For Arrietty, the boy represents the unknown elements of adult life. She has no young men within the walls with whom she can form relationships, marry or start a family. The boy is the first young male she has ever met. One of the first things he points out to her is the obviousness of her situation. "One day," he told her, smiling triumphantly, "you'll be the only Borrower left in the world!" (87). The boy's purpose is to shake the family out of isolation and inertia and force them out into the larger world. Question 4

Mrs. Driver, the cook, was created by Mary Norton to represent the adult double standard of "do as I say, not as I do." She mistrusts children and Borrowers because they are disruptive elements to her system of order and authority. These disruptions have the potential to threaten her livelihood and her personal comfort. For example, around the time when Rosa Pickhatchet spotted Hendreary and quit, there were a number of items missing. Although the book does not specify that Mrs. Driver was a suspect, the implication is that all of the household staff members were suspected of stealing....

Part of her concern with theft is because she does steal. "A drop of Madeira here, a pair of old stockings there, a handkerchief or so, an odd vest, or an occasional pair of gloves -- these, Mrs. Driver felt, were different; these were within her rights (136). Mrs. Driver has a double standard. For her, the use of household property is her right as an employee, but for others, it is theft and should be punished.
Question 5

Mary Norton incorporates three possible origins for the story. Mrs. May tells Kate that her brother might have made the Borrowers up, since he was a fanciful child. She also mentions that Arrietty made her e's "like little half-moons with a stroke in the middle" (180) and her brother made his the same way, leading the reader to suspect that the Borrowers were a creation of the brother. Mrs. May mentions that her brother had been jealous because "we were older and we could read better. He wanted to impress us; he wanted, perhaps, to shock us" (6). The boy is not named because his name is unimportant. His purpose was to awaken the Borrowers from their inertia. Mrs. May herself could have created the story to console Kate for the loss of her crochet hook. A child, however, might want to believe that Arrietty wrote the story. Children can relate to the plight of the Borrowers because they understand how it feels to be a small, vulnerable person in a grownup world.