At the end of “The Bloodbottler”, it is comprehensible that the BFG and Sophie are going to hatch a plan to prevent the other giants from eating any more children and make them vanish, sparking the plot of the remainder of the story.
What Characters are being presented?
As previously recognized, the chapter introduces another giant on a more personal scale with Sophie and with the reader, than in “The Giants” (Chapter 5).
The Bloodbottler is a ‘gruesome sight’. A deep and imaginative description is given by Dahl on page 45;
“…round and squashy-looking. The eyes were tiny black holes…the mouth was huge. It spread right across the face, almost ear to ear…”
His personality is highly represented by actions and how he does them, i.e. walked into the cave – “…came clumping into the cave”.
Can you extract any other words in the chapter that also represent The Bloodbottler’s personality?
‘Boomed’
‘Tangled’
‘Craggy’
‘Ghastly’
Ideas and Themes revealed in the “Bloodbottler
The idea of the chapter is reinforce the differences between the BFG and the other giants. This is directly revealed through comments made by the BFG such as “you ought to be ashamed” and “you is disgusting”, but equally by the Bloodbottler’s remarks too, “..and you is an insult to the giant peoples”, discrediting the BFG, in its self a negative remark, however the BFG take comfort in knowing he is not one of them.
This chapter is creating the grounds for many themes that will be aroused later in the book, ask yourself how clear these themes are to you and then as a class we can list them.
What can we notice about the structure and the syntax of ‘The Bloodbottler?’
There is a range of complex and simple sentences. The chapters’ syntax varies sometimes for deliberate effects. Simple sentences are either used for dramatics or to illustrate something as harsh and blunt, for example the description of the Bloodbottler;
“…The eyes were tiny black holes. The nose was small and flat.
But the mouth was huge…” (Line 45)
The bulk of the chapter is a narrative of thoughts and action with occasional breaks of dialogue. These breaks add humour to the chapter. On many occasions, phrases can be spoken using a variety of tones. Each tone would determine whether the speech is amusing or serious. However, the lexis used Dahl is usually predetermining the audience reaction, especially in children. This is why although the BFG is different from the other giants; Dahl gives him gross antics like burping and "whizzpops". This element is added to the story because;
"Children regard bodily functions as being both mysterious and funny and that's why they often joke about these things. There is nothing that makes a child laugh more than an adult suddenly farting in a room”... (Roald Dahl in 1983 in an interview with a critic)
Language and Grammar
Preceding this chapter, the book had established a common lexical field; aimed specifically for children to understand, whether reading or listening. This obviously is in exempt from invented words, of which their use by Dahl is intensified in this chapter, for instance “fifthsome” = filthy + loathsome, and “snozzcumber”, a foul vegetable that grows where the BFG lives that he eats in preference to Human “beans”. This additionally includes the jabberwocky (words that have no meaning) that Dahl uses such as “pigswiller” and “...swinebuggler!”
What attitudes and values are being presented?
The writers’ attitude towards child imagination is carried throughout this chapter, and the book. Constantly he is trying to stimulate the mind, chiefly through the wild lexis.
‘The Bloodbottler’ is the first chapter paralleling the BFG and Roald Dahl's own life.
