Howl's Moving Castle Essay

An adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle, which became very popular in 2004, is Hayao Miyazaki's Howl’s Moving Castle. Miyazaki adapted the story with an agenda: to illustrate to the world the evils of world. This serves the film as an allegorical film protesting war and the riddance of humanity. As a casual observer, it is basically a love story between the Wizard Howl and Sophie Hatter, but the true meaning deep within the film, there are three or more ways Miyazaki changed Diana’s story to drive towards his anti-war message he created during the peaked rage of the war in the Middle East.
The clearest and most significant difference between the original novel and the animated movie lies in the fact that the latter specifically focuses on ‘war’, whereas the

former only touched upon the issue.

The audience of the animation could depict the “love under fire” or “romance under the fire of war” that Miyazaki may have desired. Many scenes depict a relation between the post -9/11 political context and the ensuing US-led War on Terror, especially the 2003 Iraq War. This is because the director showed his strong opposition to the US-led War on Terror. The film Howl’s Moving Castle, created in the middle of the Iraq War, deals with a war in Europe in the 19th century, the “age of patriotism” when great powers expanded their military power and territories in Asia and Africa. In another historical perspective, the viewer could analyze that the town where Sophie lives is the motif of Alsace, which became a source of territorial dispute and armed conflict between France and Germany for many years. Also, the bombing of the film reminds the audience of the bombing during the Second World War. Nonetheless, the works of the film was heavily influenced by the US-led War on Terror as well as the

outbreaks of the 2003 Iraq War. Miyazaki has previously remarked that he was angered by listening to the speech by the US President George W. Bush, who asked the world: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”. In response, Miyazaki expressed through the film that his stance as being on neither side. Examining this film in terms of war and peace issues, the film deals with a war-related issue; firebombing of civilians, the firestorms in the movie remind the audiences of the bombings of several cities and the scenes of sailors jumping off the ship, the image of historical moments such as Pearl Harbor.
The movie begins in a peacetime, placing Sophie and the Hatter family in ta European-style tom (Kingsbury) some time in the 19th century, enjoying peace like the rest of the civilians within Ingary. In the middle o a military parade, two soldiers speak to Sophie, trying to pick her up in a rather impolite way. She politely turns them down but the soldiers do not give up on her. Then Howl comes in out of the blue, saving Sophie. This scene can remind the audience of the US Military bases in Japan as well as the rape incidents that proceeded during the wars, developing diplomatic tension between the two nations. Howl tells Sophie that the soldiers are not necessarily evil, implying that Miyazaki opposes war and violence.Even in the short peacetime, Howl’s castle continues to move away from the Witch of the Waste and the military service of his country.
Howl’s response to conscription also give the audience a taste of the anti-war message that Miyazaki developes. As the country prepares for a war against its neighboring country and some warships appear in a festive mood, Sophie and Markl wait for Howl’s return as a royal summons comes for Howl in preparation for the coming war. Although he does not obey the royal summons, he turns into a bird-like creature trying to stop the military aircrafts from the attacking his city in the night sky. The animated transformation into an animal monster during wartime is a typical metaphor in the humans lose their humanity in war. Howl claims it is a terrible war changing his country into a sea of fire. Howl claims to Sophie that he runs away from the With if the Waste and royal military service, but he cannot refuse the royal summons because of his promise at the wizard school. It seems here that he ethically hates going to war. Howls opposition to military service can be described as ‘passive conscientious objection’ based on ‘passive pacifism, or ‘egoistic pacifism’ rather than the active pacifism based on religion or political convictions. Taking Miyazaki’s ‘anti-war pacifism’ into consideration, Howl demonstrates his non-killin attitude, since he in the movie never kills even though he is under attack and wounded. Howls pacifism is also a ‘relative pacifism’ that recognizes the right to self-defense by non-lethal methods