Dictator Dictator Quote by P.G. Wodehouse
““Don’t you ever read the papers? Roderick Spode is the founder and head of the Saviours of Britain, a Fascist organization better known as the Black Shorts. His general idea, if he doesn’t get knocked on the head with a bottle in one of the frequent brawls in which he and his followers indulge, is to make himself a Dictator.’ ‘Well, I’m blowed!’ I was astounded at my keenness of perception. The moment I had set eyes on Spode, if you remember, I had said to myself ‘What ho! A Dictator!’ and a Dictator he had proved to be. I couldn’t have made a better shot, if I had been one of those detectives who see a chap walking along the street and deduce that he is a retired manufacturer of poppet valves named Robinson with rheumatism in one arm, living at Clapham. ‘Well, I’m dashed! I thought he was something of that sort. That chin…Those eyes…And, for the matter of that, that moustache. By the way, when you say “shorts”, you mean “shirts”, of course.’ ‘No. By the time Spode formed his association, there were no shirts left. He and his adherents wear black shorts.’ ‘Footer bags, you mean?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘How perfectly foul.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Stiff Upper Lip, 1935
A comic narrator mocks a self‑styled fascist leader, highlighting absurdity of pretensions and violent bravado.
In simple terms: The narrator ridicules a would‑be dictator’s flamboyant image.
Don’t take grandiose claims at face value.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- reading the novel
- studying 1920s British humor
- analyzing political caricature
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the caricature reveal about public gullibility?
- How does satire influence perception of political threats?
The humor may downplay real dangers of extremist movements.