A Wish in the Dark

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-10

Chapters 11-17

Chapters 18-26

Chapters 27-36

Chapters 37-49

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Background

Literary Context: Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables

Les Misérables is a French novel written by Victor Hugo, who also authored The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), and was originally published in 1862. The novel explores themes of redemption and grace as it follows several characters through their struggles with poverty, the criminal justice system, and the turbulence of the 1830s French political climate. A Wish in the Dark is directly inspired by Hugo’s novel; it explores similar themes and adapts many of Les Misérables’s characters and structures.

Jean Valjean, the protagonist of Les Misérables, is an escaped convict who spends 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, as well as several additional sentences for multiple escape attempts. Throughout the novel, Valjean evades capture by Javert, a police inspector from the prison. Valjean learns about atonement and redemption when he encounters Bishop Myriel, who shows Valjean grace and compassion; thereafter, Valjean dedicates his life to becoming a good man. Javert, whose strict adherence to the law is motivated by his desperate desire to escape his parents’ criminal history, has his views about justice challenged when Valjean mercifully spares Javert’s life at the end of the novel.

The two protagonists of A Wish in the Dark, Pong and Nok, are based on the major protagonists of Hugo’s novel, and their arcs mirror those of Valjean and Javert, respectively. Like Valjean, Pong escapes prison while Nok, the daughter of the prison warden, pursues him. Pong grapples with intense feelings of unworthiness because of his past. After escaping prison, Pong encounters Father Cham, the head monk at the temple of Wat Singh, who shows him grace and affirms the goodness of Pong’s heart. Meanwhile, Nok considers the law as absolute justice but has her perspective challenged by revelations about her society and her own history.

Cultural Context: Thai Culture

The author of A Wish in the Dark, Christina Soontornvat, comes from a Thai family and has stated that her writing is heavily influenced by her culture. A Wish in the Dark incorporates Thai elements in its setting, motifs, and other world-building details.

The world of the novel, Chattana, is inspired by Thailand’s geography. Chattana is intersected by a river; all its buildings border canals, and the people rely on the river for food. Similarly, Thailand is bisected by several major rivers. Their waters provide fish, one of Thailand’s staple foods, and fertilize the soil for growing rice, another Thai dietary staple. Water is also a core symbol in many Thai celebrations. Chattana’s multi-stacked buildings also echo traditional Thai structures; historically, houses in Thailand were raised on stilts to avoid annual flooding.

Thailand is famous for its mangoes, which are an important symbol in the novel. Mangoes symbolize prosperity in Thailand; similarly, in the novel mangoes symbolize a future life of equality and fairness that the characters ultimately achieve.

The influence of Thai culture informs some of the author’s choices in adapting the story of Les Misérables. In Hugo’s novel, Christian religious principles strongly inform the novel’s message of redemption. Valjean earns grace through atonement, reflecting the Christian belief in salvation from sin through devotion to God. In A Wish in the Dark, Soontornvat instead incorporates Buddhism, the official religion practiced in Thailand. In Buddhism, one cannot erase their darkness; however, they can confront it, accept it, and use it to connect to a higher purpose. Buddhism’s perspective on redemption guides the novel’s thematic arc: Whereas Les Misérables, influenced by Christian theology, approaches redemption as a search for grace through bettering oneself, A Wish in the Dark ultimately reflects the Buddhist perspective of balance. In the novel, redemption comes from accepting darkness, releasing guilt, and embracing inner light. The use of Buddhism instead of Christianity reinforces this thematic conclusion on a metatextual level.