The Many Uses of Magic

Among Others could be categorized as magical realism, a literary genre that injects a magical element into an otherwise recognizable, modern world. In this case, only very few people in the world can recognize and use the latent magic which exists in nature. Since Morwenna is a witch who can do this, she is different from the other children and an outcast. However, this is a role which she initially embraces, feeling that others are superficial or intellectually inferior and not worth her time or attention.

Magic functions in the book as a kind of insulation and an excuse to ward oneself off from the rest of the world. Magic is also associated with Morwenna's past; she associates magic strongly with her hateful mother she has run away from, with her childhood in the wilds of Wales, and with her deceased twin sister. For...