Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Cornelia Funke and Guillermo del Toro is a book published in 2019 that belongs to the genre of dark fantasy. An enthralling, powerful, imaginative, yet realistic story (on certain levels), Pan's Labyrinth is a phenomenal book that holds many real-world implications and should be read by all.
The book begins with a prologue that tells the tale of Princess Moanna: she was the daughter of the king and queen of the underworld. The underworld was different from that of the regular world in how lies and pain don’t exist. However, Princess Moanna wanted to see the upper world, as she heard of the marvelous natural beauty (ex. sunsets, grass, gorgeous landscapes). One day, she was able to sneak past her guards and ascended into the upper world. However, she quickly met with disaster, seeing how the sunlight erased all her memories. “She wandered the earth, suffering cold, sickness, and pain. And finally, she died.” (IX). Although she died, her father knew that her soul was immortal (she reincarnates in various mortal bodies over the ages), causing him to order the creation of certain methods that will eventually bring her back to him, even if it does take many years. Most of Pan's Labyrinth takes place in Francoist Spain in 1944, near the end of WWII. Princess Moanna was reincarnated as Ophelia, a young, bookish girl enamored with fairy tales. Although she supposedly belonged to the underground kingdom, she still possessed a mortal family: her father, a fantastic tailor, died in the war. Her mother (Carmen Cardoso, thirty-two), who represents traditional concepts of beauty and femininity (and their corresponding ridiculousness), met a military officer, Capitán Vidal, not long after, seeing that she believed that only a man could care for her and her daughter in a male-dominated world. Carmen quickly became pregnant by Vidal, as he is completely obsessed with having a son who will pass on his legacy and that of his father, a famed general. Ofelia and her mother moved from the city into the countryside, as Vidal wanted his son to be born near him. The pregnancy had negative effects on Carmen: she suffered from it greatly, causing Vidal much concern, not for her, but his potential son. When she and her daughter were going towards the countryside, Ofelia saw a statue that was missing an eye. She found a rock on the ground with the engraving of the eye and placed it into the face of the statue. When she did so, a fairy (in the guise of an insect) came out of the mouth of the statue and began following her. It is revealed that the fairy had been preparing for her arrival for a long time, and after seeing Ofelia, it reported to its master, a mythical creature known as the Faun, who was also a high official (advisor) of the king of the underworld. When Ofelia and her mother reached the military outpost which Vidal was stationed at (as stated before, he was the Capitán, which made him the leading officer of the base), Vidal was waiting for them and is noted to be handsome, though he is hideous on the inside, seeing his arrogance, brutality, sadism, and intolerance for contrasting opinions. Vidal was studying his pocket watch (that belonged to his deceased father: when he died on the battlefield he broke his watch so that Vidal knows the time of his death and will follow his example when it is his turn to die, symbolizing the importance of a legacy for Vidal) and noted that they have arrived fifteen minutes late. When Ofelia saw him, she recognized him for what he was: a monster. Ofelia quickly met Mercedes, who represented the prospects women can accomplish if they rely on themselves, as she is determined and strong-willed despite being a house servant: “Mercedes was slim and pale. She had raven-black hair and dark liquid eyes. Ofelia thought she looked like a princess pretending to be a peasant’s daughter. Or perhaps an enchantress, though Ofelia wasn’t sure which kind, good or evil.” (9). The military outpost was at an old mill that was no longer used to prepare food: all it served now was pain and death. Ofelia then spotted the fairy, and chased it until she reached the remains of a labyrinth that bore the head of the Faun. Inscribed at the entrance were the words In consiliis nostris fatum nostrum est, or “In our choices lie our fate.” Mercedes informs Ofelia that it’s a labyrinth, and that it is of a great age, seeing that it was constructed many years ago. Ofelia, trusting Mercedes, tells her that Vidal is not her true father. It is then revealed by the narrators that Mercedes’s brother was named Pedro and belonged to the Maqui, a group of guerilla soldiers (including those who wanted democracy, as well as anarchists, communists, and socialists) that resisted the Francoists despite having been beaten in the Spanish Civil War.
Dr. Ferreira is then introduced: he’s a kind doctor who genuinely wants to help others. He’s also timid, seeing how he offers pieces of advice without sounding condescending. He prepared some sleep drops for Carmen and is revealed in a later scene to be a sympathizer of the Maqui, as he talks to Mercedes. Mercedes tells him that she needs medicine for one of her brother’s comrades, as his leg that was injured in fighting had become progressively more infected. Ferreiro apologizes, seeing how he doesn’t have many supplies to give: he managed to provide her with a little medicine. Mercedes informs him that Vidal is waiting for him in his office. Ofelia spotted Ferreira and Mercedes talking, but didn't report it (she had no incentive to: she liked them both and loathed Vidal and everything he stood for). To help her mother go to sleep, she told her little brother a story: “‘Many, many years ago … in a sad, faraway land,’” “‘There was an enormous mountain made of black flint,’” “‘And atop that mountain,’” “‘a magic rose blossomed every dawn. People said whoever plucked it would become immortal. But no one dared to go near it because its thorns were filled with poison,’” “‘People talked about all the pain the thorns of the rose could cause,’” “‘They warned each other that whoever climbed the mountain would die. It was so easy for them to believe in the pain and the thorns. Fear helped them believe that. But none of them dared to hope that in the end the rose would reward them with eternal life. They couldn’t hope-they could not. And so, the rose would wilt away, night after night, unable to bequeath its gift to anyone,’” “‘The rose was forgotten and lost,’” “‘At the top of that cold, dark mountain, forever alone until the end of time.’” (22-3). When Ferreiro entered Vidal’s room, he found him in the room of the mill that included all the machinations, making Vidal feel that he was living inside his father’s watch, which he felt as comforting. Vidal took extremely good care of the watch, handling it delicately and precisely. Vidal’s father had an immense impact on him, as he indoctrinated him from a young age to believe that dying on the battlefield is the only real way to die bravely and that nationalism should be a focus of one’s life (ignoring the fact that nations don’t even exist - they’re human-made constructs. Furthermore, nations are insignificant in the long-run, seeing how insignificant they are compared to the universe). As was described by the narrator, “he and his father had visited the cliffs of Villanueva. The rugged seascape on the horizon, the jagged rocks beneath—a hundred-foot drop. His father had gently guided him to the edge and then held him fast. He had grabbed his son when he recoiled, forcing him to look down into the abyss. ‘Feel that fear?’ his father asked. ‘You must never forget it. That is what you must feel every time you grow weak-when you try to forget that you serve your fatherland