James and the Giant Peach

Themes of fear of the unknown lie within James and the Giant Peach. During his voyage on the peach, he comes across people who once they see the giant peach along with the mutated insects, usually run screaming for their lives and at the very least distrust what they see.

Cause- James ties 502 seagulls to the peach to lift them out of the water and away from the sharks.
Effect- The peach wanders past the Queen Mary on her way to America. The captain doesn't like what he sees, thinking it might be a secret weapon. The captain then goes in to hysterics when he sees the giant insects, which makes the rest of the crew think he has gone insane.

Cause- The giant peach sails through clouds as tall as mountains, and meet the Cloud-Men.
Effect- This time around, It is the characters on the giant peach that are distrusting of what they see. The insects notice the Cloud-Men, huddle together for comfort, and hope that the Cloud-Men don't see them.
Effect- An effect of the insects not trusting and fearing the Cloud-Men is their treatment of the Cloud-Men. The insects infuriate the Cloud-Men, who retaliate by throwing hailstones at the peach, damaging it greatly.

Cause- After crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a single night, The giant peach had arrived at New York. James and the insects needed to land, so they started cutting through the silk strings that held the peach up in the air.
Effect- As soon as the people of New York spotted the giant peach, their first instinct was that it was a bomb. Air sirens went off, television and radio programs were interrupted, and evacuation of the city started at once.

In each of these events, James and the insects were either greeted by fear and panic, or if they met something that seemed ominous, were fearful themselves. A closer examination of the events that were happening by the characters in the story could have led to less dire confrontations than what they had. They could have become great friends with the Cloud-Men, and get to see their fantastic world they live in. Confronting the unknown with fear should instead be replaced by curiosity. More friends and excitement could be had that way than running in terror at the sight of a spider. Stick around and you might get to see its beautifully spun web.