An Essay on Squirrelflight’s Hope by Finchpaw

Finchpaw discusses Squirrelflight’s Hope.

(Hey guys! It’s Finch here! I was absent from school the day of writing this, and since I have an essay writing assessment tomorrow, I thought I’d better write a practise essay on a book I had recently finished, Squirrelflight’s Hope! After writing it I thought I should post it as an article so this is it! Oddly formal? Yes. But oh well. 😛)

In any narrative it is important for characters to have different relationship dynamics with others. Erin Hunter’s Squirrelflight’s Hope (2019) follows the story of the deputy of ThunderClan, Squirrelflight, and when a new group of cats settle down just outside clan territory, Squirrelflight must decide if she can put her loyalty to her clan over doing what she believes to be right. In this novel, Squirrelflight has two main developing relationships with other cats that help shape the plot. These are that of Squirrelflight and her sister Leafpool, and Squirrelflight and her clan leader and mate Bramblestar. these relationships are explored and investigated within the novel

Leafpool is Squirrelflight’s sister and the medicine cat of ThunderClan. The pair of them seemed inseparable as apprentices, but have separated and taken their own paths as they grew into adulthood. Squirrelflight’s Hope does a good job of defining the strengthening of their friendship when Squirrelflight is in an argument with her mate Bramblestar, she ends up asking her sister for advice, thinking:
“Never mind the awkwardness – Leafpool will understand.”, clearly highlighting the trust established between the two cats. Later in the novel, Squirrelflight is the one to comfort Leafpool when they’re both getting trialled to get into StarClan. Squirrelflight states:
“No cat could blame you for the choices you made”, assuring her that no matter what she did in the past she deserved forgiveness. Squirrelflight has shown time and time again that she is always there for her sister, as she is for her.

Another major relationship in this novel is that between Squirrelflight and Bramblestar, her mate and the leader of ThunderClan. Bramblestar is portrayed in this novel as stubborn and closed-minded through his speech, thus impacting his relationship with Squirrelflight. We see this when Squirrelflight has openly pitched an idea she believes to be a solution to their problem, to which Bramblestar dismissively responds to with:
“Don’t be naive. New territory will probably mean new battles. Since when was any clan satisfied with what they have?” Indicating he is making assumptions and isn’t willing to listen to his mate based on pure speculation and stubbornness, going as far as to call Squirrelflight naive. We do however see the relationship slowly getting better, as Bramblestar sees his mistakes and apologizes to Squirrelflight at the end of the novel, saying:
“I’m sorry I ever doubted you”. We now know that Bramblestar feels regretful towards his treatment of his mate, and the pair can continue a healthy relationship. So although Bramblestar was shown as stubborn and dismissive, he recognised his mistakes and repaired his relationship with Squirrelflight.

Squirrelflight’s Hope, written by Erin Hunter, uses dialogue and thoughts to express the relationships between the protagonist Squirrelflight and her sister Leafpool as well as her mate and leader Bramblestar. Leafpool was a helpful confidant for Squirrelflight, who later returned the favour by reassuring and comforting her sister when she was worried about not making it into StarClan. Bramblestar, although being rude and dismissive in the beginning, recognised the effect his actions were having on his mate, and so he apologized and vowed to change his behaviour for the better. In conclusion, Erin Hunter has illustrated these relationships well, using speech and thoughts to express other characters’ bonds with the protagonist, Squirrelflight.

(Okay! That’s the end of my essay! I wrote that in 40mins and when transferring it from paper to a google doc I edited slightly. Lmk what U think! It’s 5:55 in the morning on the day of the assessment now. Wish me luck! And yes, I have accepted the fact my brain likes waking me up at 5am.

Anyways thanks for reading!
Finch, out!)