The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
"The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle," written by Hugh Lofting, is a celebrated children's novel that follows the adventures of an eccentric doctor who can communicate with animals. The story is narrated by Tommy Stubbins, a cobbler's son who becomes the doctor's assistant, inspired by his dream of becoming a naturalist. Together, they embark on a journey to Spidermonkey Island, where they encounter a variety of challenges, including stowaways and storms, as well as unique creatures like the Pushmi-pullyu. Throughout their travels, Doctor Dolittle exemplifies kindness and ingenuity, confronting issues such as bullfighting and assisting the island's native tribe.
The book is notable for its imaginative storytelling and the themes of empathy and understanding across species. Recognized with the 1923 Newbery Medal, it is the second installment in a series that Lofting created for his children, originally inspired by the treatment of animals during World War I. While the book has been praised for its positive messages, it has also faced criticism for some outdated and racially insensitive language. Nevertheless, the overarching message of compassion remains a central tenet of Lofting's work, making "The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle" a lasting classic in children's literature.
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The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
First published: 1922; illustrated
Type of work: Adventure tale
Themes: Animals, travel, and friendship
Time of work: The late 1800’s
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, England
Principal Characters:
Dr. John Dolittle , a naturalist, animal doctor, and speaker of animal languages, known for his top hat and little black bagTommy Stubbins , the cobbler’s son, who becomes the doctor’s assistantPolynesia , a two-hundred-year-old parrot with an excellent memory, who always has an opinionMiranda , the Purple Bird of Paradise, who is the guide on voyagesLong Arrow , a great Indian naturalist and hermitPrince Bumpo , the Crown Prince of Jolliginki and good friend to the doctor
The Story
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, in its fablelike and biographical manner, presents an imaginative and exciting tale of an eccentric doctor who cares for animals and who can speak animal languages. This tale is told by the cobbler’s son, Tommy Stubbins, who became the doctor’s assistant because of his interest in becoming a naturalist. Tommy is enchanted by the doctor’s house, with its wonderful garden. Here, there are many birds and a private zoo in which the animals have locks on their own stone houses (and not cages) to be able to get away from annoyances of other animals and people. Many kinds of animals live in the doctor’s zoo, including the Pushmi-pullyu, a two-headed creature from Africa. Tommy becomes interested in learning animal languages so that he, too, can help the animals. Polynesia the Parrot agrees to help Tommy; she advises him to be patient and to become a “good noticer” of animals and their languages. Tommy’s job on the ship will be to help and learn from the doctor and to keep the ship’s log on its journey to the island.
By opening up an atlas with their eyes closed and pointing at the page with a pencil, Doctor Dolittle and Tommy decide upon Spidermonkey Island, a floating island off the coast of Brazil, as the destination of their first journey of discovery together. Their voyage to the island, which coincidentally is the place where Long Arrow, the hermit naturalist, has last been seen, is fraught with troubles, including stowaways and lost provisions. Their travels take them to a Spanish island, where the doctor enlists the bulls in his successful plan of banning bullfighting from the island. A storm nearly devastates the crew and the ship, but the doctor’s ingenuity and friendship with the dolphins secure their rescue, and the doctor and his friends finally reach Spidermonkey Island.
Tracking the lost Long Arrow proves to be quite a task for the doctor and the crew, but with the help of an extraordinary Jabizri beetle and picture language, Long Arrow is found in a mountain cave. The doctor never has a dull moment, as he then helps the island’s natives, the Popsipetel, in a battle against another tribe, teaches them about fire, and helps return warm temperatures to the floating island with the help of whales, who push it northward. The tribe crowns the doctor “King Jong Thinkalot,” and the doctor continues to help the tribe to learn new things.
Finally and luckily for the doctor, the very rare seventy-thousand-year-old Great Glass Sea Snail appears; with the help of Polynesia’s discreet plotting, the doctor realizes his goal of learning the language of shellfish. The sea snail, who has been nursed back to health by the doctor, offers to take Doctor Dolittle and his friends back to Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, where the animals anxiously await the return of the kind and lovable doctor.
Context
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, a “classic” recognized for its originality and awarded the 1923 Newbery Medal, is the second book of a series of adventure stories written and illustrated by Hugh Lofting, who dedicated them to “all children—children in years and children in heart....” Hugh Lofting aimed to create in Doctor Dolittle a new and gentle hero for children, who would show them an international view and an understanding of the goodness of all people. The characters in the stories were originally created for Hugh Lofting’s children, Elizabeth and Colin, to whom he would write during his service in the British army in World War I. Lofting got the idea for his tales as he observed how animals were treated during the war. He saw that they were not given the same attention and treatment as the human wounded, and so he created an eccentric physician to administer to their needs.
The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle is a literary classic, for its characters, as well as its theme of a hero following the golden rule of treating others with kindness and understanding, are timeless. Hugh Lofting’s friend, Sir Hugh Walpole, claimed the book “a work of genius—the first real classic since Alice” and predicted that Doctor Dolittle would exist through the centuries “as a kind of Pied Piper with thousands of children at his heels.” E. H. Colwell in The Junior Bookshelf commented, “Whatever the danger, Doctor Dolittle remains calm and however awkward the situation he always retains his top hat and little bag.” The stories about the doctor have been translated into nine languages, and many of his adventures were created from suggestions by children who wrote letters to Hugh Lofting about the doctor.
In recent years, the characterization of Bumpo has been found to be racist, even though the doctor treats Bumpo as an equal and acknowledges his wisdom throughout the voyage. Polynesia the Parrot uses the term “Nigger” in the original printings, surely not intended to be controversial. The term, however, has been deleted in recent prints. Despite this problem with the text, the overall message of kindness toward all prevails as the central philosophy of Hugh Lofting’s writings. Lofting believed that a good story should be good for a reader of any age, and The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle is just that.
Other books by Hugh Lofting include The Story of Mrs. Tubbs, written in 1923, and Gub Gub’s Book: An Encyclopedia of Food, published in 1932. In 1967, Twentieth Century-Fox made a film about Doctor Dolittle as an adaptation of The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle. Other books about the doctor’s adventures include Doctor Dolittle’s Post Office (1923), Doctor Dolittle’s Circus (1924), Doctor Dolittle’s Zoo (1925), Doctor Dolittle’s Caravan (1926), Doctor Dolittle’s Garden (1927), Doctor Dolittle in the Moon (1928), Doctor Dolittle’s Return (1933), Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake (1948), Doctor Dolittle and Green Canary (1950), and Doctor Dolittle’s Puddleby Adventures (1952).