Danny, the Champion of the World

Danny the Champion of the World is largely a tribute from Danny to his father, revealing the love and gratitude he feels toward the man who selflessly raised him. The power of their love enables them to overcome adversity without dwelling on negativity. William is impoverished and lost his wife shortly after Danny was born, but Danny has never “had a moment’s unhappiness” (3). Danny is the center of William’s life and early in the narrative Danny muses, “I think that all the love he had felt for my mother when she was alive he now lavished upon me” (3). Despite the sadness William must feel over his loss, the narrative is not melancholic. William is also the center of Danny’s world. Danny idolizes him, describing him as a master mechanic, “a marvelous storyteller” (90), a “true countryman [and…] great naturalist” (102). Danny leaves the reader in no doubt about how he feels: “My father, without the slightest doubt, was the most marvelous and exciting father any boy ever had” (8), and iterates these feelings with statements such as “it is impossible to tell you how much I loved my father” (11) scattered throughout the book.