History’s impact on John Bellairs

The House with a Clock in its Walls is a novel full of compelling historical references taken from the mind of author John Bellairs. The novel includes details of the murder of David Rizzio: this man was the private secretary of Mary Queen of Scots. A young Italian courtier, he was framed because of the jealousy of another man (the future husband of Mary Lord Darnley). Rizzio was murdered cruelly. He screamed for help to no avail, resulting in the “permanence of bloodstains” on the “hall floor in Holyrood” (John L. Stoddard, Lectures IX). Our protagonist, Lewis Barnavelt, reads history with interest and completely focused thoughts, obtaining strengths through his exercise of gaining knowledge. It’s his first night in his grand bedroom, and he soothes himself by opening a dusty collection of lectures by the famous American historian John L. Stoddard: David Rizzio was screaming with pain, as blood splattered out like plum juice. Rizzio was dragged away, his blood staining the red carpets as Queen Mary could only watch, held back by other men stopping her from saving him. Rizzio tried to reach out and cried for help, as he was wronged because of another man’s jealousy and anger. A famous death spread through the nobles: the death of David Rizzio, private secretary to Mary. Lord Henry Stuart Darnley (future husband of Mary) was believed to have helped the conspiracy and helped murder Rizzio. The murder served as a catalyst for the fall of Lord Darnley, which also led to the downfall of Mary.

On Halloween night, Uncle Jonathan presents Scenes of History to Lewis, asking him what he wants to view. Lewis chooses the failed Invasion of the Spanish Armada, and the Battle of Waterloo. When Lewis sees the face of the Duke, he empathizes with the Duke; originally he would think about destroying the Duke when reading about the battles, but now he pities the Duke. When Lewis watches the Spanish Armada, he is surprised into empathy, but also the beauty of magic. Lewis was sad for the Duke of Medina Sidonia’s plight, yet learned that it is okay, since it was only an illusion of magic, though the Duke was doomed.

Recently, a film adaptation (feature length) of House was made – many fans of Bellairs were excited, and intrigued to see it. Investigation into the historical references in the book will allow readers to understand our protagonist and the story in a deeper aspect; in addition, comparing the historical details in the movie and book will help readers and moviegoers understand the key differences between the movie and book. The book concerns a young orphan who is trying to simply fit into a new hometown, after a sad scene (his parents were killed in a car crash, all-too-common in the 1940s) in his life. Due to the uniqueness of his uncle, the young orphan strives to be similar to him and asks a lot about magic. Skepticism is one of Lewis’s chief features, revealing to the reader a special someone who Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman want to protect. For Lewis is desperate to find a feeling of home, as you can imagine.

When we first see Uncle Jonathan, we see a big man, happy and excited to see his nephew. Uncle Jonathan is sometimes unable to show his love but tries to give whatever he can to Lewis. Uncle Jonathan wants Lewis to feel like he was always part of the family, and shows Lewis many of the mysteries of magic. Lewis still feels sad at many points in time, but Uncle Jonathan’s gifts of humor and education go a long way. On Halloween night, Lewis, depressed about losing a friend, and plotting to snare Tarby back through an act of black magic, is amused by the Images from the Past trickery of his Uncle. Jonathan is able to transform Mrs. Zimmerman’s living room into a gallery, where Lewis can watch his favorite historical scenes play out: It was early morning, the English were ready, so were the French. The battle had begun, and Wellington was waiting, his troops were outnumbered, and the Prussian troops needed to arrive. Suddenly, a large group of soldiers could be spotted; the Prussians had arrived. Napoleon was surrounded and hastily tried to retreat, only to be trapped and captured. The Coalition’s capture marked the end of the great conqueror. Because Lewis is maligned by death he is mysteriously attracted to the unknowable. Lewis is a seemingly a weak character, sometimes relying on others because of his innate fears. Lewis is also a very knowledgeable individual. Both his skepticism and fears make Lewis a special individual who fixes problems differently. Instead of turning around to face the Hand of Glory, like a brave knight, Lewis turns to his own abilities. Lewis uses his knowledge of history in order to save himself and others. This weak-seeming yet skeptical personality saves him from situations.

