GIANTS
The book opens with a kind of essay from Dahl on the difficult he had adopting the style of writing for kids that is intended to tell them what to do. He situates the relationship between grown-ups and kids in the form of adults being GIANTS who use their physical stature symbolizes the way kids look up to them in every way. These GIANTS have one job, it seems: to tell kids what to do and what to not do.
THE ENEMY
Dahl is not rejecting the necessity for adults to instruct kids in what to and what not to do. However, does recognize a process of conditioning going on that cause a schism in the way children view the “giants.” The more the agents of authority try to pound these lessons into them, the more it inexorably results in feelings of rebellion and resistance kicks in. And the inevitable result of this process is symbolism: adults become The Enemy.
The Emptied Suitcase
Dahl warns against trying that act shown in so many movies: running to catch a moving train as it pulls from the station. Looks good in the movies, but the real life version is probably more like the illustration accompanying Dahl’s warning: a passenger running late holding for dear life onto the train with one hand while the other holds a suitcase that has popped open with all its contents flying behind. That suitcase become the symbol which undermines the romantic image of catching a train one is running late for.
Skateboard
The image of a skateboard caught in mid-air over railroad tracks becomes the symbol for everything that one should not do near on a train platform. What is interesting about this image is that the train is well off into the distance, and heading away, so the danger has nothing to do with the train itself. It is a perfect symbol to fulfill the purpose of the book, which is to present a comprehensive (as possible, anyway) overview of all the various potential dangers lurking in the vicinity of railroad tracks.
Decapitation
A decapitated head soaring through the air into the distance as the train continues moving speedily forward is perhaps the book’s most effective symbolism. Without even showing the how, without failing the temptation to resist the gruesome and with the decision to present a look on the face of that head that verges on comical, the symbolism here is forthright and unforgettable. Almost certainly the number of passengers actually decapitated as a result of failing to observe this advice remains in the single digits, but in this case the symbolic act of what is possible trumps the reality in every way.
