The Ickabog

Bert is the same age as Daisy but isn’t at all like his friend physically or emotionally. He is blond and round and sensitive as a child. Daisy often comes to his defense when the other children tease him about his weight. When Bert’s father dies in the Marshlands, the boy forms an unrelenting hatred for the Ickabog that he thinks is responsible. His anger is his defining characteristic, and he allows his hatred for the monster to temporarily destroy his friendship with Daisy.

By the time he is 15, Bert wants to join the defense brigade but is rejected. He then reaches a turning point in his beliefs and starts to question all the lies that the government has been spinning. After suffering his own hardships, Bert is reunited with Daisy and two other friends. Rather than trying to kill the Ickabog, he risks his own life to save it and learns a valuable lesson about the triumph of hope over fear.

Lord Spittleworth is the archvillain in the novel. He is thin and sneaky and manipulates the king for his own benefit. His lordship starts as one of the king’s closest friends and does all he can to color the king’s perceptions of other people. He uses flattery to appeal to King Fred’s vanity and uses the Ickabog to frighten the king into enacting legislation that will yield more profit for himself.

Spittleworth controls the kingdom by appealing to the greed of his henchmen and instilling fear in the general populace. He kills or imprisons those who resist him. He doesn’t believe the Ickabog is real until one walks into Chouxville. At that point, Spittleworth attempts to flee with his ill-gotten gains, only to be stopped by Bert and his friend Roderick. He spends the rest of his life in the prison where he gleefully sent so many others. 

King Fred is blond and handsome and looks the part of a king because he loves to dress in costly garments. Fred is also a selfish coward who Spittleworth and Flapoon easily influence. Rather than taking the time to see what is going on in his own kingdom, he prefers to spend his days in comfort, receiving the praise of his people. Fred wants to be liked but does little to earn that adoration. Spittleworth takes great care to ensure the status quo is maintained in Chouxville. Fred is so self-involved that he doesn’t realize the rest of the country is starving while he feasts every day.

The arrival of the Ickabog puts an end to the king’s folly. He comes to realize how he has failed his subjects. After being deposed, he volunteers to take care of the angry Ickaboggle. In time, he helps it to be less vengeful toward humans, and Fred himself proves that he can be a good man if not a good ruler. 

Along with Spittleworth, Flapoon is the other nobleman who influences the king. He is huge, fat, and generally cowardly. Flapoon accidentally fires a gun that kills Bert’s father and then blames the crime on the Ickabog. Flapoon doesn’t come up with any clever schemes of his own, being content to follow Spittleworth’s lead. Nevertheless, his support allows Spittleworth to create so much misery in Cornucopia. Like Fred, Flapoon enjoys his creature comforts. As long as he is well-fed, he doesn’t care if the country starves. Flapoon receives his comeuppance right after the angry Ickaboggle is born. When he tries to shoot its parent, it immediately attacks and kills him, which seems a just punishment for the many crimes he has enabled over the years. 

Roach is a swaggering soldier under the command of Bert’s father. Roach is promoted to major when Major Beamish is killed in the Marshlands. He is a greedy bully who happily participates in the lie about how Beamish died. In exchange for covering up the crimes of Spittleworth and Flapoon, Roach prospers. He is just as ruthless as the two lords and will happily murder anyone who gets in his way. In the end, Roach is betrayed by his fellow conspirators and receives his proper reward. After he fails to capture Bert, Spittleworth shoots him. 

Ma Grunter is the hideous manager of the country’s orphan asylum. She is ugly and has a wart on the end of her nose. The old woman takes in children only because the government pays her to do so. Instead of taking care of her charges properly, she beats them and feeds them watery cabbage soup three times a day. As a result, many of the malnourished children die. As Cornucopia grows poorer, Ma Grunter’s business thrives. The more people who starve to death, the more orphans are left in her care. After Fred is deposed, Ma Grunter stands trial and is forced to answer for her crimes.