"Go to bed, you fool," Calcifer said sleepily. "You're drunk." "Who, me?" said Howl. "I assure you, my friends, I am stone cold sober." He got up and stalked upstairs, feeling for the wall as if he thought it might escape him unless he kept in touch with it. His bedroom door did escape him.
This excerpt from Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle paints a vivid and somewhat humorous scene that reveals a great deal about the characters and their dynamic. The dialogue between Calcifer and Howl is witty and filled with subtle irony, showcasing Calcifer's playful exasperation and Howl's penchant for feigned innocence. It is a slice of life that captures the vulnerability of Howl, juxtaposed with his typical dramatic behavior, as he navigates...
