49 pages • 1 hour read
Cressida CowellHow to Train Your Dragon
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Underdog’s Triumph: “Size Is All Relative”
The Hooligan Tribe’s culture values size above all else: Gobber the Belch advises the boys to find the largest dragon possible; Hiccup is disappointed by the tiny appearance of his dragon; and Stoick is embarrassed when the chief of the Meatheads remarks on Hiccup’s scrawny appearance. For a warrior culture like the Vikings, size and strength are two incredibly powerful advantages in battle, and many nonfictional cultures have longstanding beliefs about size as well.
Size influences the outcome of fights, and the size of an army often dictates the outcome of battles. In the novel, Gobber frightens away pursuing dragons by killing the largest one, Toothless confesses that dragons only obey humans because of the size difference, and Snotlout believes he can bully Hiccup and Fishlegs because he’s bigger. However, the sheer size and power of the Green Death show the limitations of the philosophy; people can’t always control their size, and even the largest men can easily find something bigger than they are that poses a threat. Old Wrinkly implies this in suggesting that “size is all relative” (29). Cowell punctuates this fact when the Purple Death washes ashore, appearing even larger than the Green Death.
The arrival of another gigantic Sea Dragon poses an obvious problem for the Vikings. They are ill-equipped both physically and mentally to fight anything larger than themselves, so the task falls to Hiccup, who has spent his life compensating for his lack of size. Ultimately, his size relative to the dragon becomes instrumental in defeating it. He survives because the Green Death can swallow him whole. Once inside the monster, Hiccup’s helmet fits perfectly into the fire-holes. Furthermore, Toothless’s method of fighting the dragon also requires a small size. Too tiny to cause any harm, Toothless uses his wings to tickle the dragon to induce a sneeze; the two other Sea Dragons, being large enough to cause harm, both lose to the Green Death. Had Toothless been larger, he may have attempted a similar plan and lost. Cowell’s “David versus Goliath” framework imparts that someone’s ascribed flaws can be viewed as unique strengths.
A Hero’s Coming-of-Age Journey
The classic monomyth structure dictates the hero’s journey, as outlined in Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces (1949). How to Train Your Dragon aligns with the traditional trials and tribulations of the literary hero. Heroes begin by experiencing a “call to action.” In this case, Hiccup is called upon by his tribe to enter the dragon lair. He refuses this call per the monomyth structure, either through his reluctance to enter the cave or by letting Snotlout take charge without a fight. The mythic hero must “cross the threshold” and “face a guardian,” which describes entering the lair and facing the dragons.
Traditional heroes receive “supernatural aid,” often a weapon or a magic power. While Toothless himself falls into this category, Cowell reveals Hiccup’s supernatural power, the ability to talk to dragons. The mythic hero must also meet a mentor, and Old Wrinkly provides Hiccup with sage wisdom. Next comes a road of challenges and temptations. Training Toothless, the urge to give in to yelling, and even the Thor’sday Thursday Celebration encompass Hiccup’s challenges. At the latter, it ends up being Toothless, not Hiccup, who faces—and succumbs to—the temptation to provoke the other dragons.
The turning points for any hero are the “death” and “rebirth/transformation” steps. While many stories cheat the definition of “death,” this step is sometimes called the nadir (or “low point”), or occasionally “the belly of the beast.” The latter description helps the reader clearly identify Hiccup’s transformational moment: his apparent death when swallowed alive by the Green Death. Toothless shares in this moment as well, flying into the Sea Dragon himself. The Green Death sneezes out both Hiccup and Toothless, punctuating the completion of the duo’s heroic acts. Afterward, Stoick recognizes them both as heroes and members of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe.
In being reborn or transformed—referred to as apotheosis—the hero gains something that is usually more valuable than the object of his quest. The reward will also reconcile with the greatest power in their life, quite often their father. All this applies to Hiccup. Although he aimed to merely drive away the Sea Dragon, Hiccup ended up earning the respect and recognition of his tribe. At this point, his father officially welcomes him into the Hooligans. Since the hero’s journey monomyth spreads across cultures worldwide, Cowell draws on readers’ literary understanding of the myth’s structure to solidify the significance of this moment.
Breaking Tradition: Ingenuity in Leadership
The novel places a heavy burden on Hiccup to inherit his father’s position as leader, and Cowell tackles this issue from two angles: Hiccup’s own ability to lead and the Viking’s willingness to follow. Although Gobber places Hiccup in charge of the dragon raid mission, Hiccup’s leadership falters. The other boys show a clear disdain for the idea, and no one—least of all Hiccup—protests when Snotlout leads a mutiny and seizes control for himself. This shows the reader one of Hiccup’s internal conflicts early on—his lack of “charisma,” or leadership appeal. Even with all the qualities of a good leader, Hiccup will still fail if no one is willing to follow him. However, Snotlout proves that he can follow Hiccup in certain situations, namely, when confronting danger. At the mouth of the cave, he puts Hiccup back in the front of the line to enter the dragon cave first. This moment foreshadows the arrival of the Green Death, when the fearful Viking tribes send Hiccup to talk with the Sea Dragon. These examples show the Vikings can accept a different style of leadership in dire circumstances.
Hiccup has several qualities of a good leader from the outset. He does lead the Novice boys into—and out of—the dragon cave and its dangers. He’s willing to risk exile by giving up his dragon to Fishlegs and takes responsibility for the failure of the initiation mission. Hiccup’s detailed “Dragon Motivation” list represents a well-thought-out approach to things that motivate humans. He also speaks up for the boys at the Thor’sday Thursday Celebration, incidentally becoming their leader when he reprimands his father and shows critical thinking that criticizes the current leadership. All of this represents a hard turn in Viking philosophy, and while Hiccup has only to realize these qualities in himself, the rest of the tribe may not accept the changes.
However, Hiccup’s transformational hero’s journey is vital in changing the tribe’s view of him. He must fit in at least somewhat, align his goals with the others, and prove his own methods useful. Whether by his own design or not, the Green Death did help provide Hiccup with the chance to prove himself and emerge as a hero. Hiccup’s victory allows for the possibility that the Hairy Hooligans can come to accept him as their future chief. The closing image of Stoick penning a letter to Professor Yobbish signals that the Vikings value Hiccup’s nontraditional methods and are willing to evolve.
