"The Big Friendly-Giant picked Sophie off the table and carried her to the cave entrance. He rolled the huge stone to one side and said, 'Peep out over there little girl, and tell me what you is seeing.'"
The BFG's protagonist, Sophie, peered out of the window and discovered tall, dark, and gruesome beasts that prey upon the bones of peoples from all over the world. Roald Dahl created Sophie to be an eight-year-old orphaned girl who awakes one evening to giants scurrying through the night. Fortunately for Sophie, the giant that picks her from her slumber happens to be the one giant who desists from eating children. The BFG is the runt of the pack of giants, and immediately befriends the young girl. As soon as Sophie discovers the menacing traits of the other giants, she is appalled by their violence. The reader quickly discovers that the BFG captures dreams from children all over the world. He uses these dreams out of the kindness of his heart to promote his love for all creatures. The plot frantically evolves as Sophie plots to end the giants reign of terror on the world. The plan devised is to travel all the way to London and meet the Queen. After impregnating the Queen with a carefully concocted dream, she will awake to discover the plea of a young girl with her giant friend. The end of Dahl's tale closes as the Queen and the Royal Air Force take their battle to the sleeping giants, seeking peace amidst the global unrest. The infectious bond between the young girl and the gentle giant is persuasive to the Queen's wishes, and justice is finally serviced to the wrong-doers.
A wonderfully written tale of an unimaginable friendship, The BFG documents the larger than life story of an orphaned girl with a beautiful heart. The beast of the tale, measuring 24 feet tall, is just as sweet as Sophie. Their partnership is at first a tense bond. The BFG tells Sophie that she will never be able to return to her home, for fear that the girl will expose him. Even more frightening, Sophie believes that she may be gobbled up at any moment by the larger giants that can hear the slightest murmur of a human heartbeat. I was very tense during the quiet moments in the giant's house when the larger giants were searching the space for the existence of human flesh. Dahl is not afraid of painting a gruesome picture of this fictional world for his reader. The world of the giants is far from a fairy-tale land with poppies and lush fields of green. I was taken aback by the nasty descriptions of the beasts that Dahl eloquently described as being a part of the giant community. I found the investigations of the dream jars to be one of my favorite scenes from the book. Dahl's imagination runs wild with vivid descriptions of dreams intended for boys. I identified immediately with the dream of turning invisible. I had many dreams as a child that involved this super ability. I also thoroughly enjoyed the description of the Queen's reception breakfast for the girl and giant. The humorously put together furniture intended to accommodate the giant was a fun picture. The business of the Queen's headquarters, along with the journey in London, is definitely written by an author who has spent some time in the English city. I think that The BFG is an appropriate story for any reader who is willing to take the plunge into a fantasy world. Although the characters of Dahl's story exist in an unreal setting, the humanistic characteristics of the protagonists are relatable to the conditions of all of our lives. The evils of the world need not remain hidden behind fear. Real life heroes, if they find the right courage, can bring attention to even the Queen of England for assistance.
Check out the Dahl museum next time you are in England: http://www.roalddahlmuseum.org/
I liked that you included a picture of the BFG and Sophie--I think that is the perfect image of what I picture their friendship to be like. I really like that you said Dahl isn't afraid of painting a gruesome picture of his fictional world for the reader. I never thought of that but it is definitely true. (I grew to hate the other giants as a read).
ReplyDeleteI loved how you touched on the dream jar exploration scene as your favorite and described it in such detail; that is also so cool that you were able to make a personal connection to the dream of invisibility that you had as a child! I also think the geographical references that Dahl included are really cool and make the fantasy story definitely have some believable aspects about it--it kind of brings the story back down to earth just a little bit and make it more relatable to children.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that Sophie and the BFG's friendship is truly unimaginable, but certainly inspiring to others. I am glad you touched on the BFG's wonderful gift to young boys and girls all over the world, sweet and beautiful dreams. He obviously has a soft spot for children, therefore does his absolute best to help Sophie essentially save the world from the other human hunting giants of GiantLand. The bond the two of them form by the end of the story speaks volumes of their sincere character, and also impressive to the Great Queen of England!
ReplyDelete