Dahl's The Witches plays to the belief in good vs. evil beautifully, as the narrator and his grandmother are able to foil the Grand High Witch's plan to turn all the children in England into mice. Indeed, much of Dahl's storytelling in The Witches is dependent upon the fact that a child readership will accept the idea of witches as an organized force of evil within the world. He begins his story with "A Note about Witches," which contains a list of extraordinarily vivid details about the appearance and behavior of witches that is sure to capture the attention of Dahl's targeted audience. In fact, he tells his readers:
In fairy-tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black cloaks, and they ride on broomsticks.
But this is not a fairy-tale. This is about REAL WITCHES.
The most important thing you should know about REAL WITCHES is this. Listen very carefully. Never forget what is coming next (Dahl 7).
While this introduction is sure to make an impression on a child readership, Dahl could not necessarily expect such a reaction from adult readers. In writing for children, Dahl is free to indulge even the most fantastic whims of his imagination (Hunt & Ray 79).
At the same time, producing texts solely for children provides the opportunity to examine certain issues which continue to interest adults after childhood, but through the innocent, playful eyes of children (Frey & Griffith 67). This is perhaps best articulated in The Witches and Pippi Longstocking's open challenge of authority figures, who conveniently take the
...