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Essay On Clive Barker's The Thief Of Always

712 Words3 Pages

In the book The Thief of Always by Clive Barker, a young boy by the name of Harvey Swick is swallowed by the great beast February, but is “saved” by Mr. Hood’s Holiday House. A place of magic, wonder, and mystery. Harvey discovers new friends, and together they realize that something is terribly wrong. In this essay, the purposes of Mrs. Griffin’s three cats; Clue Cat, Blue Cat, and Stew Cat, are uncovered. Because of these unique and wonderful animals the reader discovers secrets and solves long forgotten mysteries through characterization, big reveals, and true empathy.
The cats help characterize minor characters. Stew Cat helps characterize harvey’s friend Wendell as frisky. Entering the house, Harvey observes that “ a goofy, bespectacled face appeared for a moment at the... end of the hallway. Then a piebald cat dashed between the boy's legs and he was off after …show more content…

It is revealed through the death of Clue Cat the Mrs. Griffin does not have the ability to cry. Harvey sheds his tears for Clue Cat and Mrs. Griffin says, “I wish I could still shed a tear or two” (39). Saying that she “wishes” tells that she can no longer shed tears, which are natural occurrences in all humans. This proves that she has been “tampered” with. Blue Cat leads the way through the mist wall, revealing the way out. Mrs. Griffin drops Blue Cat into the mist, “Tail up, it (Blue Cat) padded off… [a]nd now the mist seemed to be thinning.” (132) Barker tells us that the boys followed Blue Cat and that he leads them through the mist until it begins to thin. In this case, when something thins, it ends. Stew cat leads Harvey to Mrs. Griffin’s struggling apparatus in her coffin. Harvey is lead to Mrs. Griffin’s coffin, watching “Stew-Cat scratch on the lid” (83). Scratching, can be a cat’s equivalent to pointing and revealing, which is true in the case of Stew Cat. And great in the case of Mrs. Griffin. These reasons show that the cats do indeed reveal

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