Kingshaw then decides to go and explore the surroundings but on his way back a hovering crow attacks him. Hooper becomes an extremely nasty and twisted little boy, that night he puts a dead crow in Kingshaw’s bed.
Hooper takes Kingshaw into the room where all the moths are kept. Hooper sees that Kingshaw finds them frightening and vindictively locks him in the room with them. But although Kingshaw was extremely frightened, he knew that if he had screamed or banged on the door Hooper would realise that he had got to him. So instead he just sat in a corner and waited for someone to find him.
Kingshaw really has decided that he can’t take any more of the abuse from Hooper, so he decides to run away to see a friend. There are only subtle hints of this and some small clues earlier on. This is a very good way of writing because it gets the reader more interested and also puts the reader in between the parents and the children, because the parents are completely oblivious to what is going on between them.
James Davies Year 11 English Course work November 2002
Kingshaw decided to run away, when their parents went on a trip. Kingshaw finally thought that he had escaped the perils of Hooper, but to his dismay Hooper follows him. “ I told you I’d come after you!”
In the house things had been different, Hooper had had the upper hand, he was The King of The Castle! But out in Hang wood things were starting to change. It was now Kingshaw who was more in control. “ Here they were more equal.”
A storm arrived, this made Hooper really scared, but it made Kingshaw realise that Hooper was human after all. Out there in the Wood it was his territory Hooper wasn’t the King anymore. After being in the woods a while the two become a little bit friendlier but only slightly. Hooper bashes his toe and Kingshaw offers to put a plaster on it. These are signs that their relationship may get better.
After they had returned home Kingshaw thought that things would probably improve, but not long after their return Hooper was back to his old tricks again. He locked Kingshaw in the shed. Kingshaw once again felt the feeling of entrapment. Hooper just could not stop being a bully to Kingshaw.
Further on into the book in Chapter 12 the family go on a trip. They end up by a large ruined castle. While Mr Hooper and Mrs Kingshaw go for a picnic the boys decide to explore the castle. Kingshaw decides to climb the high castle wall. Hooper tells him its dangerous and he should get down. Then Kingshaw goads him to come up too. Hooper doesn’t want to but Kingshaw makes fun of him and calls him a chicken. So Hooper climbs up. He gets near to the top and becomes frightened now Kingshaw has full advantage over Hooper. He really is KING OF THE CASTLE! Kingshaw knows that he could kill Hooper there and then, all he needed to do was push him and he would never be his victim of torment again. But instead he tries to help Hooper to get down, he had already peed his pants in fright, he was a blubbering mess. But as Kingshaw put his arm out Hooper fell to the ground. He could have been killed.
When Hooper returned from hospital he blamed Kingshaw for his fall. He told him that he had told his parents and that he would be “Punished”. This alarmed Kingshaw and made him on edge once again Hooper had got to him.
Kingshaw decided that because Hooper was always frightening him he would get his own back and get his friend Fielding to come to the house and make Hooper feel jealous and left out. But this didn’t seem to work and it made him feel left out, Hooper had won again. Fielding took Hooper to his farm but Kingshaw decided not to go. Instead he thought to destroy the one thing Hooper loved. His battle plans! He took them outside and burnt them.
James Davies Year 11 English Course work November 2002
Towards the end of the novel the time of starting a new school together is drawing near. On the night before the start of school Hooper let Kingshaw know that he knew he had destroyed his battle plans and that he was going to do something bad to him. A note was put under kingshaw’s door. “ Something will happen to you, Kingshaw”. Kingshaw was really worried he knew that Hooper would make his life at school a misery.
So on the dawn of the next morning he got out of bed and went into the woods, this was it Hooper had finally won. Kingshaw could not go on through life looking behind his shoulder with an enemy like Hooper. Hooper had caused Kingshaw to commit suicide!
In this novel the relationship between Hooper and Kingshaw is almost like a battle between two enemies. Hooper won battles by doing nasty things like locking Kingshaw in the moth room and putting the dead crow in his bed. But also Kingshaw won a few battles as well, he turned Hooper into a blubbering mess in the castle and made him frightened in the woods. But although Kingshaw was a strong character, Hooper was a strong tyrant who eventually won the final battle, “I did that, it was because of me”.