A Little Princess · Chapter
Melchisedec explained
Lottie discovers Sara's new attic home and is comforted by Sara's imaginative perspective.
What happens
Lottie discovers Sara's new attic home and is comforted by Sara's imaginative perspective. Later, Ermengarde visits Sara in the attic, where Sara introduces her to her pet rat Melchisedec and explains their secret communication system with Becky through knocks on the wall, framing their lives as a story.
Themes in this chapter
Imagination and Storytelling
Sara transforms her bleak attic into a Bastille and treats Melchisedec as a person, demonstrating how storytelling helps her cope with adversity.
Resilience and Inner Strength
Despite her harsh circumstances, Sara maintains a cheerful demeanor, comforts Lottie, and finds solace in her imaginative world and friendships.
Friendship and Loyalty
Lottie's concern for Sara, Ermengarde's secret visit, and the coded knocks between Sara and Becky highlight the bonds of loyalty and support among the girls.
Characters to notice
- Sara Crewe
Sara comforts Lottie about her attic room and later shows Ermengarde her friendship with the rat Melchisedec, explaining how she uses imagination to endure her hardships.
- Lottie Legh
Lottie discovers Sara's attic room and is initially aghast, but Sara's imaginative description of the view helps her accept it.
- Ermengarde St. John
Ermengarde visits Sara in the attic, learns about Melchisedec, and participates in the secret knock communication with Becky.
- Becky
Becky communicates with Sara through knocks on the wall, participating in their Bastille prisoner game.
- Melchisedec
Sara's pet rat, who comes out when called and is described as having a family and being a 'Bastille rat sent to be my friend.'
Key passages
“Everything's a story. You are a story—I am a story. Miss Minchin is a story.”
Sara tells Ermengarde that all of life can be seen as a narrative, including themselves and even their adversary Miss Minchin.
This encapsulates Sara's philosophy of using imagination to reframe her reality.
“He is a Bastille rat sent to be my friend.”
Sara imagines the rat Melchisedec as a companion sent to her in her prison-like attic.
Shows how Sara personifies the rat and integrates it into her Bastille fantasy.
“I can always get a bit of bread the cook has thrown away, and it is quite enough to support him.”
Sara explains that she saves scraps from the kitchen to feed Melchisedec.
Highlights Sara's resourcefulness and the meager conditions she endures.