The Twits – Roald Dahl (1980)

The Twits by Roald Dahl, first published in 1980, is a delightfully grotesque children’s book that revels in the repulsive lives of Mr and Mrs Twit – a cruel, grimy, and maliciously comical couple. Known for his dark humor and whimsical storytelling, Dahl crafts a cautionary tale of meanness, absurdity, and poetic justice, brought to life with illustrations by Quentin Blake. The story, though short, is packed with wild antics, wicked tricks, and an ultimately uplifting resolution. As a standalone title, The Twits is a perfect example of Dahl’s signature style: playful, anarchic, and gleefully subversive.

Plot Summary

There once lived two of the foulest, most revolting people imaginable. Mr Twit, with his bristly beard crawling with bits of sardines, cheese, and spaghetti, never washed, not even on Sundays. He was proud of the filth, proud of the forest of hair sprouting from every crevice of his face, proud of how his beard provided snacks from weeks gone by. He believed the hair made him look grand. It did not. It made him look, quite rightly, like a twit. Mrs Twit was equally loathsome. She wasn’t always ugly, but years of ugly thoughts had twisted her face into something crooked and terrifying. Her glass eye, always looking in the wrong direction, became her favorite tool for playing nasty tricks, and her walking stick was more for whacking animals and children than walking.

Their days were spent inventing increasingly grotesque tricks to play on each other. Mrs Twit, sneaky as ever, once dropped her glass eye into Mr Twit’s mug of beer. When he drank it down, he found the eye staring back at him from the bottom of the mug. She cackled, smug in her victory. Mr Twit, who never took such attacks lying down, caught a slimy frog from the garden pond and placed it in her bed, telling her she’d been invaded by a Giant Skillywiggler with teeth like screwdrivers. Mrs Twit, in terror, fainted on the spot.

Each trick sparked a more wicked retaliation. Worms found their way into Mr Twit’s spaghetti – juicy, wiggling worms buried under sauce and cheese. And when he’d slurped the last one down, Mrs Twit gleefully revealed her squishy secret. Mr Twit, shivering with disgust, planned his next move. Slowly, over many nights, he added tiny wooden discs to the bottom of Mrs Twit’s walking stick, and the legs of her chair too. Each day she grew more convinced she was shrinking. Eventually, he declared she had the Dreaded Shrinks, and that the only cure was stretching.

So out she went, tied by the ankles to a metal ring in the garden. Mr Twit inflated dozens of balloons and tied them to her arms, wrists, and even her hair. With enough pull to lift her to the moon, he stepped back to admire his work. But Mrs Twit, foolishly worried about her safety, asked him to double-check the knots on her feet. With a grin as wide as his filthy face, Mr Twit cut the strings. Up she soared, into the sky, screeching for help. But she was not a fool. Biting away at the balloon strings one by one, she slowly descended, her petticoat puffed like a parachute and knickers flashing in the sun, as birds flew from all around to watch the spectacle.

She landed right on top of Mr Twit, walking stick flailing, shrieking threats of revenge as she bashed him with every ounce of her fury. But the house, their grotesque kingdom, had more secrets. Behind it was a monkey cage. Muggle-Wump, his wife, and their two children had been prisoners for ages. Mr Twit’s dream was to create the world’s first Upside Down Monkey Circus, so every day he forced the poor creatures to stand on their heads for hours, to dance and drink and eat upside down, no matter the headaches or fainting. If they refused, Mrs Twit came running with her stick.

Every Wednesday was Bird Pie Day. Mr Twit smeared glue – HUGTIGHT, stickier than sin – on the branches of the Big Dead Tree. Birds roosted there at dusk, and by dawn they were stuck, plucked, and baked. One Tuesday, four boys climbed the tree to peer at the monkeys. They got stuck too, caught by the pants. Furious at having no birds to pluck, Mr Twit threatened to turn the boys into Boy Pie. But they slipped out of their trousers and escaped, pale-bottomed and howling.

That same day, a magnificent bird with shimmering feathers and a round belly swooped into the monkey cage – the Roly-Poly Bird, an old friend from Africa. He spoke the monkeys’ language, and better yet, he understood the English birds too. That night, as Mr Twit smeared the glue, the Roly-Poly Bird warned every feathered creature in rhyme to stay away. Not a single bird landed. Mr Twit was furious.

The next day he smeared glue all over the monkey cage as well, hoping to trick the birds again. But the Roly-Poly Bird, ever watchful, sang his warning loud and clear. The birds roosted on the roof instead. That’s when the Twits decided on guns. Giant shotguns with fifty bullets each. They locked the monkeys in their upside-down tower and left to make their deadly purchase.