and your station in life. When you are faced with death or honor. If you betray your country, your name, or your heritage, it will be as if you take a step forward to take a plunge. The abyss is invisible to you, but it is no less real. Never forget it, my son’” (25). Vidal notes with satisfaction that machines like his watch don’t require hearts to exist, seeing how heartbeats are constantly vulnerable to being stopped. When Ferreira enters the room, he informs Vidal that Carmen is doing poorly. Vidal reveals that he’s a misogynist, seeing how “He had grown tired of Carmen. He grew tired of every woman quite easily. They usually tried to get too close. Vidal didn't want anyone to get close. It made him vulnerable. All order was lost when love moved in. Even desire could be confusing unless one fed it and moved on. Women didn't understand that.” (26). As stated before, Vidal didn't care about Carmen: he’s only interested in his son. “The child was all he cared about. A man was mortal without a son.” (26). Ferreira tells Vidal that his son is safe for the time being. Two of Vidal’s subordinates, Garces and Serrano, entered the room, informing Vidal that his presence was needed. Before Vidal left the room, Ferreira told him that his wife shouldn’t have traveled at such a late stage of pregnancy. He then inquires of Vidal how he knows his child is a male, and Vidal doesn’t even answer - he just tells him to leave. Vidal learned that two rabbit hunters, consisting of an old man and his young son, were detained by his soldiers, as they were hunting past curfew. Vidal immediately felt incensed, as the son was disrespectful and didn't know his place, seeing his repeated interruptions. Vidal’s temper became even worse upon looking at their belongings in their rucksack: he found an almanac issued by the previous government that bore slogans that could be interpreted as hostile to the Franco regime and approving of democracy. Upon the son’s further insolence (he told Vidal that if his father says he was hunting rabbits to feed his two sick daughters, then he was doing so), Vidal brutally slaughtered him and his father by first smashing the son’s face in with a bottle and then stabbing his eye out before shooting his father twice. “The son was still moving, his hands red with his own blood as he pressed them against the gaping wounds on his face. What a mess. Vidal shot him, too. Under the pale sickle of the moon. The forest was watching as silently as his soldiers.” (31). Upon further investigation, he found the rabbits in their bags, and told Serrano to search them properly before asking for his presence.
The book is interspersed with short stories whose contents weren’t included in the corresponding film. The first one, “The Sculptor’s Promise,” involves Cintolo, a brilliant sculptor of the underworld who created a statue in the likeness of the Faun to find Moanna. Although he was initially hopeful that his creature could find her, he soon became heartbroken and ashamed when nothing occurred: “when Death knocked at his workshop door, he didn't send Her away, but followed Her, hoping to forget his failure in the land of oblivion.” (36). When he died, his creature was full of despair, and turned into stone, but not before taking out an eye and placing it on the ground. “The eye, forever bearing witness to the old sculptor’s skills, lay on the wet ground for countless days and nights. Until one afternoon three black cars came driving through the forest. They stopped under the old trees and a girl climbed out. She walked down the path until she stepped on the eye Cintolo had carved.” (38). When Ofelia placed the creature’s eye back into its socket, the Faun realized what had happened, remarking that it was finally time for her to come home, and placed a ruby flower from the garden of the king and queen on the grave of Cintolo. Ofelia awoke during the night and saw the same fairy beckoning her to come. She followed it into the labyrinth, and descended into a large stone well that was devoid of water by using the stairs. When she reached the bottom, the Faun appeared to her and told her that he had waited for her for many years. He then informs her that she’s actually the daughter of the king and queen of the underworld, and that he can prove it: she has a birthmark in the shape of a crescent moon on her left shoulder. The Faun tells Ofelia that even though her father wants her back desperately, he needs to make sure that she hasn’t become a mortal, which means that she must perform three deeds before the moon becomes full. He then gives her the Book of Crossroads, a book enchanted so that only certain people could see the information held inside. He tells her to follow its instructions when the time comes and disappears. When Ofelia opens it, she finds only blank pages. The story proceeds to Vidal shaving with his razor. Vidal enjoyed the activity very much, as he noted that humans are physically vulnerable, as they have no fur or scales to protect them. “When the razor swiped his cheeks and chin its sharpness became part of him. In fact, Vidal liked to imagine it turned his heart, scrape by scrape, into metal … Blades cut both trees and men so easily” (46-7). Vidal, after shaving, proceeded to polish his boots, as he loved for his clothes to remain immaculate. He soon smoked and played some music on his phonograph. When Mercedes entered, he told her to make something out of the two rabbits he had taken from the rabbit hunters he slew the night before. Mercedes recollected how “Out in the yard one of the soldiers had imitated how the old man had begged for his son’s life. He’d laughed while describing how Vidal had killed them both. Were they born that cruel, all these soldiers slashing and burning and killing? They had been children once like Ofelia. Mercedes feared for her. The girl was too innocent for his place and her mother wouldn’t be strong enough to protect her. She was one of those women who looked for strength in men instead of finding it in her own heart.” (48). Mercedes then reminds herself that Vidal loathes women, and enjoys them only carnally. A dinner event was planned by Vidal in which he invited the important figures of the area, such as the mayor, a rich widow who believed in Fascism, the priest (who justified the atrocities that the Fascists were committing by stating that they’re communists), the doctor, and another military authority (who met his father). Ofelia’s mother gave her some pretty clothes to make her look good for the future party: she continued lying to herself involving how Vidal only valued her as a means to an end, seeing how she believed that he would eventually come to accept her and Ofelia. “We all create our own fairy tales. The dress will make him love my daughter, that’s the tale Carmen Cardoso told herself, although her heart knew Vidal only cared for the unborn child he had fathered. It is a terrible sin to betray one’s child for a new love and Ofelia’s mother’s fingers were trembling as she opened the buttons of the dress, still smiling, pretending life and love were what she wanted them to be.” (53). Later, Lieutenant Medem had his soldiers seize the food of peasants to feed the guests of the dinner. Vidal had all the supplies and the ration cards placed into a barn and asked for the key to it from Mercedes. He then asks if it’s the only key, and she tells him it is. Vidal responds by telling her that he’ll be carrying it from then on. Garces is then characterized: he’s “as lean as a weasel and always had a smile for the maids” (60-1). Garces tells Vidal that a line of smoke has been spotted in the forest, and Vidal tells him and the others to get to the location using their horses, as he believes that it was the campfire of the Maquis.
