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3. The Bicycle and the Sweet Shop
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Authority and Hypocrisy
Beauty and Imagination
Growing Up
English Nationalism
Summary
Analysis
Roald and his friends discover a dead mouse under the floorboards at the back of a classroom. Instead of throwing it away, Roald has the idea to put it into a jar of gobstoppers while Mrs. Pratchett isn’t looking, hoping she’ll pull it out by accident. Roald’s friends are thrilled with the idea, and the group immediately proceeds to the sweet shop to put the plan into action. While Thwaites distracts a suspicious Mrs. Pratchett, Roald slips the mouse into the jar. She doesn’t see him do it, and Roald’s friends congratulate him after they leave the shop.
The mouse plot is Roald’s first rebellion against authority. He and his friends see their prank as a justified retaliation against the injustice of Mrs. Pratchett’s rudeness toward them. Roald’s framing of the childish prank as an elaborate plot plays up the humor of the situation, but it also serves as a genuine consideration of the boys’ rationale. Roald and his friends are lashing out against Mrs. Pratchett because they feel seriously insulted and threatened by her callous treatment.
Themes
