The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles

The theme of imagination propels the narrative. Without imagination, there’s no path toward Whangdoodle, as Savant tells the children: “There is only one possible road you can take, and that is to go by way of your imagination” (35). Ben and Tom are initially dismissive, but they come around and join Lindy as Savant’s devoted students. Ultimately, the novel defends the value of imagination, showing it to be not only compatible with but necessary for engagement with the “real” world. 

One clue as to imagination’s practical utility comes in the kind of training the children receive. The novel suggests that imagination doesn’t flourish on its own. Savant claims that children’s “imaginations are vivid and fresh” as they haven’t closed their “minds to possibilities the way so many grown-ups have” (36), yet the intense education period the Potters undergo indicates that even young people’s imagination requires constant attention. Notably, optimizing their imagination entails practicing looking, listening, and smelling—in other words, paying attention to the world around them. Savant explains, “Everybody just looks down at the pavement or their shoes. The whole world could pass them by and most people wouldn’t notice” (11). The idea that people’s imagination atrophies because they are ignoring the wonders around them grounds imagination firmly in the real world.