"The Witches", by Roald Dahl

The Witches, by Roald Dahl, follows an orphaned boy living with his grandmother as he is introduced into the world of witches. Witches are evil, insidious creatures that hide their deformities beneath regular clothes and walk unnoticed among the general public. Despite their hatred of children, they are experts at disguise and at first blush they seem sweet and kind. Only when it is too late do most children realize that they've been had by a witch. When the boy and his grandmother decide to go rest at an inn, they accidentally stumble upon a worldwide Grand Convention of Witches, who are meeting to devise a plan to get rid of all children. The witches soon find out about the boy, and turn him into a mouse. It is then up to the boy to stop them before it's too late for the other children.

The quote I chose for this book is taken from the page where the boy decides that even though he is still a mouse, he is going to decide to save the other children.
"We've got to stop them," I said.
She turned and stared at me. "You can't stop witches," she said. "Just look at the power that terrible Grand High Witch has in her eyes alone! She could kill any of us at any time with those white-hot sparks of hers! You saw it yourself (134)!"
The reason i chose this quote is that it perfectly embodies the style of Roald Dahl. Even when dealing with an extremely stereotyped subject such as witches, he makes his own version for the reader to adopt, and it becomes the norm for them. This trailblazing quality is what makes Roald Dahl so famous. He redefines subjects that have solid definitions in order to create a story that will captivate his reader. Another way this quote reflects Dahl's style is it's intensity. While other authors tend to tone down children's books and stay away from intense writing, Dahl realizes that what captivates adults also captivates children. This is what causes him to write children's books about murderous witches rather than animals on a farm. He knows that children like hearing about action and suspense and risk, and it is a large part of his success.

Dahl's writing draws many personal connections for me. The concept of a mouse taking on hundreds of powerful witches reminds me of high school. High school is a massive undertaking, and at times it can seem like the amount of effort required to sustain a good grade as well as a social and extracurricular life is monumental. The story ending with the mouse beating the witches is an encouragement, saying that even though it seems daunting, it is still possible.

Much like in his other books, the family ties and relationships in The Witches are held with the utmost importance. To the boy, his grandmother is the most important person in the entire world. Throughout the book, she is the one who offers sound advice and guidance. She always knows what to do in crisis situations, and can be counted on to protect the boy. The families in Dahl's books are what i call "cookie cutter families." The mother is usually sweet and caring, the father is strong and guiding, the siblings are annoying, and the grandparents are wise and kind. This book is no different. even though there are no parents, they are still reflected upon as the above stereotypes.

Following the path of the other books, "The Witches" contains a valuable virtue that ends up saving the character's life. The virtue of this book is that everything isn't always what it seems. The characters are constantly having to reexamine what they consider to be reality, and are ever cautious of the world around them. The book preaches observance, as well as caution.


The picture I chose represents the grandmother in the story. She is the one who originally brings up the subject of witches, and teaches the boy how to spot a real witch by looking for several telltale signs. Throughout the book she plays the role of the teacher and guidance, getting the duo out of sticky situations with her knowledge of witches. likewise, a wiseman can always be counted on to know what to do, and is often used as guidance in other stories.



What other virtues can be taken from the text?

What other writing does Dahl use this style in?

What can be inferred from the grandmother-grandson dynamic?

What can be said about the non-typical characterization of witches?

Where else can this be seen in Dahl's writing?


As usual, this book comes with a heartwarming ending and a lesson to boot, and contains lovable characters and hateable villains. one thing i have learned from these readings is that Dahl has a bit of a story template, where all of his characters are mostly ordinary people going up agains extraordinary odds. If you are looking for a good story that keeps you on your toes, i recommend this book. If you are looking for a new age writing style, this classic is not for you.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, by Roald Dahl

This book is actually a compilation of seven of Dahl's stories. These include: The Boy Who Talked With Animals, The Hitchhiker, The Mildenhall Treasure, The Swan, The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar, Lucky Break, and Piece of Cake, Dahl's first story. the book continues Dahl's style of fictional stories, with the exception of the last two. Lucky Break is Dahl's account of how he became a writer and got into writing children's novels. Piece of Cake is the story of an awful plane accident that Dahl survived while in the British Royal Air Force. both stories go well outside the Genre of children's writing, especially Piece of Cake, which gets a bit gruesome.

Because this book is actually seven smaller books combined, it is difficult to find a quote that represents the book as a whole. Rather, I found a quote that best represents the writing that Dahl does in the stories, and that best describes him. The quote I chose from the book is found on page 188, where Dahl says: "When I left school at the age of eighteen, in 1934, I turned down my mother's offer (my father died when I was three) to go to university. Unless one was going to become a doctor, a lawyer, a scientist, and engineer, or some other kind of professional person, I saw little point in wasting three or four years at Oxfordor Cambridge, and I still hold this view. Instead, I had a passionate wish to go abroad, to travel, to see distant lands." This quote embodies the spirit of Dahl, as well as his writing. Dahl bases many of his characters and settings in far off places that are exotic to most people. For example, the first story is based in Jamaica, while some of his more famous stories are based in magical places, such as an enchanted chocolate factory, or a desert where only giants live. Dahls affinity for the bizarre and unknown can be clearly captured in this quote.

