How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Cripes!" shouted Furlough again. "Oh, cripes! He's nuts! He's a goner!"
And executing a classic scurry, Furlough went off to tell his father, Lester Tilling, the terrible, unbelievable news of what he had just seen. (5.11-12)
The mouse world has a code of conduct that they all take very seriously, but Despereaux doesn't seem to understand this. The principle of not hanging out with humans is designed to protect all the mice.
Quote #2
"If there is one thing I have learned in this world," said Lester, "it is that mice must act like mice or else there is bound to be trouble. I will call a special meeting of the Mouse Council. Together, we will decide what must be done." (6.7)
Do you think that sometimes a community has to enforce its rules for the greater good even if it means sacrificing one member of the community? After all, if Despereaux got caught by a human, then people might come after all the mice.
Quote #3
"Rodents do not speak to princesses. We will not have this becoming a topsy-turvy, wrongheaded world. There are rules. Scat. Get lost, before my common sense returns and I have you killed." (7.32)
King Phillip has different reasons for enforcing the principle of human-rodent non-coexistence. It's not a threat to him in the same way it is for the mice. But the king obviously feels that if this principle was set aside, it would be a very confusing world. It's fun to consider what would happen to the relationships between people and animals if animals could talk. We'd all be vegetarians, probably.
Quote #4
"Do you, Despereaux Tilling, understand the sacred, never-to-be-broken rules of conduct for being a mouse?"
"Yes sir," said Despereaux, "I guess so. But…"
"Did you break them?"
"Yes, sir," said Despereaux. He raised his voice. "But… I broke the rules for good reasons. Because of music. And because of love." (10.38-41)
The Mouse Council isn't interested in nuance or motivation. They just see Despereaux as a rebel—a mouse who could endanger their entire community. Do you think rules should be bent for the sake of compassion? Are there times when it's wrong to follow the rules? What if they're bad rules?
Quote #5
How, he wondered, had things gone so terribly wrong? Wasn't it a good thing to love? In the story in the book, love was a very good thing Because the knight loved the fair maiden, he was able to rescue her. They lived happily ever after. It said so. In the book. (11.5)
Poor Despereaux simply does not understand how he could be sentenced to his death when all he ever did was love the princess. That certainly doesn't seem like a fair or reasonable punishment, given what he did. Should he be getting his rules from fairy tales, anyway?
Quote #6
"Do you own a girl?" said the soldier.
"I do," said Uncle. "A worthless one, but still, she is mine."
"Ah," said the soldier, "that, I am afraid, is against the law, too; no human may own another in the Kingdom of Dor." (28.16)
Hooray for the King of Dor for outlawing slavery and not just soup and rats. This is one principle Shmoop can get behind.
Quote #7
"Kill him even if he's already dead," shouted Cook. "That's my philosophy with mice. If they're alive, kill them. If they're dead, kill them. That way you can be certain of having yourself a dead mouse, which is the only kind of mouse to have." (34.16)
Cook has her own philosophy when dealing with rodents, which probably makes sense if you're in charge of a kitchen. The book suggests that a person's (or rodent's) principles can depend on their position in life.
Quote #8
But stories that are not pretty have a certain value, too, I suppose. Everything, as you well know (having lived in this world long enough to have figured out a thing or two for yourself), cannot always be sweetness and light. (36.1)
Despereaux and Roscuro's stories show that the world operates by certain rules—which is that nothing is always happy and light. There's a lot of darkness and sadness around too…it's just a part of life.
Quote #9
"This is ridiculous," the princess said. "You can't threaten me. I'm a princess."
"We," said Roscuro, "are all too aware of the fact of what you are. A knife, however, cares nothing for the fact that you are royalty. And you will bleed, I assume, just like any other human." (37.20-21)
The law can't protect the princess. As the author's already said, the rats are outlaws. They. Don't. Care.
Quote #10
And now you have a small map of the princess's heart (hatred, sorrow, kindness, empathy), the heart that she carried inside her as she went down the golden stairs and through the kitchen and, finally, just as the sky outside the castle began to lighten, down into the dark of the dungeon with the rat and the serving girl. (38.11)
Even in her darkest moments, Princess Pea continues to keep her principles intact. This is what eventually saves her life. The respect and sympathy she shows Mig foil Roscuro's evil plan.