For Hope's Sake

Roald Dahl uses a wonderful mix of sarcasm, realism, and fun in the delivery of “James and the Giant Peach.” The characters are solid and well defined. James is an inexperienced but compassionate leader, Spike and Sponge are consistently nasty, and the collection of creatures inside the peach all take on believable personalities; even if the setting is filled with fancy and imagination.

The seriousness of themes that Dahl covers in this book may be surprising. Some of the situations experienced by James and the other characters are: death of family members, abuse, neglect, interpersonal conflicts, war and fear of the future; but Dahl manages to balance stressful situations with care by adding strange or silly occurrences so as not to overwhelm the young reader.

Dahl uses each difficult situation in the book to allow for the further development of James’s character. In the beginning of the book James is happy and carefree, living in a loving environment with parents, family and friends. He has little to be worried about and is only concerned with his happy little world - but nothing outside of this self focused life.

The sudden death of his parents cracks open the security and self concern of his life; and he finds himself living with his two evil aunts. The aunts Spiker and Sponge are very selfish and vain women, spending their time feeding their obsessive egocentric appetites. The only reason James even exists in their world is so he can serve them.

James takes on all of the adult responsibility in the time he lives with his aunts. James cleans, chops wood and waits upon to wants of these awful women. The work he does is unrewarding and difficult and the home atmosphere is cold and uncaring.

James is at the ultimate limit. He once lived a life full of caring and contentment and now his world is dark and lonesome. Because James has seen such a dramatic change in his personal life, he begins to look outward for ways to improve it. This change is important, because it is the beginning of James realizing that there is more to life that just his personal world. James begins to understand that somewhere, there is a better, happier way to live and he must do something to change the status quo. Up until this point, James never has taken a time-out. He has been in this battle for a very long time, and it is time to admit that it all is just to much. This change in James, a willingness to take a chance, is a catalyst for all the character development there is to come for him.

At this pivotal moment , James meets someone who has the power to change his life. He meets a small, strange little man. Odd that this character could be so important, but often times we are deceived by appearances - aren’t we?

Amazingly, the bag full of glowing, green, living, crystals this strange little man possess contains ... “more power and magic in there ...than in all the rest of the world put together. This is it! This is what James needs! The weird, little man advises James what to do, and what not to do with this wonderful gift , and he disappears.

James runs to do what he was told, but in his hurry he falls and looses his treasure and hope for his future. In this movement when failure looks certain, the power of the crystals begins to work their magic on the old peach tree in the aunt’s dreary, overgrown, garden.

The magic in this story is so influential that it could be said to be a character itself. When life seem hopeless and overwhelming, the magic crystals are dropped into James’s life like, well ...magic. Some readers my criticize the magic of “James and the Giant Peach as too predictable, but I feel that Dahl uses magic to turn and alter the plot in unexpected ways. This idea of magic also supports the idea that there is a power beyond our own strength. The magic of the crystals enter into the base of the peach tree and cause a series of fantastic and wonderful things to happen. The old peach tree bears a beautiful, overgrown peach that draws visitors from all over England to see it.

The aunts are now more concerned about themselves than before and focus their attention completely on making millions from the sale of tickets to see the giant peach. James has changed, as he looks to the outside world for some hope. He thinks that this wonderful peach represents how different his life can be, compared to how horrible it is at the moment. The aunts have remained the same in character, only becoming more obsessed with their greed for more. James is left cold and hungry, to do only more work for his aunts, and in spite of his aunt’s repeated warnings to keep away from the peach, he is drawn to it’s enormous base to get a closer look.

Change, excitement and curiosity are evident as for the first time in this story the approach in description of the scene takes on warmth, color and an overall positive feeling. The peach is " soft and warm and slightly furry, like the skin of a baby mouse."” James finds a opening in the bottom of the peach and climbs in. He is not the hesitating, fearful boy he was only a few moments ago; he is overcome with excitement and nothing is going to stop him now. When James enters the opening of the peach , he is entering a world that is totally foreign to him. The entrance leads to a tunnel, and the tunnel leads to the “stone” or center of the peach that has a little door cut into it. When James opens the door and enters the main room, he is bombarded by the voices of creatures beyond compare.

The cozy room is fill with adult sized insects, that vary in species as well as personality. First, there is a genteel Old-Green-Grasshopper, a surprisingly kind but enormous black Spider, a sweet scarlet Ladybug, a worrisome earthworm and a sassy mouthed Centipede. James, being so used to his aunt’s abuse, backs away from the creatures in a panic and looks for a way to escape. The creatures speak to him, making sure James knows that they don'’t want to eat him. James carefully listens to the creatures, initially out of fearful obedience, but remains attentive due to his growing curiosity.

