Chapters 1- 4 Summary and Analysis

When this section opens, the narrator recollects James' upbringing as a happy occasion until James was four years old. At this time, James' parents went to London and had a terrible accident: they were eaten by an angry rhinoceros that had escaped from the zoo. From that day on, James went to live with his two terrible aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. The only belongings James was allowed to bring with her were his toothbrush and his pajamas.

From the beginning, James' aunts treated him very poorly, never calling him by his real name, but choosing instead to call him things like "you disgusting little beast" and "you filthy nuisance". They also beat James and worked him mercilessly. James was confined to the garden even though, from the top of the hill where his aunt's house stood, he...