Amanda de Vlinder

From Alfred Jodocus Kwak Wiki
Amanda de Vlinder
Character
"No picture available"
No picture available
SpeciesButterfly
BirthplaceGroot Waterland
First appearanceDe Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak
Character Model Sheet numberN/A
Character Model Sheet nameN/A
Name in different languages
Dutch nameAmanda de Vlinder
Japanese nameN/A
German nameN/A
English nameN/A

Amanda de Vlinder (lit. "Amanda the Butterfly") is a fictional character that features in the book De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak, a free spirit that gives some life lessons to Alfred Jodocus Kwak and eventually she dies on the front lawn of Henk de Mol's mine house.[1][2] Her great-great-great-great-grandmother also has the same name and features shortly in De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen and is mentioned in the previously named book.[3][4]

Appearance

Amanda is described to be the most beautiful butterfly of Polderstad. Her body has 9 distinct colors that are all perfectly matched to eachother, like flowers in a bouquet. While she has long retired, she still retains vibrant colors.[5]

Personality

Despite being retired, and having grandkids, she has high energy and not a care in the world. She takes everything for what it is in the moment and finds joy in that. She doesn't have any material possessions, she's analphabetic, and she knows that life is too short for being sad, as butterflies' are only very short. [6][7][note 1]

Storyline

Amanda's families has eastern origins. A grand parent of Amanda flew from Dor Hongerland, through Droogland, Dorstland, avoiding Doodland, all the way to Breed Rietland where he settled.[8] There Amanda's great-great-great-great-grandmother befriended Anna van de Polder and was her bridesmaid at Anna's wedding. Amanda's family also traveled to Groot Waterland afterwards, likely due to the construction of Groot Speelgoedland.[9]

Amanda herself got to know Alfred Jodocus Kwak and Henk de Mol. Amanda met up with Alfred as he was sitting on the Polderweg near Polderstad after he had a challenging encounter with Dolf de Kraai. She tried to lighten Alfred's mood by telling him about how the grand parent that traveled from Dor Hongerland would see the world very hedonistic, which is a philosophy that she had adopted herself as well, seeing as how the lives of butterflies are very short. She also sings him a song.

Diep- en diepbedroefd

Diep- en diepbedroefd...
 Niemand, niemand hoeft
er diep- en diepbedroefd te zijn:
al doet alles je pijn, het leven is fijn.
Alfie, weet je, mijn vleugels trillen!
Als ik niet al oma was
en als ik geen vlinder was,
dan wist ik wel wat ik zou willen:
dan wou
ik jou,
maar jouw leven is lang en het mijne ragfijn
en jij bent groot en ik ben klein.
Geen probleem, het kan dus niet.
Geen probleem, geen verdriet.
Je hoeft niet zo diep,
hoeft niet zo diep,
zo diepbedroefd te zijn...

Deep, Deeply Sad
Deep, deeply sad...
 No one, no one needs
to be deep, deeply sad:
even if everything hurts, life is good.
Alfie, you know, my wings are trembling!
If I weren’t already a grandmother
and if I weren’t a butterfly,
then I would know what I’d want:
I would want
you,
but your life is long and mine is gossamer-thin,
and you are big and I am small.
No problem, so it cannot be.
No problem, no sorrow.
You don’t have to be so deeply,
don’t have to be so deeply,
so deeply sad...


Alfred doesn't take well to the hedonism, feeling that his problems can't be solved by just ignoring them, and he gets irritated. Alfred then asks Amanda to ask Henk to wait a little longer for Alfred so he can take a nap. Amanda obliges.[10] Amanda later returns to let Alfred know that she's told Henk. Alfred wakes up for a second, but then falls back asleep.[11] Later on in his dream Alfred would unconsciously attribute Amanda's song to a medieval chicken minstrel, called Kukeleku.[12]

At the end of the day Alfred finds Amanda's remains on the front yard of Henk's mine house, having passed away that evening. This makes Alfred finally burst into tears about all the trauma he had been suffering from that day.[13]

Family Tree

Amanda's family tree


A grand parent[note 2]
Amanda de Vlinder*???
??????
??????
??????
??????
??????
Amanda de Vlinder???
???
??????
Amanda's grandchild[note 3]
{{{SPOUSEFIVE}}}
* = Amanda's great-great-great-great-grandmother.

Appearances

Books

Production background

Amanda was expanded from a character that only appeared in one passage in De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen to a character intrinsically interwoven with the story of the book De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak albeit as her great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter.

Notes

  1. ↑ Henk says on page 86 of De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak that butterflies only live one day, but that doesn't seem to make sense as it hasn't been less than a week since Amanda's great-great-great-great-grandmother was at Anna van de Polder and Johan Sebastiaan Kwak's wedding.
  2. ↑ Amanda says a grand parent flew all the way across international borders to Breed Rietland. This could be Amanda de Vlinder's great-great-great-great-grandmother's father, but it's unclear.
  3. ↑ As Amanda is a grandmother, she must have at least one grandchild.

References

  1. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Alfred talks to her on page 20.
  2. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. She dies on page 155.
  3. ↑ van Veen, Herman (1989). De wonderlijke avonturen van de eend Alfred Jodocus Kwak: Goedemorgen. Artwork by Harald Siepermann & Hans Bacher. Soest: Harlekijn Uitgeverij. ISBN 9063860706. Page 18.
  4. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Page 86.
  5. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Page 20.
  6. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Pages 21-23.
  7. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Page 86.
  8. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Page 21.
  9. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Page 20.
  10. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Alfred and Amanda's conversation starts on page 20.
  11. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Alfred and Amanda's conversation starts on page 31.
  12. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Page 38.
  13. ↑ van Veen, Herman; Holzhaus, Hanneke (1991). De Droom van Alfred Jodocus Kwak [Alfred Jodocus Kwak's Dream] (in Nederlands). Soest, the Netherlands: Harlekijn, Westbroek. ISBN 9063860862. Page 155.
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