Fantastic Mr Fox

“He was enormously fat. This was because he ate three boiled chickens smothered with dumplings every day for breakfast, lunch and supper.”

Boggis’s hyperbolic diet and fatness are characterization tools used to illustrate his greed and gluttony.

“He mashed the livers into a disgusting paste and then stuffed the paste into the doughnuts. This diet gave him a tummy-ache and a beastly temper.”

Like Boggis, Bunce’s diet is a characterization tool used to illustrate his greed and gluttony. Roald Dahl uses the farmers to allegorically suggest that hoarding riches and enjoying luxuries without human connection lead to an unhappy life.

“He was as thin as a pencil and the cleverest of them all.”

Bean’s hyperbolic thinness characterizes him as sharp and cruel. This foreshadows his farm being the most challenging and dangerous for Mr. Fox to break into.

“Boggis and Bunce and Bean

One fat, one short, one lean.

These horrible crooks

So different in looks

Were nonetheless equally mean.”

The local children sing this song whenever they see the farmers. This rhyme establishes the farmers’ widely accepted cruelty; readers are positioned to support Mr. Fox rather than these villains.

“Well, my darling, what shall it be this time? A plump chicken from Boggis? A duck or a goose from Bunce? Or a nice turkey from Bean?”

Mr. Fox’s thievery drives the plot, as it stokes the farmers’ vendetta against him. This quote also illustrates Mr. Fox’s love for his family—his “darlings”—and his role as breadwinner.

“Mr. Fox was too clever for them.”

Mr. Fox is characterized as clever and quick-witted. His intelligence allows him to outsmart the farmers in their murderous plan and save his family and friends by tunneling underneath the three farms.

“‘Shut up and listen,’ said Bean. ‘Tomorrow night we will all hide just outside the hole where the fox lives. We will wait there until he comes out. Then … Bang! Bang-bang-bang!’”

The clever Bean is characterized as the cruelest of the three farmers, being the one behind the schemes to kill Mr. Fox and his family.

“Mr. Fox would not have been quite so cocky had he known exactly where the three farmers were waiting at that moment. They were just outside the entrance to the hole, each one crouching behind a tree with his gun loaded.”

This is an instance of dramatic irony: Mr. Fox does not know what the reader knows—that the farmers are waiting downwind of his hole. The use of omnipotent, third-person narration adds suspense, as the reader is forced to helplessly wait as a clueless Mr. Fox emerges from his home.

“We’ve got the tail but we missed the fox.”

The inherent risks of Mr. Fox’s thefts are made clear when his tail is blown off by Boggis, Bunce, and Bean. This shocking event makes it clear that the farmers are determined to kill Mr. Fox.

“Down the hole, Mrs. Fox was tenderly licking the stump of Mr. Fox’s tail to stop the bleeding.”

Mrs. Fox is characterized as loving and supportive in her tending to an injured Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox is inspired to create daring schemes out of love for his family, and their closeness is further established in this exchange.

“‘They’ll kill my children!’ cried Mrs. Fox. ‘Never’ said Mr. Fox.”

The foxes are terrified as the farmers’ shovels approach their hole. Mr. Fox is motivated to think quickly to save his wife and children. In going to such trouble to catch a single animal, the farmers are further portrayed as cruel antagonists; the reader is positioned to support the helpless Mr. Fox and his family.

“Mrs. Fox said to her children ‘I should like you to know that if it wasn’t for your father we should all be dead by now. Your father is a fantastic fox.’

Mr. Fox looked at his wife and she smiled. He loved her more than ever when she said things like that.”

Mrs. Fox’s love and adoration for her husband and his quick thinking are made clear. Mr. Fox derives pride and joy from his role as breadwinner and savior of his family. This foreshadows Mr. Fox’s scheme to save his family and the other animals with his tunnel network.

“Bean never took a bath. He never even washed. As a result, his ear-holes were clogged with all kinds of muck and wax and bits of chewing-gum and dead flies and stuff like that.”

Dahl’s humor, hyperbolic and ridiculous, is clearly aimed at children. Bean is characterized as despicable and disgusting to a cartoonish degree—an archetypal “bad guy.”

“The machines were both black. They were murderous, brutal-looking monsters.”

This metaphor illustrates the foxes’ fear of the machines digging towards them. The foxes frantically try to escape, their terror speaking to the vast power imbalance between animal and man—and ultimately unifying the readers against the farmers.

“The hole the machines had dug was like the crater of a volcano. It was such an extraordinary sight that crowds of people came rushing out from the surrounding villages to have a look.”

The farmers’ newly dug hole, “like the crater of a volcano,” is typical of Dahl’s hyperbolic style. He creates ridiculous characters and situations which are humorous to readers, especially children. The crater itself is mocked by the local children and villagers.

“They are starving to death and they haven’t had a drink for three days, but still they are undefeated. I must not let them down.”

Mr. Fox draws inspiration from his children, the four Small Foxes. His love for them motivates him to formulate and execute his most daring scheme yet: A tunnel network underneath the farmers’ properties.

“They were in a huge shed and the whole place was teeming with chickens.”

With the help of his children, Mr. Fox manages to tunnel under and into Boggis’s chicken farm—Chicken House Number One. The plentiful chickens guarantee the foxes’ survival and again, speak to Boggis’s greed. Mr. Fox’s cleverness is showcased in this successful scheme.

“Tell them they are all invited to a Fox’s Feast.”

Mr. Fox’s schemes become even more daring. He decides to not only feed his own family but all the displaced animals. Mr. Fox feels responsible for his friends’ displacement, as the farmers dug up the hill in an attempt to capture and kill him. His increasingly bold plans eventually lead to a close call in Bean’s cider cellar.

“Against all the four walls of the great room, stacked in cupboards and piled upon shelves reaching from floor to ceiling, were thousands and thousands of the finest and fattest ducks and geese, plucked and ready for roasting!”

Mr. Fox, his children, and Badger successfully break into Bunce’s storehouse. Mr. Fox’s cleverness is again made apparent in his ability to calculate the locations of the farmers’ properties from underground. While the greedy Bunce has a fully stocked storehouse, he still tries to kill Mr. Fox for stealing only a few of these ducks and geese to feed his family.

“Doesn’t this worry you just a tiny bit, Foxy?”

Badger’s protests foreshadow Mr. Fox’s close call in Bean’s cider cellar. Cider is not necessary to the animals’ survival; it is clear to Badger that Mr. Fox is becoming overconfident and perhaps, greedy.

“If she takes one more, she’ll see us.”

Mr. Fox and his smallest child wait, trembling, behind a jar of cider—perhaps only a moment away from being discovered and killed. Mr. Fox’s fear is a form of poetic justice, as he is punished for his growing greed and must learn to temper his wants to keep him and his family safe.

“The table was covered with chickens and ducks and geese and hams and bacon, and everyone was tucking into the lovely food.”

The animals are ultimately victorious over the greedy, murderous farmers. They feast on the farmers’ supplies, ironically supplied by the very fox whom the men set out to kill for his thievery.

“MY HUSBAND IS A FANTASTIC FOX.”

Mr. Fox’s evolution into a heroic underdog is complete when he is lovingly toasted by his wife in front of his community. Throughout the story, it is clear that Mr. Fox derives pleasure and pride from providing for his family. To be able to do so on a larger scale—and be recognized for his hard work—is immensely satisfying.