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What does Roald Dahl say about television?
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In this article, you will be reading Television Summary. It is one of the best poems written by the most prolific writer, well-known author of children named Roald Dahl. The author inspires and advises the youths to read books instead of watching the television.
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Dahl advises from his experience that people should never ever allow their children to go near the television set. It is even better not to install ‘the idiotic thing’ called television. But why is a television an idiotic thing according to the poet? Throughout the entire poem, Dahl attempts to answer it. The poet shares his experience here. In alm...
When the children are before a television set, they ‘sit and stare and stare and sit’ for long hours. They don’t seem to be moving from there, as they probably forget everything around them in the real world. Rather, the one they watch on the television becomes real for the time being. They are almost hypnotized by this idiotic box. They are ‘absol...
The poet now says that he knows that the television keeps the naughty children calm. When they are in front of a TV set, they no more do mischievous things like climbing out the window sill, fighting, kicking and punching. They let the mother free to cook the lunch and wash the dishes in the sink without any disturbance. But that can’t be an excuse...
The poet-speaker now asks the parents whether they ever spent a moment to think exactly what harm this television does to their loving child. He himself answers it in a brilliant way. Watching the television regularly damages the sense in the head. Children are drawn away from the reality, the real world around him. He just believes what he watches...
Roald Dahl continues to argue on how television affects a child’s mind. Children watch different shows on different channels. Sometimes there are contradictory ideas. Sometimes, it does not match with reality and they are surprised. Thus, these things clog and clutter up the mind – mess up the organised ideas and thoughts. Moreover, the child forge...
The poet feels that due to the imposed limitation on thoughts, the children can no longer understand a fantasy or a fairy tale. They cannot extend their imaginative power to that level. They are now used to see an image of the likely real world – a virtual reality. Dahl now opines that by watching television, the brain becomes soft like cheese. Chi...
Now the poet says that he knows what the readers or especially the parents would ask him. The question is how parents shall entertain their affectionate children if they take the TV set away from them. The poet has the answer in the following lines. The poet answers the above question only by throwing a question. What people used to do to keep them...
The poet himself reminds us that children in earlier times used to read lots of books. Surprisingly people then spent half of their lifetime by reading books. (‘Great Scott! Gadzooks!’ is an expression of surprise or amazement.) In those earlier days the nursery selves were full of bools. In nursery schools, books remained scattered on the floor. E...
Here the poet talks about the popular books of adventures that children used to read in his time. In those days boys and girls read fantastic stories of dragons, gypsies, queens, whales, treasure islands, smugglers, pirates, ships, elephants, cannibals and so on. The younger children used to read stories written by Helen Beatrix Potter, an author o...
Roald Dahl, the poet now requests the parents for their own good to throw away their television set and install a book shelf in its place. After installing the book shelf in place of a TV set, the parents will face some dirty looks, screams, yells, bites and kicks from their children. They may even hit them with sticks. But the poet insists on fill...
- Jayanta Kumar Maity
‘Television’ by Roald Dahl describes in outrageous detail the dangers of television and what a parent can do to save their child. Dahl’s speaker uses hyperbolic statements to reflect on the dangers of watching too much TV.
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- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
May 27, 2020 · Summary. The poem ‘Television’ by Roald Dahl states that the television is a hypnotizer which dulls the imagination of children by all the filth it telecasts.
Jan 21, 2024 · Television Summary by Roald Dahl. As the mouthpiece of a number of people, the poet begins by saying that the parents should keep the children away from the television set. He makes this statement in a very aggressive way. He compares the television set to be as bad as an idiot box.
Dahl uphold the virtues and pleasures of reading and being engrossed in book and at the same time critiques the invention of the television, very correctly known as the “idiot box.” He urges the parents to switch their kids from the TV to books as otherwise the young generation will be greatly harmed.
May 6, 2016 · Summary of Television by Roald Dahl. ‘Television’ consists of a total of 94 lines. These lines are not separated into stanzas. Here they are divided into meaningful segments for ease of comprehension. Lines 1-6: The most important thing we’ve learned, So far as children are concerned, Is never, NEVER, NEVER let. Them near your television set —
