The BFG

The BFG is a 24-foot giant who lives in Giant Country. Every day, he travels to Dream Country to catch dreams in a net, which he stores in jars. Every night, he ventures to countries around the world where he blows happy dreams into the faces of sleeping children using a giant, trumpet-like instrument. This pastime foregrounds the BFG’s altruistic nature, especially when considered in contrast to the pastime of the other nine giants who live in Giant Country, as they enjoy eating humans. The BFG is a foil to his fellow giants, demonstrating completely opposite values and beliefs.

The BFG has no choice but to abduct an eight-year-old girl who sees him one night in an English village because no giant can allow a human to see them. The BFG forms a friendship with Sophie and they come to love and care for each other. Together, they hatch a plan to rid the world of man-eating giants. The BFG is rewarded for his kind and compassionate nature by being given a beautiful, large home on the Buckingham Palace grounds by the Queen of England. He is also sent gifts from rulers around the world, who are grateful that no more of their subjects will die at the hands of the vicious giants. The BFG has a peculiar and endearing manner of speaking—he jumbles and combines words—that incorporates humor throughout the story. At the end of the novel, he receives reading and writing lessons from Sophie.

The nine man-eating giants, who are virtually indistinguishable from one another, are cruel and brutish characters who live in Giant Country. They take pleasure in eating humans. They travel around the world every night to find and eat children and adults, choosing a country which suits their particular moods and palates. They also enjoy bullying the BFG, the smallest of the 10 giants in Giant Country. Their names, which denote their violent tendencies, are Fleshlumpeater, Childchewer, Bonecruncher, Manhugger, Meatdripper, Maidmasher, Gizzardgulper, Bloodbottler, and Butcher Boy.

The Queen of England, the only non-fictional character in the novel, is Queen Elizabeth II, who was monarch when Roald Dahl wrote The BFG. When Sophie tries to suggest that not all adult humans are bad, she refers to the Queen, characterizing the Queen as the epitome of integrity and goodness.

The Queen is characterized as poised and capable. Even while dining with a loudly farting 24-foot giant, whose existence she only just learned of half an hour earlier, she maintains her composed demeanor. She quickly and ably plans to deal with the nine man-eating giants and demonstrates trust and kindness toward Sophie and the BFG despite their unconventional arrival at her palace. Her kindness is further illustrated in her decision to build Sophie and the BFG large homes in Buckingham Palace.