42 pages • 1-hour read
The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet
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Themes
Escaping the Mundane World and Embracing New Growth
When Eric, Julie, and Neal climb down the rainbow staircase and enter Droon, they choose to take a leap of faith and leave behind the ordinary world behind, escaping into a magical place that forces them to reconsider their assumptions, take unexpected risks, and learn valuable new skills. Their experience aligns with the narrative structure of most portal fantasies, which celebrate the extraordinary possibilities hidden within ordinary reality and suggest that, at any moment, someone might find a way to access these hidden possibilities. As Eric, Neal, and Julie dare to leave their own world, they all experience significant inner growth as they confront an array of magical novelties, friends, and dangers.
By emphasizing the unremarkable qualities of Eric’s home and family life, the novel sets the stage for the drastic changes to come. Even Eric’s parents are firmly grounded in everyday concerns, and it is no accident that the very mundane task of cleaning the basement serves as the inciting incident that leads the three friends to Droon. This typical middle-class setting houses the detritus of typical middle-class activities, and the basement is filled with the clutter of ordinary life and endless reminders of the mundane world of adult responsibilities. However, because the ordinary soon becomes a doorway to the extraordinary, even these relatively calm chapters are designed to celebrate the unpredictability of life itself, suggesting that adventure can be found around unlikely corners of the everyday world.
Notably, the three friends’ reactions to the discovery of the staircase showcase the different ways in which people often respond to the possibility of embracing change and plunging into new life experiences. Julie is quick to decide that they should all go down the mysterious steps to retrieve the soccer ball and discover what else they may find, and her matter-of-fact analysis of the staircase’s function also indicates that she is well-equipped to adapt to new things. By contrast, Neal is strongly against the idea of exploring further, and his resistance represents the instinctive fear that often accompanies the intrusion of an unexpected development or challenge in life. Eric, who at this stage of the story is always in the middle of every spectrum, is interested in this new adventures but is not entirely sure of the best way to proceed, and in this, he represents the average person who must decide how to act in any given situation.
As the friends decide to take the leap into the unknown, the first descriptions of Droon emphasize its extraordinary qualities, clearly contrasting this new world with the one the children have just bravely left behind. Yet although the very essence of Droon’s scented air hints at wondrous possibilities, the children soon discover strange new dangers as well, and their fear and chagrin emphasizes the risks that come with accepting new experiences. In this way, the fantastical (and borderline farcical) flying lizards, demon-like Ninns, and evil sorcerer collectively act as a metaphor for the difficulties that can arise in the midst of new adventures.
As the children meet Keeah and become embroiled in the battle of good versus evil that holds Droon in thrall, they must immerse themselves in the rules of this world. In doing so, they quickly adapt and begin to thrive in their magical surroundings, Eric in particular begins to grow in significant ways. It is no accident that he initially loses track of his friends and must temporarily face the uncertainties of this world alone. Although he was initially the most hesitant of the three friends, he soon proves his mettle when he decides to chase after the fleeing Keeah in the hopes of helping her. In this moment, he chooses to be a hero, and as he and his friends proceed on their quest, he soon becomes a decisive leader and shows great courage and responsibility. As he, Neal, and Julie track down Galen and mount a rescue for Princess Keeah, Eric’s growth suggests that his Escaping the Mundane World and Embracing New Growth has been worth the risk and that the beautiful but treacherous world of Droon is a place of unusual opportunity.
The Importance of Honoring Commitments
Throughout the narrative, the characters’ beliefs and behaviors stress how important it is to honor commitments to friends, family, and the community at large. In fact, the premise of the entire story rests on this point, for Eric and his friends only discover the portal to Droon because Eric is honoring a commitment to his family by cleaning the basement. Likewise, Julie and Neal are only with him because they have offered to help with the boring work out of a sense of obligation to their friend.
Once the three children arrive in Droon, Eric shows this same sense of responsibility with every new interaction that he has. When he first meets Keeah, he tells her that he cannot go off to find Galen’s tower, because he must first locate his friends and get them safely home. In this moment, Julie and Neal’s safety is his first priority, and he is not willing to entertain the possibility of shirking this self-appointed duty just to experience a new adventure for himself. Only when Keeah agrees to help Eric and his friends return to their own world does Eric agrees to help Keeah. Then, once he has embraced this new responsibility, he adds Keeah to his list of loyalties, becoming deeply committed to ensuring her safety and happiness as well. When she is captured by Sparr, he says that they “have to help her” (46), and his words indicate that in his mind, saving Keeah is now a moral obligation.
Eric is not the only person who shows a deep understanding of the importance of honoring commitments, for although Galen desperately wants to help Keeah, he knows that his first obligation is to his community—to Droon itself. He therefore chooses to fight at King Zello’s side and hopes that the Upper World children will be able to rescue Keeah on their own. When Julie and Neal see Eric’s certainty that rescuing Keeah is the right thing to do, they instantly agree to help him, and Neal says, “We’re a team, right?” (47). After Keeah is rescued, she also reinforces the importance of honoring commitments when she tells Eric that because he helped her in the forest, she must now help him to return home. In the last scene of the novel, all three children return to the basement—not for another exciting adventure in Droon, but to share the boring task of cleaning, and this mundane conclusion stands as yet another endorsement of the idea that honoring commitments is always the right thing to do.
Joining the Battle against Evil
One of the opportunities that the children encounter in Droon is the chance to help defend Droon against Lord Sparr—thereby supporting the forces of good and defying the sorcerer’s evil influence. Sparr is characterized as evil by his outlandish appearance and his vengeful actions. The fins that rise up behind his ears suggest that he is not fully human and that he may have “cold-blooded” tendencies, while his long, heavy cloak suggests that his inner world is just as heavy and dark.
In this way, the author relies upon common stereotypes to portray Sparr and his actions as inherently evil, and these tendencies are on full display when he orders his Ninns to hunt Keeah through the forest. He also has the girl kidnapped and imprisoned and remains committed to stealing one of her most prized possessions—the pouch that her mother gave her. To further emphasize his innate cruelty, the narrative depicts him taunting Keeah about her mother, whom she believes to be dead. He also imprisons the Upper World children and implies that he will experiment on them to learn more about their realm. His motivation for all of these evil actions is his own quest for power over the kingdom of Droon.
By contrast, Droon’s current rulers, Keeah and King Zello, are portrayed as inherently good, and the author employs the contrasting symbolism of light and dark imagery to show Keeah’s benevolent nature. Whereas Sparr is draped all in black, Keeah wears a pale blue tunic and makes it a point to help Eric even when she is in the midst of fleeing from Sparr’s evil minions. In the full-page illustration of Keeah and Eric in the forest on page 21, Keeah bends over Eric’s injured ankle, and the glow from her healing magic bathes her face in pure light. Details like these suggest that Keeah is a healer who is spiritually aligned with the forces of good.
Likewise, her words to Eric when they first meet suggest that opposing the forces of evil is a moral obligation. As she tells Eric, “You have to help me,” (20), and her matter-of-fact tone, devoid of any attempt to explain or beg, implies that the righteousness of her cause is a fact as tangible as gravity. In Chapter 6, Eric’s repetition of this same phrasing when he says, “We have to help her” (46) is primarily motivated by his sense of reciprocal commitment after Keeah helped him in the forest. However, his sentiment also suggests the overwhelming weight of moral obligation. This concept is further underscored by the title of the chapter, “Home Must Wait.”
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