At one point, the narrator remarks that “Names are in short supply in this telling” (23). Why do you think the author made this choice? How did the lack of names influence your reading of the story? What significance might names have in the wider fairy tale tradition? Use specific examples from the text to support your argument.

Consider the use of monochromism in the artwork, particularly in the distinctive full-page drawing on Pages 50-51. How does the illustrator use light, shadow, and contrast to enhance the story’s themes?

The story incorporates two impenetrable boundaries: the mountain range and the wall of thorns. How are these two thresholds similar, and how are they different? How does each one enhance the story’s world and contribute to its thematic exploration of Freedom and Constraint?