Name : Faiza Naura Amalia Class : B
NIM : 21211144028
BOOK REPORT
Title :
The Witches Author :
Roald Dahl
Year and Town of Publication, Publisher :
Originally first published on October 27th, 1983
Published in the United Kingdom on February 7th, 2013 by Puffin.
Number of Pages:
201 pages Themes :
Childhood, courage
Plot Summary
The protagonist of this story is known as the boy, who lives with his grandmother after being left alone because his parents get in a car crash. He and his grandmother are very close to each other after they live together. She tells him a lot of stories about witches, especially how to identify them so that he is safe from them. Because witches look like women, it is hard to find them. They are scary creatures that hunt children. The boy asks if she ever meets with a witch, she says she saw one when she was a child but she refuses to tell the details to the boy. His grandmother warns him about the evil witch, named The Grand High Witch, that ruled the witches' world. This leader of witches often visits other witches’
councils in other countries. Grandmothers say that witches vary from country to country and that each country has a secret society where all witches can meet and plan. Witches from different countries are not communicating with each other. These annual meetings are held at regular hotels. Women behave normally there, but strange things can happen during their stay.
During the summer holidays, his grandmother fell ill and can’t go to Norway with the boy. Instead of going to Norway, the boy and his grandmother go to the south coast of
England. They booked two rooms at the Hotel Magnificent in Bournemouth. When the boy plays alone at the hotel he encounters a group of women in the ballroom, where he hides. The boy notices that they are all witches because they removed their wigs, gloves, and shoes. The Grand High Witch then tells the other witches to kill all the children in England within a year.
The Grand High Witch has a plan for it, they will open grand openings at the sweets shops and gather all the children. The witches will put a drop of “Formula 86 Delayed Action Mouse-Maker”, It is a poison that will be put on the sweets for the children to eat. After eating the sweets, the children will turn into mice.
The Grand High Witch lures a boy named Bruno Jenkins to the ballroom, she tricks him by saying that she will give him sweets if he comes to the ballroom. Bruno Jenkins stood on the stage and begins to hop around until his body gets stiff. The Grand High Witch starts to sing a rhyming poem while Bruno begins to shrink and grow his fur and tail. In a few seconds, he turns into a small brown mouse. The boy tries to find a way to escape but the witches catch him and bring him to the Grand High Witch, who then decides to give him
some of the formula. The boy turns into mice and runs off into the room. The boy then meets with Bruno and tries to make a plan after they meet with his grandmother.
The plan is to steal the formula and mix it with the witches’ foods. The boy sneaks into the kitchen and mixes the food with the formula. The boy feels relieved after he
succeeded in putting the formula inside the soup for the witches. The waiter saw the boy and they starts to chase him but the boy manage to reach his grandmother. Not for long, the witches start to scream and scream then they turn into many brown mice. The staffs and the waiters kill them all. Bruno gets back to his parents and the boy with his grandmother goes back to Norway. Although the boy can’t turn back into a human being, he is happy that he can still live up until 9 years with his grandmother. In the end, they decide to hunt down the new Grand High Witch with excitement.
Characters & characterization
The boy: He is the unnamed protagonist of the story. He is a kind, smart, and brave child. He loves his grandmother so much that after he turns into mice he still wants to live with his grandmother until 9 years of his life.
Grandmother: She knows a lot about the witches and tells the boy many stories about them to protect him from the witches' danger. She is a kind loving person but also brave enough to face the witches.
The Grand High Witch: She is an evil witch and the leader of all witches. She despises children and wants to kill them. The other witches are afraid of her.
Bruno Jenkins: He is a boy and a glutton, he eats a lot. He likes to brag about his father’s money and is mean to animals.
Setting (place + time)
The story is set in Norway and Bournemouth, England. Because it was first published in 1983, the story probably took place in 1983 too, or way before that. The author did not mention the year in the story.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere in this story is nerve-wracking. After reading the part where the boy hides when there are witches around it makes the reader nervous and maybe feel scared. But it is also heart-warming because of the relationship between the boy and his grandmother.