Robert Lee
Robert Lee suffered from dyslexia as a child and was able to overcome it by virtue of the professionals working at the Dyslexia Institute in London. He then goes on to become a vicar—a position of respect within the hierarchy of the Anglican church. Thus, Robert Lee is imprinted as a symbol of how dyslexia need not be a lifelong debilitation obstructing success even in careers requiring public reading and speech.
Morris 1000
The author is quite specific in describing the car driven by the vicar. It is an “old Morris 1000.” This was one of the best-selling cars in British history as a result of the transformation in production of this model from previous models into a stripped-down economy car which traded luxury for safety and durability. The specificity of the vicar’s car endows it with a symbolic incarnation of his personality.
The Relapse
The vicar’s dyslexia has been under control for some time. Its recurrence aligns precisely with the vicar’s night of sweaty anxiety over whether he is prepared for the job at hand. This connection symbolizes the way that even neurologically-based health problems can be stimulated or worsened by mental or emotional stress.
Miss Arabella Prewt
Miss Prewt is a very personal symbol for the author who had few good things to say about organized religion. That the very first thing the new vicar is encouraged to do is suck up to the richest member of his congregation says much about Dahl’s attitude toward the hypocrisy of the church.
The Doctor
The local doctor comes up with a majestically innovative and imaginative means of correcting the resurgence of dyslexia in the vicar. The moment he suggests that tortoises possess the ability to “reverse their own name and call themselves esio trots” should be a dead giveaway. This assertion and the succeeding insanity of his treatment all work together to implicate that this man is an example of that most prevalent of physician-related symbolism: the doctor’s a quack.
