James And The Giant Peach

“The hill was so high that […] if he looked in the right direction, he could see a tiny grey dot far away on the horizon, which was the house that he used to live in with his beloved mother and father.”

James’s feeling of longing and loneliness are captured in this passage. James has no toys, books, or anything fun to distract him from his loss, so all he can do is gaze at reminders of the loving life he had before. The house as a tiny dot illustrates how far his life with Spiker and Sponge is from the life he used to have.

“And there they sat, these two ghastly hags, sipping their drinks, and every now and again screaming at James to chop faster and faster. They also talked about themselves, each one saying how beautiful she thought she was.”

This description of James’s aunts, Spiker and Sponge, sums up their characteristics. As they sit and watch James do all the work, the greed, laziness, and cruelty of the aunts is portrayed. Their narcissism is shown by their self-appraisal of beauty, despite both being hideously ugly.

“‘Oh, Auntie Sponge!’ James cried out. ‘And Auntie Spiker! Couldn't we all - please—just for once—go down to the seaside on the bus? It isn't very far—and I feel so hot and awful and lonely...’”

James rarely answers back to his cruel aunts or asks for anything. The sadness of his situation has become too much, and he pleads with his aunts to go to the beach. This gentle request is met with jeers and threats of punishment. This is a turning point in the story. The depth of James’s sadness at the rejection of his request summons the old man with the bag of magic tongues.

“…immediately after that, marvellous things will start happening to you, fabulous, unbelievable things—and you will never be miserable again in your life. Because you are miserable, aren't you? You needn't tell me! I know all about it!” 

The magical old man has found James at his lowest point, having been scolded for asking to go to the beach. Dahl does not explain how the old man knows everything about James, or where he has come from. The implication is that James is so desolate and sad that the magical old man has been summoned to help him. The emphatic descriptions of the wonderful things that will happen to James inject hope into the story.

“Whoever they meet first, be it bug, insect, animal, or tree, that will be the one who gets the full power of their magic! So hold the bag tight! Don't tear the paper!”

In this warning given by the old man to James as he hands him the magic tongues, Dahl foreshadows the events that will take place. Following this warning the reader suspects that James is about to lose the bag. By now the reader is fully invested in James’s wellbeing, and fully unsympathetic towards Spiker and Sponge. The tension is heightened following this warning—with the reader willing James not to tear the bag but suspecting that he will.

“All hope of a happier life had gone completely now. Today and tomorrow and the next day and all the other days as well would be nothing but punishment and pain, unhappiness and despair.”

The reader feels the despair and hopelessness that James is plunged into after he loses all the magical crocodile tongues and is found by Spiker and Sponge. This quote mentions hope, which moments before surged with the appearance of the old man and his promise of a happier life. The speed at which that hope turns to endless despair is captured and pulls the reader down with James.

“Something is about to happen, he told himself. Something peculiar is about to happen any moment. He hadn't the faintest idea what it might be, but he could feel it in his bones that something was going to happen soon.”

The emotional rollercoaster continues, illustrated in this quote where James is beginning to realize that dropping the magical tongues may not have been catastrophic. Sparks of hope are rekindled after having just been dashed, and the anticipation towards escape for James and retribution for Spiker and Sponge starts to build.

“They were like a couple of hunters who had just shot an elephant and were not quite sure whether it was dead or alive. And the massive round fruit towered over them so high that they looked like midgets from another world beside it.” 

Dahl’s abundant use of similes is illustrated in this quote. Dahl uses them to create the powerful imagery of Spiker and Sponge as predatory, cruel hunters. By likening the aunts to little people in comparison to the peach, Dahl captures the giant size of the fruit. Dahl refers to the aunts as being “from another world,” rather than the more outlandish giant peach being the alien object.

“Already, he was beginning to like his new friends very much. They were not nearly as terrible as they looked. In fact, they weren't really terrible at all. They seemed extremely kind and helpful in spite of all the shouting and arguing that went on between them.”