The short story of “The Labyrinth” provides more information regarding Ofelia: she found herself in a forest and remembered nothing, not even her own name. She soon met a nobleman named Ayuso. He brought her back to his palace and they promptly fell in love: she gave birth to a son a year later. Although they lived quite happily, she wanted to know where she came from. Ayuso ordered for a witch named Rocio to provide a way for Moanna to learn her origins. Rocio told him that a labyrinth needed to be built, and she “took him to the place where she’d envisioned it. She marked the four corners with stones and drew the patterns of the walls with a willow branch onto the forest soil. At the center, she told Ayuso, he’d have to build a well and, inside, a staircase leading down to its bottom.” (65). Ayuso warned Rocio that if her plan didn't work, he’ll have her drowned in the millpond near the mill. Rocio, unflustered, left for her hut (where she lived with her young son and daughter). It took two months to build the labyrinth, and the stones that constructed it were formed from an abandoned village (the village was deserted due to how a child-eating monster, the Pale Man, kidnapped children in the area to devour in his underground lair). When the labyrinth was finished, Moanna entered the labyrinth, but nothing occurred: the time hadn’t come yet. Over the months, her disappointment grew. Eventually, she died. Upon her demise, Ayuso sent five of his soldiers to Rocio’s hut who murdered her by drowning her in the aforementioned millpond. “Fifteen years later, Ayuso’s son walked into the labyrinth hoping to find his mother there. He was never seen again, and it took another two hundred and twenty-three years until the prophecy of the witch came true” (67). Ofelia’s first task involves going underground a large tree that looks like fallopian tubes (symbolizing her desire to leave the world she found herself in) and feeding three magic stones to a massive toad that was killing the tree due to its size and gluttony (it ate insects). Ofelia was instructed by the Book of Crossroads to get the key from its belly. She succeeded by mixing the stones with the insects: once the toad ate it, it expanded in size until it regurgitated everything it ate, reducing its skin to a deflated rug. Ofelia, though succeeding in the first task, was worried, seeing how it took place during the dinner. When she returned home, her mother scolded her for ruining her new clothes and told her that she was very disappointed in her. When Vidal got to where the smoke came from, he found some antibiotics, making him suspect the doctor of working against him. During the dinner party, Vidal informed the guests that to prevent people from aiding the rebels, they have decreased the amount of food each family would receive, restricting each to have only one voucher. The mayor worried about the implications, but the priest quickly came to the aid of Vidal, defending his actions and the implication of mass murder by saying that even if the rebels are to be killed, their souls will be saved, as their bodies don’t matter to the Abrahamic God (Guillermo del Toro got the priest’s words from a speech one gave to prisoners in a concentration camp during WWII to justify the brutality the prisoners just experienced). Another story is then told: after Rocio’s murder, the mill lost its pond when an angry mob, learning of a creature terrorizing the miller’s family, caused it to evaporate to get to the silver that was in the water. The silver later turned out to be potentially cursed, causing them to leave it alone.
Ofelia soon went back to the labyrinth, and the Faun told her to keep the key and to wait for the book to show her the second task. Sometime later, the Book of Crossroads showed her blood, and her mother suffered birth complications (which involved a lot of blood, of course) that rendered her basically bedridden (and heavily sedated much of the time). Ferreira, when ordered to make Carmen well, noted that people like Vidal always blamed others for their mistakes, and never themselves: “When he finally turned to Ferreira his face was rigid with anger. Anger at what? Ferreira wondered. At life? At himself for bringing his pregnant wife here? No. A man like Vidal never blamed himself. He was probably angry at the mother of his future child for proving herself to be so weak.” (102). Ofelia moved into the attic of the house, and Ofelia told Mercedes that she didn't betray her secret, as she didn't want her to come to any harm. Mercedes, in an attempt to comfort her in return, sang her a melancholy yet beautiful lullaby. Ofelia fell asleep peacefully, and when she did, Mercedes went with Ferreira to the hideout of the rebels. Another story, “The Watchmaker,” is then told. This tale involves a king in Madrid who was utterly obsessed with time. He was so enamored with it that he bought everything related to measuring time by selling his own subjects as slaves and soldiers. This caused his palace to be nicknamed El Palacio del Tiempo, or “the Palace of Time.” The king had a son and daughter whom he forced to obey extremely rigid schedules in accordance with timepieces. One day, the king’s favorite jester joked that the king was obsessed with time due to his fear of death, since he believed that if he measured time, he’ll keep death away. The king, who was cruel (obviously, seeing how he was willing to sell his subjects into slavery), ordered the jester to be put to death: “his soldiers chained the fool to the cogwheels of his largest clock and the king watched without a hint of compassion as the wheels broke every bone in his former favorite’s body. As hard as they tried, the servants couldn’t wash all the blood from the cogwheels and the clock was henceforth called the Red Clock, people whispering that its ticking repeated the dead fool’s name.” (112). On the tenth anniversary of the execution of the jester, the king got a “gift” of a pocket watch: “Its silver case was open, showing the king’s initials engraved inside the lid and two lean silver dials moving from minute to minute, their ticking as subtle as the footsteps of a dragonfly.” (112). There was a paper attached to the watch: it told the king that when the watch stops, he will die. The author alleged that the watch knows exactly when he’ll die, and that it’s useless to try to resist by breaking the watch, seeing that doing so will cause his death to come. The king, after reading the message, was traumatized and obsessed: “He felt as if the dials were stabbing his heart with every second they measured. He couldn’t move. He could no longer eat or drink or go to sleep. His hair and beard turned gray in a matter of days, and all he could do was continue to stare at the watch.” (113). Although the king’s soldiers tried to find who had sent the watch, they were unsuccessful, as they never caught the culprit. However, the culprit’s identity is quite likely: the jester had a son. To be more precise, the king died at the exact time the pocket watch had stopped: it stopped counting time at the exact moment the jester had perished from his wounds inflicted on him by the clock. Ofelia awoke one night to see the Faun, who was quite impatient, seeing how she didn't complete the second task yet. She responded by telling him that her mother was sick, and he responded by giving her a mandrake root, a plant that will benefit her mother’s health. He tells Ofelia to put it underneath her mother’s bed in a fresh bowl of milk and to give it two drops of blood each morning for its sustenance. The Faun then gave his satchel, which included three fairies, to Ofelia, telling her that they will guide her in the second task. He tells her that her next deed will be extremely dangerous, and that if she wants to survive, she will not eat or drink anything from the banquet she’ll soon see. When Mercedes and Ferreira entered the cave, it becomes clear that the Maquis are struggling to maintain morale and to survive, as they had few possessions. Ferreira examined the man known as Frenchie (he was the one with the wounded leg), and informed him that there was no saving the leg. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Tarta (short for “tartamudo,” or “stutterer”) read aloud from a newspaper that announces Allied soldiers potentially coming to their aid at Normandy. As expected, he suffers from a severe stutter. “In Ferreira’s experience a stutter bore witness to a skin too thin to keep the darkness of the world at bay. The soft and sensible ones developed it, the ones who couldn’t help but see and feel it all. Tarta still looked like a boy, always wearing a hint of melancholy on his gentle face, his dark eyes gazing at the world with wonder and bewilderment.” (199). To prepare Frenchie for the amputation of his leg, he was given some Orujo (Vidal’s favorite liquor) as a sedative. Ferreira promises him that he’ll do it as quickly as he can, and Frenchie gives him his assent. He clutches the hand of Mercedes as comfort, and the narrator notes that Mercedes was many things to many people, and proved herself as a capable and resourceful person. Before Ferreira begins the operation, he comes to terms that “Sometimes even the healers are turned into butchers by the darkness of this world.” (120).