But Muggle-Wump had a plan. The Roly-Poly Bird fetched the key from the shed, and the monkeys burst from their cage. Inside the Twits’ house, buckets of glue were slathered across the ceiling. The floor was repainted to look like the ceiling. The carpet, the chairs, the sofa, even the beastly plastic gnome – all were stuck upside down to the gluey white ceiling. Birds swooped in with brushes in their beaks. The illusion was perfect.

When the Twits returned, two ravens dabbed glue onto their heads. Mr and Mrs Twit, seeing their entire room upside down, believed they were standing on the ceiling. Giddy with panic, they decided to correct themselves – by standing on their heads. Their glued heads stuck fast. They were frozen like statues, helpless, upside down in their own living room.

The monkeys, watching through a crack, celebrated their freedom. Muggle-Wump built a treehouse in the woods and, with help from the Roly-Poly Bird, planned a journey back to the warmth of Africa, one ride at a time on the bird’s back. And inside that ghastly house, the Twits remained – heads stuck, bodies shrinking, voices fading. The weight of gravity, the grip of glue, and the force of their own nastiness did them in.

By the time a man came to read the gas meter, there was nothing left of Mr and Mrs Twit but two piles of clothes, two pairs of shoes, and one lonely walking stick. And the world outside shouted in chorus – HOORAY!

Main Characters

• Mr Twit – A vile, hairy-faced man with appalling hygiene and a loathsome disposition. He takes pride in his unkempt beard, which is home to rotting food scraps. Mr Twit delights in tormenting his wife and animals alike, crafting elaborate and nasty pranks with a childlike glee. His cruel personality drives much of the plot and ultimately leads to his downfall.

• Mrs Twit – Equally repulsive, Mrs Twit is an embodiment of internal ugliness made outwardly grotesque. Once pleasant-looking, her malevolence has twisted her features over time. She uses her glass eye to play pranks and her walking stick to strike animals and children. Her escalating pranks and reactions fuel the comic rivalry with her husband.

• Muggle-Wump and Family – A family of monkeys imprisoned in a cage by the Twits, they are forced to practice upside-down circus tricks. Muggle-Wump, the father, is clever and resourceful. He eventually leads the revolt against the Twits, freeing his family and helping to orchestrate a fitting punishment for their captors.

• The Roly-Poly Bird – A flamboyant and intelligent creature who speaks multiple languages and serves as a savior figure. He understands both the monkeys and the English birds, warning the latter about the Twits’ bird-trapping schemes and aiding in the plan to turn the Twits’ home upside down.

Theme

• Cruelty and Revenge: The Twits’ relationship is founded on mutual cruelty, with each trying to outdo the other in revolting pranks. This ongoing tit-for-tat embodies the book’s central humor while highlighting how malice can spiral and turn inward.

• Justice and Rebellion: The enslaved monkeys, aided by the Roly-Poly Bird, orchestrate a rebellion against their abusers. Their plan, culminating in poetic justice for the Twits, underscores a theme of moral retribution where cruelty is turned back upon the cruel.

• Physical Appearance vs. Inner Character: Dahl asserts that ugliness on the inside eventually reflects outward. Mrs Twit’s descent into grotesquery is a physical manifestation of her hateful thoughts, reinforcing the message that beauty is tied to kindness.

• Absurdity and Humor: The world of The Twits is filled with exaggerated absurdities – upside-down circuses, talking birds, and shrinking humans. Dahl uses this surrealism to mock the mundane and criticize moral failings with a humorous edge that appeals to both children and adults.

Writing Style and Tone

Roald Dahl’s writing in The Twits is punchy, mischievous, and vividly descriptive. He uses short chapters and brisk pacing to maintain a high level of engagement. His narrative voice speaks directly to the reader with a knowing, conspiratorial tone that breaks the fourth wall, enhancing the intimate and playful feel of the story. Dahl’s language is rich in grotesque imagery – rotting food in beards, maggoty cheese, and sticky glue – making his revolting characters larger-than-life caricatures that readers both despise and delight in.

The tone is darkly comic, mixing gleeful revulsion with a childlike sense of justice. Dahl relishes in detailing the Twits’ hideous habits and schemes, yet he never allows the darkness to overshadow the humor. The ultimate triumph of the monkeys and the poetic punishment of the Twits provide catharsis, keeping the book light-hearted despite its grotesque moments. Quentin Blake’s spindly, anarchic illustrations perfectly match this tone, complementing Dahl’s grotesque prose with visual whimsy and chaos.