The Beatryce Prophecy

Answelica is a goat with “teeth that were the mirror of her soul—large, sharp, and uncompromising” (5). For Beatryce, Answelica acts as an emotional support goat, offering comfort in the form of her ear and, sometimes, her head. Answelica’s solid, unshakable presence is the unconditional love Beatryce needs in the early part of the book. Before Beatryce is strong or confident enough to face her trauma, she leans on Answelica, knowing that the goat will be there, something Beatryce initially cannot trust of everyone else she knows. The description of Answelica’s teeth does indeed mimic her soul. The goat’s capacity for love is large, engulfing Beatryce and being offered to others the goat deems in need of support. While Answelica has a nearly unending capacity for love, she has an equally great ability to harm those who deserve it, as evidenced by the strength of her headbutt. Her greatest trait, though, is her uncompromising nature, which lets her be the reliable force Beatryce needs early on. In addition, it also makes Answelica an excellent judge of character, even if she does headbutt first and ask questions later. Answelica is fiercely loyal and protective of those she cares for. As Beatryce’s circle of friends grows, so does the group of people Answelica trusts, showing the link between girl and goat.

Edik is a monk with The Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. As part of this role, he writes prophecies for the order in glowing, vibrant letters, and “it was both a relief and a joy to him to make the letters match the world as he so often saw it” (22). The Chronicles of Sorrowing are a record of often negative events and prophecies that are later debunked as vague ideas without true meaning. Edik is disappointed by the negativity within the chronicles, which calls into question whether the prophecies are inherently negative or if they are made negative by having negative events assigned to them. Edik’s refusal to accept the darkness, inherent or otherwise, of the prophecies represents how the world depends on one’s outlook. Though the contents of the Chronicles are negative, Edik does not let this dictate the appearance of the book. The glow and color he adds to the Chronicles symbolize his positive outlook and how even the bleakest situations have goodness within them. As a boy, Edik was on the receiving end of emotional abuse from his father. Instead of letting this dictate who he became, Edik chose to hold on to the person he wanted to be. His character arc leads him toward accepting the part of himself he’s learned to question, and by the end of the book, Edik is comfortable in his skin, which shows how others can only have power over a person if they are permitted to.

Jack is one of Beatryce’s best friends. Jack’s parents were killed by a robber prior to the book’s opening, and Jack’s character arc represents the process of letting go of another person’s hold on us. By night, Jack dreams of exacting revenge on the robber, a desire he rarely shows during the day. Rather, he appears jovial and is a great help to his village as a delivery boy for items and messages. Much like his memories of the robber, Jack can hold information in his mind “word for word, just as [one] had said it to him” (59). In this way, his impressive memory is both an asset and a downfall. His ability to remember makes him a precious commodity to others in the village, but it also means that he holds on to negative events and is unable to let them go. Only by confronting the robber and consciously choosing to release his anger is Jack able to shake off the robber’s influence.

Cannoc is the final friend Beatryce makes throughout the story, and he represents how a person cannot run from his past or who one is. Cannoc was once king, but after leaving the castle and realizing how much better he felt away from the stress of ruling, he never returned to his throne. For years, Cannoc lived happily alone in the woods, but when Beatryce and her situation come into his life, he knows he can no longer stay away from what’s happened in the kingdom. Though it pains him to return, Cannoc goes back to the palace to challenge the evil counselor and reclaim his throne, knowing that doing so is the only way to help Beatryce. Cannoc’s later choice to abdicate the throne shows how a person can choose a different path and that happiness is not dependent on a specific place. Cannoc learns to be as happy as he was in the woods while being a royal advisor, meaning that happiness was always within his reach at the palace—he simply needed a way to find it.