Rachel Sard

Dr. Burke
Childrens Literature
18 November 2014
Fantasy: The Tale of Despereaux

The character Despereaux himself adds to the fantasy of The Tale of Despereaux. Despereaux,
a young mouse, is experiencing all of these different types of emotions in his life. This specifically helps
put emphasis on the fantasy tale. We as humans do not see mice as human-like or capable of
experiencing emotions. When Despereaux shows emotions towards the princess and his family, we as
readers are able to relate, but are pulled even more into the fantasy of the tale. One would never expect
a mouse to be able to experience the emotions that we feel. We are able to find common ground with
the mouse because its emotions are common to humans, but the fact that he is a mouse and not a
human creates the fantasy and continues to remind the reader of the fantasy throughout the book. We
sometimes may get lost by the emotions and experiences, but are reminded of its fantasy qualities when
we remember that Despereaux is in fact a mouse, not a human.