Fantastic Mr. Fox — Chapter 4

About This Passage

This passage was chosen because it is the turning point of the chapter — the moment when fear stops and action begins. Notice how Dahl uses the word furiously to show speed and urgency, and how the short sentence ‘Mrs Fox ran forward to help him. So did the four children.’ shows the family uniting without needing to be told twice. The command ‘Go downwards!’ is also the book’s first tactical order, and it tells the reader that Mr Fox’s survival plan is vertical: go where the shovels cannot reach. Three vocabulary words appear here in context: furiously, ordered, deep.

Narration Prompt

In a paragraph of five to seven sentences, retell Chapter 4 with attention to its emotional arc: the sad, hungry opening with Mrs Fox licking Mr Fox’s tail stump; the terrible sound of the shovels starting above their heads; Mrs Fox’s panic and the Small Fox’s question about dogs; the sudden sharp shovel breaking through the ceiling; Mr Fox’s electric new idea that a fox digs faster than a man; the whole family digging downward together; and Mrs Fox’s final declaration that her husband is a fantastic fox.

Discussion Questions

1. At the start of the chapter, Mrs Fox licks the stump of Mr Fox’s tail and tells him it was the finest tail for miles around. What does this small moment teach the reader about how the Fox family treats each other when they are hurt? How do you know Mrs Fox is both honest about the loss and gentle about it at the same time?
2. When the sharp end of a shovel comes through the ceiling, Dahl writes that the sight has an ‘electric effect’ upon Mr Fox. What is Dahl showing by comparing Mr Fox’s new idea to electricity? How does this one word change Mr Fox from a hurt, glum fox into a fox ready to save his family?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide