Main text
When Chiaroscuro (Roscuro) got into the royal soup bowl, the whole kingdom plunged into darkness and drought. The queen died of stress at the sight of a rat on her plate, and the King outlawed all rats in his kingdom and ordered to strictly punish all those who sympathize with him. Roscuro is a rat born in dungeons who is wise and adores light, but his dark traits are also present. For example, Despereaux introduces Princess Pea to Roscuro, but she is squeamish about friendship with a rat, who decides to take revenge on her. Once offended by people and driven by deception, he decides that all of them will suffer, in which a servant girl, who envied the beautiful Princess and dreamed of taking her place, helps him.
Despite the struggle between lightness and darkness in the soul of Roscuro, he is a light character. Various examples prove his good intentions and ability to help others. Roscuro rescues Despereaux from death and makes a friendship with him. In addition, the readers may note the following quotation from the novel: “this revelation hit Roscuro with such force, that it made him lose his grip on the chandelier” (DiCamillo, 2014, p. 109). This citation shows that the identified character fell into the soup unintentionally, and he clearly understood that it would cause danger to people (Picture1). At the end of the tale, the readers may observe his self-redemption as Roscuro accepts the Princes’ suggestion and starts to follow the light again. It should be stressed that friends help him to reveal his true love for light.
Conclusion
Thus, the discussed examples present such a complicated character as Roscuro with his positive and negative traits and the prevalence of light.
Reference
DiCamillo, K. (2014). The essential Kate DiCamillo collection. Somerville, MA: Candlewick
Appendix
