67746


I just finished watching "Howl's Moving Castle" and I'm wondering why Sophie
and Howl basically became best friends with the Witch of the Waste.

She cursed Sophie and couldn't remove the curse, so she was useless to them,
and in the beginning of the movie Sophie seemed to hate her. While escaping
from the king's castle Sophie and Howl could just throw the witch out of the
plane, or at least just leave her somewhere. Why did they let her live and
even stay in the moving castle with them?


CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-17T19:12:09.757
60833
2023-02-04T10:06:08.693
56741
question
howls-moving-castle
Why did Sophie and Howl spare the Witch of the Waste?


I would like to make it clear in the beginning that I am going to be
presenting my answer on the basis of English dubbed version of the movie of
‘Howl’s moving Castle.'

Sophie and Howl both had reasons to dislike the Witch of the Waste. Sophie
despised the Witch of the Waste because she had put a spell on her that turned
her into an extremely old woman. Her anger was quite prominent when she was
unable to tell the truth about her spell and thumped her hands on the dining
table and exclaimed, “If I ever get my hands on that Witch, I’m gonna wring
her fat neck.”[![Sophie angrily thumping her hands on the
table](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zQADV.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zQADV.jpg)

Howl, on the other hand, was scared of The Witch of the Waste as she kept on
hunting him down. He had explained the reason of this hunt to Sophie that,
“she was once quite beautiful, so I decided to pursue her then I realized she
wasn’t, so as usual I ran away,” therefore, he did not want to confront
her.[![Howl
sulking](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yYt1G.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/yYt1G.jpg)

Now it makes sense to find it a bit strange and confusing as to why these two
characters had a change of heart and accepted her. Well, there are some of the
following factors behind this.

Beginning with Sophie, as she was the one who had initiated the acceptance.
After becoming an old lady, the first time she had met the Witch of the Waste
was while going to the palace. Sophie did not wring her neck as she had
exclaimed before because she was under the disguise of Howl’s mother and was
trying to save Howl from going to the war. During the talk with madam Suliman
in the palace, the Witch of the Waste was sucked out from all her powers,
restored to her true old age and was brought sitting on a stroller into the
hall of discussion.[![Witch of the Waste
old](https://i.stack.imgur.com/AnJPy.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/AnJPy.jpg)
Sophie then realized the wicked intent of the invitations to the wizards by
madam Suliman. When the Howl also entered in the hall and their disguise blew
up, they flew away.

Sophie allowed the Witch to sit with them because of two reasons-

The Witch is now ripped off from all of her powers and has met her karma for
her evil deeds. So, there is no need for Sophie wanting to take revenge on
her. It is also made clear by the dialogue of madam Suliman that the Witch of
the Waste was never evil from the beginning and she states, “Once she too was
a magnificent sorcerer with so much promise, but then she fell to the prey of
demon of greed who slowly consumed her body and soul. Hypothetically, it could
be the similar type of contract as that of Howl’s with a demon but she might
have unfortunately met a corrupt demon which then led to her demise. Secondly,
Sophie has a kind heart and a forgiving nature. She knows how to move on from
things and it is prominent in the manner she has managed and accepted to live
inside the body of an old lady. Similarly, when she was overwhelmed and cried
outside the castle, she maturely calms herself down and comes back to check
upon Howl. These reasons suffice as to why Sophie spared the Witch of the
Waste and didn't hold any grudge against her.

Howl, on the other hand, goes along with the decision of Sophie. He has asked
Sophie when they flew away from the palace, “did you have to bring those two
with you?” and Sophie shows her annoyance to the dog first and not to the
Witch of the Waste and replies with “I can’t believe you work for Suliman. I
guess it’s too late to toss them.” Howl shows indifference to this situation.
They both then decide to let them flee away with them.[![fleeing
away](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WzQa1.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WzQa1.jpg)
Later on in the movie, due to the ongoing tension there was no time for them
to talk over this issue again. The Witch is weak now; therefore, Howl seems to
have no reason to fear from her anymore. Apart from this, he didn’t have any
other ground to dislike her. In the ending part of the movie the loving nature
of Sophie again appears as she hugs the Witch to make her let go off Calcifer
from her hands implying in a way that she has accepted the Witch of the Waste
as she is. There was no direct dialogue which elaborated that the Witch of the
Waste had repented but it is implied through implicit actions, gestures that
she didn’t intend to deeply hurt anyone. She has instead helped them by
getting rid of the peeping bug which is sent by madam Suliman through Sophie’s
mother.[![peeping
bug](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ldCYN.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ldCYN.png)
She even said, “I will never let Suliman get hold off Howl.” It could be both
because she was possessive about Howl and had genuinely started to take care
of him. Moreover, The Witch didn’t possess either any strong detestable traits
or performed gruesome acts that would make it hard for Howl and Sophie to not
forgive her. Afterwards, she was portrayed as a fun loving and flirty type of
women. Hence, they both spared her and at the end accepted her as a part of
the family as she was shown sitting in the balcony of the castle where the dog
and Markl were playing.[![family in the
castle](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lLeDd.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lLeDd.jpg)


CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-04T10:06:08.693
67746
2023-02-04T10:06:08.693
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60833
answer