The year was 1588, and the Spanish Armada was coming to wreak havoc on the country of England: Queen Elizabeth was in a panic, and called to her advisor, the all-around magical genius Dr. John Dee. Dee is prepared, and summons his weather magic to destroy the Spanish Armada. Incredibly, the invincible Spanish fleet is destroyed, and most of the work is credited to Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake, but many forget of the weird change in wind direction that prompted the Spanish to get delayed, leading to English victory.

Lewis looks on at the sad Duke, imagining the struggles that he had faced throughout the battles: Explosions rang out, each side of the battle yelling between blowing cannon shots to the other. The Spanish wished to conquer England, while the English wanted to destroy what many called the Invincible Armada. The English took advantage of the winds that delayed the Spanish invasion, raining down upon the Armada with long-distance artillery. Now the decisive battle had begun between both sides, but the Spanish ships were looking haggard, sinking or fleeing. The Duke of Medina Sidonia was in a panic, as he yelled “Retirada!” The Spanish pulled back. Who could have done this? Presumably, Dr. John Dee. There is another famous occurrence that happened. Dee was trying to kill Mary, Queen of Scots, but failed. Later, as mentioned earlier, her private secretary dies.  Could this have been instrumented in kind by Dr. John Dee?

What do all these events have in common? All are referenced in the same novel: The House with a Clock in its Walls, by John Bellairs. Bellairs was fascinated by magic and had a life dedicated to the liberal arts.

John Bellairs was born on January 17th, 1938. Bellairs earned degrees at the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Chicago. While in college, Bellairs found himself making a national impression. He appeared, representing Notre Dame on the March 15, 1959, telecast of Quiz Bowl. Against a powerful opponent, Georgetown, there was a tight atmosphere – competitors’ hands were on the buzzer for the bonus question, which was that any team member could earn one point for each line recited, from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Immediately, John buzzed in, with eloquence, reciting in fluent Middle English, and everyone gaped in surprise. Bellairs even continued to the Knight’s Tale but was stopped due to time.

After graduating from college, Bellairs was a professor of the liberal arts, teaching at Jesuit and Augustinian colleges, but yearned to be a professional writer. With his first successful book, A Face in the Frost, Bellairs gained more attention, and within a few years settled down to write novels. Bellairs eventually published 31 novels, including his three series for children starring Anthony Monday, Lewis Barnavelt, and Johnny Dixon.

Edward Gorey was born on February 22nd, 1925, in Chicago, Illinois. Gorey attended Harvard University and roomed with poet Frank O’Hara. Gorey illustrated multiple pieces, such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, H. G. Well’s The War of the Worlds, and was thrust into the publishing world with his first book, an independent work, The Unstrung Harp.  Gorey’s drawings not only gave an accurate representation, but also a feeling that amplifies the story.

John Lawson Stoddard was an American writer, born April 24, 1850. He attended Yale University. Stoddard loved traveling the world and gave lectures on his experiences; the lectures were written and published as books, called John L. Stoddard’s Lectures, and grew popular. Stoddard published a book on Gibraltar, and started writing poetry as well as books on religious subjects. Stoddard had a range of religious experiences; he grew up Protestant, became agnostic for more than 30 years, and eventually converted to Roman Catholicism. In 1922, Stoddard published Rebuilding a Lost Faith, which is still in print. Stoddard supported Jews in their return to Israel. In Volume two of Stoddard’s Lectures, he said to the Jews “You are a people without a country; there is a country without a people. Be united. Fulfill the dreams of your old poets and patriarchs. Go back, go back to the land of Abraham”. Eventually, Stoddard decided to give his fortune to his hometown, and helped build new schools and homeless shelters for youth.

