The Magic Finger

Roald Dahl uses the unnamed narrator to connect with younger readers. Using direct address and casual, conversational diction, readers feel as though they are being told a story orally. The narrator addresses the reader directly, telling them: “Last week, something very funny happened to the Gregg family. I am going to tell you about it as best I can” (7).

By leaving the protagonist unnamed, readers can better imagine the narrator for themselves. Dahl provides only the basic details of a rural English town. Much like the unnamed narrator, Dahl leaves the setting’s specifics up to the audience to fill in for themselves. This lack of detail is a writing trope often found in fables. Fables contain a moral lesson meant for everyone. When fables are vague about the time and location where a story takes place, it can resonate with more readers. 

The Magic Finger can be read as a fable. The novel’s fantastical elements, talking animals, straightforward plotline, and moral fit the genre. The book’s cover asks: “What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?” (1).