We are all fondly familiar with the works by Roald Dahl, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, and many more titles which propel childhood nostalgia within us. Though the author died in 1990, his books continue to be enjoyed by children around the world; more than 300 million copies have been sold and translated into 68 languages. However, new editions of Dahl’s books show that extracts relating to weight, gender, race, and mental health have been rewritten in an attempt to accord with modern ideals.
The Roald Dahl Story Company and Puffin Books worked in partnership with Inclusive Minds, an organisation that aims to make children’s literature more inclusive, to review and edit language that could be considered problematic. The Roald Dahl Story Company has stated that this was to guarantee that “Dahl’s wonderful stories and characters continue to be enjoyed by all children today”. Nonetheless, these rewrites have sparked a debate over whether we should be able to rewrite literature of the past to make it fit vague present ideals. In addition, it raises the question of what the future looks like for a society where this type of censorship is able to occur.
To give an idea of the changes made to Dahl’s books, here are just some examples. In the new edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Oompa Loompas are described in gender-neutral terms as ‘small people’, rather than ‘small men’. Also, Augustus Gloop is described as just ‘enormous’, rather than ‘enormously fat’. In the same manner, the description of the character of Aunt Sponge in James and the Giant Peach as ‘terrifically fat, and tremendously flabby at that’, has been removed and replaced. Further, in The Witches, a witch disguised as an ordinary woman is no longer posing as a ‘cashier in a supermarket or typing letters for a businessman’, but as a ‘top scientist or running a business’.
These modifications have been made with the intention to protect young readers from cultural, gender and ethnic stereotypes. However, whilst these changes appear marginal, I would argue that they represent something significantly greater which is entirely more harmful to society.
Firstly, they undermine the genius of writers like Roald Dahl. In 1973, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was rewritten due to the fact the Oompa Loompas were originally introduced as being ‘smuggled’ out of Africa by Willy Wonka. Instead, this was changed so that they were fantastical creatures, similar to fairies or pixies. In this instance, Dahl himself decided to edit his work. In light of his death over thirty years ago, changes to his books now are not only incredibly disrespectful but insulting to his writing abilities.
Secondly, these edits forestall children from coming face to face with the reality that the world is not perfect, and sometimes things will offend us. If we are to shelter young people from pretty much anything they could find uncomfortable, then how do we expect them to adapt to adulthood in the real world? To put it simply, we are raising individuals who might not be able to cope with hearing the word ‘fat’. Although language as such does not accord with an idealistic world into which we may want to bring our children, we cannot simply rewrite the fictional past. If we learnt anything from Dahl’s Matilda, it is that children can use literature, old and new, to become better informed of the world we live in today.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, these changes represent the oppression of free speech. By changing the words of authors without their consent, all authorial right and freedom of speech in literature is abandoned. If censorship in literature is able to continue, it could be used with ill intent. If anyone is to applaud the changes that Dahl’s books have undergone, I would ask them to consider how the power to rewrite literature could be used in the hands of those with different values and intendments to them. Though this may sound like an extreme reaction to the new editions of Dahl’s books, the changes within them represent the opening of a gateway to censorship.
Ultimately, we cannot rewrite literature of the past to accord with modern ideals which are constantly changing. The fact the works of such a famously acclaimed author have been edited raises the question of where society is heading if censorship can continue in this manner. To answer is a quote from George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984: ‘Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street name has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped’.