The BFG could have given readers huge, terrifying giants and left it at that. But Dahl also goes a step further and makes a connection to the readers’ world. In the BFG’s conversations with Sophie, he reminds her that when you compare human-killing giants to human-killing humans, well, it’s pretty clear that humans don’t come off looking that much better. After all, humans are killing each other in greater numbers than giants are killing humans.
Why so grim, author? Maybe Roald Dahl wants to make his readers question the things they’ve accepted about their world, the same way Sophie learns how to do in his book. Hey, as long as we get some of that Dahl-esque humor, we’ll take the moral questions.
Questions About Morality and Ethics
- Why doesn’t the BFG believe in stealing? How does he justify stealing when he does it?
- Give three examples of rules humans make to, as the BFG puts it, “suit themselves.” (11.83)
- Do you think the fact that humans kill their own kind makes them worse than other species?
- Do you agree with the BFG’s and the Queen’s idea that two wrongs don’t make a right?
Chew on This
Sophie’s ideas of right and wrong are changed by the end of the novel.
The Queen in The BFG is a fantasy character, because the real Queen of England would be in favor of capital punishment for child-eating giants.