The Twits

Roald Dahl is particularly well-known for his works of children’s literature, which typically present children at odds with absurdly evil adults. Those who knew Dahl theorize this tendency in his works stems from the abuse he faced at the boarding schools he attended. His books give power back to children while stripping it from mean adults, and there is often a single kind adult to balance things out. This format holds true for some of Dahl’s best-known works, such as Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. In Matilda, the titular child protagonist, a highly intelligent girl, faces cruel parents and a violently mean school principal, characters who are offset by her kind and gentle classroom teacher. Similarly, James of James and the Giant Peach lives with his two cruel and spiteful aunts, but when his adventures begin, he finds himself in the presence of several kind adult bugs who grew in proportion to the giant fruit they inhabit.

The Twits departs somewhat from this framework, offering kind animals instead of children and having no kind adult to offset the nasty Twits. Still, many of Dahl’s central story elements apply. The Twits are absurdly ugly and mean adults who are cruel to all around them, including their captive monkeys, the birds they eat, and even a group of boys who unwittingly get themselves stuck in the dead tree where the Twits trap the birds for pie. Like the child protagonists in Dahl’s other works, the animals and boys outsmart the Twits, using quick thinking and a bit of planning to get themselves out of trouble and set the Twits up for their final downfall at the book’s end. In particular, the monkeys play a role typically given to children. As captives, the monkeys are forced to do tricks for the Twits, something they hate. At the first opportunity, they foul up the Twits’ plans and trick the couple into leaving so they can put their plan into motion and rid themselves of the Twits for good.

Dahl’s works have been criticized in recent years due to his inclusion of insensitive or outdated language and offensive content; in 2023, Dahl’s UK publisher, Puffin Books, and the Roald Dahl Story Company (now owned by Netflix) collaborated “to remove language related to race, gender, weight, and mental health that today’s readers might deem offensive” (McCluskey, Megan. “What to Know About Children’s Author Roald Dahl’s Controversial Legacy.” Time, 2021). The move was not without controversy, and Penguin Young Readers, Dahl’s American publisher, declined to follow suit. Additionally, Dahl’s self-admitted antisemitism, revealed in interviews in the 1980s, has drawn widespread condemnation and an apology from his family. Roald Dahl died at age 74 in 1990.