ABSTRACT
The complexity of the structure is considerable, since the worlds of the Borrowers and of the humans they meet are both kept in mind, as in the relation between an old lady, Mrs May, and a child, Kate, to whom she tells the story, who come to share a great deal through its significance for them. The boy agrees to help Arrietty try to make contact with the Hendreary family, relations who emigrated to the fields beyond the house, for in the light of his perception that there are no other Borrowers; it has become imperative for her to make sure the Hendrearys are alive. Mrs Driver’s opportunity to wreak havoc arises when the boy and the Borrowers become so excited that the caution which normally characterizes human-Borrower contacts is abandoned. Mrs Driver discovers the ‘nest’ by spying: the Borrowers’ home in her eyes is a nest of vermin, fit only for extermination.