The second task involves Ofelia entering the lair of the Pale Man. As stated before, he’s a child-eating monster that was once a human but succumbed to his sadism and depravity. The Pale Man is extremely thin and has albino skin, and his face is utterly blank: his hands have empty sockets that are for his eyes, which rested on a plate in front of him. Ofelia entered his lair by using a piece of chalk given to her by the faun to trace the outline of a door in her room. The Book of Crossroads instructed her to use the hourglass provided to her to keep the door open by leaving it at the entrance, and Ofelia followed the instructions. The Pale Man’s lair was colored red (representative of his numerous victims) and had small windows that were impossible to escape from and a floor checkered white and red. Ofelia utilized a chair in the attic for a ladder to help her descend into the Pale Man’s lair. It is described, “When Ofelia jumped … onto the checkered floor she heard a wheezing sound in the distance … as if someone were breathing heavily in sleep … The room looked so ancient under its painted ceilings, but Ofelia didn't look at the faded images above her head. All she saw was the long table at the center of the room. It was covered with golden bowls and plates filled to the brim with fruits, cakes, and roasted meats, but only the chair at the very end of the table was taken. The Pale Man … didn't move when Ofelia approached the table. In fact, he looked as if he hadn’t moved for centuries, whereas the food looked as fresh as if it had just been prepared” (124). The narrator describes the Pale Man as follows: “He was naked … his pale skin loosely covering his bones like an ill-fitting shroud. It was a terrible sight … The creature’s face was an obscene blank, marred only by two nostrils and a razor-thin mouth-a bloodstained slit framed by heavy folds of sagging skin-and his clawed hands, lying motionless beside his golden plate, ended in pointed black fingertips, the flesh above them reddened by blood … she gave the images on the ceiling a closer look … Some images depicted children raising their hands and pleading for mercy. Others showed the monster piercing them with knives and swords, or tearing off their limbs or feeding his insatiable hunger with their flesh. The scenes were painted so vividly Ofelia believed she could hear the victims scream … But when she lowered her eyes to escape the grueling images all she saw were hundreds of small shoes piled against the walls.” (125). Seeing the Pale Man only dissuaded her even more from eating the food present. The fairies left the satchel and took her to a wall with three small doors. Ofelia unlocked the door with the least decoration and found a dagger. Ofelia, after fulfilling her task, became enthralled by all the food, as she wanted to lose her grief and sorrow in it (by stress eating). She decided to take only a small grape, as she reasoned that no one would notice if she ate it. However, when she did so, the Pale Man awoke from his slumber, inserting his eyeballs into his hands to chase her down. “The Pale Man came to life. His black fingertips, pointy like thorns, cracked into motion with a spasm. His gaping mouth drew a tortured breath, and his right hand grabbed one of the eyeballs from his plate in his right hand, as his left turned, spreading its fingers like a terrible flower. The eyeball fit perfectly into the hole gaping in his left palm, and when his right hand had received the second eyeball, with a pupil as red as the grape Ofelia had eaten, the Pale Man raised both hands to his eyeless face to find out who had woken him.” (128). Ofelia didn't notice him, as the grapes tasted so good that she wanted to continue to indulge in them to escape from reality. The Pale Man made his way towards her, and the fairies swarmed him to make Ofelia realize what was happening. The Pale Man quickly grabbed two of the three fairies and devoured them. Ofelia rapidly fled, but was too late, for the sand of the hourglass ran out. The door leading to the outside closed, and Ofelia, who was cornered by the Pale Man, used her chair to draw a door on the ceiling. While she escaped, she barely was able to do so. It should be noted that in the film, the Pale Man has a direct correlation to Vidal: both of them are murderous monstrosities. Furthermore, both sat at the far ends of their dining tables, representing the harm they pose to others. Guillermo del Toro also states that the Pale Man represents institutional evil that preys on the disadvantaged, as well as symbolizing the Catholic Church, seeing how Catholic priests not only sexually abused children (like how the Pale Man devours innocence) but supported the Francoists as well as the Nazis in their genocidal extermination of certain groups of people (Hitler, for instance, was a devout Roman Catholic who wrote in his autobiography Mein Kampf that he is serving God by exterminating the Jews).
The book goes back to the Maquis. Pedro tells Mercedes and Ferreira that he’ll continue to fight Vidal, seeing how he got news that fifty other soldiers would come to aid them from Jaca. Ferreira, hearing his youthful enthusiasm, had little hope, seeing how he knew that the world is indifferent to one’s hopes. He tellingly asks Pedro what he’ll do once he kills Vidal: even if he does succeed in defeating him, the Francoist regime will send others who are virtually identical to him. Ferreira tells Pedro that he should leave with his soldiers and take Mercedes with him. Pedro refutes him by saying that the Allied Powers (America, Russia, England) would help them, seeing how Franco was a Fascist who supported Hitler while they fought on the side of the allies. “‘Many of us died helping the resistance; we sabotaged the Tungsten mines in Galicia, which the Germans need to keep their weapon factories running … you think the allies will forget that?’” (133). Ferreira responds in his head by affirming that they will indeed forget what they did for their sake, seeing how human nature is ungrateful, fickle, and base. Mercedes gives a duplicate of the key to the barn to Pedro, and he tells her that they will at least make things harder for Vidal. The short story of “The Razor and the Knife” tells the story of Rocio. Rocio foresaw her death when her son was twelve and her daughter was two months from turning eleven. She tells them that she had a dream involving her execution, and that she isn’t afraid to die. However, she admits that she doesn’t want to leave them in the world undefended. Therefore, she gave her daughter a kitchen knife that has the ability to destroy the masks people wear and to show who they really are on the inside (it should be noted that this has a direct correlation with Mercedes: Mercedes kept a small kitchen knife in her apron and would later use it to save herself from Vidal). She then gave her son a razor that has the ability to get rid of not only stubble, but painful recollections and negative emotions: “‘Each time you use it will make your heart feel as young as a freshly shaven face. Be careful, though. Some memories we have to keep, though they cut deep. Use my gift therefore wisely, my son, and not too often.” (138). The next day Rocio was executed by Ayuso’s soldiers, and her children escaped to a cave and managed to protect themselves from the Pale Man using the gifts they received. A farmer who was poaching rabbits found them, and he adopted them. Rocio’s daughter became a kitchen maid while her son became a barber. They “treasured their mother’s gifts all their lives … both the knife and the razor were still as sharp and shiny as when Rocio had first put them in her children’s hands. As they both had only daughters, the razor was passed to Miguel’s [the son’s] son-in-law, whose heart was dark and cruel. One day in a fit of anger he pressed the blade to his wife’s throat. The razor wouldn’t obey him and cut his hand instead, but from that day onward, instead of removing painful memories, the razor blade brought them back for the men who