see endless opportunities for bullying and Charles could see endless opportunities for being bullied 

• Although Charles can admire Fielding’s personality, it is perhaps his understanding that he can never be like that himself that contributes to the fatalistic attitude that leads to his suicide