David is the protagonist in “The Boy Who Talked with Animals.” As the guests at the hotel contemplates the life of a large turtle caught by some fishermen, David runs up to the creature with his parents and flings his arms around the turtle’s neck. David exemplifies characteristics that often appear in Dahl’s child protagonists. He is small, unassuming, and kind. Dahl often employs a David and Goliath narrative structure in his works, and one may even argue that the name of this character is representative of this biblical story. Dahl’s protagonists are often those least likely to rebel or to be viewed as heroes, yet David stands up for the life of the turtle when no one else will. Even the narrator, who recognizes the cruelty and ignorance of the crowd’s behavior, does not intervene himself, leaving David to defend the turtle alone.

When David shouts to the crowd, “You’re horrible and cruel!” (10), his passion mirrors Peter Watson’s in “The Swan” who admonishes Ernie and Raymond: “It was a stupid, pointless act of vandalism! You’re a couple of ignorant idiots!” (91). In both stories, these small boys stand up to those who hold far more power than they.