The group of creatures inside the peach are diversely different from each other. The Centipede proudly describes himself as a “pest”. The Earthworm describes himself as "a useful and much loved creature."” The Old Green Grasshopper is a “musician.” Lady Bug modestly tells the others that her kind is much loved by farmers for the service of eating harmful bugs and keep their fields healthy. Miss Spider knows that she is helpful in her life work, but is bothered that people don'’t think as fondly of her as they would a lady bug. "“It is very unfair the way Spiders are treated"”, Miss Spider says, as she explains how Aunt Spiker flushed her father down the drain just last week. Later, she tells how Aunt Sponge violently squashed her dear grandmother, whom was accidentally trapped in the sticky ceiling that had been freshly painted. The descriptions of life from a bug’s point of view, allow the reader to become connected to characters. The young reader can relate to all creatures because at some point in life they have felt like, a pest, as a useful and well loved person , as a musician or entertainer , as well as having their motives misunderstood or despised - even when doing a good deed. The reader is likely to pick a favorite character from this band of over grown insects, based upon personal experience and the feelings evoked when reading about each character. Dahl shows a great ability in providing colorful supporting characters. even though they a fictional, because they are so easily connected with. James finds himself, in a very short period of time, caring a great deal for the welfare of his new friends. His quick acceptance of these first frightening creatures only encourages the reader to open themselves up to their quirky but lovable personalities. This experiment in a child’s acceptance of the odd and unusual, continues to drive home a primary message of this book. We need to give everyone a chance to grow, before we short-sightedly place limits on what they are capable of achieving.

As the story continues, the reader is introduced to some more subtle creatures that are living in the peach with the rest of the group - glow worm and silkworm. These two are quieter the the others, but they are shown as helpful to the others partially because of light and string they produce when needed. The fact that they are quiet does not suggest that they are less important, in fact it shows that because they are permitted to use their gifts and skills - that they are indeed are appreciated.

Throughout the story, James is given many opportunities to help in dire situations. After centipede chews the peach free from the old peach tree and the evil aunts are killed as they stand in the path of the runaway peach, James seems to be released from the fear and despair that had bound him for so long. In the midst of rolling down the aunt’s hill, billowing into the village, and bouncing across the English countryside, James and his friends in the peach splash into the ocean in a somewhat ruffled and confused state of mind. But James now seems more determined to enjoy the adventure at hand. At this point in the story, the creatures are full of bumps, bruises and a sense of fear of what on earth can happen to us next. James take the lead at this time to calm his friend’s fears and give them the direction they now need. It is out of compassion and concern for the others, that James patently explains that they will be all right as they bob along in the ocean in their wonderful peach.

For James and the others, the crisis's keep coming, from need of food and water to shark attacks; but each time a problem arises James finds an answer. His solutions range from logical (Eat some of the peach.), to quite creative (Lasso hundreds of seagulls with rope made by Silkworm and Miss Spider, using earthworm as “bait”, in order to lift the peach out of the water.). Each situation causes James to consider that his choice could be the wrong one, but this fear of failure does not keep him from doing his best to help his friends. This test of James’s character reinforces another theme in the story; you must be willing to take a risk when helping others if you are to make a difference in people’s lives. In other words: How can you expect people to follow you if you are not willing to lead?

Often times in leadership situations, the hardest thing to deal with is interpersonal conflicts. Either someone in the group thinks he/she should be the leader or someone dosen't trust the leader’s direction. James has opportunity to deal with both of these situations during the adventure-filled voyage. Unfortunately, the Centipede and Earthworm are the foremost culprits in all of these disturbances. James adores both of them, but their actions cause many difficulties for the crew on the trip. As James devises his fantastic plan to escape the vicious sharks, Earthworm fusses and fumes that this idea will never work. In his close refusal to help the others, he wastes precious time and energy needed to succeed in escaping from the sharks. When James takes control of the situation, by going with earthworm to assure his safety on his dangerous task, earthworm reluctantly agrees to help in the effort. It is only after the peach is flying with the aid of the five hundred and two seagulls, that Earthworm believes in James as a leader. It is interesting that though the Earthworm is blind (earthworms have no eyes), he has to experience or “see” James' ability to lead before he believes it.

Centipede proves to be the least able to follow James' leading in comparison to the others, due to his desire for everyone’s attention (Centipede has a game show host personality, complete with jokes, dancing and clever songs about their adventures.) and his inability to control his own behavior.

Throughout the story, Centipede is constantly picking on one member of the crew or another. Much of the time his insults are directed at Earthworm, one of the harshest during the shark attack: “"My dear Earthworm, you'’re going to be eaten anyway, so what difference does it make whether it’'s sharks or seagulls?” ...” You will be a martyr... I will respect you for the rest of my life.") It is in this rough manner Centipede carries on his conversations and it causes many arguments. Centipede’s irresponsible behavior often puts the other crew in jeopardy. After the successful escape from the sharks, Centipede breaks into song and dance and in his distracted state dances right off the top of the peach into thin air. Miss Spider spindles out a line and James reels over the side of the peach to recover Centipede from the freezing water below. The result of his careless action leaves Centipede shaken, Miss Spider frustrated by his behavior, and James reinforced in the role as the level-headed leader.

