Language and style

We will address the language and the style of the poem “The Ant-Eater” by Roald Dahl in order for you to better understand its meaning and the way it is composed. 

Playing with language

It is more than clear that the poet is playing with language in “The Ant-Eater”. The main way in which this happens is the confusion between the ways some American words are pronounced. For example, the way the Americans pronounce the word “aunt” is identical to the way the British pronounce the word “ant”. This is explained in the poem:

(Some people in the U.S.A.
Have trouble with the words they say.
However hard they try, they can’t
Pronounce simple words like AUNT.
Instead of AUNT, they call it ANT,
Instead of CAN’T, they call it KANT.) 

This confusion makes the ant-eater decide to eat the woman. Of course, the ant-eater might already know the truth; he might have decided to take advantage of this instance in order to get revenge and finally eat something.

Tense of verbs

The majority of the verbs in the poem are employed in the past tense. This is another indication that the poem resembles a fairy tale or a story that happened a long time ago. Even the beginning of the poem resembles that of story:

Some wealthy folks from U.S.A.,
Who lived near San Francisco Bay,
Possessed an only child called Roy,
A plump and unattractive boy –

Present tense is mostly employed in dialogues and when the poet depicts the common confusion in the pronunciation of some American words:

(Some people in the U.S.A.
Have trouble with the words they say.
However hard they try, they can’t
Pr...