Joshua Eargle

Amy Carter
5B AP Literature
October 23, 2013
The Great Automatic Grammatizator: An Analysis on the Effect of Diction to Illustrate Thematic
Principles
Prompt: Explain how diction is used by the author to exemplify the theme of the story.
Roald Dahls revolutionary short story, The Great Automatic Grammatizator, is a social
commentary on the powers of industrial means, such as the ever so expanding development of
machinery and the booming world of big business. In demonstrating the thematic principles of
Dahls work, he carefully uses a precise set of words and phrases. This diction illustrates the
themes of the work as well as hinting to what they may be.
Early in the story, Dahl displays one of the first themes simply by his subtle description of
the evident change in his characters. At the beginning, Arnold Knipe is described as being a
tall, thin person" who was also a little man that could not stand up straight, always drooping
and untidy, with spots on his jacket, and hair falling all over his face, (Dahl. 1). He is also seen
as being uncertain and somewhat shy, never fully giving Mr. Bohlen a direct answer. Although,
as the story progresses, Knipe begins dominating the conversations with Mr. Bohlen. He
becomes much bolder and begins suggesting, almost commanding, even more impactful ideas
about their business as well as adorning himself with a suitcase and leaving in a large
chauffeur-drive Cadillac. Along with Knipe, Mr. Bohlen himself changes as he is then seen later
in the story adorned in a bottle-green velvet jacket and allowing his hair to cover two thirds of
his ears," (Dahl. 7).
Dadhls word choice in describing the change in his characters, brought on by the
influence of money, states Dahls idea of moneys power over man. Dahl was essentially trying

to emulate the theme that money will corrupt seemingly good men as evident in Knipes
transformation. Knipe was originally seen as being innocent to the world of corporate
competition but then changes to being a controlling and manipulative leader of the business
world all because of his new found greed.
Another theme that Dahl was attempting to express in the story was his belief in how
much writers do, in fact, care about their work. This is done through the method in which he
describes the writers reactions to Knipes business proposal of signing to Knipes agency and
ultimately giving up the art of writing forever. The first writer is seen as originally listening to
Knipes proposal. But then, after he decided, he was dealing with a lunatic, he, gave him a
drink, then firmly showed him the door. The second writer that Knipe spoke to was far more
aggressive and actually, attacked him with a large metal paperweight. Dahl continues to state
that the writers were, apt to become abusive, sometimes violent when he (Knipe) approached
them: and more than once Knipe was slightly injured on rounds. (Dahl. 7).
By portraying the writers as acting so aggressively to the thought of forever abandoning
their work, Dahl was illustrating his theme that writers greatly care about their work, even turning
to violence to defend their right to further pursue writing. Also, by having the first writer deem
Knipe as a, lunatic, he is further demonstrating how writers are so deeply invested in their
work that they find the thought of never writing again as crazy.
In continuing with the story, because Knipe is rejected ever so violently by the great
names in writing, he begins to target the lowest common denominator of the literary world. He
begins contacting those who realize that the machine writes better work than their own.
Essentially, Knipe realized that his machine attracted the eyes of those who were already lazy
and uncreative.
The theme that Dahl was attempting to illustrate here was the idea that the production of
new machinery is causing people to become not only more lethargic, but it is also developing a
lack of creativity amongst everyone. This was because, as Dahl showed, people would rather
allow a machine to create their goods as the machine would most likely do it better and more
efficiently. Because of this, people are becoming more and more reliant on machinery which is
causing them to lack the creativity to develop new ideas as they do not possess the initiative to
pursue something greater than what the machine has already produced.
The final theme the Dahl attempted to execute coincides with the theme stated
previously. As the people become more reliant upon machinery and the industries that control
them, the more that the people will become mindless slaves which will then lead them to be
entirely dependent upon the businesses for survival. The expression of this theme can be seen
very evidently in the final few paragraphs of the story.
In the conclusion of, The Great Automatic Grammatizator, the narrator enters the story
and brings the point of view to his own. He states that, many more are hurrying to tie up with
Mr. Knipe. And all the time things get worse for those who hesitate to sign their name. He
further goes on to describe his own situation as, This very moment, as I sit here listening to the
crying of my nine starving children in the other room, I can feel my own hand creeping closer
and closer to that golden contract.
Dahl decided to describe the narrators situation as such to emulate the diea that people
are absolutely at the hands of the industries. He essentially states that those who attempt to
survive without the assistance of businesses simply cannot and will not because society is
completely helpless without them. In conclusion, Dahl was emulation the idea that industry
entirely controls the world that he lived in.
Within the confines of Roald Dahls societal criticism, The Great Automatic
Grammatizator, he expresses his beliefs and observations of the corrupted world of the industry
that writers and artists alike must face every day through the use of elaborate diction. Although,
what makes this concept so utterly frightening, so completely mind boggling, is ow close his
scenario is to breaking the wall of mere fantasy to reality. What makes this story more than just
a piece of literary merit is how plausible the events in the story are, how undeniably feasible that
these events could be. Of course, these events are highly exaggerated, but society is not far
away from accomplishing such a feat as an Automatic Grammatizator. It makes one question,
what will happen if man becomes a slave to the machines that he created, or is it a matter of
when? As Dahl demonstrated in his work, society is already there.