James and the Giant Peach is a story of rags to richs. Personally I am drawn to the idea presented of an orphan that seems nothing can go right for and is constantly presented with bad luck, however their luck always turns around. I am intrigued of the idea of this in this book because not only does Dahl choose to play on this idea he blows everything up and twists it.
My favorite example of Dahl’ work comes in chapter three. At this point James’s parents have been killed by a rhinoceros, he has been forced to live with his evil aunts who isolate him from other children, and they make him work like a slave. Everything in life has caught up with James in this moment. He suddenly breaks down crying and runs away from his aunts despite their threats. I can’t help but feel pity for James.
Dahl writes, “It was at this point that the first of all rather peculiar thing that led to so many other much more peculiar things, happened to him.”… “James stared into the bad, and sure enough there was a faint rustling sound coming up from inside it, and then he noticed that all the thousands of little green things were slowly, very very slowly stirring about and moving over each other as though they were alive.
“There’s more power and magic in those things in there than in all the rest of the world put together,” the old man said softly.
I love how he is grabbing the readers attention, and giving them hope that James will finally catch a break! This is a clear example of foreshadowing the changes that are to come, and how James luck will change. Dahl’s view on communicating morality throughout the book could be question though. The reader can’t help but be happy when James’s evil anuts are ran over by the giant peach! Everyone knows that could not happen, but you are entertained by the idea that bad people die. He is not trying to teach you anything real about the world. This is a completely different aspect than we have talked about in any other children’s literature book.
The only expierence I have with this Roald Dahl is from watching the movies based on his books, James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Personally, I hated the movies as a kid. I thought they were weird and obserd. Now that I have read James and the Giant Peach I can see some of the humor Dahl is trying to communicate that I was blind to before. This does surprise me though because children seem to pick up on humor more than adults. I suppose I now realize how ridiculous and over blown the stories are therefore I am more open to it.
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