The Hitchhiker

Roald Dahl wrote a short story about himself driving towards London. Along the way he saw a hitchhiker and decided to give him a ride. He noticed from the beginning that there was something special about this man. The hitchhiker's face was compared to a rat's and he said that his fingers were very nimbly. Since Roald is a writer he likes to listen to other people stories, but this hitchhiker seemed more interested about his car than to talk about himself. He started off slowly with some harmless questions but after a while it was almost as if he tested Roald's limits and in the end got him to speed. Out of nowhere a police motorcycle appeared and pulled them over. Roald got a bit nervous but the hitchhiker told him to be cool and let him do the talking. The policeman did the normal police talk to both of them and wrote him a ticket for speeding.

The interesting part starts now when they continue to drive. The rat faced man said “Relax, there's noway they can fine you when they don't have your information” and waved proudly with the notebook. He claimed that he had taken it from the policeman's pocket; Roald simply hadn't noticed it. So he said that he had a gift, that only one in ten thousand had. He called himself a “fingersmith”. He proved this by taking Roald's belt, his shoelace and wallet. Roald was very impressed and asked what he did for a living. He tried to circumvent it but eventually he explained that he was a thief. He claimed that he wasn't a bad thief though, he only stole from rich gamblers. Those who wouldn't suffer from his thievery.

Roald seems like a nice person who only minds his own business. Although the rat faced man was a thief Roald saw him as a kind person. Maybe it was because he got him off his fine, but he didn't seem to care much for him being a thief. I don't think the rat faced man's crimes can be justified due to the fact that his victims are rich, but if I was in Roal's position I wouldn't care much either. I really don't