Varjak Paw

Published in 2003, S. F. Said’s Varjak Paw is a middle-grade adventure novel that follows the journey of a young Mesopotamian Blue cat named Varjak as he ventures outside the safety of his home for the first time. Guided by the teachings of his ancestor Jalal, Varjak confronts the dangers of the city to save his family from a mysterious menace known as the Gentleman. The novel explores themes of courage, heritage, and loyalty. Varjak Paw won the 2003 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for Children’s Literature, and the sequel, The Outlaw Varjak Paw (2005), won the 2007 Blue Peter Book of the Year.

Citations in this study guide refer to the eBook edition released by Random House in 2003.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of bullying, animal cruelty and death, illness, and death.

Plot Summary

Varjak Paw is a Mesopotamian Blue cat who lives in the Contessa’s house with his grandfather, mother, father, Aunt Juni, cousin Jasmine, big brother Julius, and little brothers Jay, Jethro, and Jerome. His ancestor Jalal was a courageous adventurer who traveled from Mesopotamia to London, but his descendants have become complacent, pedigree cats. Varjak loves listening to his grandfather’s stories about their illustrious ancestor, but Julius bullies him and claims that he’s not a true Mesopotamian Blue.

After the Contessa falls ill and dies, a giant stranger and a pair of black cats enter the house. The Mesopotamian Blues call the stranger the Gentleman, and he bribes them with toys and caviar. Varjak’s grandfather remembers that the Gentleman angered the Contessa by trying to take the cats away years ago, but only Varjak heeds his warning.

Varjak’s grandfather asks him to go into the outside world and find a dog, which he describes as a monster with the power to scare the Gentleman away. He teaches his grandson the names of three skills that make up the Way of Jalal: Slow-Time, Moving Circles, and Shadow-Walking. Varjak’s grandfather gives his life fighting the black cats so that Varjak can escape. Varjak scales the garden wall but falls to the ground after leaping onto a fragile tree branch. While he’s unconscious, he meets Jalal in a dream, and his legendary ancestor offers to show him the true Way. The first skill that he teaches Varjak is to keep an open mind.

Varjak awakens and sees that the Contessa’s house is near a bustling city. He mistakes a group of cars for dogs and hurries away in fear, believing that his quest is doomed. When a rainstorm strikes, he takes shelter in a hut that a street cat named Holly already claimed. During his night in the hut, Varjak has another dream about Jalal and learns the second skill, awareness of his surroundings. Varjak awakens and tells Holly and her friend Tam about his mission. Holly grows defensive and distant after Tam compares Varjak to a friend of theirs who vanished, and Varjak continues on his quest alone.

Varjak reaches London and steps into the road in an attempt to make the passing “dogs” talk to him, but they race by without slowing. Varjak feels like an utter failure and tells himself that he doesn’t deserve to return home unless he fulfills his quest. While looking for food, he’s attacked by a gang of tomcats and beaten senseless. The unconscious Varjak receives another vision of Jalal, who teaches him the skill of hunting. Holly saves Varjak’s life, and he stays with her and Tam as they search the city for food. Using Jalal’s lessons, Varjak hunts a mouse and makes his first kill. That night, Jalal teaches Varjak the fourth skill, Slow-Time, which allows him to move faster than others can see.

Holly proposes that she, Varjak, and Tam work together to hunt the pigeons in Trafalgar Square. Although their first attempts are unsuccessful, Varjak is able to use Slow-Time to protect Holly from the pigeons’ counterattack. Tam goes off on her own in search of food, and Varjak and Holly grow worried when she doesn’t return to their hideout. While Holly and Varjak search the city for their missing friend, a tomcat named Razor pressures Holly to join his gang and then beats up Varjak when he intervenes. One day, Varjak mistakes a mechanical cat outside a toy store for Tam, prompting Holly to admit that she believes their friend has disappeared forever.

Jalal teaches Varjak the fifth skill, Moving Circles, which helps him in combat when a gang of cats attacks him for entering their territory. A dog named Cludge chases the gang away, and Varjak befriends him. Holly informs Varjak that Cludge is a dog, and he enlists Cludge’s help in saving his family from the Gentleman. When the trio reaches the stone wall around the Contessa’s house, Cludge must stay behind because he can’t climb. However, Varjak refuses to turn back.

Varjak and Holly enter the Contessa’s house and split up. Varjak finds his family and discovers that Julius is now in charge. Most of his relatives are overjoyed to see Varjak again, and they praise his courage when he tells them about his time in the outside world. However, Julius accuses Varjak of lying and attacks him. Using the Way of Jalal, Varjak defeats his brother but spares his life. Holly discovers that all of the cats who disappeared from the city are trapped in a cage on an upper floor of the house, and she tells Varjak that some of the cats aren’t alive. She urges the Mesopotamian Blues to escape with her, but Varjak’s relatives reject her help because she’s a street cat. Feeling like a traitor, Varjak stays with his family and watches as the Gentleman’s black cats drag Holly upstairs.

That evening, Jalal teaches Varjak that the final skill is to trust himself. He shows his descendant that they have the same amber eyes, proving that Varjak is a true Mesopotamian Blue. When he awakens, Varjak tells his family that they aren’t better than other cats and goes to rescue his friend by himself. He finds Holly and Tam in a cage with hundreds of other street cats, and he discovers that the Gentleman is turning the cats into mechanical toys like the one he and Holly saw in the city. Varjak frees the street cats from the cage and battles the black cats using the Way of Jalal. With Holly’s help, he realizes that the black cats are mechanical and shuts them down by removing their collars. The Gentleman seizes Varjak, but Cludge breaks through a window and chases the terrified man out of the Contessa’s house. Although Varjak’s family is deeply grateful to him and his friends, they don’t feel ready to leave the Contessa’s house yet. Together, Varjak, Holly, Tam, Cludge, and many of the freed cats return to the city and form a gang of their own.