It’s not like he’s asked her out and has been turned down but this slight obsession with proving himself to her is a bit uncomfortable. This is where looking at it as an adult I find it a bit uncomfortable. Mr Hopper, in all his wisdom and desperation, decides to buy EVERY SINGLE TORTOISE IN TOWN and gradually swap them so that ‘Alfie’ will grow. But she’s worried about why Alfie isn’t growing, not because she wants him to be bigger but because she’s worried that he wants to be bigger and that it can’t be much fun once being 13 ounces. She adores this tortoise and spends all her money on making sure he had the best food and everything he might possibly need.

The love Mrs Silver shows for her pet is beautiful, you really get the feeling that when Mr Silver died (again just guessing here) Alfie became the new love of her life and one of the only things that keeps her going. This is a really beautiful romance story about two elderly neighbours, Mr Hoppy is completely in love with Mrs Silver (presumably her husband died) but just looks at her from his balcony and the only thing he can talk about is Mrs Silver’s tortoise, Alfie. With the help of a magical spell and some cabbage leaves, can Mr Hoppy be happy at last? One day Mrs Silver asks Mr Hoppy how to make Alfie grow, and suddenly Mr Hoppy knows the way to win her heart. Mr Hoppy really loves his neighbour Mrs Silver, and Mrs Silver really loves her tortoise, Alfie. He had always been a lonely man and now that he was retired from work he was more lonely than ever.’ ‘M r Hoppy lived in a small flat high up in a tall concrete building.

Roald dahl book about tortoise