Demon Dentist

Alfie’s father is a kindhearted and optimistic man who tries his best to raise Alfie despite great adversity. Since Alfie’s mother died in childbirth, Dad has always faced the challenge of single parenting; once his health deteriorated (likely from the condition known as black lung disease or a similar illness), Dad left his job at the coal mine to avoid breathing in coal dust. His physical limitations and overall poor health prevent any future employment, so he and Alfie live in poverty. Dad uses a wheelchair and typically does not leave the house, but he rallies Alfie’s spirits daily with tales of faraway adventures in which Alfie and Dad take starring roles. Dad also maintains an upbeat demeanor in daily life, encouraging Alfie to wear his school uniform with pride, although it is tattered, and to politely serve Winnie tea and cookies even though they have so little in their cupboards.

Dad seeks help from social services early in the novel, admitting that his deteriorating condition requires assistance for Alfie’s care. At the end of the story, however, Dad exudes a resurgence of physical and emotional strength, utilizing his background and know-how to participate in the one dangerous adventure he realistically can attend: saving Alfie and Gabz from the witch deep in the coal mine. With this change from storyteller to active hero, Dad is a dynamic character. In destroying the witch, he sacrifices his life; losing Dad prompts Alfie’s growth, maturity, and changed mindset toward hope and appreciation.

Winnie is the social worker sent to investigate the Griffiths’ situation. Walliams characterizes her with some comedic traits, such as her choice of colorful, mismatched clothing. Some of Winnie’s actions are ironic, such as asking lightheartedly for a cookie when taking the last cookies means that Alfie and Dad will go hungry: “Another chocolate one if you have it please, ha ha! […] Naughty, I know! Have to watch my figure! But I do love choccy biccies!” (73). Her choices in caring for Alfie also represent irony; despite the many problems that Winnie witnesses in Alfie’s socioeconomic situation (using a camp stove for heat and no food in the kitchen), the first duty that Winnie chooses to attend is the one Alfie wants most to avoid—a trip to the dentist.

Alfie is determined to avoid Winnie and tries several times to put distance between the social worker and his plans to care for Dad and solve the tooth snatcher mystery, such as when he allows Winnie to consume many coffee-flavored Revels. Winnie eventually wins Alfie over, though, when she admits that the Tooth Witch is real and actively helps Alfie save Gabz. Additionally, Winnie’s moped, once seen as a symbol of her interference in Alfie’s life, becomes integral to his confrontation with the Tooth Witch. Her change of heart in this regard makes her a dynamic character, and her decision to assist Alfie develops the theme of The Benefits of Teamwork in Facing Danger. Winnie’s commitment to Alfie is evident by the end of the novel when she marries Raj and adopts Alfie, beginning the new family’s future.

Walliams characterizes Miss Root as suspicious and evil from her first encounter with Alfie and the other schoolchildren, and she grows only increasingly evil as the story develops. Paradoxically, she wears brilliant white clothing in her dentist persona, including bright white, perfect teeth; usually, white symbolizes heroes, saviors, and innocence in fiction, but on Miss Root, white hides her true form: the Tooth Witch. Miss Root is both an archetypal shadow and a shapeshifter, as she is an antagonist who reveals her true self by removing the “mask” of white veneers and showing her awful fangs.

Miss Root sticks close to the classic witch playbook, including living in a scary lair, using a bubbling cauldron with a terrifying mixture, having a mean cat, and flying through the night (though she uses a dentist’s laughing gas cylinder instead of a broom). As an antagonist who adheres to many stereotypical characterizations, Miss Root/the Tooth Witch is a static character who experiences no change of heart. The author completes her characterization by including comedic and ironic traits as well; for example, Miss Root expects to be called “Mummy” by the town’s children and markets sweets and toothpaste by this name. Humorously, even after she makes her evil intentions known, the Tooth Witch still wants to be known by this name: “Mummy’s going to eat you!” (395).

Gabz is seemingly shy and quiet around most of her peers, but she has a strong, confident personality that she shows early on when she commands the noisy school assembly to be quiet. She shows her self-assurance in each scene with Alfie as well, strongly asserting her opinion that magic, fairy tales, monsters, and adventure can exist in the real world. She is the first to suggest that Miss Root has witch-like qualities, and though Alfie initially scoffs at Gabz’s theories, he soon must admit that Gabz is right. For example, Gabz suggests that the tooth snatcher can fly; Alfie rejects this idea as unrealistic and then sees the flying action for himself on the night he catches the tooth snatcher in his room.

Gabz also shows her self-assurance in rejecting the idea of Alfie as a boyfriend when several characters misunderstand their relationship. She is independent and proud as well, as when Alfie tries a little too hard to rescue her. He attempts to lift her free of the dentist’s chair once her restraints open, but Gabz refuses his lifting, electing instead to pop up on her own. Ironically, the tables turn on Alfie late in the novel when he is the one in need of rescue: Gabz grabs him by the ankle just before he falls into the toothpaste cauldron and swings him clear of danger. Gabz is a dynamic character by the end of the Epilogue; she retains her self-assured inner strength but changes her opinion about romantic prospects with Alfie, enjoying her new role as his girlfriend.