Comprehensive Study Notes: Television by Roald Dahl

Author Overview: Roald Dahl

  • Biographical Dates: 1916 – 1990
  • Nationality: British
  • Professional Roles: Novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot, and screenwriter.
  • Literary Achievements: Author of widely celebrated children's tales, adult mystery stories, and witty poetry designed for all age groups.

Portrait of Roald Dahl

Context & Key Themes

  • Prevalence of Screen Time:
    • Young children consume excessive amounts of time in screen-viewing activities.
    • Primary activities include playing video games, watching movies, and viewing cartoon pictures.
  • Physical and Behavioral Effects:
    • Children view television with extreme fascination.
    • Viewership is routinely accompanied by continuous snacking, leading children to quickly grow plump.
    • Managing screen consumption is a major struggle for parents.
  • Central Theme & Warning:
    • Excessive screen consumption transforms into a harmful addiction.
    • Fictional, televised worlds hypnotize young minds, causing severe psychological and creative impairment.

Complete Poem Text: "Television"

  • Lines 1–5:   > The most important thing we've learned,   > So far as children are concerned,   > Is never, NEVER, NEVER let   > Them near your television set —   > Or better still, just don't install   > The idiotic thing at all. (5)

  • Lines 6–12:   > In almost every house we've been,   > We've watched them gaping at the screen.   > They loll and slop and lounge about,   > And stare until their eyes pop out.   > (Last week in someone's place we saw   > A dozen eyeballs on the floor.) (10)

  • Lines 13–16:   > They sit and stare and stare and sit   > Until they're hypnotised by it,   > Until they're absolutely drunk   > With all that shocking ghastly junk. (15)

  • Lines 17–23:   > Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,   > They don't climb out the window sill,   > They never fight or kick or punch,   > They leave you free to cook the lunch   > And wash the dishes in the sink — (20)   > But did you ever stop to think,   > To wonder just exactly what   > This does to your beloved tot?

  • Lines 24–33 (Capitalized Warning):   > IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD! (25)   > IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!   > IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!   > IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND   > HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND   > A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND! (30)   > HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!   > HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!   > HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!

Detailed Analysis & Stanza Breakdown

  • The Core Advice (Lines 1–5):

    • A direct warning is issued to parents regarding children and media.
    • The strongest recommendation is to never let children near a television, or ideally, never install the device ("the idiotic thing") in the household.

  • Observational Evidence of Addiction (Lines 6–12):

    • Widespread domestic observation reveals children continuously gaping at screens.
    • Behaviors associated with screen watching include lolling, slopping, and lounging about in complete physical inactivity.
    • Hyperbolic imagery is utilized to highlight excessive viewing: observing "a dozen eyeballs on the floor" from staring until eyes pop out.

  • Hypnotic Intoxication (Lines 13–16):

    • The mechanical repetition of sitting and staring places children into a spellbound, hypnotized trance.
    • Children become figuratively "drunk" from consuming large quantities of low-quality, shocking content described as "ghastly junk."

  • Parental Motivation & The Electronic Babysitter (Lines 17–23):

    • Television functions as a convenient substitute caregiver.
    • Benefits to parents:
    • Keeps children quiet and motionless.
    • Prevents dangerous actions such as climbing out window sills.
    • Eliminates physical conflicts like fighting, kicking, or punching.
    • Grants parents uninterrupted freedom to execute domestic duties like cooking lunch and washing dishes.
    • A pivotal question challenges parents to consider the underlying cost inflicted upon their child ("beloved tot").

  • Cognitive & Creative Destruction (Lines 24–33):

    • Printed entirely in capital letters to signal maximum urgency and alarm.
    • Severe consequences listed:
    • Cognitive Decay: Rots sense in the head.
    • Loss of Creativity: Destroys imagination completely dead.
    • Mental Overload: Clogs and clutters the intellect with non-value information.
    • Perceptual Impairment: Makes the child intellectually dull and blind, rendering them incapable of understanding creative concepts like fantasy and fairylands.
    • Physical Brain Changes: Converts brain tissue to a consistency as soft as cheese.
    • Stagnation of Reason: Mental faculties rust and freeze, ending critical thought and reducing the child to a purely passive viewer ("HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!").

Glossary & Vocabulary Studies

  • idiotic thing: Slang reference to a television set, traditionally called an "idiot box."
  • loll and slop and lounge about: Sitting or reclining in a lazy, posture-less manner while eating and spilling food or snacks.
  • hypnotized: Charmed or rendered completely motionless as if controlled by a spell.
  • ghastly: Horrible, highly disturbing, or very alarming.
  • junk: Rubbish; items or material lacking actual value.
  • tot: A young child.
  • CLOG: To block or obstruct a channel or mind.
  • CLUTTER: To fill or overcrowd a space with too many chaotic, unnecessary items.
  • FANTASY: A pleasant, imaginative, or unreal situation.

Comprehension & Study Questions

  • 1. What important thing does the poet say about children and the television?

    • Children should never be allowed near a television set, and parents should refrain from installing one in their homes altogether.

  • 2. How do children spend their time with the television?

    • They spend hours sitting, staring, lolling, slopping, and lounging about passively in front of the screen.

  • 3. How do children behave while watching TV?

    • They become mesmerized, hypnotized, and gape at the screen continuously until their eyes feel as though they are popping out.

  • 4. How does TV become a harmful addiction for children?

    • It hypnotizes them with endless amounts of meaningless, ghastly content, filling their minds like an intoxicating substance and replacing active physical and mental endeavors.

  • 5. Why do parents let their children watch TV?

    • Parents permit screen viewing because it keeps children still, prevents mischievous behavior or fighting, and allows parents quiet time to accomplish domestic chores like preparing meals and washing dishes.

  • 6. Do you think TV does the role of a babysitter? Justify.

    • Yes, it acts as an electronic babysitter by occupying children's complete attention and keeping them physically still so parents are free from caregiving responsibilities.

  • 7. What are the undesirable consequences of watching the television?

    • It rots the intellect, kills imagination, clogs and clutters the mind, dulls thinking capacity, makes the brain soft as cheese, freezes thinking powers, and prevents appreciation of fantasy and creative ideas.

  • 8. Why does the poet use all capital letters to end his poem?

    • Capital letters are utilized to stress the supreme urgency, severity, and alarming nature of the danger that television poses to a child's cognitive development.

  • 9. What comparison does he make to prove his point?

    • The poet compares a television-addicted child's brain to soft cheese and compares their thinking faculties to metal that rusts and freezes from lack of use.

  • 10. "HE CANNOT THINK — HE ONLY SEES!" — what does "he" refer to?

    • "He" refers to any child or young viewer who has fallen victim to excessive screen addiction.