Original artwork, not a still
The Witches · 1983
The boy narrator, turned into a mouse, Roald Dahl's The Witches (1983)
It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the book's answer to its own cruelty: a boy who has been turned into a mouse, and will never be human again, decides he is perfectly happy. Dahl, who rarely went soft, gives the narrator the last word on love over looks. That is why the sentence is quoted on cards and in weddings and school assemblies.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The WitchesShow the scene
The line comes near the end of Dahl's 1983 novel, in the chapter titled 'The Heart of a Mouse'. By then the unnamed boy narrator has been turned into a mouse by the Grand High Witch, and he and his Norwegian grandmother have wiped out England's witches and returned home to Norway. Grandmother tells him that, as a mouse, he will probably live only about nine more years. The boy is not upset: he does not want to outlive her, and says it does not matter who you are or what you look like so long as somebody loves you.
Sources (3)
- Wikiquote: Roald DahlThe Witches (1983) entryReference checked
- Wikipedia: The Witches (novel)Plot, final paragraphReference checked
- Reading Is Fundamental: The Witches discussion guideDiscussion questionsReference checked
Context reviewed