As the peach floats gracefully through the clouds, the crew discover a strange species of “Cloud Men”, that work at high altitudes making hail, rain, snow flakes and rainbows. The entire crew is amazed and fearful of the Cloud Men, except Centipede; who instead of quietly observing the odd view casts insults at them. Centipede’s outburst causes the Cloud Men to launch a full assault of hailstones causing several of the crew to be injured as well as the peach taking so much damage that it begins to leak peach juice. Next, the dripping peach collides into a freshly painted rainbow - sending the Cloud Men into a full attack. The Centipede finally takes some positive action by chewing off the seagull lines the Cloud men shimmy down in attempt to down the peach. At the end of this attack, the peach is dripping juice more than ever and Centipede is covered in rainbow paint that has dried so he can’t move or speak. In a final effort to repay Centipede for the damage done, the Cloud Men turn on the faucets. The water pours down, drenching the crew completely as though they had walked through a waterfall. The only benefit if this is that Centipede is released from his prison of paint and is free to dance and sing once again. One redeeming quality of Centipede though, is that he does not give up easily when a fight is to be found. The problem though is that he seems to look for fights. In spite of his flaws, Centipede serves a valuable purpose in this story. Centipede’s stories, songs and antics provide much of the comic relief need to balance to stressful and serious themes dealt with in this story.

Night has passed at last, and the crew find themselves stunned to see the coast of America in the early light of dawn. It seems impossible that crossed the ocean so quickly, but much of what they have lived through would have seemed impossible if they hadn't lived it. James finds the peach quickly approaching New York City, and is left to come up with a solution to a new problem. How do they get down? As he works on the solution, all of New York City recognizes the approaching orange mass not as a giant peach, but as a bomb threatening the safety of the city and its citizens. Centipede is given the job of chewing off the seagull lines a few at a time to gradually lower the peach to a gentle landing. The plan is working and the peach is dropping slowly until a jet swishes by the peach, cutting all the seagulls lines leaving James and the crew plummeting to the ground. The city , James and the peach crew all fear the worst and they all share whatever quick words of comfort they can in the midst of their calamity.

Magically, the peach lands directly on top of the Empire State Building. It is perfectly perched atop the building with the needle running directly through the center of the giant peach. The crew inside the peach was secure, but New York still did not know what this giant orange ball was or what it’s intention was. It was not a bomb, or a ship from outer space, but what it was they did not know for sure.

Here we are again, where something unfamiliar, or odd is dropped into our lives and we don’t know what to do with it. The initial reaction to the crew of the peach is what you would expect: fear, bias, rumor and confusion. It is only when the Police and Firemen see James and listen to what he has to say, that they understand that the Centipede, Grasshopper, Miss Spider, Ladybug, Earthworm, Glow Worm and Silk Worm are "the nicest creatures in the world."

At James' declaration and song exhorting the wonderful qualities of his new friends, all of New York welcomes them all as heroes and long lost family. Not only do the adults immediately fall in love with James and his friends, but the children of the city embrace them as well. James invites the children of the city to eat the peach as the city celebrates the new friends that have come join the community.

James and the Giant Peach is a lovely story, complete with a happy but educated ending. The city is delighted, the children adore James and the fantastic stories he tells , and the crew of the peach find fulfilling jobs and new friendships in New York City. Most of all, James is finally, truly, happy. He has a happy home constructed out of the peach stone in Central Park . He has new friends to play with every day, and old his friends from the peach crew visit often.

James has seen the good, the bad and the good side of life once again. The love of his parents he will carry with him always, the lessons of greed and selfishness of his aunt’s he will never forget. By gaining a better understanding of all people, no matter size, shape or species; James has learned some valuable lessons. 1.) Give both the eccentric and common folk around you the time and opportunities to grow into their capabilities. 2.) You can take care of yourself by taking care of those around you.

There are millions of people out there, and every one of us has some growing to do. The journey for each and every one of us is different and filled with many obstacles. It is through these challenges, that we define what in our character needs to stay ...and what needs to go. If we hold onto hurt and loss for too long, we can find ourselves bound by bitterness and pain - unable to help ourselves or anyone around us. James had a great deal of hurt he could have held on too. but clinging too it would have paralyzed him.

Take a risk. James did. Try something impossible. James did. Open your heart to a new journey. James did. Even though the road James took to arrive at a place where he could feel safe and loved was difficult, he never returned to be lost to despair. Even when James’s future seemed to hold no promise, he never let go of hope for a better future. Take the first step, there’s a whole world out there and the journey’s just begun.