Seeing as one of the main characters in Here Be Monsters! is an inventor, and the villain's evil plot revolves around using stolen technology to grow a rat to the size of an elephant to take over the town of Ratbridge… yeah, we'd say technology is a pretty important theme here.
Marjorie's a major gear-head insofar as she adores inventing things for their own sake, which leads to problems when her resizing machine is stolen by patent officers; Willbury is all about making sure inventors get their rightfully earned patents; and Grandfather is an inventor-type, too, having made wings and a walkie-talkie in the shape of a doll for Arthur to use to get around Ratbridge on food excursions. Though Snatcher isn't the engineering sort, by golly he can figure out how to use other people's inventions for various things (most likely evil).
Who has access to technology matters in this book… much like in the real world, we'd say.
Questions About Technology and Modernization
- In an invention contest, who do you think would win: Marjorie or Grandfather? Why?
- How likely is it that Arthur will grow up to become an inventor, too? What are some reasons for this?
- If you were Willbury, what would you do to protect people's rights to their own inventions?
- Why do you think Snatcher is so into technology?