used it, and poisoned them with their own darkness.” (139). Here another connection can be made: the razor mentioned is the one Vidal used, seeing how he felt it made him into a stronger (that is, an angrier and more aggressive) person. Ofelia used the mandrake root to help her mother, and Ferreira told Vidal that she was improving. Vidal, uncaring, tells Ferreira to, if the situation arises, to save his child at the expense of his wife’s life. A series of explosions then came from outside, and Vidal left the room. Ofelia whispers to her unborn sibling that she will give it a good life in her kingdom if it spares her mother from further complications. Vidal investigated the scene and learned that the rebels had blown up the train tracks. It turned out to be a ruse, seeing that they stole nothing. To be exact, they utilized the explosion to draw Vidal and some of his soldiers away so that they can raid the military compound, break into the barn (using the key Mercedes gave them), and steal the supplies. When Vidal went back to the base, he found that everything had been taken. Garces tells him that the rebels struck quickly and have grenades. Vidal is then personified further, as he continued to wear his sunglasses: “Their own reflections in the dark lenses-that was all he wanted his men to see until he’d regained control over his emotions. His mask was slipping and the eyes were the first to betray the rage and fear hidden behind it.” (147). Serrano informs him that a rebel unit has been surrounded on the top of a hill. Vidal leads an assault on them, and tells Serrano during the fighting (the rebels were outnumbered) to not hesitate from throwing himself headfirst into battle, as he alleges that dying in battle is the only honorable way to leave the world. Vidal survived the battle, though some of his soldiers didn't. When Vidal came across the corpses of the rebels, he made sure they were dead by shooting them. “Each shot neutralized some of the poison the shame of being fooled had left in his blood.” (150). Vidal strongly desired for a rebel who was still alive, as he wanted to interrogate them. Vidal quickly came across two teenagers, one of whom was dead and the other alive. Upon realizing that the one who was still functioning couldn’t speak, he callously shot him twice. Garces came across Tarta, who suffered from a leg wound. Vidal, seeing him, has his soldiers drag him into the barn so that he can torture him privately.
When Mercedes learned that a rebel was captured, she was terrified that it might be Pedro. Upon further investigation, she found that it was Tarta. Vidal toyed with Tarta before torturing him, beginning by offering him a cigarette to boast of his power. The only other person in the barn was Garces. “Tarta could tell this officer didn't enjoy the situation as much as his capitán, who was the kind of uniform-wearing devil Tarta had always dreaded meeting … If you’re ever caught, think of someone you need to protect, Pedro had taught him, when they’d practiced how to stay silent even under torture. Someone for whom you’d die. It may not help, but it doesn’t matter. Think of someone, Tarta. Who? Maybe his mother. Yes. Though thinking of her might make it worse as he could just imagine how she would cry if she lost him.” (158). Vidal, staying true to his sadistic and brutal personality, tells Tarta that the more he tortures him, the more he’ll be able to trust him (he compares their future relationship to that of two brothers). He showcases a hammer, pliers, and a screwdriver. When it comes to Garces, “Tarta detected a hint of discomfort, maybe even compassion … He had the same mustache as Tarta’s father.” (159). Vidal tells Tarta that if he can count to three without stuttering, he could leave. Tarta tries with all his might, and almost completes the task, only to stutter on “three.” Vidal then savagely mutilates him. The story of “The Bookbinder” tells of Aldus Caraméz, a famed bookbinder who created the Book of Crossroads to help Princess Moanna find her way home. When the Faun revisited Ofelia, he became incensed to learn that she had disobeyed him. He tells her that she’ll never see him again, and that she’ll never return to the underground kingdom. Ofelia is heartbroken. The next morning, Ferreria was awoken by Garces, as Vidal needed him to keep Tarta alive. When he saw Vidal, he noted that there was no blood on him, as he was obsessed with cleanliness. “Appearance is vastly important for those who rarely take off their masks, and Ferreira had never seen Vidal without his. What had he looked like as a child? Had his gaze been already as emotionless as now? Had he even called someone his friend? The mask wouldn’t tell.” (172). As for Tarta, he was so badly injured that he was almost unrecognizable - “The boy was sitting on the floor, his back against the beam they’d tied him to, cradling his hand, if one could still call it a hand. Blood was running from his mouth, and one of his eyes was so swollen Ferreira wasn’t sure it was still there … The fingers were crushed, all of them. One was just a bloody stump … what he saw made even wisdom nothing but a folly, a useless distraction from the cruelty of men.” (172-3). Also, four of Tarta’s ribs were broken (most likely, they were kicked in by Vidal). Vidal tells Ferreira that he didn't do much to Tarta, and that the situation is improving from an informational angle, as Tarta has exposed some information regarding the rebels. Vidal surreptitiously takes a vial of antibiotics out of Ferreira’s briefcase, and leaves for his room to check whether it’s in the same shape as the one he found near the rebel campfire. Ferreira, oblivious that his secret was on the verge of being discovered, talks to Tarta. Tarta apologizes for confessing whatever he did to Vidal: even though he didn't speak much, he did say something. He then begs Ferreira to euthanize him. Ferreira, moved by sympathy and pity, does so: “The liquid he’d pulled up in a syringe was as golden as the key Ofelia had taken from the Toad. Tarta had closed his eye, the one Vidal had left intact, but his mouth was open. Each breath was an act of courage, as it brought so much pain, and when Ferreira hesitated to place the needle, Tarta grabbed his arm with his one good hand to make sure the syringe found his flesh. He lifted his head for a last glance, a wordless thank-you from a boy whose life had been cursed by a tongue that wouldn’t obey him. In the end it had made him a traitor of the only friends he had even known. ‘You’ll see, this will take away the pain.’ Talking to the boy as if he was a normal patient brought Ferreira at least some peace … ‘Yes, it’s almost over,’ the doctor said softly. He said it to himself. Death had already thrown her cloak of mercy over Tarta’s shoulders.” (175). While that was happening, Vidal discovered that the vials were identical. Angry, he heard a noise from upstairs, and found Ofelia tending to the mandrake root. Disgusted by what she appeared to be doing, he yells at Carmen, telling her that she spoiled her daughter as seen in how she still believes in fairy tales. Carmen is still desperate to please Vidal, as she calls him “mi amor,” or “my love”: “Ofelia hated the tenderness in her mother’s voice and her eagerness to please a man who barely looked at her.” (177). Vidal leaves the room, telling himself that once his son is born, he won’t have to deal with Carmen or Ofelia anymore. Carmen tells Ofelia that she’s no longer a child, and that the world is a cruel place (why she would decide to have yet another child in a world torn apart by war, violence, and hatred is beyond me - this is cognitive dissonance at its finest), and that she will have to accept that. She throws the mandrake root into the fire. The mandrake came to life, screaming like a baby. For a moment Carmen saw the magic for herself. She then fell to the ground and suffered from massive hemorrhaging and a horrific labor, as the mandrake root had become the embodiment of her baby; when it was ruined, so was her health.
