The Cardboard Kingdom

Seth lives with his mom, who has recently separated from his father. He also lives next door to the Animal Queen, and it is through her that he is first introduced as a kind, patient, and understanding boy. The Animal Queen is extremely bossy, but Seth finds a way to play with her and guide her toward a more inclusive and equitable form of play. In the chapter dedicated to revealing Seth’s home life, his struggles explore the ways in which his tumultuous family problems interfere with everything outside the home as well. For example, as his parents fight and work through the details of their separation, Seth feels the need to protect his mom from his dad. Likewise, he is overcome with anxiety at the thought that his aggressive dad could show up at any moment, and this worry prevents him from sleeping and eventually renders him too tired to play during the day.

Eventually Seth adopts the alter ego of the Gargoyle and keeps watch over the house at night. This persona makes him feel braver, but it also provides him with a way to assert some form of control over family problems that are beyond his ability to solve. When his dad does eventually show up, it is the Gargoyle, not Seth, who confronts him and tells him to leave. However, despite “scaring” his dad away at the end of the Gargoyle chapter, Seth’s satisfaction is quickly replaced with a look of uncertainty and dejection, suggesting that while he may have convinced his dad to stop showing up uninvited, the emotional trauma of his parents’ separation will continue to disrupt his life.

Sophie lives with her mom, but she is under the care of her Meemaw (her grandmother). She is loud and energetic and has a big personality, which causes her to clash with her Meemaw, who believes that girls should not behave this way. Sophie initially tries to suppress her natural characteristics, but doing so makes her miserable and causes her to shrink into herself and pull away from her friends. She goes from being excited about making a costume and joining the other children to staying inside and looking depressed.

When Sophie’s mom finally returns home, she encourages Sophie to be herself and to complete her costume. She does this and calls it Big Banshee to reclaim a positive version of the dismissive name that her Meemaw pejoratively called her while trying to force her to change. In this way, unlike many of the other children, who use their alter egos to explore different identities, Sophie uses her own alter ego as an even grander expression of who she already is. For her, Big Banshee allows her to embrace her core characteristics and show her pride in who she is. Her costume, therefore, serves as a reminder that she does not have to fit into any predetermined categories or outdated gender expectations.

Like Roy, Egon is one of the few children that initially has a hard time fitting in with the larger group that makes up the Cardboard Kingdom. His main role in the novel is to demonstrate that making friends is not always easy and isn’t something that can be forced. As Egon learns, friendship often comes from just being yourself and being patient enough to find the right person. He is an intelligent boy who loves science, logic, reason, and reading. However, his extensive knowledge and understanding of science and the way things “should” work make it hard for him to let go of reality and join the imaginative play of the others. This difference in mindset causes him to conflict with the others during play, and he has a hard time connecting with them.

His impulse to solve this problem is to turn toward books to find the “right” answers, but his self-help book on how to make friends does not work because its advice compels Egon to change everything about who he is and act in ways that are unnatural to him. He eventually gives up on trying to make friends and waits for the process to happen naturally. When he meets another like-minded boy (the Scribe), the two quickly bond over their love of comic books, and once they have connected with one another, they more easily integrate into the larger group.