Fairy Tales and Fantasy Literature

In “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl, there are four of the most poorly behaved children ever. The behavior of these children, Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee, and Varuca Salt, is absolutely atrocious and for that they are punished throughout their tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. These children cannot be blamed for their lack of discipline for it is their parents who should receive the blame of their poor behavior.
Augustus Gloop is the first to find a golden ticket. From reading the book it is easy to determine that he is an overweight and greedy child. He is also the first of the children on the tour to be punished for their poor behavior. Augustus is unable to help himself once he lays eyes on Willy Wonka’s chocolate river. After being warned by both his mother and Mr. Wonka he still approaches the river and falls in. He is then sucked into a giant pipe that chocolate flows through to be manufactured. Once he is jammed in the pipe he receives a song from the oompa-loomas. Augustus’ mother was unable to control her son because of the way she spoils him. In an interview she brags about how “eating is his hobby” (Roald Dahl 22). By allowing him to eat whatever he wants she neglected to teach him the self-control he needed to resist the chocolate river.
Violet Beauregard is the third child to find a golden ticket, but is the second to receive her punishment for her poor behavior during the tour. Her greediness is shown when she takes a piece of experimental gum from Mr. Wonka. He warns her that there are unpleasant side effects, but like Augustus she has a lack of discipline and pays no attention. For her rude behavior and failure to listen to Mr. Wonka’s warning, she is punished. Violet fills with juice till she has the appearance of a large blueberry. She then receives an oompa-loompa song, and then they roll her to the juicer room where they will squeeze the juice out of her. This could have been avoided had her parents taught her proper manners and not allowed to her to become so rude.
Varuca Salt could be considered the most spoiled of the four to be ejected from the tour. She was the second to find a golden ticket, and all it took was her father buying candy bars in extremely large quantities to find it. Varuca receives her punishment when she demands to have a squirrel from the nut room in the factory. The squirrels then toss her down a trash shoot, and the oompa-loompas then sing another song. This situation could have been avoided if her parents didn’t respond to whenever Varuca said “I want”. Instead of teaching her that she cannot have everything she wants, they spoil her to the point where she was an ungrateful spoiled brat.
Mike Teavee is the finder of the fourth golden ticket and to be ejected from the tour. Mike uses a machine Mr. Wonka made to teleport chocolate from his factory into the televisions of his customers. By teleporting himself, Mike is shrunken down to the size of a candy bar. Mr. Wonka then suggests that the oompa-loompas use the machine used to stretch out certain candies. Once again this shows that Mike’s parents neglected to teach him self-control, and spoil him by allowing him to watch television all the time.

People around the world have many different thoughts on mirrors. Pratchett uses different cultures to tell of different myths on mirrors. In Witches Abroad, some believe that mirrors can steal your soul. People also believe that there are other universes inside mirrors. For some characters in the story, mirrors and reflections are a way to gain power, but also a way of seeing things. Reflections can show qualities, or things that people don’t normally see in themselves or the world, which can either be a good, or bad thing.
In the beginning of the story, it is said that “a mirror can suck up a piece of soul”(5). Pratchett is saying that someone who is always in the mirror, or in front of cameras, always staring at their reflection will have a piece of their soul taken because they are too vain and their souls don’t seem to have any good qualities. The mirrors in this story seem to be portrayed in mostly evil ways. Lady Lilith de Tempscire used the mirrors to try and gain more power. It is described that “She could feel herself pouring into herself, multiplying itself via the endless reflections”(14). She thought that if she were to look into two mirrors, that her reflections would just bounce off of one another, giving her more power. She thought she would gain a new quality within her soul rather than lose it. She also used the mirrors to scan the world. This gave her more power because she was able to see anything and anyone from any reflection. They help Lilith see what’s going on and she wants to change the world into her own fairy tale.
The mirror and reflections in this story are similar to the mirror in Snow White, in that the evil Queen was vain, and looked into her mirror everyday asking who is the fairest of them all. The Queen used the mirrors to hear what she wanted to hear, while Lilith used the mirrors to get what she always wanted which is power from becoming greedy. Another fairy tale that uses mirrors for the same purpose that Lilith had, is Beauty and the Beast. Beauty used the mirror to see her father and sisters and how they were doing.
Lilith was trying to find out everything about the world by using the mirrors, but using it for her own advantage. In the end it could be something that could come back to hurt her. For now, the mirrors are giving her power that only a few can manage if they know how to use mirrors the right way. A mirror is a way of seeing into ones soul, Lilith looks more at what others are doing than at herself, and one day Lilith might not like what she sees if she truly looks into the mirror.

Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are seen as polar opposites.  Granny Weatherwax is a strict and confident witch, whereas Nanny Ogg is more lenient and motherly.  They are different in more ways than just personality.  They also differ when it comes to authority and how they gain their respect among others.

Granny Weatherwax is known for her strict personality and her extreme confidence in her own abilities.  She’s most certainly not the nicest witch of the Discworld series and doesn’t give people what they desire, but she does shine when it comes to giving people what they need.  Even though it may seem that she was envisioned by nature to be a typical wicked witch, she has a reputation for never wanting to intentionally harm people.  The way she acts is due to the fact that she wants respect and does not care how she obtains it, even if that means she must strike fear into others.

Unlike Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg does not need the use of fear to earn respect from others.  She is also more passive when it comes to proving her abilities are the best as opposed to Granny Weatherwax, who goes out of her way to prove she is the best and has the utmost confidence in her own abilities.  Nanny Ogg sees nothing wrong with being a good runner-up and would rather receive the sympathy for coming second than to go out of her way to win.  People have no problem approaching Nanny Ogg when they are in need of assistance because not only does she have the people’s respect, she is favored over Granny Weatherwax because of her extreme likability.

­Granny Weatherwax is obviously the more assertive character and casts a shadow of the more levelheaded Nanny Ogg, but Nanny’s powers are not to be overlooked. Granny is stubborn, formidable, and more than forthright about her opinions. Many seek out Granny’s advice when necessary but more often people seek Nanny’s advice because she is the more friendly and motherly character. Granny Weatherwax is a more intimidating figure because of her outgoing nature, but Nanny makes people feel at ease because she is wise yet soft spoken. Nanny appears to be fine with Granny’s reputation as the greatest witch in Discworld whereas if the roles were reversed, Granny would be jealous and petty about Nanny’s higher social status. Granny Weatherwax is as traditional as it gets in Discworld, and resides in a stereotypical witch’s cottage. Nanny on the other hand, lives in a more modern town house full of various trinkets she collects.

Nanny and Granny both aid Magrat on her journey to Genua and in fulfilling her Fairy Godmother duties. They fully come together as a team to fight Lilith as she tries to create a perfect “happily ever after” for Ella. Nanny employs her wit by getting the coachmen drunk so they cannot take Ella to the ball and also speeds up time to the spell wears off Magrat faster. In the final scene with Lilith and the mirrors, Granny proves her wisdom when she is able to find her true reflection and trap Lilith in the mirror. Although Granny got the credit for trapping Lilith, this would not have been possible without the aid of Nanny Ogg.

Lilith can be compared to the White Witch. Both are portrayed as the evil villains of their corresponding secondary worlds. The witches worked towards different goals. Lilith was trying to mediate and encourage the happy ending of a story, whereas the White Witch was trying to prevent one by prohibiting the Pevensie children from taking the throne at Cair Paravel. The secondary worlds and the intentions of Lilith and the White Witch are dissimilar, however, their use of magic, appearance, and actions proves them to be nearly identical.

The first way in which they are similar is by the description of their appearance. At the ball Lilith’s dress is described as being so white that, “Until that point it had never occurred to Nanny Ogg that there could be different colors of white” (Pratchett 281). Her dress is also illustrated as having “puffed sleeves” and being “edged with lace” (Pratchett 282). Similarly, when Edmund meets the White Witch in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” she is described as being “covered in white fur up to her throat (Lewis 33). Lilith and the White Witch also lied to and deceived Edmund and Ella upon meeting them. When Magrat met Ella for the first time, Ella asks her if she is the good fairy godmother, “Oh the good one,” she said. “Definitely” (Pratchett 214). However, Lilith had already planted ideas of good and evil into Ella’s head before Magrat met her and insisted that she was the good the fairy godmother. This is shown when Ella responds to Magrat, “that’s just what she said too” (Pratchett 214). In “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”, the White Witch acts correspondingly. She lures Edmund in with Turkish Delight, and bribes him into thinking that she is good and just wants to meet his family. Therefore, when Edmund learns of Aslan, he already has in his mind that the White Witch is good and that he needs to arrange for his brother and sisters to meet her. Lilith and the White Witch inserted ideas into their targets causing them to be skeptical of other forces that claimed themselves to be good such as Magrat or Aslan.

