In the 2021 film *Encanto*, the main character is **Mirabel Madrigal**. Her character is defined by a dual goal: a primary external mission to save her family's magic and a deeper internal quest for worth and belonging.
### **The Main Character’s Goals**
1. **Saving the "Miracle" (External Goal):** After witnessing the magical house (*Casita*) cracking and the family's candle flickering, Mirabel makes it her mission to discover why the magic is dying and how to fix it. This quest is driven by her love for her family and her desire to protect their home.
2. **Finding Value and Belonging (Internal Goal):** As the only member of the Madrigal family who did not receive a magical "gift" on her fifth birthday, Mirabel feels like an outsider. Her underlying goal is to prove to herself—and especially to her grandmother, Abuela Alma—that she is just as valuable and important as her super-powered relatives.
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### **Specific Obstacles Faced**
Mirabel faces a combination of physical, social, and psychological obstacles that prevent her from achieving these goals easily:
#### **1. Abuela Alma’s Expectations and Rejection**
The most significant obstacle is the family matriarch, Abuela Alma. Because of her past trauma (losing her husband and fleeing her home), Alma is obsessively focused on preserving the miracle to ensure the family's safety.
* **The Obstacle:** Alma views Mirabel’s lack of a gift as a threat or a failure. She frequently dismisses Mirabel’s contributions, tells her to "step aside" during celebrations, and eventually blames her directly for the cracks in the house. This makes it impossible for Mirabel to feel like she belongs and forces her to investigate the magic in secret.
#### **2. The Family "Gaslighting" and Disbelief**
When Mirabel first sees the cracks in the house during her cousin Antonio’s ceremony, she alerts the family, but the cracks disappear before others can see them.
* **The Obstacle:** Her family members (guided by Abuela’s desire for "perfection") choose to believe she is making things up out of jealousy. This social isolation forces her to solve the mystery alone, as even her supportive parents are hesitant to challenge the family’s status quo.
#### **3. The Mystery of Tío Bruno and the "Vision"**
Mirabel discovers that her missing uncle, Bruno, had a vision of her standing in front of a shattered Casita.
* **The Obstacle:** Because "we don't talk about Bruno," seeking the truth involves navigating family taboos. The vision itself is an obstacle because it is ambiguous—it suggests Mirabel could either save the magic or destroy it. This causes Mirabel intense self-doubt, as she fears she might actually be the villain of her own story.
#### **4. Strained Relationships with Her "Perfect" Sisters**
To save the magic, Mirabel discovers she must mend the "cracks" in her family relationships, specifically with her sisters, Isabela and Luisa.
* **The Obstacle:** Both sisters have built-up defenses. **Luisa** is crushed by the physical and emotional weight of her responsibilities, while **Isabela** resents Mirabel for "messing up" her perfect life. Mirabel has to overcome her own resentment toward them to help them realize they are more than just their gifts, which is the key to strengthening the house.
#### **5. Internal Feelings of Inadequacy**
The final obstacle is Mirabel’s own perception of herself.
* **The Obstacle:** Throughout the film, she operates from a place of "trying too hard" to compensate for her lack of magic. This internal conflict comes to a head in the climax during her argument with Abuela, where Mirabel realizes the "miracle" isn't the magic—it’s the people. Only by overcoming the need for a magical gift can she truly step into her role as the family’s new emotional anchor.
Ultimately, Mirabel achieves her goal not by gaining a magical power, but by forcing her family to confront their generational trauma and seeing them for who they are, rather than what they can do.