The Witches
Encyclopedia
The Witches is a children's book
by Roald Dahl
, first published in London
in 1983
by Jonathan Cape
. The book, like many of Dahl's works, is illustrated by Quentin Blake
. Its content has made the book the frequent target of censor
s. It appears on the American Library Association
list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990 to 1999, at number twenty-two. The book was also adapted into a stage play and a two-part radio dramatization for the BBC.
. The grandmother lost at least five of her childhood friends to witches; one disappeared without a trace, another was locked in a painting, the third child became a chicken, the fourth was turned to granite stone, and the fifth into a porpoise
.
The boy and his grandmother return to England, as per his parents' will. The grandmother warns the boy to be on his guard, since English witches are known to be among the cruelest in the world. Shortly afterward, the boy is building the roof on his treehouse
and spots a strange woman in black staring up at him with an eerie smile. When he sees that she is wearing gloves, he instantly recognizes her as a witch; when the witch offers him a snake to entice him, he climbs up the tree which he is in and stays there until his grandmother comes and gets him for supper. This persuades the boy and his grandmother to be wary, as he is confident that the woman was a witch.
When the grandmother later becomes ill with pneumonia
, the doctor orders her to cancel a planned holiday in Norway. Instead, they go to a luxury hotel in Bournemouth
on the southern English coast. The boy goes to train his pet mice in the hotel ballroom when the members of the "Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children" show up for their annual meeting. The boy notices one of the women reaching under her hair (with a gloved hand) to scratch at her scalp, and instantly realizes that the "RSPCC" is really the yearly convention of England's witches. A young woman shows up on stage, and removes her face mask to reveal a hideously deformed face underneath. The boy instantly recognizes her as the Grand High Witch. On her cue, the witches reveal their true selves. The Grand High Witch uses her eyes to exterminate one witch who decides to argue, terrifying the other witches.
The Grand High Witch is angry at her English minions' failure to destroy all of the country's children, and orders all of them exterminated by the end of the year. To help them along, she unveils a master plan calling for the witches to purchase sweet shop
s (with "homemade" money given to them by the Grand High Witch by her money-making machine) and give away free chocolate
(for the grand opening) laced with Formula 86 Delayed-Action Mouse Maker, a potion which will change anyone who eats it into a mouse
at a specific time. The witches are instructed by the Grand High Witch to set the formula to activate at 9:00 a.m. the day after the children have eaten the chocolate, when they are at school. The teachers, she hopes, will panic and kill the mice, thereby doing the witches' work for them. She warns her followers to only put one dose on each bit of candy that they sell. An overdose could break the delay barrier and even cause a child (especailly an adult) to turn into a mouse instantly.
The Grand High Witch turns an overweight child named Bruno Jenkins (lured to the convention hall by the promise of free chocolate) into a mouse as a demonstration of her potion. The witches hurriedly put on their disguises as Bruno arrives. At precisely 6:15, Bruno turns into a mouse. Shortly after, the witches smell the narrator's presence. He get away but is later captured by the witches corner who hold his nose, and pour an entire bottle of Formula 86 down his throat, turning him into a mouse instantly.
The formula turns out to have a lucky change: the transformed child retains his or her sentience, personality and even his or her voice. After tracking down Bruno, the transformed boy returns to his grandmother's house and tells her what he has learned. He suggests turning the tables on the witches by slipping Formula 86 into their food. With some difficulty, he manages to get his hands on a bottle of the potion from the Grand High Witch's room. After a failed attempt to return Bruno to his parents, the grandmother slips the boy into the kitchen, where he pours the potion into the soup intended for the witches' dinner. The witches all turn into mice almost instantly, having had massive overdoses. The hotel staff panic and, unknowingly, end up killing all of England's witches. The boy and his grandmother then concoct a plan to destroy all of the world's witches. Learning the location of the witches castle from the hotel's records, they will travel to the Grand High Witch's Norwegian castle (having stolen her notebook), use the potion to change her successor and retainers into mice, then release cats into the castle to kill them. Using the Grand High Witch's money-making machine and information on the whereabouts of all of the world's witches, they will repeat the process all over the world.
