The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More

In this story, neither of the two men in the car are named. The hitchhiker provides the police with a fake name, but his real identity is never revealed. Through the dialogue of the two men, the reader learns that the hitchhiker is a pickpocket, although he prefers the term “fingersmith.” He uses his skilled ability to steal items from people without them noticing to benefit those he chooses, including himself. He explains that he makes a point to only steal from people who have more than they need. The hitchhiker’s moral code complicates traditional definitions of Greed and Generosity by challenging the reader’s expectations about these concepts.

Dahl describes the hitchhiker as rat-like and sneaky. The police officer immediately distrusts him, although the driver is more open-minded. Unlike Henry Sugar who came to generosity from a place of wealth, the hitchhiker is both poor and principled—living according to his own moral code.

Gordon Butcher is one of two central characters in “The Mildenhall Treasure.” Gordon is a static character who exemplifies generosity in the juxtaposition of Greed and Generosity. The story opens with Gordon living a simple and unassuming life. His family is his whole world, and he loves being at home with them. When he finds the first piece of silver, he drops it and turns toward home. Something inside compels him to leave it behind and return to the safety and love of his family.

Syndey Ford, too, is a static character, representing greed. Unlike Butcher, he is drawn to the treasure and desires to keep it for himself. Ford lives in service to his own avarice. He is unable to sell the treasure so he hoards it, knowing that Gordon could have turned it in for a fortune. Instead, he hides it away where it brings no joy to anyone, including Ford himself.

Dahl describes Peter Watsons, the protagonist of “The Swan,” as small, frail, and extremely smart—strikingly similar to David in “The Boy Who Talked with Animals.” Peter makes an unlikely hero, wanting only to look at birds with his binoculars in the avian sanctuary. He has encountered bullies before, including Ernie and Raymond. At first, he decides the best strategy is to go along with what they say until the two larger boys get bored. This strategy backfires as the boys push him into one dangerous situation after another. Peter’s intelligence enables him to survive when the boys tie him to the railway tracks and a passing train narrowly misses him. Peter digs his body down into the gravel to increase the small amount of clearance between his nose and the oncoming motorcar.

The conflict between Peter and the bullies, Ernie and Raymond, exemplifies the tension between Kindness and Cruelty. Peter reaches a breaking point and stands up to his abusers. However, he is no match for the physical power of Raymond and Ernie or their firearm. His own small act of rebellion is deceiving the bullies about the presence of baby swans in the nest. The ending of Peter’s story is abrupt. After the boys attach the dead swan’s wings onto Peter’s arms and force him to jump from a tree, Dahl explains that villagers noticed a large white bird flying around town and that Peter’s mother found her son in her yard. Dahl often rewards characters who exhibit kindness in the face of cruelty, and Peter is no exception. His kindness to the birds allows him access to The Transformative Power of Magic—and he flies away to safety.

At the end of “The Swan,” as Peter looks down from the tree, he feels a sense of peace. The narrator explains that some people are “unconquerable,” and that Peter is such a person. After being nearly run over by a train, shot in the thigh, forced to swim through water and carry dead birds like a retriever dog, and hit multiple times, Peter looks down at his captors and knows that he will be okay, suggesting that there is peace—even and perhaps especially—in the face of adversity for those who live with authenticity and compassion.