Week Five: Witches

Week Five: Witches

I am really excited to write about this week's topic: Witches! And it might be because in literature, witches portray very specific standards, for example being well known for representing the power of the female gender which is something really empowering to see. A witch represents powerful woman that have the ability to do things that normal people can't do. Witches are dominant and fearless, they represent the power of femininity, empowering all female readers that come across to the witch archetype.

For this week, I got the chance to read Aunt Maria by Diana Wynne Jones and I also re-watched Kiki's Delivery Service as well. They both present beautiful and unique versions on how we portray witches, placing them as main characters, and protagonists of the story. 

On one hand, Jones portrayal of witches was really interesting. I really enjoyed how Aunt Maria doesn't really look like a witch, she looks like a normal old woman, human looking, and innocent. Also its important to say, that as well as Kiki, Aunt Maria is the protagonist of this novel, not the antagonist character like the Wicked Witch from the West in Wizard of Oz. What makes the novel frightening is that she is covering her power beneath her shell, she appears to be helpless and really destroyed physically while making others do what she wishes.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed re-watching Kiki's Delivery Service. Studio Ghibli always manages to immerse me in their unique worlds, with their magical storytelling. I got transferred to a world where the stereotype of the "evil witch", as being malicious, is replaced by a much more unique and fun setting where all Kiki wants to do is to find a use to her power, to be normal and use her abilities for the good will. Kiki has lot of power but she doesn't know it yet, and is through the progression of the movie that the author manages to empower the character and make them go on a journey to find their purpose in life and herself.