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The black, foul-smelling cigars which the boy’s Norwegian Grandmamma smokes represent how different she is from the book’s other female characters. The Witches presents women, generally, as helpless at best and actively dangerous at worst. Mrs. Jenkins isn’t a very good mother to Bruno, and she’s terrified of mice even though they’re largely harmless. Witches, demonic creatures whose one purpose in existence is to kill as many children as possible, pose as women. They’re dangerous and terrifying in part because they pretend to be harmless even though they’re not. In contrast, the book celebrates the boy’s Grandmamma as a wise, caring, and resilient woman, even as it works hard to distinguish her from other female characters. It does this through her age and physical appearance (unlike the Grand High Witch, Grandmamma looks as old, fat, and wrinkly as she actually is) and through the masculine-coded cigars that she smokes—a habit none of the other female characters in the book shares.
Cigar Quotes in The Witches
The The Witches quotes below all refer to the symbol of Cigar. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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2. My Grandmother
Quotes
My grandmother was tremendously old and wrinkled, with a massive wide body which was smothered in grey lace. She sat there majestic in her armchair, filling every inch of it. Not even a mouse could have squeezed in to sit beside her. I myself, just over seven years old, was crouched on the floor at her feet, wearing pyjamas, dressing-gown, and slippers.
[…]
My grandmother was the only grandmother I ever met who smoked cigars. She lit one now, a long black cigar that smelt of burning rubber.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Witches LitChart as a printable PDF.
Cigar Symbol Timeline in The Witches
The timeline below shows where the symbol Cigar appears in The Witches. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
2. My Grandmother
...of his grandmother. Grandmamma is a comforting, fat old lady who incessantly smokes thin black cigars. She’s also a marvelous storyteller.
(full context)
3. How to Recognise a Witch
...the boy a bath and helping him get ready for bed, Grandmamma puffs on a cigar and tells him how to spot a witch. A real witch will always be wearing...
(full context)
4. The Grand High Witch
...English witches, while less numerous, are far nastier than Norwegian ones. She puffs on her cigar as she tells the boy what she knows. He can’t take his eyes off her...
(full context)
14. Hello Grandmamma
...fruit bowl and begins to eat. As Grandmamma sits down and lights one of her cigars, the boy assures her that he doesn’t regret his metamorphosis. Then, when she has calmed...
(full context)
