Essay Questions

How is this story similar in subject matter to George Orwell’s legendary dystopic novel, 1984?

Although this story may seem to be merely a somewhat darker-than-usual Dahl childhood fairy tale, it is actually a very coherent playing out of the necessity for rebellion against strict and rigid authoritarianism which seeks to stifle the freedom of the imagination. From this perspective, The Minpins really is more at home on the bookshelf next to 1984 than to Willy Wonka. The opening line may be the best Dahl ever constructed because by the time it is over—it is a one sentence paragraph—the entire social structure of the narrative has been set:

“Little Billy’s mother always telling him exactly what he was allowed to do and what he was not allowed to do.”

That single description of the situation creates a connection between Billy’s mother and Orwell’s Big Brother as the irrefutable and unquestioned voice of authority against which any expression of free will must meet with approval. Lacking such authorization in turn creates a conflict which poses consequences for Bill regardless of whether he submits or revolts. This is the story of his defining moment of revolt in much the say that 1984 is the defining story of Winston Smith’s revolt against Big Brother.

How is this story a subversion of Orwell’s message in 1984?

Winston Smith’s rebellion against authority in 1984 famously ends, of course, with a shattering image of authority having enjoyed complete and total victory. The conclusion is not just about Winston having learned to love Big Brother. It is also an ending which applies to a much more expansive victory of submission over the power even to just imagine something better. By contrast, Little Billy rebels against the authoritarian domination of his mother deciding what he is and is not allowed to do on a much larger scale than merely having defied her orders against going into the forbidden Forest of Sin.

The final paragraph of the story reveals that Billy’s entry into the woods is a singular example of the one spoil of battle that no victor can ever take from a defeated opponent without the opponent willingly handing it over: imagination. Dahl ends Billy’s story not with his celebrating his wildly successful insurrection against maternal overprotection but with a direct address to his young readers that has the capacity to serve each of them as profoundly as Billy, Winston Smith or anyone under the yoke of an oppressive ruler:

“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”