I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE_CHARACTER SUMMARIES
EDMUND HOOPER (10 years old, lost his mother 6 years ago. His father is cold, unable to influence him. He has never know what it means to live in a happy,
loving environment. He is left on his own much of the time and has become private and possessive His father find him unresponsive and does not know how
to relate to him.)
CHARACTERISTICS
Manipulative
Without moral principles,
without remorse
Enjoys wielding power
Has no respect for authority
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE (with page reference)
He systematically bullies and terrorizes Kingshaw to the point of suicide. It began with the
note he gave K ‘I DON’T WANT YOU TO COME HERE’. (11). H knew K could be frightened, so he
used every possible means to instill fear in him. Examples: putting a dead crow on his bed
(27), locking him in the red room with the dead moths when K was afraid of moths, (31), lying
that K had pushed him in the water, kicked and punched him at Hang Wood, (110, 112) locking
K in the shed when K is afraid of the dark (120), tormenting him that he would be bullied in the
new school (126).
Despite being saved by K when he was injured at Hang Wood and being given K’s sweater to
keep warm, he accused K of kicking and punching him at Hang Wood. (110, 112). This shows
he has no gratitude and takes great delight in making K a victim, causing him to suffer, never
feeling a moment of guilt or remorse.
When he locked K in the shed, K thought ‘The time they spent in the wood might never have
been.’ (125)
When he finds K dead, H thought ‘ it was because of me, I did that, it was because of me, and a
spurt of triumph went through him. ‘ (195)
Having observed from the first day of K’s arrival that K was not going to fight back, he began
on his campaign of terrorizing K. ‘He could not have imagined the charm it afforded him,
having Kingshaw here, thinking of things to do to him.’ (25) For example, he spies on him
saying to himself ‘I shall find out about K, just by waiting and going into every room in the
house’. (36, 37)
He knows where K’s weakness is and exploits these. For example, after K had torn up and
burnt H’s battle charts, H said nothing, causing K to be anxious and fearful. Then K was
awakened at night by the sound of a slip of paper slid under the door ‘’Something will happen
to you, Kingshaw”. (192, 193)
When he saw his dying grandfather, he compared him one of the ‘dead old moths’ to which
his father’s rebuke was ‘You must show respect’. (1)
In the train to London with his father, he was curt when replying to his father, showing a blank
expression that frustrated his father (35, 36)
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I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE_CHARACTER SUMMARIES
CHARLES KINGSHAW (10 years old. His father is dead and Charles has little memory of his father. He is not able to confide in his mother.)
CHARACTERISTICS
Very nervous and insecure.
He has been moved from
place to place and all he
wants is security.
Afraid of many things,
especially new situations. He
prefers the familiar to the
unknown.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE (with page reference)
He was conscious that with his father’s death, his mother did not have enough money and they lived in other
people’s houses. His mother told him ‘you must be polite, you must not be a nuisance, it is their house, not our
house.’ (60)
He was a G.B.B. – a Governors’ Bequest Boy, which meant he didn’t pay fees. He felt insecure. (97)
His mother said ‘you were always such a nervous child’ (116)
He was afraid of the dark (116), the circus caused him terror ( 182, 183), he was afraid of crows (21 -22). Since
he was very young, he had been terrified of moths (30)
Lacks self-confidence and is
unable to stand up for
himself.
When he befriended Fielding he was ‘half-mad with pride and pleasure’. He said ‘Fielding is mine, this all mine,
mine,’ He looked on Fielding as his special friend, one he would not share with anyone, he needed the comfort
and security of having something that belonged only to him.
He wants to avoid
confrontation and if faced
with a problem, his method
of coping is to run away.
Despite H’s hostility on the very first day, K was prepared to get on with him, ‘as he got on with most people,
because it was safer to do so. He was too vulnerable to let himself indulge in the making of enemies.’ (14)
When he had a chance to topple H on the stairs, K was ‘terrified of the thought’. He did not like to hurt anyone.
(19)
He ran to Hang Wood to escape H’s torment.
The final escape was to kill himself.
He copied Fielding to suck a straw. ‘He must look and talk like Fielding, he must be like Fielding.’ (161).
