The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

In his short story “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” Roald Dahl develops the theme of generosity as virtuous and greed as meaningless. The protagonist, Henry Sugar, is a wealthy and lazy playboy who one day at a party reads an account written by a Dr. John Cartwright about Imhrat Khan, a man in India who could see without his eyes. Reading the account of Imhrat’s training to gain this ability, Henry Sugar decides to practice the same techniques in order to be able to see through cards at casinos. After training for three years, he wins thousands of pounds at a casino in one night, but finds that his perspective has changed. Finding meaning only in giving away his earnings, he continues to go to casinos and uses his earnings to establish twenty orphanages throughout the world.

“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” is universal in that it leads us to consider questions of wealth, greed, and generosity. Henry Sugar’s original self-interest in gaining his ability for the sole purpose of personal profit is something that transcends time and geography, from the treasure-seeking ways of the Spanish conquistadors to the occasional recklessness of Wall Street. Dahl’s discussion of this subject matter is hopeful and idealistic, suggesting that if we are so fortunate as to become wealthy (although obviously not through such means as Henry Sugar) we should be generous as well. In that sense, this short story is a morality tale, although not so obvious as to have a moral clearly stated at the end. This story is also exceptionally well-written, as it takes the form of “a story-within-a-story-within-a-story-within-a-story (Howard).” Because of all those layers, it gains complexity beyond a typical short story, essentially providing the feeling of a novella within the length of a longer short story.

This story addresses the critical thinking and Christian elements of the general education requirements. As we attend college, as students we must think about our life goals. If our goals are like Henry Sugar’s original goal (to become wealthy or wealthier) then our lives will not be significant. This story challenges us to live for something more than personal gain. This lesson is a reflection of Biblical values, which consistently condemn the love of money. “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” is effective at re-enforcing positive values in a very interesting manner. All students at SNU should read it because not only does it have a great message, but its short length makes a busy schedule no excuse for not reading it.

Besides the previously mentioned reasons why this story would belong in my list of books of above average merit, I chose it because it is one of my favorite short stories. When thinking of possible short stories to include, it immediately came to mind, even though I had not read it in quite a while. Its ability to come to my mind after multiple years is a reflection of its effect upon readers.

Works Cited:

Howard, Kristine. "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar." 1996. Roald Dahl Fans. 14 December 2009 .

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