#( ;; this is how we all know h.owl is the younger one. )

[uizado]

megan: howell, did you seriously change your name to ‘howl’ ??? you’re a disaster.

howl: megan, is your name still megan ??? how incredibly boring.

*wide pan shot of megan chasing howl out of her house with a trash can*

[madamhatter]

in which the middle daughter is spoken about.

Unlike the movie adaptation (or technically speaking, the loosely adaption of the book), the H.owl’s M.oving C.astle book brings to light a lot to Sophie’s actual family situation and much more of her personality and actually has her as the primary focus. In this case, we’re looking at a smaller detail and the relationship between eldest daughter with her younger sister, Lettie. 

Lettie, for only movie-watchers, is the middle child of the Hatter trio with black raven hair and dazzling blue eyes. Considered the most beautiful of the three sisters, and with a history of having a temper and throwing tantrums when younger, she is quite representative of standard Hatter pride. Her outward presentation and quick-timing in responses, and not being afraid to hide her emotions, tells us all the same: she is a determined mind. 

As the middle daughter, she also falls under being the next unlikely to have fortune, but has a far greater chance than her older sister. Unlike the eldest, who took the leap to accept fate ever since she was young, the middle daughter is annoyed by it and often picked fights with her younger sister, Martha, over the matter. Both are as extroverted as they are strong-minded. 

Sophie ended up having to break up the fights always and having to mend their clothes -- alongside that, she also did raise both Martha and Lettie. One example is Lettie’s best dress for May Day. It was created by Sophie and it led the middle sister to gaining so many suitors on the day (and, yes, that was accidentally Sophie’s fault because of her magic) that Sophie had to shoo off! 

Lettie is such an uncompromising spirit and so stalwart in her ways, that the only person who could reason (and if not, stop her) was the worst stubborn person in the household, Sophie herself. Fanny accredits Sophie for having “dealt” with Lettie when she was younger, but it seems quite clear that the sisters have better read on another than their own mother does. That is evident enough by the relationship between the sisters and the circumstances of the eldest daughter raising her sisters. 

With the news that the sisters couldn’t continue schooling (after Mr. Hatter’s death), Lettie was intending on continuing her studies and was quite mad (but controlled her temper) after being told she’d apprentice at Cesari’s. Her eldest sister was anticipating the reaction, but is quite relieved in this rare case. 

It’s safe to say that Lettie is the most ambitious of the trio, but is also the most focused on herself. She is forthright in making something for herself and living off happily one way or another. Hell, she didn’t bother much with helping Martha’s packing when the youngest sister was sent to apprentice under Fairfax. When it was her turn to leave, she passed some coin to a local boy, took a barrel, placed her items in there, and had it rolled out to the bakery. 

Despite the great contrasts of outward personalities between the sisters (Sophie and Lettie), they are remarkably close and are a lot more alike than one may realize. The eldest daughter resigned herself young and the middle daughter was relentless; most of their characteristics overlapped with another as the longer Sophie was removed her home situation, a lot of her older/once lost personality is restored and revigorated. 

Both younger sisters are very aware of how Sophie drags herself down and has no self-confidence, no less self-respect, for herself.

“Lettie kept saying she didn’t know what would happen to you when we weren’t around to give you some self-respect. She was right to be worried.” Context: Martha speaking to Sophie

Jones, Diana Wynne. Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Castle Book 1) . Greenwillow Books. Kindle Edition.

Lettie has been as worried over her eldest sister as much as Martha has been. It’s not a secret about Sophie’s tendencies are can get very concerning. Hell, the fact that the eldest sister stayed cooped up in her atelier and was gone for several months was already too much for Martha. The sisters are really the ones that held Sophie above the water while everyone else around her just did what they wanted and ignored her.

After Lettie and Martha switched places, and when she learned of Sophie’s disappearance, Lettie was so worried that she sent a cursed dog she found to find Sophie and protect her. She never wanted to leave her sister alone when she barely had the details pertaining to her situation, and still sent out something to go and protect her, in spite of what little she knows. 

No matter how much she would fight with Martha, and she would fight with Sophie and be in the strange parent-child situation with her, Lettie remarkably cares. She even cried when she received news that Sophie had suddenly disappeared and went through working any means of trying to locate her. Hence, the dog who appeared at the castle who hunted after the eldest daughter. 

Even if she is known for arguments and stating everything that she feels, Lettie still has her awkward moments and get a bit shy. There is one scene that illustrates this point and it’s towards the end of the book after Sophie’s curse is broken and the defeat of the fire demon.

This scene originally made me want to write out about Lettie and the relationship she has with her sister. It was a small interaction, but it’s in the details that tells us the most about people. 

"....that Fanny, Martha, and Lettie were plucking at Sophie’s sleeves...” “ “Sophie,” said Lettie, “I need your advice.””

Jones, Diana Wynne. Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Castle Book 1) . Greenwillow Books. Kindle Edition.

After being confronted by the prospect of becoming an apprentice, Lettie has her own wall-flower moment of sorts! She was blushing and unable to speak, and the eldest sister quietly thought that was Lettie’s problem before handling the current situation. However, Lettie comes over and and takes up pulling on Sophie’s sleeve and directly and personally needing her attention and word for the current situation. 

For a big personality like Lettie, who is undeniably more outspoken and forward-thinking than her sister, there is a form of trust and looking up that she has towards Sophie. It is such a innocent gesture and and request between middle and eldest daughter. The very fact that Fanny is in the same place, their own mother, and Lettie would rather go to her sister says quite a bit.

I do see this interaction as a way to communicate that Lettie and Sophie’s relationship can overlap between siblings and guardian-like. It also reveals that the sister(s) to seek out Sophie as opposed to their mother for advice and help. The eldest daughter hears much, much more of her sisters’ emotions and thoughts compared to their mother. Like the trio (and any combination between them) would rather depend on another, for example. 

Overall, Lettie the very iron-headed and sharp-witted middle sister of Mister Hatter; the middle-born who was less likely to have her fortune found compared to her youngest sister, but persevered and did what she wanted. She isn’t emotionally or mentally compromised as Sophie, but is very aware of her eldest sister’s frame of mind and emotions -- she is as caring and empathetic to Sophie as Sophie is to most people. Both sisters may have a background of fighting and  being in a strange parent-child arrangement, but they very much love each other (and the middle sister does really value her eldest sister’s world).