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Lessons from ‘The Witches’

07 Nov 2020

By Kusumanjalee Thilakarathna  Based on Roald Dahl’s 1983 novel by the same name, “The Witches” is about an orphaned boy whose encounter with the Grand High Witch turns into a dramatic tale of courageous rescue and revenge. The movie was released on 22 October 2020. Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, and Stanley Tucci play the main characters and the story is narrated by Chris Rock. If you haven’t read the book or watched the 1990 version, you might find the story quite unpredictable and full of spooky surprises. For those who have not watched the movie, there may be a few spoilers here in this article. Yet, it is important to discuss the lessons hidden in the story because the lessons Roald Dhal is trying to teach us through the story are very significant for living a good life.    I am sad for you, but I am not sorry for you.   This is what the grandmother says to the grieving boy. She does not sympathise with her grandson, but she empathises. Empathy is stronger than sympathy. It is the ability to put yourself in the place of another and understand someone else's feelings by identifying with them. With empathy, you put yourself in another person's shoes, often feeling things more deeply than if you just felt sympathy. So, rather than feeling sorry for her grandson, the grandmother tries to understand how he feels and helps him to overcome sadness and also helps him get back on his feet.    Alice did something no child should ever do. She took candy from a stranger.   In her attempts to make the boy less sad, the grandmother brings home a new friend for him – a pet rat. One day, he is accosted by a mysterious woman in a store trying to offer him candy, which leads to his grandmother relating a story about how witches seduce children with candy and then turn them into animals to be easily killed! The witches hate the children! She knew this because her friend Alice was turned into a chicken by a witch. Roald Dhal understood children. He knew of their love for sweets and he knew that sometimes when someone offers us candy, it is a little hard to resist. The bad people also know about this and used it as a method to fool the kids into doing evil things. We have heard so many sad stories about children being kidnapped after being offered sweets or harmful substances in the form of candy. So, this is an important lesson for us to keep in mind at all times. Never accept candy from someone you don’t know, or even from those who you know and don’t trust.    It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.   Unfortunately, the boy gets caught to the Grand High Witch – the strongest witch of all – and was turned in to a mouse. Although he knew that the witches were evil, he couldn’t stay away. He had to help a friend and he gets caught. Life is like this sometimes. We face bad things. We can’t always escape the evil. And we will have to face the circumstances that may follow. However, what is important is how we treat ourselves. Just because something bad happened to you, it doesn’t mean that life is going to remain bad. There is a silver lining in every dark cloud. Good things will follow the bad. And if you have your nearest and dearest people with you, it will not be very hard to face the bad and accept yourself too. The grandmother never gave up on her little boy. She is always there for him, although he is now a mouse.

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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!


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