Chiaroscuro himself-a rat who, unlike most rats, longs for light and beauty-embodies the idea that light and dark aren’t actually just opposites but work together to create places, people, and scenes that are rich and complex. Botticelli, for his part, implies that he speaks for all rats when he insists that the meaning of life is causing suffering.īut the relationship between light and dark in the Kingdom of Dor isn’t as simple as good things happening where it’s light and bright, and bad things happening in the darkness of the dungeon. And most rats, like Botticelli Remorso, want to live their lives in darkness and in evil.
There, where there is no light, rats (which the narrator also suggests are the embodiment of evil) rule and make every prisoner’s life miserable. However, the kingdom’s association with good and hope doesn’t mean it doesn’t also have dark, evil elements or places-such as the dungeon, which the narrator describes as a place of hopelessness, fear, and torment.
And the Kingdom of Dor’s name is a play on the French word for “golden,” suggesting that the kingdom itself is aligned with bright things and goodness. From this moment on, Despereaux is transfixed by things like stained-glass windows, candles, and the Princess Pea, who herself seems to radiate light. The narrator aligns Despereaux, the novel’s protagonist, with light and goodness the moment he’s born-he’s born with his eyes open, and he watches a patch of light on the ceiling. Light represents good things (such as hope, love, kindness, and beauty) while dark things and places represent evil.
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