An interesting connection I made is between Dahl's own life and the lives of his characters. One interesting thing is that the protagonist in his stories is almost always a child or a group of children. They can often see things that the adults can't, and often get into marvelous adventures. In The Boy Who Talked With Animals, the main character is a very young boy who is trying to save an enormous turtle from being cooked. This can berelated to Dahl's own Childhood, in which he had many adventures and was constantly finding himself in new places, such as the boarding school that his mother sent him too, or the ship that he rode back home when he faked appendicitis out of homesickness.

Another interesting connection that is made is the link between the father figures in Dahl's books and Dahl's own father, who died while Dahl was still very young. in the books, Dahl gives the fathers of the protagonist a strong leaderlike quality, and often makes them very upstanding and supportive of their children. it would seem that Dahl is projecting his idea of what a father should be onto his characters, in a way reliving the childhood that he never had.

At several places, the concepts that Dahl writes about are far more than children's lessons. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar preaches the virtue that too much of a good thing can be bad, and can sometimes get one into trouble. Likewise, The Hitchhiker shows readers that if you give anyone a chance, they can prove themselves to be a decent person. Even pickpockets, which is the "occupation" of one of the characters.

The picture above is representative of the main story, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. in this story, a boy named Henry learns that he is able to see through cards, as well as somewhat predict the future. "This," Henry Sugar went on, talking aloud to himself, "is a terrific piece of information. It could change my life." Henry uses the information to cheat at casinos and win loads of money. He quickly finds out however, that his new talent takes all of the joy and suspense out of playing the odds, and decides to take his money and leave the casino. After that, he goes on to fund orphanages, and then nothing more is heard of him. i Chose the crystal ball not only because of the obvious implications of a character that has the powers of prediction, but because Dahl's writing can act as a crystal ball into his personal life, much more than it can with most writers. With Dahl's writing, it is easy to tell about his family life and his childhood and passions and hatreds through the things he writes about, Dahl is a writer that takes his inspiration from his everyday life.

Is Dahl's portrayal of the fight over the sea turtle in "The Boy that Talked With Animals" a commentary on the way that humans value life of other creatures?

What is Dahl implying about the idea of knowing too much in "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar"?

Where can connections be drawn between Dahl's own life and the lives of his characters?

How does Dahl's use of humor in "The Hitchhiker" compare to the seriousness of the other stories in the collection?

At what places in the book do the concepts written about go beyond mere children's writing?

I loved this book! It was full of enchanting stories that were almost all magical realism. From the magical characters and exotic settings, to the clever bends in reality, the stories of Roald Dahl are sure to pique the interest of any reader. I liked that Dahl decided to publish these stories as a collection rather than separately. The books individually don't give much herald to Dahl's creativity, but when read side by side, they combine to paint a picture of the man himself.

Storyteller: The Authorized Autobiography of Roald Dahl

"Roald now found that he wrote best when he was undisturbed in his hut. It was built out of a single layer of bricks, insulated with polystyrene and dividen into two rooms, neither more than six feet wide. In the front room he stored his files, letters and manuscripts in two ancient wooden cabinets, on top of which were perched two tiny aeroplanes with oak propellers and long slender wings covered in varnished silk."
The above quote describes the setting in which Dahl wrote many of his books. This quote demonstrates the intensity with which Dahl often wrote, as well as his nitpicky personality. Roald Dahl liked things to be a certain way, and needed everything to be just so in order to get the best results from his writing. If just one or two things were "off", he would find great difficulty writing his stories.
Connections:

All of my connections are between Dahl and myself. First off, Dahl had a fascination with far off places. When he was younger, he flew for the Royal Air Force in Africa in WWII, and also worked as a Shell Oil businessman in Africa. I also have an interest in far off places, and would like to one day visit places such as Norway, Dahl's birthplace, and Africa.
Dahl also had a great sense of humor. As a young boy, he had a great fascination with practical jokes, and often played pranks on his friends and told jokes. I am much the same way. I love jokes and telling them and creating them.

1. Does a life of adventure beat a life of solitude?
2. What in Dahl's life affected his writing?
3. Can Dahl's imaginative nature be attributed to his childhood?
4. How does Dahl use his childhood to better his writing?
5. Does Dahl use his experiences to better himself throughout his life?

I thought that this book did a wonderful job of describing Dahl's life, as well as the man himself, in great detail. By the end of the book, one really gets an idea for Dahl's personality and story, as well as his relationships with his family and friends. I would recommend this book to people who are fan's of his book.