Devices pertaining to theme and character

The following devices enhancing character and theme were found in the ST: repartee, mistaken identity, personification, zoomorphism, inappropriate behaviour, role reversal, a brazen lie, physical humour (humorous body parts) and humorous character names.

Repartee is “a succession or interchange of clever retorts: amusing and usually light sparring with words” (Merriam-Webster 2019). In the following example from the ST, Grandma Georgina’s own words to Mr Wonka, is repeated by him to her:

“‘Out of my way!’ shouted Grandma Georgina, blowing herself back and forth. ‘I’m a jumbo jet!’ ‘You’re a balmy old bat!’” said Mr Wonka (ST 2013:25).

The device of mistaken identity is said to have been used “as a plot device in writing comedies which date back at least to the times of the Greeks and Romans in the writings of Menander and Plautus” (Kiryakakis 1998:n.p.). The device of mistaken identity is a literary device which is described as a centuries-old humorous device which was used by Shakespeare in many of his plays. The ‘mistake’ can be “either an intended act of deception or an accident”. In CGGE, humour is created by the device of mistaken identity when the innocent company of Mr Wonka, The Buckets, four old grandparents and a boy are mistaken for a sinister group of astronauts and later aliens. In the following example, humour is created when the astronaut, Shanks, addresses the President in a disrespectful manner, not realising that it is indeed the president he is speaking to, e.g.:

“‘How dare you butt in? Keep your big nose out of this. Who are you anyway?’ (Shanks to the President).

‘This is the President of the United States,’ said the voice. ‘And this is the Wizard of Oz,” said Shanks. ‘Who are you kidding?’” (ST 2013:16).

Personification is described as awarding human traits to animals or objects to create imagery, e.g. the talking sentient insects in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach and the spider in Charlotte's Web (Carswell 2012). An example from the ST: “When they had all stopped stretching and bending, this was how they finished up: SCRAM” (the Knids) (ST 2013:60).

Zoomorphism is depicted as having a literary device whereby “animal attributes are imposed upon non-animal objects, humans, and events; and animal features are ascribed to humans, gods, and other objects” (Literary Devices 2019). This is therefore the opposite of anthropomorphism, e.g.: “‘What in the world keeps this crazy thing in the air?’ croaked Grandma Josephine” (ST 2013:2).

Inappropriate behaviour refers to poking fun at authority figures. Mallan (1993:9) notes that

“teachers are the obvious choice for exaggerated portraiture in children’s books, for children are experts when it comes to telling tales about this group”. Dahl’s contempt for adult hypocrisy is obvious and many of his adult characters are irresponsible and cruel. Dahl (2013:191) writes to his target audience in the CGGE afterword:

All good books have to have a mixture of extremely nasty people  which are always fun  and some nice people. In every book, there has to be somebody you can loathe. The fouler and more filthy a person is, the more fun it is to watch him getting scrunched.

Self (2009:n:p) states in the “Dahl-world, political institutions are shoved well to the background, while the notion of an orderly society is never seriously entertained”. In CGGE, the American president is an object of ridicule, e.g.:

“The President threw the phone across the room at the Postmaster General. It hit him in the stomach” (ST 2013:34).

In Baker (1992:16), ‘tenor of discourse’ is referred to as “an abstract term for the relationship between the people taking part in the discourse”. When this relationship or what is perceived as ‘appropriate’ for a specific situation is disturbed, humour is created as in the case of adults behaving inappropriately.

Inappropriate behaviour is further enhanced by role reversal. Adults behave like children and the child protagonists are the ones who keep presence of mind. The following example pertains to the president and his nanny: “‘I’ll get you a nice warm glass of milk,’ said Miss Tibbs. ‘I hate the stuff,’ said the President. ‘Please don’t make me drink it!’” (ST 2013:46).

‘The innocent’ is a type of comedy character whose humour lies in his/her honest view of life (Mallan 1993). Mallan notes that readers find this character humorous because they can identify with it. She says that not all innocents are children, toys or animals and adults are also portrayed in this way, e.g. the grandparents in CGGE.

The brazen lie is another literary device associated with role reversal. The telling of a brazen lie is possibly even more humorous when it comes from the President of the USA e.g.:

“‘Floating?’” (President).

“We’re outside the pull of gravity up here, Mr President. Everything floats. We’d be floating ourselves if we weren’t strapped down. Didn’t you know that?’ (Shanks).

‘Of course I knew it,” said the President.” (ST 2013:17).

The readers realise the President’s ignorance and his insincerity as well as the concept that adults can also make mistakes (and deny it).

Physical humour or humorous body parts exaggerates the visual appearance of the character to create humour, e.g. in CGGE, the vice-president is described as a “huge lady of eighty-nine with a whiskery chin” (ST 2013:29). McGhee (1979) found that especially younger children tend to laugh at a person whose physical appearance differs from the norm. Mallan (1993) illustrates the use of grossness in Dahl’s work. The BFG contains examples of burping and farting and CGGE also uses ‘potty talk’ to entertain its readers. Smith (1967:271) states that this type of humour is enjoyed by young and old: “Obviously, physical humor causes people of all ages to laugh—instinctively, unreasoningly, with unintellectual belly laughters”.

McGillis (2009) states that “forbidden behaviour” often has to do with the body, therefore the body itself becomes an object of humour.

Mallan (1993) views the humorous character as one of the key strategies to create humour in children’s literature. This is achieved by exaggerating human traits. Mallan finds that this is more successful as a humorous device when the reader is familiar with the traits of the person the character is supposed to satirise. Authors often create names to reflect the personalities of their characters. Rennie (2016 n.p.) states “Roald Dahl delights in creating names that hint at the nature of his characters, and often his nastiest characters have the funniest names”. She states that Dahl uses alliteration to create humorous names for his good and bad characters.

Apart from funny sounding names, e.g. “President Gilligrass” (ST 2013:16) is the curiosity of Charlie (in CGGE) having a grandpa Joe, married to a grandma Josephine and his grandpa George married to grandma Georgina.

In the next section, the theoretical framework for reader response analysis is presented.