46 pages • 1 hour read
Cassie BeasleyCircus Mirandus
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Micah Tuttle
Ten-year-old Micah Tuttle is the protagonist of Circus Mirandus. The story is told primarily from his perspective in third-person prose. Micah and Ephraim are jointly characterized by the detritus of their home, which reveals their silly, fun-loving personalities. Before Gertrudis arrives, the fridge is covered in “a recipe for Double Chocolate Brownies, alphabet magnets, and a picture of an elephant Micah had drawn when he was seven” (16). It is a celebration of creativity, color, self-expression, and delicious, un-diet-conscious food. Furthermore, items in Micah’s bedroom include “two yo-yos, a baseball, a felt hat, a small army of action figures, a pack of Old Maid cards, and the string” (23). These items characterize Micah as a fun-loving 10-year-old boy, who loves to play and create. This impression is strengthened in the clothing Micah wears, such as in Chapter 32, when he wears a “big green velvet coat” and bare feet (363). The eccentric nature of this costume emphasizes that he belongs in a colorful, magical world, like Circus Mirandus.
Micah’s world is rocked when Grandpa Ephraim, Micah’s main caregiver following the accidental death of his parents, becomes sick. Micah finds a reliable and loyal social connection in Jenny Mendoza, who helps Micah to navigate this tumultuous part of his life. Micah also finds resilience and joy in Circus Mirandus, which Micah had previously interpreted as a make-believe story. Micah was raised to believe wholeheartedly in imagination and creativity, so he accepts the reality of Circus Mirandus and the Lightbender and hopes that Ephraim can be magically healed. His bravery and faith in magic are tested when he must come to terms with the fact that the Lightbender is simply a talented illusionist and cannot save Ephraim from death.
Micah retains his faith in magic and the circus despite the personal tragedy of losing Ephraim. His bravery and belief in Circus Mirandus is tested when he is presented with the chasm across the highway (actually an illusion created by the Lightbender), which he crosses, allowing him to live the rest of his life at the magical, traveling circus, with the Lightbender as his adoptive parent.
Grandpa Ephraim Tuttle
Ephraim is characterized as a loving grandfather through the rituals of his and Micah’s life. The sweetness of his personality is symbolized by the sweet tea that he and Micah drink together (as opposed to Gertrudis’s “bitter” and “scalding” tea) and the orange soda that they have when Micah gets home from school. Furthermore, they build a treehouse together, go to the movies together, and play mini-golf, illustrating Ephraim’s fun-loving nature. Through his silliness, Ephraim is symbolically connected to the imaginative, playful, and magical world of Circus Mirandus.
Ephraim places the needs of others before his own, illustrating his selflessness and kindness. He abandons his dreams of returning to Circus Mirandus as a young adult in favor of caring for his younger sister and wife; his yearning to return to the circus is shown in his daydreams as he completes menial work: “[H]e stacked boxes of shoes and measured feet and dreamed of pipes and drums” (321). Later, Ephraim uses his miracle for Micah, asking the Lightbender if Micah can join the circus. In doing so, Ephraim dedicates his efforts in the days and weeks before he dies ensuring Micah’s happiness, rather than making decisions for himself.
Great Aunt Gertrudis Tuttle
Gertrudis is Micah’s great aunt. Unlike her brother, Ephraim, Gertrudis is a strict, rigid, and unkind woman. After she arrives at Ephraim and Micah’s house, she gets rid of many of their fun, frivolous items and covers the fridge with schedules and a calorie chart, aiming to destroy the silliness and playfulness that previously dictated Micah and Ephraim’s existence. In terms of the recurring theme, Imagination Versus Rigidity, Gertrudis epitomizes rigidity. She has no tolerance for the mention of magic or the circus, dismissing these things as infantile and stupid.
While Gertrudis is shown to be harsh in the present narrative, flashbacks reveal her sympathetic backstory, namely her betrayal by Victoria, who convinces Gertrudis to jump off the roof. Young Gertrudis is sure that Victoria will reveal her ability to fly and save her, but Victoria, who can fly, lets Gertrudis fall and break an arm. From this point, magic becomes associated with disappointment and betrayal for Gertrudis. She believes that it is a lie that gave her false hope, and now she despises it, as illustrated in her reaction to Ephraim’s bootlace, which is involved in Ephraim’s story with the Lightbender: “[S]he saw the bootlace wrapped around Micah’s wrist. Something Micah hadn’t expected flitted across her face—recognition. An angry flush reddened her cheeks” (292).
The Lightbender
The Lightbender, or The Man Who Bends Light, is a talented magical illusionist who lives and works at Circus Mirandus. The Lightbender is shown in both the present narrative and the flashbacks; as a member of the circus, he has an elongated lifespan and looks "as he had for centuries” (38). He wears a “beaten, brown leather coat” that “[sweeps] the ground” (38), demonstrating his life of travel.
The narrative characterizes the Lightbender as a kind and selfless character. He dedicates his life to nurturing faith in wonder and magic in children, and he believes that all children are special and important. After Victoria dismisses the circus as a waste of time, he angrily explains that the circus is vitally important because they are “fighting to keep enchantment alive in the world” (262). His impact on Ephraim proves that his fight is a successful one. Being given the gift of faith in magic changes Ephraim’s perception of the world and the course of his life for the better:
Ephraim carried the Lightbender’s shows inside him. A world that had such magic in it must not be as awful as he had sometimes feared. Having experienced it, he thought he might be able to leave his beach behind and be brave while he waited for his father’s real homecoming. Maybe, he could even go back to school (166).
The Lightbender further demonstrates his kindness by visiting Ephraim on his deathbed, vouching for Micah to join the circus, and becoming Micah’s caregiver.
Jenny Mendoza
Jenny Mendoza, whom Micah gets to know when they are paired together to do an assignment, is an intelligent and high-achieving student: “Jenny Mendoza was the smartest girl in class; she could probably finish the whole project by herself” (61). Although Jenny’s intelligence is a positive in the academic world of school, it proves to be a disadvantage when she is confronted with the magical world of Circus Mirandus, which requires imagination and an acceptance of the inconceivable.
Jenny’s character arc alludes to the theme of imagination versus rigidity. Initially, Jenny unknowingly insults Mr. Head, who values nurturing magical belief in children above all else. Michal reflects, “[T]he way she complimented things was all wrong. It was ‘What a clever trick you’ve used over here to make this torch look like it’s really floating’” (239).
Jenny’s changing beliefs reveal her to be a dynamic character. The Lightbender’s show is an important turning point; Jenny is forced to confront the reality of magic given the incredibly immersive experience of his illusions. When Micah’s faith wavers, she encourages him to visit Rosebud’s wagon to find something that will help Ephraim, illustrating her newfound faith in the circus’s magic. Later, Jenny urges Micah to return to the circus to save Ephraim and accepts Micah’s story that what appears to be a firetruck in Chapter 33 is actually Big Jean the elephant, disguised by one of the Lightbender’s illusions.
