James and the Giant Peach Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
James and the Giant Peach follows James Henry Trotter, an orphan forced to live with two horrible aunts. Magic makes a peach grow as big as a house, and James climbs inside to find a group of giant, talking insects. Together they roll, float and fly across the ocean to New York.
It was Roald Dahl's first major children's book.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| James Henry Trotter | Lonely orphan boy |
| Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker | His cruel aunts |
| The Old-Green-Grasshopper | Wise musician insect |
| The Centipede | Boastful and funny |
| The Earthworm | Gloomy and nervous |
| The Ladybug, Spider, Glow-worm and Silkworm | The other travelers |
How does James end up with his aunts?
When James is four, his parents are killed by an escaped rhinoceros. He is sent to live with Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker on a hill, where they work him hard and never let him play. One day a strange old man gives him a bag of tiny glowing crystals that will bring marvelous things. James trips and spills them under an old peach tree.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens to the peach?
A peach on the tree grows to the size of a house. The aunts charge visitors money to see it. One night James crawls through a hole into its stone and finds giant insects who welcome him. The Centipede bites through the stem, and the peach rolls down the hill, squashing both aunts flat.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens on the voyage?
The peach rolls into the sea and floats away. When sharks attack, James has the Spider and Silkworm spin strings, and they lasso hundreds of seagulls that lift the peach into the air. High above, they pass the Cloud-Men, who make hail and rainbows and attack the travelers when they are spotted.
↑ Back to the topHow does it end?
Over New York, the city thinks the peach is a bomb. A plane cuts some of the strings, and the peach falls onto the spire of the Empire State Building. The people of New York welcome James and the insects as heroes, and the children of the city eat the peach. The insects find jobs and become famous. James lives in the peach stone, set up in Central Park, and children come every day to visit him and hear his story.
↑ Back to the topMore about James and the Giant Peach
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.