Lilith and the White Witch also both use animal servants to try and achieve their goals. The White Witch has guards that are wolves. They do her bidding and search out the Pevensie children when the White Witch is seeking them. Lilith has three sisters that are “guarding” Ella, “they’re snakes” (Pratchett 233). They are described as having teeth that have never been seen on human before, skin that looked like scales, and one sister’s “gaze was fixed immovably on Magrat” (Pratchett 231). They also rely heavily on spies. Lilith spied through various mirrors to observe what others were doing throughout the world, and the White Witch used some of the trees, birds, and animals in Narnia as her spies.

Magic is the downfall of both Witches. The White Witch was hindered by not being able to understand the Deeper Magic, which allowed Aslan to rise after he sacrificed himself. She also relied so much on her wand that when Edmund stripped it away from her, she was left defenseless and ultimately defeated. Lilith also fell prey to magic. She was unable to understand that stories need to, and want to end and that good always overcomes evil. At the end of the story, Death placed Lilith “inside the mirror” leaving her in a state that “is somewhere between” being dead and alive (Pratchett 340).

In conclusion, the White Witch and Lilith are very similar in their actions, intentions and appearance. They had different motives. Lilith was trying to mediate and influence the happy ending of Ella’s story; the White Witch was trying to prevent Narnia’s happy ending by preventing the Pevensie children from sitting in the thrones of Cair Paravel. However, they both reacted similarly by trying to portray themselves as the “good guy”. In the end magic was the downfall of Lilith and the White Witch.

Fairy Godmothers, like in Cinderella, are seen as kind both inside and out. They want to make your dreams come true so that you can live a happier life. Prachett takes a whole new spin on his fairy godmother in the novel. He makes the fairy godmother out to be the villain. Lilith, also known as Lily Weatherwax, plays the villain fairy godmother. The White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia is like Lilith because she wants to make a happy ending out of what she wants and will do anything in her power to get it accomplished.

The White Witch and Lilith compare in many ways. They use their power of deceptiveness to their advantage. Lilth acts all nice and sweet but underneath all that she is really trying to make everyone else around her miserable. She turns drunken “naughty” men into horses and mice because she doesn’t approve of it. She goes about this by telling Ella, “You better bring in those naughty men who let themselves get so drunk. That’s not respectful. And if you haven’t go respect, you haven’t gotten anything” (Prachett 249). The White Witch in parallel turns people that she doesn’t approve of into stone and keeps them all in her castle for eternity. Another parallel is how Lilth tracts everyone by looking at them through reflections by keeping a close eye on them while the White Witch has spies set out through all of Narnia such as trees, woodland creatures, and other dark creatures that are on her side. They do this because they are trying to stop anyone from getting in the way of their power. The people in their kingdom don’t really even like them but like in most cases people are too scared to stand up for themselves so they keep quiet because they are scared of the consequences.

The White Witch causes a Hundred Year Winter while Lilth is living her life through stories and that is how she is trying to take over and become all powerful. They are both very powerful people in the novels but they both end up failing in their tasks to of actually being all-powerful. The White Witch ends up being defeated by Aslan in the Great War that ended her reign and Lilth is placed in a place with endless mirrors trying to find her true self but she is unable to complete that task. Unlike normal fairytales, the fairy godmother is seen in a bad light and punished for all eternity for her bad actions in trying to find her form of happiness through stories.

Often in the fantasy world, villainous characters use their power to corrupt the world around them so that they can maintain control over those they rule. The Villainesses of Terry Prachett’s “Witches Abroad” and C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” are no exception to this stereotype.  Although Lilith and the White Witch often go about it differently, their goal to be the head of a totalitarian society is the same. Through trickery, magical objects and manipulation, both Lilith and the White Witch strive to maintain control over others.

The first similarity that Lilith and the White Witch, or Jadis, share is seen in the white color of their dress. The color white is a symbol of purity and innocence but when these two villainesses wear it, white becomes a distortion of purity and innocence. Lilith wears white to hide the evil of her inner soul. “The white of Lily Weatherwax’s dress seemed to radiate; if all the lights went out, she felt Lily’s dress would glow.” (Prachett 282) The purity of white becomes hypocritical when Lilith wears the white dress because it serves to hide her true intentions, it is no longer innocent. Jadis also uses white to disguise herself. By wearing white, Jadis tricks a smitten Edmund into trusting her because he cannot and will not look past her disguise and see her for who she truly is. “She…was covered in white fur up to her throat… [and] [h]er face was white-not merely pale, but white like snow or paper…[i]t was a beautiful face.” (Lewis 33-34) Similar to Lilith, Jadis also uses her appearance of innocence and purity to trick others into believing that she is good. Both Lilith and the Jadis use the distortion of white to further expand their control.

