The work I selected to analyze was The BFG by Roald Dahl. The BFG or Big Friendly Giant is about a friendly giant (named BFG) who lives amongst huge man eating giants. The friendly giant with his companion Sophie sets out to stop the giants from killing innocent human beings. BFG and Sophie convinced the Queen of England they needed her army’s help to stop the giants. The giants were stopped and everyone lived happily ever after.

The BFG was “othered” by his fellow giants. He identified as the runt of the group and assumed the role as the outsider. Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex, explains that, “ if the Other is not to regain the status of being the One, he must be submissive enough to accept this alien point of view” (Beauvoir 1). At first this is exactly what the BFG did. He assumed the role as the other and allowed the other giants to walk over him.

However, Sophie, an orphan who befriended the BFG, talked some sense into him. Sophie reminded me of Marjane’s grandmother in Persepolis. She told him wise words to help motivate him to save the humans. The BFG turned a switch like Marjane did when she shouted “I am Iranain and proud of it!” (Persepolis 200). He set out to stop the giants from all the pain and torture they have caused. 

Cultures collided when the giant met with the queen. This parallels humans coming together from different cultures. As we have learned throughout the semester, cultures colliding sometimes causes bad things to happen when people do not accept them. This luckily was not the case. The queen accepted the BFG into her palace and they formulated a plan to stop the other giants. 

I believe the author wanted us to take away several themes from the book. One of the main themes being don’t judge a book by it’s cover. This means don’t categorize a person as the other and yourself as the one. Sophie did not condemn or “other” the BFG for his speech impairment (because he never was taught) yet sought to help him in every way she could. We are all equal and deserve to be treated with respect. 

The BFG is not the best conversation starter around identity, power, and injustice but I do believe these ideas are relevant throughout the story and there is a lesson to be learned. If you have some time, I strongly encourage everyone reading this post to read or watch The BFG with these themes in mind.

Have a great summer everyone! I hope you all stay safe and healthy during these tough times.