The prominence of violence has also been an issue, while feminists in Britain claim the story is sexist. The narrator says that all witches are women. But then, he does say immediately afterwards, 'I do not wish to speak badly about women. Most women are lovely. But the fact remains that all witches are women.' He also says that all ghouls are men, and that neither are really human anyway.
starring Anjelica Huston
and Rowan Atkinson
, released in 1990 (the year Roald Dahl died) and distributed by Warner Bros.
In the film the boy is named Lucas (but mainly called "Luke") Eveshim, the grandmother Helga Eveshim, and The Grand High Witch
Evangeline Ernst.
as the Grandmother, Toby Jones
as the Narrator, Ryan Watson
as the Boy, Jordan Clarke as Bruno and Amanda Laurence as the Grand High Witch.
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
by Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
, first published in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1983
1983 in literature
The year 1983 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ironweed by William Kennedy is published.*Salvage for the Saint by Peter Bloxsom and John Kruse is published. This is the final book in a series of novels, novellas and short stories featuring the Leslie Charteris...
by Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
. The book, like many of Dahl's works, is illustrated by Quentin Blake
Quentin Blake
Quentin Saxby Blake, CBE, FCSD, RDI, is an English cartoonist, illustrator and children's author, well-known for his collaborations with writer Roald Dahl.-Education:...
. Its content has made the book the frequent target of censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
s. It appears on the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990 to 1999, at number twenty-two. The book was also adapted into a stage play and a two-part radio dramatization for the BBC.
Plot
A young boy from England now lives with his grandmother in Norway after his parents are killed in a car accident. Some nights later, the grandmother tells the boy how to recognize a real witch. While they look and act like ordinary women, they are really demons who only look human--which makes them all the more dangerous. Witches are bald, and must wear wigs directly on their naked scalps, resulting in a condition they call "wig-rash." They have clawed fingers that they must hide with gloves. Their feet have square ends and no toes. Their spit is bright blue, leaving a pale bluish film on their teeth. Their eyes have color-changing pupils in which one may see "fire and ice dancing" in the center. They hate children with a passion, and seek to eliminate as many as they can, since they emit a repulsive odour that only they can smell (similar to dog's droppings) unless they seldom wash, and can be sniffed from miles away. Every year, they attend an annual meeting where they hear a speech from their terrifying ruler, the Grand High WitchGrand High Witch
The Grand High Witch of All The World or just the Grand High Witch is a title given to the leader of all witches on Planet Earth, according to Roald Dahl's 1983 book The Witches. The Grand High Witch is also the main antagonist of the book and the film...
. The grandmother lost at least five of her childhood friends to witches; one disappeared without a trace, another was locked in a painting, the third child became a chicken, the fourth was turned to granite stone, and the fifth into a porpoise
Porpoise
Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen...
.
The boy and his grandmother return to England, as per his parents' will. The grandmother warns the boy to be on his guard, since English witches are known to be among the cruelest in the world. Shortly afterward, the boy is building the roof on his treehouse
Treehouse
A treehouse, tree house, or treefort is a habitable structure built in trees. "Treehouse" may also refer to:*Tree House, Crawley, a listed 14th-century building in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom; originally the manor house....
and spots a strange woman in black staring up at him with an eerie smile. When he sees that she is wearing gloves, he instantly recognizes her as a witch; when the witch offers him a snake to entice him, he climbs up the tree which he is in and stays there until his grandmother comes and gets him for supper. This persuades the boy and his grandmother to be wary, as he is confident that the woman was a witch.
When the grandmother later becomes ill with pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, the doctor orders her to cancel a planned holiday in Norway. Instead, they go to a luxury hotel in Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
on the southern English coast. The boy goes to train his pet mice in the hotel ballroom when the members of the "Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children" show up for their annual meeting. The boy notices one of the women reaching under her hair (with a gloved hand) to scratch at her scalp, and instantly realizes that the "RSPCC" is really the yearly convention of England's witches. A young woman shows up on stage, and removes her face mask to reveal a hideously deformed face underneath. The boy instantly recognizes her as the Grand High Witch. On her cue, the witches reveal their true selves. The Grand High Witch uses her eyes to exterminate one witch who decides to argue, terrifying the other witches.