Another way these two women strive to achieve their goal of a totalitarian society is through the magical tools they use throughout their stories. Without these tools, both women are completely powerless. Through mirrors, Lilith is able to keep an eye on her enemies, making her indestructible because she knows their next move. “[A] broomstick was lying in shards of broken glass. Her horrified gaze rose to meet a reflection. It glared back at her… ‘You broke my mirror.’” (Prachett 337) When the mirrors are destroyed, Lilith becomes a more equal opponent and is able to be defeated because she no longer holds power over the other characters. Jadis also has a magical object that she uses to conquer her enemies: a wand that turns other characters into stone. “ ‘And when he reached her he had sense to bring his sword smashing down on her wand…Once her wand was broken we began to have some chance[.]’”(Lewis 196) Undefeatable with her wand, Jadis is able to strike fear wherever she goes. However, when it is destroyed, she becomes more evenly matched with the other characters and is able to be defeated.  Without their magical objects, both Lilith and the Jadis are rendered useless and can no longer maintain their totalitarian society.

Finally, both villainesses take away the freedom of those they rule to make sure that no one is able to defeat them. In Genua, Lilith takes away the freewill of the inhabitants of the city and forces them to be a part of stories she creates. Though she does not want to marry the Duc, Ella explains that she must because Lilith wants it to happen, “It’s all been arranged. My other godmother says I’ve got to do it. She says it’s my destiny,” (Prachett 241) Ella is unable to break from Lilith’s control because she is a part of a story that Lilith has planned which will force Ella to live a “happy ending.” Unlike Lilith, Jadis is a bit more subtle in how she takes away others’ freedom. Instead of using magic like Lilith, the White Witch uses spies to watch other characters and let her know if they are up to something. “‘There are the trees…They’re always listening… there are [some] trees that would betray us to her; you know who I mean [.]’”(Lewis 73) Although Jadis does not necessarily control how the other characters behave when they are alone, she does control how they behave when they are in public. By forcing their subjects to act in certain ways, Lilith and Jadis are able to ensure that no one speaks out against them, especially where they can be heard.

Within the stories “Witches Abroad” and “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the two villainesses of these tales, Lilith and Jadis, are continually using similar ways to ensure the security of their rule. Lilith and Jadis are both selfish and greedy and therefore they use any means necessary to hold on to their power. However, it is because of their greed and selfishness that they ultimately cause their own downfall.

Of Terry Pratchette’s many references to famous fairy tales and fantasy stories in Witches Abroad, the comparison between Lilith and the White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia is one that is not as clearly stated such as comparisons to the story of Cinderella. In the Chronicles of Narnia, it is said that Lilith is the mother of the White Witch. Through Pratchette’s character Lilith, he expands on the characteristics of Lilith from the Chronicles of Narnia, thus making connections to C.S. Lewis’s White Witch and alluding to why her characteristics were greedy, manipulative, and oppressive. One specific characteristic that is very evident between both Lilith from Witches Abroad and the White Witch is that both hold a facade that they are kind and out to perform acts for the greater good, but in fact, their actions are misleading and destructive. The White Witch was able to lure Edmund into bringing his siblings to Narnia by offering him Turkish delight and hot cocoa infused with her dark magic, while Lilith becomes the power behind the throne of Genua by becoming heavily involved with narrative magic and using mirrors to boost her power. “‘Her who’s behind all this,’ said Mrs. Gogol. Ogg. I mean her. Her with her mirror magic. Her who likes to control. Her who’s in charge” (Pratchett 225). Just like the similarities between their oppressive actions, they both were equally punished by some form of magic. The White Witch was defeated by her ignorance, for she did not know of the deeper magic that goes back beyond the dawn of time; therefore, Aslan was born again, and made haste to defeat the White Witch. In the mirror universe, Lilith and Granny are confronted by endless reflections. Death tells them that they are both alive and dead, and can only escape when they find the one version of themselves that is real. Granny looks down at herself and simply says,”This one” (Pratchett 344). Lilith, whose whole life has consisted of reflections, is unable to choose and is doomed to spend the rest of time imprisoned in a dimension of mirrors, and has not been seen since.
Good Witch or Bad Witch Survey

