31 pages 1 hour read

Roald Dahl

George's Marvelous Medicine

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1981

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Chapters 7-10

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary: “Grandma Gets the Medicine”

Grandma complains that George is late in bringing her medicine, but he assures her that he is right on time. Following her instructions, he shakes the bottle and pours out a spoonful. When she opens her mouth, he inserts the spoon and drops the medicine down her throat.

Grandma shouts and flies up into the air, then hangs suspended for a little while before coming back down. She then calls for the fire department, and smoke comes out of her nose. George gets some water from the kitchen and pours it down her throat, and the smoke vanishes.

Still agitated, Grandma swells like a balloon, then shrinks as air escapes. Suddenly, Grandma stands without support for the first time in years. George congratulates her, but she doesn’t seem to hear him. She grows again, this time taller and thinner, until her head pokes through the ceiling into George’s room upstairs. Now enjoying herself, Grandma calls out, “Hallelujah, here I come!” (38). When her growth starts to slow, she asks for another dose of medicine, which George provides. Another spurt of growth follows, and her head crashes through the ceiling of George’s room into the attic.