Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in James and the Giant Peach, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Children vs. Adults
Assumptions vs. Curiosity
Nature and Growing Up
Fun, Nonsense, and Absurdity
Summary
Analysis
James tells all of his friends on the peach goodbye. The peach is headed for all the tallest buildings, so James watches the skyscrapers get too close too fast. The tallest skyscraper has a huge needle sticking up into the sky. The peach hits the needle directly and finally stops, skewered on the top of the Empire State Building.
Indeed, the peach and everyone on it is saved—and this time, by a skyscraper, which symbolizes the adult world. This consequently represents James’s growing readiness to be a part of this new adult world. He has the skills he needs, thanks to the lessons he learned on board the peach, to integrate and succeed.
Themes