He admired Fenwick who did not flinch from pain. K thought ‘that is the way you should be’ But he knew that
‘he never could be like it, had tried and failed.’ (148)
He wants to be independent
and self-reliant
He is principled
When he had a chance to take advantage of H’s fear in Hang Wood, he instead looked after him, gave H his
sweater, pulled him out of the water .
K had the chance to push H off the castle wall but he did not. (134, 135)
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I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE_CHARACTER SUMMARIES
MRS HELENA KINGSHAW (She is a widow, aged 38, with no income of her own. She struggles to make ends meet and she and her son have
drifted from place to place. Her main concern is to find security for herself and her son.)
CHARACTERISTICS
Obsessed with seeking
security, she uses flattery and
ingratiating ways to get
security at Warings.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE (with page reference)
She constantly thanked JH for being kind to them. (39, 113)
She does not know how to
relate to her son and seldom
bothers to listen to what he
says.
‘She didn’t know what was inside his head, she had never known anything at all that was true
about him.’ (113)
She deliberately ignores her
sons’s protests and openly
favours Hooper.
When the boys returned from Hang Wood, she believed Hooper that K had kicked and
punched him. She blamed Charles for being ‘naughty’ and said she was ‘ashamed’ of K for
speaking untruths. It tells us she intentionally take Hooper’s side against Charles even though
as his mother she should know Charles is principled, would not lie, nor would he intentionally
hurt anyone. (110)
She is superficial and is
concerned with outward
appearance.
She is concerned that Charles should be friendly with Edmund, that they should play together.
However she was blind to the insecurity that Charles felt and to the hostility between the
boys.
She wore jangly earrings and bangles and appears to be vain about her appearance.
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I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE_CHARACTER SUMMARIES
MR JOSEPH HOOPER (He inherits Warings from his father, causing him to believe he will be judged as a success like his father. At the age of 51,
he believes it is a new beginning for him, one in which he will improve his status and confidence.
CHARACTERISTICS
He is aware of his own
failings.
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE (with page reference)
He knew himself to be an ineffectual man, without any strength or imposing qualities, a man
who was liked and humoured but little regarded, a man who had failed. (4)
He was a dull man, a man who got by (5)
He is unable to be a role
model for his son.
He knew that he had failed, from the very beginning, to ingratiate himself with Edmund. (7)
He felt helpless in relating to his son. He could not express his anger at H’s map, but said
nothing. (18, 19). He thought he should strike H for his insolence ‘I do not like his supercilious
expression’ but he did nothing. Instead, he blamed his dead wife for not setting the rules to
follow. (17)
He is open to Mrs Kingshaw’s
flattery as it fans his ego.
When Mrs K praised him for a clever suggestion, JH ‘felt more than ever satisfied with her’ (39)
He said to Mrs K, ‘You have given me new strength. I no longer feel so much alone’.(44)
He is blind to the animosity
between the two boys as he
wants to see them friends for
it would cement his
relationship with Mrs
Kingshaw.
‘For they talked at length about their children, knowing nothing of the truth’. (44)
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I’M THE KING OF THE CASTLE_CHARACTER SUMMARIES
ANTHONY FIELDING (a ten year old, he serves as contrast with Charles and Edmund. He is a son in a loving, happy family whereas Charles and
Edmund are sons of families that don’t know how to communicate and show love. His home environment is simple and nurturing in contrast to
the gloomy isolation of the Warings household.)
CHARACTERISTICS
Open and natural
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE (with page reference)
He was happy to discover anything new, happy to do whatever anyone else suggested. ( 188)
Comfortable with himself
Hooper knew ‘he could neither frighten nor humiliate Fielding, because his temperament
would reject all of it without trouble’ .
He would not bring out the worst in Hooper, as Kingshaw himself did. Fielding was
invulnerable.’ (185, 186)
Fielding said, ‘I’m not frightened of much.’ (187)
When he looked at the dead moth and was asked if he would touch one, he replied, ‘ Yes.
They’re only dead things. They can’t hurt you.’ (187)
‘He could not hold Fielding, nobody could, he would try and try, and Fielding would slip away,
and make friends anywhere, share anything.’ (186)
Accepts others at face value
Cannot understand that there When Charles shouted at Edmund, Fielding was ‘shocked by the violence in K’s voice.’ (189)
are people who are not
straightforward.
When Fielding saw that Charles was distant and cold and angry, it worried him. He was only
used to people who behaved as he himself behaved, people to whom things were easy. (190)
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