Grotesque or Funny?
...o get even with the unjust adult. Throughout his work, authoritarian adults are frequently the victims of vicious revenge. In his article “The Grotesque and the Taboo in Roald Dahl’s Humorous Writings for Children,” Mark I. West defends Dahl against attacks that his writings are too graphic for young readers and generalizes the adults he pokes fun at. For example, in Dahl’s “The Magic Finger,” the main character feels unjustly treated by her teacher, thereby causing her to place a vicious curse on her from which she changes into a cat “with long whiskers “growing out of her face!” She also grew a “huge bushy tail.” Rees’ objections to Dahl’s way of writing using disgusting humor and ridiculing adult authority seem to stem from his literal take of the stories he has read. He argues that children will also understand Dahl’s writings in the literal sense of what is written, instead of seeing the fantasy-like manner in which Dahl creates his characters. (West, 1990). Children know how to read “fantasy”. Dahl writes: I see this as natural, and I often work it into my children’s books. I like to poke fun at grown-ups, especially the pretentious ones and the grouchy ones.” (Qtd. In West 74-75). In his writing of “The Magic Finger,” Roald Dahl provides an 8 year old girl an abstract outlet for her anger by use of her “magic finger” to teach lessons to those she feels are committing the grave injustices towards other living things. After killing a deer, the little girl was so angry that her finger zapped them. The Gregg family realizes the folly of hunting, and they change. In comparing “The Magic Finger” with other of Dahl’s writings, the “grotesque” humor in this story is rather tame. “The Magic Finger” was written with a moral lesson in mind, to encourage people to try to view things from the other person’s (in this case duck’s) shoes. As such, Dahl used adjectives such as “lovely” but with quiet humor such as “Oh, isn’t it lovely!” cried Mrs. Gregg when witnessing the final product from the teamwork associated with building their first nest to sleep in as they were then ducks, “I feel I might lay an egg any moment!” In that this story was not written to make fun or adults an...