Garces, who was earlier sent by Vidal to prevent Ferreira from attempting to flee, sees that Tarta was dead: “Garces was the first one to walk into the barn, lean, thick-skinned Garces, who could keep the pain of others at a comforting distance from his own heart.” (180). When Vidal saw that Ferreira had euthanized Tarta, he asked him why. Ferreira tells him that it was the only thing that could’ve been done. Vidal, shocked and insecure as to how someone could disobey him, tells the doctor that he could’ve obeyed him. Ferreira responds by informing him that to obey without questioning is only something that people like Vidal can do. He picks up his briefcase and leaves the barn, knowing that he’ll be killed. “Of course, he knew what was going to happen, but why not take the moment, the moment of being finally free of fear? He felt the cold rain on his face as he walked away from the barn. Such precious steps, so free, so at peace with himself … Ferreira didn't turn or stop when Vidal drew his pistol. He kept on walking. When the bullet hit him in the back, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes … He was cold. Very cold.” (181-2). All in all, Vidal utilized one bullet on him. Vidal approached his corpse, and cracked his glasses with his boot. He smugly tells himself that the doctor wouldn’t betray him again. However, this turned out to be against his best interests, as two maids informed him that his wife was giving birth. The tale of “When the Faun Fell in Love” involves the origin of the tree that was infested by the toad. It turned out that it grew in Galicia, and that it was once a human woman who fell in love with the Faun. The Faun asked her to come to the underground kingdom with him, seeing that he was used to being there. She declined due to her enjoying the sensations associated with the upper world (ex. wind and sunshine), and was filled with so much sorrow and longing that “her feet grew roots to follow her beloved underground, while her arms reached for the sky and the stars she’d chosen over him … the heartache .. made her soft skin turn to bark. Her sighs became the rustling of the wind in a thousand leaves and, when the Faun came back one moonlit night to play his flute for her, all he found was a tree whispering the name he had never told anyone but her.” (186). The Faun was broken-hearted when he realized what had happened, and his skin became rough and akin to bark. Later, the tree gave birth to the son the Faun had with the woman. The son appeared as the Greek god Pan, seeing how he had horns, hooves, and played a musical instrument (a flute made from the bones of birds). When the Faun heard him playing his flute, he quickly ascended to the upper world but found no one: “all he found was a track of small hooves on the wet moss, washed away by the rain after a few dancing steps.” (187). Ofelia’s mother died in childbirth, though her (and Vidal’s) son survived. Vidal felt no sorrow, as he only felt relief that he had a son to carry on his name. Ofelia, heartbroken at her mother’s death, went into her room and took the medicine Ferreira had given to her mother as a souvenir. She then looked at the wheelchair her mother was in sometimes: “While Ofelia was staring at the empty chair, two ravens flew past the window, so beautiful, so free. Where had her mother gone? Was she with her father now? Would he forgive her that she’d died giving birth to another man’s child? Ofelia turned her back to the window.” (193).
Vidal tells Mercedes during the night that the stutterer told him that there was an informant at the mill. Mercedes is able to keep her cool and Vidal tells her to get him some wine from the barn. She agrees, and Vidal reveals that he has the key, letting Mercedes know that he is aware of her deception. He lets her leave, though, as he wants to give her some hope to snatch away later on. When he looked at his son, he recollected, “The woman who had given birth to him had been beautiful too, but Mercedes was stronger. Which meant it would be so much more enjoyable to break her, much more enjoyable for sure than to torture that stutterer or to shoot that noble idiot of a doctor. And he had a son now. Someone to teach what life was about. He would teach him its cruel dance. Step by step.” (198). Mercedes, after leaving Vidal’s room, prepared to leave, taking letters addressed to the rebels by their associates from a secret compartment beneath the pavement. She tells Ofelia that she’s leaving but’ll be back for her. Ofelia, dreading the feeling of abandonment, begs Mercedes to take her with her. Mercedes agrees. Unfortunately, they are both caught by Vidal. Mercedes is taken to the barn to be tortured in the same spot Tarta was, and Ofelia was dragged into a room by Vidal. Vidal curses at her for siding against him and tells a soldier stationed outside the door to kill her if anyone tries to enter the room. He then went to the barn, and mocked Mercedes, telling her that he would’ve given her the supplies she had taken if she asked him for it. He then examines the letters she carried and tells Garces to bring the people who wrote the letters to him by the next day. The narrator tellingly wrote, “Mercedes tried to fight back the tears … Love is such a terribly efficient trap, and the cruelest truth about war is that it makes loving a deadly risk. We’ll kill your mother. We’ll rape your sister. We’ll break your brother’s bones” (205). Vidal tells Garces to leave the room, saying that Mercedes was just a woman (he also laughed - it was the first time he did so). Mercedes tells Vidal that she was able to get away with what she did for so long due to his overconfidence and vanity. Vidal admits that his main weakness is pride, and informs Mercedes that he’ll figure out her weaknesses by using his tools. While he was talking, his back was turned to her. Mercedes took out the knife she had in her apron and cut herself loose. While she was doing so, she noted: “Vidal liked to boast. After all, a capitán stationed at an abandoned mill in the middle of a Galician forest didn't have much to boast about except his cruelty. Pride? No, vanity-that was his weakness: the urge to constantly prove to himself and to others that nothing and no one could withstand him and that his heart didn't know either fear nor pity. Liar. He was afraid of everything. Especially himself.” (207). When Mercedes freed herself, she gave Vidal what he deserved by stabbing him in the back and mutilating his face by cutting open his cheek, revealing him for the monstrosity he actually is. She warns him that if he harms Ofelia, he’ll be in big trouble, and he compares him to a pig (though this comparison isn’t realistic: Vidal is a terrible human being while pigs are empathetic and intelligent creatures - after all, when was the last time pigs declared war on each other for the sake of acquiring mud to roll in?). She leaves the barn, but is spotted by Serrano. Garces, informed by Serrano of her escape, prepares to shoot her, but is interrupted by Vidal, who orders him to bring her to him. Garces obeys, and chases Mercedes down with his soldiers on horseback. “Garces smiled down at her, his gaze mocking and admiring her at the same time. All women were prey. Look at her, Garces’s eyes said. Quite beautiful for a maid. He calmed his horse, caressing its neck as if it was hers. He took his time getting out of the saddle. He was enjoying this. The fun was just starting. ‘Shhh,’ he said, walking toward her, holding his hands up soothingly as if he were calming a child … Garces took off his uniform cap, still smiling as if he was courting her.” (211). Garces informs her that she should surrender, and Mercedes responds by pressing her knife to her throat. Garces slowly makes his way towards her, but before he reaches her, he and his soldiers are shot by the rebels in all directions. Mercedes sees Pedro, and she embraces him while weeping fiercely.
