Food and Power in Roald Dahl's Children's Fiction

Abstract

This thesis examines the representation of food and power in Roald Dahl's children's fiction written between the years 1961 and 1990. This thesis explores how the relationship between food and power in Dahl's biographical and literary works provides valuable insight into the author's often contradictory messages about food and 'proper' consumption. In this dissertation, I trace how Dahl's lifelong fascination with food and food issues have shaped the power relationships, power dynamics, and power reversals represented in his children's works. Food is indeed central to important discussions about power and control in his oeuvre: the fantastical confectionery in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), the gigantic peach in James and the Giant Peach (1961), and Mr Twit's food-filled beard in The Twits (1980) are just a few examples that are part of important discussions about consumer power, power and the natural world, and self-control, respectively. In a similar vein, the power dynamics between animals and humans in The Magic Finger (1966), and Fantastic Mr Fox (1970), and adults and children in Matilda (1988), are effectively understood through the representations of food in these novels. Throughout Dahl's children's fiction, ideas about pleasure and restraint are deeply connected to discussions about food's position in the minutiae of everyday life in twentieth-century British society. Particular emphasis is placed on industrialised and processed food in Dahl's novels and this study focuses on four key foodstuffs predominantly represented in his works: meat, sweets, convenience foods, and futuristic foods. This thesis endeavours to uncover new areas of study on Dahl's major and lesser-known children's works, and offers suggestions for future critical work on the author.