"I am not a slimy beast," the Earthworm said. "I am a useful and much loved creature. Ask any gardener you like."
"'I am not a slimy beast,' the Earthworm said. 'I am a useful and much loved creature. Ask any gardener you like.'" - James and the Giant Peach
The Earthworm appears in Roald Dahl's first famous book for children, James and the Giant Peach. He is one of a number of creatures James Henry Trotter meets aboard the Giant Peach.
He is a pretty morose creature - as the Ladybird tells James, "'He hates to be happy. He is only happy when he is gloomy. Now isn't that odd? But then, I suppose just being an Earthworm is enough to make a person pretty gloomy, don't you agree?'"
James is quick to point out the Earthworm's good points, though, later telling an audience of New Yorkers: "'He would be absolutely grand for digging subway tunnels and for making you a sewer.'"
The 1996 film version of James and the Giant Peach featured the voice of David Thewlis as the Earthworm.
© The Roald Dahl Story Company Limited / Quentin Blake 2018.
Roald Dahl is a registered trademark of The Roald Dahl Story Company Limited.
