User:Student.Madeline/The Witches (novel)

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The Witches is a British children's dark fantasy novel by the British writer Roald Dahl. The story is set partly in Norway and partly in England, and features the experiences of a young English boy and his Norwegian grandmother in a world where child-hating societies of witches secretly exist in every country. The witches are ruled by the extremely vicious and powerful Grand High Witch, who arrives in England to organize her plan to turn all of the children in England into mice.

The Witches was originally published in 1983 by Jonathan Cape in London, with illustrations by Quentin Blake who had previously collaborated with Dahl. It is one of the top all-time children's novels, but received originally mixed reviews. The most common critique against the novel was based on perceived misogyny. The book was adapted into an unabridged audio reading by Lynn Redgrave, a stage play and a two-part radio dramatization for the BBC, a 1990 film directed by Nicolas Roeg which starred Anjelica Huston and Rowan Atkinson, an 2008 opera by Marcus Paus and Ole Paus, and a 2020 film directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Background
Dahl based the novel on his own childhood experiences, with the character of the grandmother modeled after Sofie Dahl, the author’s mother. The author was “well satisfied” by his work on The Witches, a sentiment which literary biographer Robert Carrick believes may have come from the fact that the novel was a departure from Dahl’s usual “all-problem-solving finish.” Dahl did not work on the novel alone; he was aided by editor Stephen Roxburgh, who helped rework The Witches. Roxburgh’s advice was very extensive and covered areas such as improving plots, tightening up Dahl’s writing, and reinventing characters. Soon after its publication, the novel received compliments for its illustrations done by Quentin Blake.

Analysis
Due to the complexity of The Witches and its departure from a typical Dahl novel, several academics have analyzed the work. One perspective offered by Castleton University professor James Curtis suggests that the rejection of the novel by parents is caused by its focus on “child-hate” and Dahl’s reluctance to shield children from such a reality. The scholar argues that the book showcases a treatment of children that is not actually worse than historical and modern examples; however, Dahl’s determination to expose to his young readers the truth can be controversial. Despite society occasionally making progress in its treatment of children, Curtis argues that different aspects of child-hate displayed in Dahl’s work are based on real world examples. As the boy’s grandmother informs him, the witches usually strike children when they are alone; Curtis uses this information from the novel to connect to the historical problem of child abandonment. As children have been maimed or killed due to abandonment, children are harmed by witches in the novel when they have been left alone. Another analysis done by Union College professor Jennifer Mitchell suggests that through one of the opening lines Dahl is portraying the narrator, and therefore himself, as someone reliable and trustworthy as a teller of the truth that most adults are trying to shield children from. According to Mitchell, the novel is a powerful tool for children to learn about gender identity. Mitchell makes the argument that the transition of the boy and Bruno Jenkins into mice, and their caretaker’s different reactions to such a transition, offers to readers the possible outcomes of queer children. While the boy’s grandmother is supportive of his new mouse state, Bruno Jenkins’s parents react aggressively against their son's own transition.

Reception
In 2012, The Witches was ranked number 81 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with primarily US audience. It was the third of four books by Dahl among the Top 100, more than any other writer. In November 2019, the BBC listed The Witches on its list of the 100 most influential novels. (nothing changed in this section)

The novel received mainly positive reviews in the United States, but with a few warnings due to the more fear inducing parts of it. Ann Waldron of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote in her 1983 review that she would suggest not gifting the book to a child that is more emotional to particularly frightening scenarios. Other mixed receptions were the results of Dahl’s depiction of the witches being monstrous in characterization. Soon after its publication, the novel received compliments for its illustrations done by Quentin Blake.

The Witches was banned by some libraries, due to perceived misogyny. Despite The Witches original success, it began to be challenged not long after its publication due to the perceived viewpoint that witches are a “sexist concept.” The work appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990 to 1999, at number 22. The possibility of misogynistic interpretations of the novel was discussed before it was released. Dahl’s editor Roxburgh offered concern with the negative gender associations depicted in the book during the editing process prior to the novel’s publication in 1983; Dahl brushed off these concerns by explaining he was not afraid of offending women. Alex Carnevale of This Recording that the book is how boys learn to become men who hate women.

Jemma Crew of the Newstatesman considers it an "unlikely source of inspiration for feminists". The Times article "Not in Front of the Censors" suggests that the least interesting thing to a child about a witch is that they appear to look like a woman, and even offers the perspective that a witch might be a very feminist role model to a young school girl.

Questions have also been raised about the ending of the book, with some critics suggesting it might encourage suicide in children by telling them they can avoid growing up by dying.