How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Shhhhh." The mouse leaned in close, and Despereaux smelled celery again, green and alive. "Be brave, friend," whispered the threadmaster. "Be brave for the princess." And then he stepped back and turned and shouted, "Fellow mice, the thread has been tied. The thread has been knotted." (11.26)
You never know where you'll find compassion. The threadmaster, who's sending him off to his doom, tells poor Despereaux to keep his tiny, whiskery chin up. That probably meant a lot to the terrified little mouse. Keep that in mind, reader, the next time you're trying to help a friend who's scared. It can make all the difference.
Quote #2
"Why would you save me, then?"
"Because you, mouse, can tell Gregory a story. Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light." (15.23-24)
Gregory doesn't exactly save Despereaux for selfless reasons—he just wants the little mouse to tell him a story. Things get pretty boring in the dungeons, after all. But Despereaux doesn't care about Gregory's motives; he's just glad to be alive, so he agrees.
Quote #3
But reader, we must not forget that King Phillip loved the queen and that without her, he was lost. This is the danger of loving: No matter how powerful you are, no matter how many kingdoms you rule, you cannot stop those you love from dying. Making soup illegal, outlawing rats, these things soothed the poor king's heart. And so we must forgive him. (23.8)
King Phillip's actions after the queen's death might seem completely crazy and irrational, but the narrator reminds us all to look at things from his perspective. He's lost the love of his life…who can blame him for acting strange?
Quote #4
When Mig turned seven years old, there was no cake, no celebration, no singing, no present, no acknowledgment of her birthday at all other than Mig saying, "Uncle, today I am seven years old."
And Uncle saying in return, "Did I ask ye how old you were today? Get out of my face before I give ye a good clout to the ear." (26.1-2)
Mig hasn't had loving and sympathetic adults in her young life so far. Her mother is dead, her father traded her for a tablecloth, and her master doesn't even care when it's her birthday. This lack of compassion has consequences: Mig's a sucker for any rat who pays her some attention.
Quote #5
"Gor," said Mig. I aim to be a princess, too, someday."
"That's a fine dream," said the soldier. […]
"I'm happy to be going," said Mig, putting a hand up and gently touching one of her cauliflower ears.
"Might just as well be happy, seeing as it doesn't make a difference to anyone but you if you are or not," said the soldier. "We will take you to the castle and they will set you up fine. You will no longer be a slave. You will be a paid servant." (28.33-34)
The soldier who takes Mig to the castle gives her the first good news she's had in years. He doesn't even ridicule her dream to someday become a princess. He's the first person who doesn't tell her that she's stupid and useless. He's not the warm and fuzzy type, but he's kind to her.
Quote #6
"Ain't that the thing," said Mig. "My ma is dead, too.
'How old were you when she died?"
[…] "Not but six," said Mig.
"I'm sorry," said the princess. She gave Mig a quick, deep look of sympathy. "How old are you now?"
"Twelve years."
"So am I," said the princess. "We're the same age. What is your name?" she shouted. (29.38-41)
It would be easy for Princess Pea to ignore someone like Mig, who's just a servant girl. But instead, Pea asks her about her life, and even draws comparisons between their lives. She doesn't act superior at all. This kindness has consequences: Mig will return the favor eventually.
Quote #7
Gregory said nothing more. Instead, he reached into his pocket and then held his napkin up to his face and sneezed into it, once, twice, three times.
"Bless you!" shouted Mig. "Bless you, bless you."
"Back to the world of light," Gregory whispered. And then he balled the napkin up and placed it on the tray. (32.22-24)
You wouldn't take Gregory at first to be the compassionate type, after being shut up in the terrible dungeons. This might be another lesson from the author about the dangers of judging people before you know them.
Quote #8
Do you know what it means to be empathetic?
It means that when you are being forcibly taken to a dungeon, when you have a large knife pointed at your back, when you are trying to be brave, you are able, still, to think for a moment of the person who is holding that knife.
You are able to think: "Oh, poor Mig, she wants to be a princess so badly and she thinks that this is the way. Poor, poor Mig. What must it be like to want something that desperately?" (38.8-9)
The author obviously thinks that empathy is the princess's finest quality. It's hard to be empathetic in the princess's dire situation, but she comes by it naturally.
Quote #9
But still, here are the words Despereaux Tilling spoke to his father. He said, "I forgive you, Pa."
And he said those words because he sensed that it was the only way to save his own heart, to stop it from breaking in two. Despereaux, reader, spoke those words to save himself. (40.23-24)
Despereaux decides that forgiving his father will allow him to move on instead of getting mired in resentment and revenge like Roscuro. This strikes us as a very complicated and sophisticated idea for a children's book—that forgiveness is as helpful to the forgiver as it is to the person who's forgiven.