“The Tailor Who Bargained With Death” is the story of Ofelia’s human father, Mateo Hildoro. He was very happy with his wife and child, and while he was sewing a dress for Ofelia, Death appeared to him, and told him that the queen of the underworld wanted him as her personal tailor (showing that she’s uncaring and cruel - imagine being so entitled to think that you have the right to take a parent from a child for the sake of good-looking clothes). Mateo begged death to let him finish the dress, and she agreed. Mateo tried to buy himself some time by not finishing the dress, but Death quickly caught on and threatened to take Ofelia as well if he didn't complete it by the morning. Mateo swears to finish it quickly, so long as Death doesn’t come for Ofelia. Death promises Mateo that so long as Ofelia wears the dress he made her, she’ll be safe from harm. While Ofelia was trapped in her room, the Faun appeared to her, saying that he was going to give her one last chance to prove herself. He makes her swear that she’ll obey him without questioning (as you know by now, a central theme of the novel), and instructs her to bring her baby brother into the labyrinth. Though wary, she obeys, and uses the chalk the Faun gave her to escape the room. Meanwhile, Vidal stitched his face together. Ofelia waited for an opportunity to leave with her brother, and she found it when a soldier told Vidal that Serrano had returned, though he was wounded. Once Vidal was out of the room, Ofelia drugged Vidal’s glass of liquor by introducing into it sleep medicine. Vidal was informed by Serrano that only he and another soldier, Garcia, had escaped. He tells Vidal that there are at least fifty rebel soldiers, and that they themselves number only twenty at the maximum. Vidal thought of his pocket watch and of his impending death, and comforted himself by thinking that if he can’t kill Mercedes, he’ll murder Ofelia. Vidal orders for the remaining soldiers to broadcast a radio transmission requesting reinforcements. Upon entering the room, he drank the drugged liquor. A series of explosions then occurred, and Vidal turned around to find Ofelia holding her brother at the door. Ofelia escapes, and Vidal chases her in the direction of the labyrinth. She was able to outrun him for some time due to his being drugged. Vidal’s vanity becomes apparent once again when he refuses to believe that Ofelia had drugged his liquor, seeing that she wasn’t only a child, but a female. The rebels had invaded the camp: “The trucks and tents were burning, there was smoke and fire everywhere and men fighting, their silhouettes as black as paper cuts against the red flames … Mercedes … had kept her promise to Ofelia. She’d come back for her with her brother and his men. But when she and Pedro reached Ofelia’s room, it was empty. Mercedes called Ofelia’s name but there was no answer. All they found was her pale green jacket-and the outline of a door, drawn with white chalk on the floor.” (231). The story “The Echo of Murder” reveals the origins of the frog that dwelled underneath the tree: its name when it was a human was Umberto Garces, a clear reference to the Garces of the main story. Garces was used to killing people, but his murder of Rocio was the first time he slew a woman. While he didn't enjoy the task, he felt aroused by her beauty while she was drowning. He was surprised he couldn’t sleep after doing the murder, and was in fact incapable of doing so for more than ten days. When he went back to the millpond, he found that its water was black, representative of his atrocity. Instead of feeling repentance, he felt empowered, as he knew that she was a witch. In fact, he thought of working for the Catholic Church’s Inquisition to kill even more witches, seeing the pay was high: “Garces felt the guilt lift from his heart, all that disgust with himself, the regret-gone. Maybe he should become one of those witch hunters who cleansed the country of them. The Church paid them very well and as he’d killed one already, he figured it would be easier the next time. Yes. He would be able to do it again. And again.” (234). He quickly transformed into a frog and proceeded to enter the millpond.
As Ofelia was fleeing into the labyrinth, a note of observation is made: “Her fairy tales were wrong to give evil the shape of a magnificent wild creature. Both Ernesto Vidal and the Pale Man were human beings who fed on hearts and souls because they had lost their own.” (236). Ofelia soon found herself at a dead end, but the walls came to life and allowed her to pass. When Vidal reached the same area, he found a wall blocking his path and retraced his steps, buying Ofelia time to complete the third and final task. The Faun tells Ofelia that the third task involves opening the portal to the underworld, seeing that the blood of an innocent is needed to activate the portal at the well. He promises to barely harm Ofelia’s brother, as he needs only one drop of blood from him. Ofelia, unwilling to have her brother go through any harm for her personal gain, refuses to give him to the Faun, even though her brother had accidentally caused her massive pain (though it wasn’t his fault on many levels, as he, like all human beings and organisms, never asked to be born in the first place). The Faun, after learning of her decision, left her to her fate. Vidal enters the area and sees her talking to nothing. While some may interpret this as Ofelia being a mentally ill girl who was using fantasy to deal with reality, the narrator includes something quite different: “Vidal couldn’t see the Faun at all. Perhaps his own darkness made him blind to too many things. Perhaps he already believed in too much grown-up nonsense to have room to see anything else.” (240). After taking his son from Ofelia, he shot her at point-blank range, causing her to bleed out. As she bled, her blood flowed into the well. When Vidal left the labyrinth, he found himself completely outnumbered by the rebels. Mercedes and Pedro stood at the front, and Vidal gave his son to Mercedes. He felt that even though he was going to be killed, he’ll continue to exist through his son. And yet, even when Mercedes accepted his child, he remained arrogant and misogynistic: “Mercedes accepted the baby. Of course. She was a woman, she wouldn’t harm a child, not even his.” (244). Vidal prepared to die, and kept his pocket watch firmly in his hand, ready to break it. He asks for Mercedes to tell his son when his father died and of his life, but Mercedes strips him of all his authority by telling him that he wouldn’t even know his name. This is quite definitive in many ways: up to this point Vidal’s life had been centered around being remembered, so when he’s told his son wouldn’t know the slightest detail about him, everything he stood and worked for was obliterated, as he failed in his final goal. “Blood drained from Vidal’s face. For the first time in his life he felt terror. This was the moment he’d always dreamt-the one he’d rehearsed in the mirror every morning. Honor in death. This couldn’t be going so wrong, it just couldn’t. His mind was racing. Pedro raised his pistol and shot him in the face. The bullet shattered Vidal’s cheekbone and severed his optic nerve on the way to his brain. There it lodged in the back of his cranium. The entry wound cried a single tear of blood. Such an insignificant wound, but Death was nesting in it. With a regretful groan, Vidal collapsed … And like that, he was gone.” (245). “The Boy Who Escaped” tells the tale of the Pale Man. He is revealed