“The voices they heard are ordinary thieves, Bertie. Up in the Marshlands they pilfer from one another all the time. It’s easier to blame the Ickabog than to admit their neighbors are stealing from them!”

Bert’s mother attempts to explain the Ickabog to her frightened son when he is five. Little does she realize that she is describing the strategy that Spittleworth will soon use to pilfer from his neighbors. Unknown monsters in both realms make the best scapegoats for theft.

“For some months after Mrs. Dovetail’s shocking death, the king’s servants were divided into two groups. The first group whispered that King Fred had been to blame for the way she’d died. The second preferred to believe there’d been some kind of mistake.”

Factionalism divides the kingdom, which is partly why the country can’t unite against a common enemy within their midst. The king really is to blame, but only half his subjects see that fact. This same factionalism will also divide Daisy and Bert for many years. Their reunion is the only hope for saving their country. 

“Naturally, these people were carefully screened by Fred’s advisors before they were allowed to see him. Fred never dealt with big problems. He saw people whose troubles could be solved with a few gold coins and a few kind words.”

This quote indicates the degree to which the two lords have insulated Fred from seeing real problems. His selfish behavior is partially attributable to the fact that others want him to only see his own concerns and not look any farther for trouble. The shepherd with the Ickabog problem is about to change all that. Fred is about to be confronted with a problem that doesn’t have a superficial solution.