“No one was awake to see it happen, except Rickman.”

The beginning and end of this story hint at the metafictional nature of Oppel’s storytelling, for as it turns out, Inkling is whimsically represented to be something that Peter himself creates. This quote makes the story’s beginning feel mysterious. The quote also shows that Rickman is always there, watching and playing a role in the plot.

“None of his pictures looked like what he was trying to draw. His dogs and cats and cows all looked the same; his people were weird and melty. So he’d stopped drawing altogether. When he was forced to at school, he’d just do stick figures. Everyone thought he was joking around, hiding his genius, that he could draw whatever he wanted.”

In Inkling, a big issue is that people persist in seeing what they want to see rather than what is truly present. This dynamic causes problems for Ethan, who struggles with art despite his artistically talented father. Even though Ethan stops drawing because of the social pressure to excel like his dad, everyone still thinks he is a talented artist.

“‘Have a good day, sweetie,’ Sarah told him. ‘Be safe!’ And Ethan felt a hard squeeze in his throat because this was what Mom used to say to them.”

Grief assails the Rylance family at unexpected moments. In this passage, Sarah repeats what Ethan’s mom, Olivia, used to say, and her words give Ethan a painful inner jolt as he is reminded of his own unprocessed grief over Olivia’s death. This quote demonstrates that no matter how much time has passed, grief does not go away completely. However, the events of the story will teach the characters that the more deleterious effects of grief can be mitigated if family members unite and face them together.