Lewis learns lots of history due to Stoddard’s lectures. Lewis is shown to learn from historical experiences. Upon arriving to Uncle Jonathan’s house, Lewis tries to grow accustomed to the environment around him. One of Lewis’s favorite hobbies is reading, with the addition of gobbling chocolate foods. On the bookshelves, Lewis sees a book on historical lectures on England and starts reading with a passion… with the occasional bite of chocolate mint. Lewis reads without reserve, ignoring the fact that the content (Rizzio’s death), is gruesome. The content fascinates Lewis, for we learn he is a knowledge vacuum. Not only does Lewis learn information from history, but he also learns about human emotions; this includes Lewis’s experiences with the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Lewis depends on his historical knowledge to his advantage as well, showing up in the critical moment and saving everyone because of his knowledge about the Hand of Glory.

The movie was not an accurate representation of the book in many different aspects. The movie had the same conflict and certain key moments that were experienced by Lewis, yet portrayed the story with different important details. Lewis’s relationship with his family is more prominent in the movie, and expanded to be a weakness, as he is tricked by Mrs. Izard who appears as his mother to confuse and beguile him. The mention of Lewis’s parents causes him to be emotionally unstable and unable to have a focused mind. Other smaller details seemed as if added, such as the size of, and how intricate the doomsday clock was. Mr. Izard’s being resurrected and his background and experiences (World War I flashbacks) changed the plot in the story. Another example would be the grave, which was the grave of Isaac, not Selenna. The movie depicted a more realistic tomb, flat and seeming like a vampire’s coffin, while the book had a giant, Greek-like building with two spectacled eyes coming out. The clock in the movie was much more intricate, seeming as if the entire walls were a clock… like a Hollywood movie. Unlike the movie, the book gave a true eerie type of feeling.

Lewis in the illustrations was chubby, while the actor in the movie was a fit child with no problems physically. Lewis almost never mentions his parents in the book, but Lewis thinks of his parents a lot during the course of the story. Emotionally, Lewis is accurate and the movie reflects it as well. Lewis is shy, yet brave in critical situations. Uncle Jonathan was somewhat similar to what we experience in the book. Funny, bossy, but at the same time caring, he was somewhat of a bright spot. Mrs. Zimmermann? Cast in a way that made her the most different from the book, she was given a new backstory to explain her reason to not use magic. I felt that her backstory in the movie changed her emotions at times. There was the whole subplot about Mrs. Z having lost her family, which was expanded to make her seem fragile, and that she had emotional baggage. But in the book, there is no mention of her family, and so this addition makes a new Mrs. Zimmermann.

The movie missed many of the historical details mentioned in the story, including one of my favorite scenes depicting the famous historical scenes in Mrs. Zimmerman’s house. The details about Louis’s suitcase felt a little too subtle, while they describe more about it in the book. We do not seem to see other representations of the occurrences happening on that year of 1948. I think that John Bellairs chose carefully 1948, bristling with so many different occurrences and events, such as the assassination of Gandhi, the creation of Nascar, the Communist takeover in Czechloslovakia, and the founding of [yep] North Korea. The representation of the year is kind of incorrect; I think the time period for the movie seemed too ahead, with bright colors and whatnot, instead of the representation of a postwar era with factories. Famous people such as John Dee and Edward Kelly were not mentioned either in the movie; instead, the book took a path about magic from the eyes of JK Rowling, not John Bellairs. Mrs. Zimmerman’s relationships are kind of complex and seem to be different, not the same in the story and the book. In the book, she lived in France once and was friends with famous artist Odilon Redon and Henri Matisse. In the movie, she again was mentioned to live in France, yet had a family, and thus lost her magic abilities because of the deaths of her family. The book never mentions her not being able to use her magic, instead, Mrs. Zimmermann said that she does not want to use it. Finally, one of the most important objects in the story, the hand of glory, is shown only in one scene in the movie, upon Lewis’s entrance. The hand is never shown again: it could be saved for the next book, which would not make sense.