The Magician's Elephant

Dreams do come true for nearly all the characters as their hopes and faith are rewarded in the novel’s touching final chapters. Authentic connection mends separation and isolation, and characters find new, different truths. Symbolism of light and doors continues to reflect themes of belonging, hope, and transition.

When Peter finds Adele, he knows that “the hope of his heart […] turned out, after all, to be true” (183). Peter discovers that the fortuneteller is utterly correct: Peter now lives a new truth, in a loving home with family and friends—a different existence from the truth of his life with Vilna Lutz. Peter fulfills his promise to his mother. He will always take care of Adele. Peter’s perseverance, hope, and welcome acceptance of his family responsibility reflect his new truth.

These qualities also show that Peter is growing up. Though the fortuneteller told Peter that an elephant would lead him to Adele, it is Peter who leads the elephant and the group of adults to the prison. His influence shows his own growing maturity but could also allude to the biblical quote “And a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). While this quote refers to the return of Christ—a time when the world becomes peaceful and all people and animals live in harmony—it commonly, if mistakenly, connotes guidance from innocence. Peter brings all the characters together.

In Bartok Whynn’s carving, all the characters are touching one another and appear to be looking into a light. The light suggests truth, belonging, and divinity. Peter’s face shines “like one of the bright stars from Sister Marie’s dream” when he discovers Adele (178), and the stars break through the clouds when the magician sends the elephant home. Light brings hope and truth to the magician in his cell. It represents the bond between all living things. Doors also have significant symbolism in this section. Doors are thrown open, releasing the elephant and the magician from their prisons. Adele, with her perfect faith in her dream, opens the orphanage door herself. The doors, like the door in the wheat field of Peter’s dream, open to new lives and happy endings.

Most of the other characters experience new connections and new truths in their lives. Gloria and Leo have the family they have always wished for. Iddo’s dream comes true: He delivers the most important message ever, one of love and restoration, rather than war and division. Thomas and Iddo have new, supportive friends in Leo and Gloria. The elephant, returned to her beloved homeland and family, experiences a new feeling, the reassuring sensation of being truly known. In the last few pages, DiCamillo reveals the magician’s name—Frederick—showing that he, too, is now truly known and has found love and belonging with his wife. Hans Ickman remembers the name of his childhood dog, and his belief in miracles is restored. Madam LaVaughn has a personal epiphany and releases her relentless unforgiveness, empowering her and freeing her from her negative mental loop.

Even Bartok Whynn, readers infer, finds his experience with Peter and the others from his dream revelatory. He loses the jaded laughter that sets him apart from others and recovers his ability to carve stone. Bartok Whynn depicts the uplifting “truth” of the story, instead of generating fear as he did with his terrifying gargoyles. Bartok depicts himself in his carving, connected to them all. All these characters experience true belonging and feelings of inclusion and acceptance.

Both Peter and the magician have learned that things once done are difficult to undo. Peter must undo the lies told by Vilna Lutz and the offense done to the elephant. In classic fairy-tale style, Peter overcomes multiple obstacles in this dual quest to find Adele and send the elephant home, including finding the elephant, convincing the magician, getting Madam LaVaughn on board, and releasing and repatriating the elephant. The magician must also undo the damage—as much as he can—caused by his magic. Both characters must truly believe in the power of possibility—the “what if?”—to achieve their goals. The magician failed before because he did not truly wish to send the elephant home. Now, his longing for a loving relationship takes precedence over his self-pride, and he wants his magic to succeed. Peter, similarly, believes in the magician and believes the possibility of change.

Those who have fixed or selfish perspectives, who will not entertain the possibility of miracles, remain unchanged at the end of the story. The countess Quintet, initially a fearsome and powerful character, is largely unmentioned for the last half of the novel. She functions more as an obstacle for Peter through her imprisonment of the elephant and as an object lesson of the limitations of closed-mindedness. The countess Quintet does not see the light and fades into unimportance. Vilna Lutz, similarly, continues to feverishly protest that he could not have taken in Adele. His beliefs and behaviors do not change. The rest, however—though DiCamillo does not specifically use these words—live happily ever after.