James’s first night in the peach underscores his accepting and open character. James overlooks the fact that his new friends are giant, scary-looking insects, and appreciates them for who they are. The quote captures the personification of the insects, detailed in the way they behave like any group of comfortable friends.

“We may even get lost and be frozen by frost. / We may die in an earthquake or tremor. / Or nastier still, we may even be tossed / On the horns of a furious Dilemma. / But who cares! Let us go from this horrible hill! / Let us roll! Let us bowl! Let us plunge! / Let's go rolling and bowling and spinning until / We're away from old Spiker and Sponge!”

These are the last two verses of a song that Centipede sings raucously to James describing all the horrors that the group might encounter on their adventure. The point Centipede is making to James is that none of these unknown horrors are as bad as the miserable like he is living with Spiker and Sponge. This eases the concern that James expresses about where they might end up—he realizes that whatever lies ahead, nothing can be worse (even death) than his life right now.

“‘He probably fell down in the dark and broke his leg’, Aunt Spiker said. ‘Or his neck, maybe,’ Aunt Sponge said hopefully.”

Spiker and Sponge are out in their garden about to start collecting tickets, musing over where James could be. This quote highlights the absolute lack of empathy or any kindness in the aunts. Rather than look for him or show any concern for his welfare, James’s aunts sit and happily hope for the worst, reveling in their evil thoughts. This quote epitomizes Spiker and Sponge’s inhumane nature.

“Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker lay ironed out upon the grass as flat and thin and lifeless as a couple of paper dolls cut out of a picture book.”

The peach rolls over James’s aunts, with Dahl describing a gruesome death. The aunts’ deaths are portrayed in a humorous style, and likened to a neat, enjoyable childhood activity—paper dolls and picture books.

“Children were wading in it up to their knees, and some were even trying to swim in it, and all of them were sucking it into mouths in great greedy gulps and shrieking with joy.”

The peach rolls through the walls of a chocolate factory, which results in a flood of warm chocolate. This quote describes the response of the children to the flood of chocolate. It is important because it illustrates Dahls propensity to inject humor into scenes of destruction, and to find silver linings. The chocolate factory is badly damaged, but the children have a fantastic time in the chocolate river, and the happiness of children outshines the damaged brickwork.

“Everything and all of them were being rattled around like peas inside an enormous rattle that was being rattled by a mad giant who refused to stop.”

This quote is another example of Dahl’s use of similes to capture the intensity of a scene. There are layers which build upon the imagery—not only are the travelers being shaken like peas in a huge rattle, but the rattle is also being shaken by a giant. Not any normal giant, but a mad giant who refuses to stop, taking the reader further into the sensation that James and his friends are going through.

“‘Or near the seashore,’ said James eagerly, ‘with lots of other children down on the sand for me to play with!’”

The peach has stopped rolling and the travelers are guessing where they may have ended up. This quote is James’s excited guess. James has been wishing to go to the seashore ever since he was taken from his home at the age of four, and this quote captures that desire. James’s memories of his life when he was happy, before living with Spiker and Sponge consist of the seashore, friends, and sand to play in, and he has clung to these memories during his years of abuse. He is finally allowing a spark of hope to grow that he might be able to relive that happy life.

“‘My dear James,’ said the Old-Green-Grasshopper, laying a front leg affectionately on James’s shoulder, ‘I don't know what we'd do without you. You are so clever. Ladies and gentlemen—we are saved again!’”

In all the years James lived with his aunts he was never praised, shown affection, or listened to, let alone being told he had saved anyone. To be told he is clever and to be treated with love and respect is exactly what James needs to rebuild his self-esteem and spirit after years of abuse. This is the point at which the insects (and the reader) start to see James as a leader.

“‘Is there nothing we can do?’ asked the Ladybug, appealing to James. ‘Surely you can think of a way out of this.’ Suddenly they were all looking at James.”

