Danny the Champion of the World
The proletariat’s rebellion is a thematic concern that underscores many of Dahl’s narratives. While the Buckets’ are largely pacifists who do not actively seek to redress their poverty, in her thesis, Yeoh addresses instances in George’s Marvelous Medicines, The Twits and James and the Giant Peach where the oppressors are eradicated through extremely violent means. Turning away from Charlie, the discussion will use Danny the Champion of the World as a further elaboration on the tendency for Dahl’s stories to represent the socio-economically disadvantaged.
The narrative begins with an economic assessment of the protagonist. All that Danny’s father owns in the world was a very small filling station surrounded by fields and woody hills owned by Mr. Hazell, described as “a little island in the middle of the vast ocean of Mr. Hazell’s estate” (49). The spatial image contrasts the poor proletariats with the opulent capitalist. Centered on poaching, the narrative tells the story of how the poor thwarts the vulgar display of the wealth by the nouveau riche. Similar to Robin Hood who exacts justice in Sherwood Forest, Danny’s father exercises his brand of income reallocation by robbing the rich of their pheasants. Dahl recounts how the keepers of the bourgeois deliberately lay “six feet long” traps to “catch people” (72-73). In his attempt to exact his version of justice, Danny’s father risks being shot at and actually breaks his leg in the process. The violence embedded within this version of class struggle is aptly conveyed through the war metaphor of the adventure as “a famous victory” (201).
Like in Matilda, Dahl’s commentary on the politics between classes is not resolved simply. The story ends on an apparently disappointing tone where the pheasants literally fly the coop. However, upon further analysis, the conclusion is in line with the over-arching moral of the story: that “It never pays to eat more than your fair share” (200). The lesson about greed is polarized against the contentment father and son find in each other’s company. The narrative assures that the protagonists’ relationship remains, till the very end, free from excessive consumption. At this point, the ideologies propounded by Dahl appear to conflate. On one hand, the narratives direct our gaze to the ugly and greedy side of consumers. On the other hand, the protagonists of the stories are driven by the same impulse to consume.
From Danny and the Champion of the World, the Marxist notion of class struggle critics the capitalists. However, as capitalism is the default economic system of the present world, Dahl’s protagonists risk being subsumed by consumerism. In the resolution, Dahl ensures that the protagonists’ absorption with consumerism is moderated.
This schizophrenic dimension of Dahl’s social theory is magnified by the enigmatic Willy Wonka. The following discussion on Willy Wonka hopes to illuminate this paradox.
The narrative begins with an economic assessment of the protagonist. All that Danny’s father owns in the world was a very small filling station surrounded by fields and woody hills owned by Mr. Hazell, described as “a little island in the middle of the vast ocean of Mr. Hazell’s estate” (49). The spatial image contrasts the poor proletariats with the opulent capitalist. Centered on poaching, the narrative tells the story of how the poor thwarts the vulgar display of the wealth by the nouveau riche. Similar to Robin Hood who exacts justice in Sherwood Forest, Danny’s father exercises his brand of income reallocation by robbing the rich of their pheasants. Dahl recounts how the keepers of the bourgeois deliberately lay “six feet long” traps to “catch people” (72-73). In his attempt to exact his version of justice, Danny’s father risks being shot at and actually breaks his leg in the process. The violence embedded within this version of class struggle is aptly conveyed through the war metaphor of the adventure as “a famous victory” (201).
Like in Matilda, Dahl’s commentary on the politics between classes is not resolved simply. The story ends on an apparently disappointing tone where the pheasants literally fly the coop. However, upon further analysis, the conclusion is in line with the over-arching moral of the story: that “It never pays to eat more than your fair share” (200). The lesson about greed is polarized against the contentment father and son find in each other’s company. The narrative assures that the protagonists’ relationship remains, till the very end, free from excessive consumption. At this point, the ideologies propounded by Dahl appear to conflate. On one hand, the narratives direct our gaze to the ugly and greedy side of consumers. On the other hand, the protagonists of the stories are driven by the same impulse to consume.
From Danny and the Champion of the World, the Marxist notion of class struggle critics the capitalists. However, as capitalism is the default economic system of the present world, Dahl’s protagonists risk being subsumed by consumerism. In the resolution, Dahl ensures that the protagonists’ absorption with consumerism is moderated.
This schizophrenic dimension of Dahl’s social theory is magnified by the enigmatic Willy Wonka. The following discussion on Willy Wonka hopes to illuminate this paradox.
posted by cLoUd DriFteD bY at 9:37 AM
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