Muggle-Wump

Last updated

"Muggle-Wump" the monkey is a fictional character in some of Roald Dahl's books for children, and "the Muggle-Wumps" are his family. A Muggle-Wump appears in The Enormous Crocodile and there is a Muggle-Wump with a family in The Twits . [1] A Muggle-Wump lookalike (shown in Quentin Blake's illustrations) appears in The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me . The first two stories have him almost as a symbol of retribution to the antagonists of the overall tale, whereas in the last one he is happy and safe.

Contents

His family members are the Muggle-Wumps. They appear in The Twits.

The Enormous Crocodile

The Muggle-Wump of The Enormous Crocodile , after reasoning with the wily reptile that it is wrong to eat little children, loses his temper and very nearly his life when the Crocodile bites into his tree to catch him. He gets revenge, however, by following the Enormous Crocodile and thwarting his chances at catching a child when they are about to come near him. In doing this he angers the Enormous Crocodile into wanting to eat more children, only to be thwarted by the Roly-Poly Bird (another recurring character in Dahl's books) and Trunky the Elephant who hurls the Enormous Crocodile into the sun, killing him.

The Twits

The Muggle-Wump in this story has a wife and children, and is subject to animal cruelty at the hands of Mr and Mrs Twit, two retired circus trainers. They force the Muggle-Wumps to balance on their heads, one on top of the other, or else stand and walk on their hands, all at the peril of feeling Mrs Twit's "beastly [walking-]stick". Mr Twit smears the Dead Tree with glue to trap birds for his favourite dish of bird pie. When the monkeys shout warnings, the birds do not understand their language and so are always caught by Mr and Mrs Twit. [2]

He is assisted by the Roly-Poly Bird, a friend of Muggle-Wump who is holidaying in England. The Roly-Poly Bird can speak both the African language of the monkeys and the English of the native birds. The Muggle-Wumps rescue the latter and escape from their cage whilst the Twits are away. The monkeys and the birds attach all the Twits' living-room furniture to the ceiling with the sticky glue used by Mr Twit. They then, on the Twits' return, have two birds drop some glue onto the couple's heads. Upon entering their house, the Twits presume that their living room has turned upside down and that they must therefore be standing on the ceiling, so they stand on their heads and become stuck. Muggle-Wump and his family are then able to return home with the help of the Roly-Poly Bird, who flies them all the way back to Africa, presumably to live happily ever after.

The Muggle-Wumps

The Muggle-Wumps are the family of the Muggle-Wump in the story. They consist of Muggle-Wump's wife and their two children.

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me

Possibly not a Muggle-Wump at all, but said to resemble them, this monkey is referred to in the title "The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me". He is a window-washer by trade, and has a very good working relationship with his partners: the Giraffe whose neck can stretch out to any length, and the Pelican ("Pelly"), the top half of whose bill can collapse inwards like a tape-measure. The Giraffe is the ladder, the Pelican (with his deeply pouched bill) is the bucket for the water, and the monkey cleans the windows with a cloth. He is also an adept singer and dancer.

Whilst he is working for the Duke of Hampshire, the Monkey and the Giraffe notice an armed burglar stealing the Duchess' jewellery, whereupon the Pelican traps the thief in the pouch of his enormous bill and later gives him to the police. The Duke then allows the monkey and his friends to live on the grounds of his wealthy estate, and their house is reverted into its former function: a sweetshop, much to the delight of the narrator. The monkey then closes the story with a song.

Related Research Articles

In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, a Muggle is a person who lacks any sort of magical ability and was not born in a magical family. Muggles can also be described as people who do not have any magical blood inside them. It differs from the term Squib, which refers to a person with one or more magical parents yet without any magical power or ability, and from the term Muggle-born, which refers to a person with magical abilities but with non-magical parents. Equivalent terms used by the in-universe magic community of the USA include No-Maj and No-Majs ; French equivalents are Non-Magiques and No-Majes. Other terms are Can't-Spells and Non-Wizards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roald Dahl</span> British writer and poet (1916–1990)

Roald Dahl was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. He has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".

<i>The BFG</i> 1982 childrens novel by Roald Dahl

The BFG is a 1982 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It is an expansion of a short story from Dahl's 1975 novel Danny, the Champion of the World. The book is dedicated to Dahl's oldest daughter, Olivia, who had died of measles encephalitis at the age of seven in 1962.

<i>Matilda</i> (novel) 1988 childrens novel by Roald Dahl

Matilda is a 1988 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It was published by Jonathan Cape. The story features Matilda Wormwood, a precocious child with an uncaring mother and father, and her time in a school run by the tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull.