The Grand High Witch is angry at her English minions' failure to destroy all of the country's children, and orders all of them exterminated by the end of the year. To help them along, she unveils a master plan calling for the witches to purchase sweet shop
Sweet Shop
- Overview :Sweet Shop is a limited edition compilation of rare and unreleased recordings by London-based glam rockers Rachel Stamp. It was released in 2004 via Rachel Stamp's official website and sold at gigs around the UK...
s (with "homemade" money given to them by the Grand High Witch by her money-making machine) and give away free chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
(for the grand opening) laced with Formula 86 Delayed-Action Mouse Maker, a potion which will change anyone who eats it into a mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
at a specific time. The witches are instructed by the Grand High Witch to set the formula to activate at 9:00 a.m. the day after the children have eaten the chocolate, when they are at school. The teachers, she hopes, will panic and kill the mice, thereby doing the witches' work for them. She warns her followers to only put one dose on each bit of candy that they sell. An overdose could break the delay barrier and even cause a child (especailly an adult) to turn into a mouse instantly.
The Grand High Witch turns an overweight child named Bruno Jenkins (lured to the convention hall by the promise of free chocolate) into a mouse as a demonstration of her potion. The witches hurriedly put on their disguises as Bruno arrives. At precisely 6:15, Bruno turns into a mouse. Shortly after, the witches smell the narrator's presence. He get away but is later captured by the witches corner who hold his nose, and pour an entire bottle of Formula 86 down his throat, turning him into a mouse instantly.
The formula turns out to have a lucky change: the transformed child retains his or her sentience, personality and even his or her voice. After tracking down Bruno, the transformed boy returns to his grandmother's house and tells her what he has learned. He suggests turning the tables on the witches by slipping Formula 86 into their food. With some difficulty, he manages to get his hands on a bottle of the potion from the Grand High Witch's room. After a failed attempt to return Bruno to his parents, the grandmother slips the boy into the kitchen, where he pours the potion into the soup intended for the witches' dinner. The witches all turn into mice almost instantly, having had massive overdoses. The hotel staff panic and, unknowingly, end up killing all of England's witches. The boy and his grandmother then concoct a plan to destroy all of the world's witches. Learning the location of the witches castle from the hotel's records, they will travel to the Grand High Witch's Norwegian castle (having stolen her notebook), use the potion to change her successor and retainers into mice, then release cats into the castle to kill them. Using the Grand High Witch's money-making machine and information on the whereabouts of all of the world's witches, they will repeat the process all over the world.
Controversy
Dahl's children's stories have been praised as often as challenged. For instance, three of Dahl's stories appear in Publisher's Weekly's 150 Bestselling Children's Books of all time (until the year 2000).The prominence of violence has also been an issue, while feminists in Britain claim the story is sexist. The narrator says that all witches are women. But then, he does say immediately afterwards, 'I do not wish to speak badly about women. Most women are lovely. But the fact remains that all witches are women.' He also says that all ghouls are men, and that neither are really human anyway.
Film version
The book has been adapted into a film by director Nicolas RoegNicolas Roeg
Nicolas Jack Roeg, CBE, BSC is an English film director and cinematographer.-Life and career:Roeg was born in London, the son of Mabel Gertrude and Jack Nicolas Roeg...
starring Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
and Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
, released in 1990 (the year Roald Dahl died) and distributed by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
In the film the boy is named Lucas (but mainly called "Luke") Eveshim, the grandmother Helga Eveshim, and The Grand High Witch
Grand High Witch
The Grand High Witch of All The World or just the Grand High Witch is a title given to the leader of all witches on Planet Earth, according to Roald Dahl's 1983 book The Witches. The Grand High Witch is also the main antagonist of the book and the film...
Evangeline Ernst.
Radio Adaptation
In 2008, the BBC broadcast a two-part dramatization of the novel by Lucy Catherine and directed by Claire Grove. The cast included Margaret TyzackMargaret Tyzack
Margaret Maud Tyzack, CBE was a British actress.-Early life:Tyzack was born in Essex, England, the daughter of Doris and Thomas Edward Tyzack. She grew up in West Ham...
as the Grandmother, Toby Jones
Toby Jones
Toby Edward Heslewood Jones is an English actor.-Early life:Jones was born in Hammersmith, London, the son of actors Jennifer and Freddie Jones...
as the Narrator, Ryan Watson
Ryan Watson (actor)
Ryan Watson is an English actor and voice actor.He is best known for his role in the 2003 to 2004 series of Bernard's Watch, alongside Ezrah Roberts-Grey, reinvented as Bernard....
as the Boy, Jordan Clarke as Bruno and Amanda Laurence as the Grand High Witch.