to have devoured many victims, and went so far to turn their bones into furniture and interpreted their screams of terror and pain as music. His home is revealed to be beneath the Galician forest. When he was a human, he was nicknamed Pálido, as his skin was pale and he didn't like the sunlight. He appeared to be a sadist since birth, as he tortured and murdered insects, birds, and cats as a child. When he was thirteen, he murdered his younger brother. “Shortly after that, he went to work for a priest of the Spanish Inquisition, the terrible tool the Catholic Church used to persecute and kill all those who questioned its dogmas. The priest taught Pálido the most intriguing things about torture and numerous methods to kill, and after three years, Pálido’s skills had surpassed his master’s, so he practiced his skills on him. He consumed the priest’s heart while it was still beating, as he’d read that cruelty could be multiplied by devouring it. And indeed, Pálido felt an even more devious darkness after that meal, his own cruelty enhanced by the priest’s righteousness and missionary zeal.” (248). Pálido’s eyes fell out of his face when he tormented a person especially horribly. To keep his eyesight, he carved holes in his hands. It’s revealed that only three of the Pale Man’s victims had escaped his grasp (excluding Ofelia). One of them was Serafín Avendaño, who was barely six when he was taken by the Pale Man. The Pale Man utilized the dagger found in his box to commit his murders: it was a gift granted to him by the Grand Inquisitor. When Serafín was about to be eaten by the Pale Man, he was able to escape, seeing how his six older brothers and fathers had beat him, which inadvertently made him a capable runner. When Serafín escaped, he grabbed some food and the creature’s golden key (that, of course, was used to unlock the cabinet containing his dagger). Serafín noted that there were many children begging for their lives in the creature’s lair, and the pillars were made of bones. “The Pale Man’s servants cleaned the tile floors every morning, but they had overlooked a trace of blood. Serafín jumped over it-six years weigh so much less than the 353 years the Child Eater had seen-but the Pale Man slipped in it, and while he was on his knees searching for his eyes, Serafín reached the end of the corridor-and one of the many doors through which the Child Eater made his way in and out of the forest.” (249-50). Once Serafín was out, he threw the golden key into a millpond (it was later eaten by a frog), and became an artist to create works of beauty to counteract the horrendous acts he bore witness to while he was young.
When Mercedes, Pedro, and the other rebels found Ofelia, she was almost dead and could barely move. Ofelia awoke and found herself in the underworld. She was dressed in great clothing and all the pain she was feeling was gone. She found herself in a spacious room full of beautiful objects and saw her family (her father, her mother holding her brother) sitting on three tall thrones (two of them were vacant: the third was for her). Her father, the king of the underworld, informed her that she has proved her morality and sense of compassion and justice by refusing to harm someone else for her own personal gain. He also said that the third task was the most important one, seeing how it judges the character of the person experiencing it. Ofelia saw the three fairies flying around her, and was amazed at how two of them apparently weren’t dead. The Faun appeared in the scene and congratulated Ofelia for making the right decision. Ofelia, finally, was happy and felt at home, in a world free of pain, suffering, and instability. “In the galleries above them, people rose to their feet. Through their applause, though, Ofelia could still hear Mercedes crying while the blood of the dying girl in her arms was dripping down into the well. She recognized the lullaby Mercedes hummed … Ofelia smiled—oh so faintly—and then could hear no more. And Mercedes bent over the dead girl and sobbed until the dark hair was wet with her tears.” (254). The epilogue of the book states that the mill was abandoned and was consumed by the natural scenery. Furthermore, while history forgot Vidal, it forgot people like Mercedes, Pedro, and Ferreira who risked everything they had to combat fascism. Furthermore, Spain remained Francoist and totalitarian under the dictatorship of Franco for decades and the Allied Powers ended up betraying the Maquis, seeing how they didn't view them as important in the upcoming Cold War. The morning after Ofelia’s death, “a small pale flower sprouted on the branch of the old fig tree she had freed from the Toad … The petals of the flower were as white as the apron her mother had made for her and at the center of the flower a yellow sun full of pollen and life emerged.” (255-6). Years later, a poacher came and noted the mill that was burned down and the labyrinth. He fell asleep under the fig tree, and when he awoke he remembered that he dreamt of the story of Princess Moanna, “a princess birthed by the moon but in love with the sun.” (256). Upon returning to his village, he told everyone of the story he had heard and of the ending: Moanna as the ruler of the underworld was kind and just, was loved by her people, and reigned successfully for centuries. It is also stated that she left behind traces of her time in the upper world that are visible only to those who are aware of them. The book ends with the following words: “It’s always just a few who know where to look and how to listen, that is true. But for the best stories, a few are just enough.” (256).
Personal thoughts:
Pan's Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun by Cornelia Funke and Guillermo del Toro is a great read for anyone, seeing how it is able to tell two powerful tales at the same time. That is, I greatly appreciate the realism of both the fantasy world and the real world, as it is made abundantly clear that both are dangerous in their own ways. del Toro’s imagination and Funke’s concise and direct wordplay are a great combination, seeing the end product. I highly recommend watching the film Pan’s Labyrinth, as it has stunning visuals, a powerful plot (though less detailed than the book), a terribly realistic portrayal of violence, and characters who you may find in your everyday life (though let’s hope you’re not acquainted with anyone like Vidal or Garces). The book’s themes of disobeying an unjust authority and of pursuing one’s ambitions, even if it goes against social convention, is applicable in many circumstances. The character of Vidal is absolutely horrendous due to the fact that many individuals like him exist in the world; even if they are barred from directly hurting people, they can still negatively impact others repeatedly (ex. through intimidation and bullying). The characters who counteract him and everything he stands for (violence and Fascism), such as Ferreira, Mercedes, and Ofelia, clearly demonstrate the power of individual action, even if it is somewhat limited in scope. The historical exigence of this book is also interesting, as it discusses an area (Spain) that isn’t given too much attention, and this is the point: as stated in the epilogue, countless individuals have been forgotten by history, seeing the absolutely immense scale of time. I highly recommend Pan's Labyrinth to anyone interested in attractive prose, imaginative plots, realistic characters, enjoyable works, and dark fantasy.
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