<i>The Magic Finger</i> 1966 childrens book by Roald Dahl

The Magic Finger is a 1966 children's story by British author Roald Dahl. First published in the United States by Harper & Row with illustrations by William Pène du Bois, Allen & Unwin published the first U.K. edition in 1968. Later editions have been illustrated by Pat Marriott, Tony Ross, and Quentin Blake. The novel was adapted into a 1990 TV special on ITV (CITV). The author Roald Dahl narrated an unabridged recording for Harper Children Audio and Kate Winslet narrated an unabridged recording in 2013 for Penguin Audio.

<i>The Twits</i> 1980 childrens novel by Roald Dahl

The Twits is a 1980 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It was first published by Jonathan Cape. The story features The Twits, a spiteful, idle, unkempt couple who continuously play nasty practical jokes on each other to amuse themselves, and exercise their devious wickedness on their pet monkeys.

<i>Georges Marvellous Medicine</i> 1981 childrens book written by Roald Dahl

George's Marvellous Medicine is a children's novel written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. First published by Jonathan Cape in 1981, it features George Kranky, an eight-year-old boy who concocts his own miracle elixir to replace his tyrannical grandmother's regular prescription medicine.

<i>The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me</i> 1985 book by Roald Dahl

The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me is a 1985 children's book written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. The plot follows a young boy named Billy who meets a giraffe, a pelican, and a monkey, who work as window cleaners.

<i>Esio Trot</i> 1990 childrens novel by Roald Dahl

Esio Trot is a 1990 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The title is an anadrome of "tortoise". It was the last of Dahl's books to be published in his lifetime; he died just two months later.

<i>The Enormous Crocodile</i> 1978 picture book by Roald Dahl

The Enormous Crocodile is a British children's story, written by British author Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. A picture book written for younger readers than Dahl's other works, the story tells of a hungry crocodile who aims to eat human children via using various, not-quite-impenetrable disguises.

<i>Fantastic Mr Fox</i> 1970 childrens novel by Roald Dahl

Fantastic Mr Fox is a children's novel written by British author Roald Dahl. It was published in 1970, by George Allen & Unwin in the UK and Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S., with illustrations by Donald Chaffin. The first Puffin paperback, first issued in 1974, featured illustrations by Jill Bennett. Later editions have featured illustrations by Tony Ross (1988) and Quentin Blake (1996). The story is about Mr Fox and how he outwits his farmer neighbours to steal their food from right under their noses.

<i>Dirty Beasts</i> 1983 poetry collection by Road Dahl

Dirty Beasts is a 1983 collection of Roald Dahl poems about unsuspecting animals. Intended to be a follow-up to Revolting Rhymes, the original Jonathan Cape edition was illustrated by Rosemary Fawcett. In 1984, a revised edition was published with illustrations by Quentin Blake.

The Roly-Poly Bird is a fictional character in several children's books by Roald Dahl. He appears in The Enormous Crocodile (1978), The Twits (1980), and the poetry collection Dirty Beasts (1983).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryūichi Tamura</span>

Ryūichi Tamura was a Japanese poet, essayist and translator of English language novels and poetry who was active during the Shōwa period of Japan.

<i>The Roald Dahl Treasury</i>

The Roald Dahl Treasury is an anthology of works of the children's author Roald Dahl. It was first published in the United Kingdom in 1997 by Jonathan Cape.

Sherlock Yack is an animated television series in 52 episodes of 13 minutes, co-produced by Mondo TV France and ZDF Enterprises, with the participation of TF1 and ZDF, and adapted from the novels of Michel Amelin, illustrated by Ruth Christelle. The airing of the series began on 4 May 2011 on TF1 as part of their TFOU block, and since 22 December 2012.

Roger Donald Blake is a Welsh actor, impressionist and entertainer. He is best known for his portrayal of Prince Philip in Spitting Image and The Big Impression and Noël Coward in television commercials, and narrated Roald Dahl's The Enormous Crocodile, The Twits, as well as the Topsy and Tim animated series from 1984 to 1989.

<i>Matilda the Musical</i> (film) 2022 film by Matthew Warchus

Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, or simply Matilda the Musical, or Matilda, is a 2022 fantasy musical film directed by Matthew Warchus from a screenplay by Dennis Kelly, based on the stage musical of the same name by Tim Minchin and Kelly, which in turn was based on the 1988 novel Matilda by Roald Dahl. It is the second film adaptation of the novel, following Matilda (1996). The film stars Alisha Weir as the title character, alongside Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, Sindhu Vee, and Emma Thompson. In the plot, Matilda Wormwood (Weir), who is neglected and mistreated by her parents, develops psychokinetic abilities to deal with Miss Trunchbull (Thompson), the ruthless and cruel headmistress of Crunchem Hall School.

References

  1. ↑ "Roald Dahl's The Twits". Civic Theatre Newcastle. 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Tymoczko, Maria; Gentzler, Edwin (2002). Translation and Power. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 45. ISBN   9781558493599.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.