Sharks attack the peach and the insects turn to James to save them. For the first time in his life James is put in the position of being in charge, with the responsibility of saving his friends. James finds himself in the exact opposite position to that he was in a few days ago when he was Spiker and Sponge’s slave. He calmly and modestly accepts this new role, buoyed by the confidence his friends have in his abilities.

“James went over and put an arm gently round the Earthworm’s shoulders. ‘I won't let them touch you,’ he said. ‘I promise I won't.’”

The transformation from the quiet, shy, submissive boy James was with his aunts into the leader to whom others turn for reassurance on the peach is clear in this quote. Earthworm is worried about being the lure in James’s plan to capture the seagulls, but Earthworm trusts James enough to be reassured by him that he will be safe, and James has enough self-confidence and love for his friends that he can genuinely offer this promise of safety.

“‘Then why did we start sinking?’ the Centipede asked. ‘Perhaps we didn't start sinking,’ the Old-Green-Grasshopper suggested. ‘Perhaps we were all so frightened that we simply imagined it.’” 

The group felt the peach sinking as they watched the sharks attack. When Miss Spider discovers there is no damage to the peach, Old-Green-Grasshopper wisely says this quote. The possibility is raised that James is imagining the whole adventure because he is so lonely and frightened living with his aunts and that there is no magical peach. However, this thought is followed by a detailed description of why it is physically impossible for sharks to take big bites out of large, smooth, round objects, dispelling any conjecture the reader might have about this adventure all being in James’s head.

“‘My dear young fellow,’ the Old-Green-Grasshopper said gently, ‘there are a whole lot of things in this world of ours that you haven't started wondering about yet.’”

The Old-Green-Grasshopper kindly points out to James that he has a lot still to discover in life. James has experienced a lot in his short seven years, very little of it good. He has experienced devastating loss, hardship, and abuse. He has also experienced neglect and loneliness. Now, with the help of his unusual friends, James is discovering and learning about the wonders of nature and is rediscovering the experiences of friendship, trust, and love, which were lost to him when his parents died.

“I don't mean to be rude, but I think it's ridiculous to have ears on the side of one’s head. It certainly looks ridiculous. You ought to take a peek in the mirror someday and see for yourself.”

The Old-Green-Grasshopper has finished explaining to James where various insects have their ears, and James exclaims that having ears on one’s legs is “ridiculous.” Centipede quickly points out to James that to them, having ears on one’s head is ridiculous. This lesson shows James how not to judge anyone or anything based on their appearance. James has already shown himself to be kind and accepting, and this highlights that even the best of people can still ridicule things that are not familiar to them and without meaning to be cruel, can be judgmental.

“A great round ball as big as a house had been sighted hovering high up in the sky over the center of Manhattan, and the cry had gone up that it was an enormous bomb sent over by another country to blow the whole city to smithereens.”

This quote encapsulates the reaction of the people of New York to the sighting of the giant peach above the city. The default reaction of people to the unknown is suspicion and fear. The human tendency to imagine the worst-case scenario makes sense on one hand—it is good to be prepared for the worst, but always expecting the worst prevents open communication and friendly curiosity. Fortunately, human emotions are also flexible, and the peach went from being a terrifying bomb to a miracle as soon as the unknown became known.

“‘James!’ cried the Earthworm. ‘Do something, James! Quickly, do something!’ ‘I can't!’ cried James. ‘I'm sorry! Good-by! Shut your eyes everybody! It won't be long now!’”

The seagulls have just been released and the peach is plummeting to earth. In this quote, the travelers believe they are falling to a certain death, but the insects still turn to James to save them. James’s noble character is highlighted in this quote—even as James thinks he about to die his last words and thoughts are to try and comfort his friends and to apologize for not being able to save them. This illustration is in stark contrast to Spiker and Sponge who thought only of themselves before being crushed by the peach.