The BFG

Sophie and the BFG, despite their relative powerlessness, triumph over incredible odds to imprison the nine man-eating giants. Significantly, both characters adhere to the trope of the underdog in their respective worlds. Sophie is a friendless orphan and she reassures the BFG that “no one is going to be worrying too much about me” (38). This suggests that, as well as having no family—“‘I don’t have a mother and father,’ Sophie said. ‘They died when I was a baby’”—Sophie doesn’t have close friends, either (38). Furthermore, the woman who runs the orphanage, Mrs. Clonkers, is cruel and vindictive. It is apparent that Sophie has no allies in her world.

Similarly, the BFG is an underdog in the Giant Country. He explains to Sophie that, “I is the titchy one. I is the runt” (36). The other giants derisively call the BFG a “ruddy little runt,” a “troggy little twit,” a “shrivelly little shrimp,” and a “mucky little midget” (74). As well as taunting him, the nine giants routinely throw, kick, and beat the BFG. In abusing the BFG, the giants “spread out quickly in a large circle, each giant about twenty yards from his neighbor, preparing for the game they were going to play” (74).