There are many differences between Tolkien’s representation of dwarves in The Hobbit and the representation of dwarves in Witches Abroad.  A big difference that stands out between the dwarves in The Hobbit and the dwarves in Witches Abroad is freedom.  In The Hobbit the dwarves just showed up at Bilbo’s home to try and persuade him to go on an adventure with them.  The dwarves had a choice of whether or not to go on the adventure, they weren’t forced to do anything.   In Witches Abroad the dwarves were treated more as servants, even though it seems as if they chose this life for themselves.  When the witches arrived at the disaster site dozens of dwarfs were working feverishly to prop the cracked roof and cart away the debris, some were even in tears.  This shows how hard they are forced to work.  As they arrived to the site of the boat, they took a large basket off of an attendant dwarf that was packed with food.  You can see how they were carelessly treated by the King.

The dwarves from The Hobbit were also very rood.  When the dwarves started to arrive at Bilbo’s place, they just came in as if they were being expected.  “…and he too hopped inside as soon as the door was open, just as if he had been invited.”  On the other hand, the dwarves from Witches Abroad were much more caring and proper.  Granny Weatherwax was impressed by the dwarves.  She said that you didn’t often see proper dwarf halls in those days.  Most dwarfs were off earning money in the cities down in the lowlands, where it was much easier to be a dwarf.  And for one thing, you didn’t have to spend most of your time underground hitting your thumb with a hammer and worrying fluctuations in the international metal markets.

The dwarves from Witches Abroad also seemed to have been gifted with some sort of magical powers.  When Granny Weatherwax was going through the basket of food she came across a small packet of food.  “That’s the famous dwarf bread, that is.  They don’t give that to just anyone…they say it never goes stale even if you stores it for years,” said Granny.  Nanny Ogg also added that it can keep you going for days.  When Magrat went to go and eat it, she couldn’t even break a piece off.  Then Granny mentioned that it’s more for sort of keeping you going.  Which means that you don’t have to actually eat the food to keep yourself going.

Terry Pratchett in his obtuse novel Witches Abroad uses mirrors as a focal point of in a symbolic nature not commonly seen in stories. There is the classic use of mirrors in the tale as well, with the evil witch Lilith using it as a mean of obtaining her power and as a means of communication. First instance in the very beginning of the novel the dying witch Desiderata Hollow is approached by her evil fairy godmother counterpart, Lilith, to discuss her coming death and failure. It was earlier mentioned that Desiderata was always taught never to get between two mirrors, a practice that Lilith manipulates to achieve control of the city Guana. This taboo of mirrors is explicitly described in the very beginning as being part of a superstition that mirrors “steal a bit of a person’s soul and there’s only so much of a person to go around” (5). It is also discussed that those who spend their lives reflecting themselves in various images thus, “develop a thin quality” (5). The fundamental theme of this kind of superstition is vanity, and how when one is so engrossed with themselves they lose track of who they are. It as if one forgets to look inward, discovering who they are in a metaphysical way, rather than basing one sense of self on the outward reflection, seeing them on the superficial level. It is reminiscent of the mythology of Narcissus, who stared at his reflection through a pond and fell in love with it so deeply that it leads to his death. He was only concerned with his outward reflection, yet there’s another interpretation of the tale in which the lake he would gaze into was weeping and the goddesses of the forest asked the lake why he wept, the lake responded because within Narcissus’s reflection he saw his own beauty. Seeing one’s beauty inwardly through a reflection seems to be more what Pratchett would profess. Using mirrors and reflections as a means of exposing vanity is also heavily prevalent in the fairytale, most likely being parodied in this novel, Snow White. The evil witch, similar to Lilith, begs the mirror to tell her that she is the most beautiful reflection he had ever seen, yet he cannot and her vanity takes over giving power to the evil inside her. With the Snow White fairytale the superstition of losing one’s soul from gazing into mirrors tool long withstands, for the vanity that ensues causes her to give into evil which destroys a person’s soul. She even goes to length of trying to kill Snow White, an act that wounds a person’s soul beyond repair. Lilith therefore goes an extra mile in destroying her soul because not only does she gaze into her reflection constantly, but she utilizes mirrors to fuel her power of controlling people’s lives. She does this by not only reflecting herself in one mirror, but two, causing her reflection to go on till infinity. This creates an infinite tunnel of vanity, that is not easily broken or escaped from.