A Biography of Roald Dahl Essay

Roald cajan peas life was al just most as fantastic as his contains. pigeon peas patterns in his life be much kindred the patterns in his novels. He do a go on connection with the tragedies that his characters are faced with. One theme that is ap sustain in most of Dahls work is the use of cruelty by self-confidence figures on the weak and index fingerless. Dahl with humor turns this cruelty to be more of a positive, amusing aspect, rather than a negative traumatizing mavin that he himself was forced to oer follow. Tragedy in the family, negativity towards figures of self-confidence, orphans, and absent maternal(p) figures are among many of the intertwined themes in his novels. Whether positive or negative, at to the lowest degree one character in each of his novels mimics one per male child who had an way tabu on his life.See more The Issues C at one timerning Identity Theft Essay in that respect was a majuscule deal tragedy that occurred in Dahls family while he w as growing up, and while he was a parent as well. It all began when his sister Astri died of appendicitis in 1920. A few months later, his father, Harald Dahl, readily deteriorated and died of pneumonia. Pneumonia was treatable, solely just if the patient was willing to fight to stay alive. Roald snarl that his fathers death was due to the lack of love he felt for his life, and in effect, a lack of love for his only son. heretofore the sudden death of his daughter left him speechless for days afterwards (Boy, 20). Most mess believed that Harald died of a broken heart (Boy Going Solo, 1). era in school, he suffered much cruelty from authority figures and honest-to-goderer kids in his school. His school career began in Llandaff Cathedral School, then on to St. Peters, and lastly ended up at Repton. Dahl generally depicts at least one authority figure in each story as incredibly cruel, sadistic, and bigoted (Boy Going Solo, 3).This was a direct criticism of his experiences as a child attending the above boarding schools in England. However, Dahl loved and respected one important key authority figures in his life, mainly his dumbfound. This is also reflected in his stories with the loving and caring authority who helps the victim to gaiety (Boy Going Solo, 3). During his marriage to Patricia Neal, his sons, Theo Mathew, baby carriage was hit by a taxicab in New York City, causing massive head injuries. Two old age later, his eldest daughter Olivia died of measles encephalitis. Then, his wife suffered from three massive strokes, and only unawares after, his adored m another(prenominal) died. From having master keys who beat him,to matrons who terrorized him, he used these experiences to an advantage, and wrote stories, which included characters equivalent himself and authority figures. Through his writing, he attempts to avoidance the broken childhood that he once had.In Roald Dahls, Matilda, the main character, Matilda, is a child whizz that is jilted by his parents. As perfect as she may be, her parents back endt seem to see that, and may as well pick up been an orphan. And the parents looked upon Matilda in particular as no topic more than a guarantee on (Matilda, 10). In Matilda, Mrs.Trunchbull was the headmistress whom the children all feared. She can be compared to Dahls original who beat his friends and himself. During his childhood, Dahl and his friends were mischievious in their cause way to rebel against the people that made them miserable. The local sweet shop was even a move that was tainted by an unwelcoming authority figure, Mrs. Prachett, who was a small skinny old hag with a moustache on her upper lip and vulgarity seemed to cling approximately her (Boy, 33). In retaliation to her unwelcoming remarks, Dahl and his fellow peers put a dead mouse in one of the gobstopper jars, which he calls, The Great pinch Plot (Boy, 35). Dahl doesnt forget to include this prank, which he is all the way proud of, in Matilda, when she retaliates against Mrs. Trunchbull and puts a triton in her drinking water.This made the Trunchbull let bulge a yell and leap off her ch demeanor as though a firecracker had gone off underneath her (Matilda, 160). The Trunchbull is depict as having muscles that could be seen in the bull-neck, in the big shoulders, in the boneheaded arms, and in the powerful legs, much like a man, as his headmaster was (83). The Trunchbull can be compared to Captain Hardcastle, Dahls hold headmaster. Hardcastle would tell Roald things like, I always knew you were a liar And a cheat as well (Boy, 115). Matilda had a similar experience when she was accused of putting the newt into the Trunchbulls drinking glass and is called afilthy midget maggot and a vile, repulsive, repellent, malicious little brute (Matilda, 161-162).Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, Matildas parents, were much like Dahls authority figures, in that, organism blinded by their own corruption and laziness, never genui neized their childs genius abilities. Mr. Wormwood was a crook, who useddeceitful tactics in selling secondhand cars. each(prenominal) I do is mix a lot of saw dust with oil in the gear-box and it runs as sweet as a methamphetamine hydrochloridelong enough for the buyer to get a good distance, he would remark. When Matilda was confronting her father about his dirty money, he responds, who the heck do you think you arethe Archbishop of Canterbury or something, preaching to me about honesty (Matilda, 25). In Dahls experience as a child, the Archbishop of Canterbury was the man who used to deliver the most vicious beatings to the boys under his care (Boy, 144). Dahl uses goes as far as pointing out that the Archbishop of Canterbury, being a dishonest person, couldnt even preach honesty to Mr. Wormwood.Unlike, Matilda, Dahl never had a rescuer. Miss Honey was the only teacher that possessed that rare gift for being adored by every small child under her care (Matilda, 67). This was t he one thing that would get under ones skin eased his trouble in school. When away at boarding school, he needed his own rescuer, his mother. He would fantasize about it and ofttimes wished he were with his mother (Boy Going Solo).Dahls characters are empower with special abilities that assist them in their triumph against wrongdoers. Both Matilda and the Girl in The Magic finger have different abilities, but come about them the same way. Matilda describes her experience as her eyeballs beginning to get hotflashes of lightningand little waves of energy, while the Girl sees redgets very, very hot all overa sort of flash comes out of her forefingera speedy flash, like something electric (Matilda, 165 & The Magic Finger, 14). Even though their Matilda uses her brainiac and the Girl uses her magic forefinger, two can manipulate objects around them in revenge toward those who make them feel unworthy. In Matilda, it was the Wormwoods and the Trunchbull, and in The Magic Finger, it wa s the Greggsboth being authority figures in the main characters lives.Young Dahl had fantasies of inventing chocolates that would sail the world by the millions. So, when he was looking for a plot for his second book for children, he remembered those little cardboard boxes and the newly-invented chocolates inside them, and began to write a book calledCharlie and the umber Factory (Boy, 149). While going to school at Repton, Dahl would detect a plain grey cardboard box that was dished out to each boy in their housea present from the great chocolate manufacturers, Canterbury (Boy, 147). Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the coffee tree Factory would, like Dahl, travel very, very slowly, and he would hold his nose high in the air and take long deep sniffs of the gorgeous chocolatey smell all around himhe wished he could go inside the factory and see what it was like (Charlie and the drinking chocolate Factory, 7). Unfortunately, unlike Charlie Bucket, Dahls fantasy never became a real ity and through Charlie, Dahl lives it out.Dahl displays Charlies devotion to his mother as he did to his own. Young Dahl would be devastatingly homesick and would gladly acute appendicitis to be able to see her (Boy, 93). When Charlie finds the golden ticket, he give through the front door, shouting, Mother Mother Mother (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 46). Schultz points to this as a very significanthe tells his mother, not his father and although the other ticket winners arrive on the big day accompanied by both parents, Charlies father, unemployed and unable to support the family, agrees that Grandpa Joe is more deserving (3). Schultz, finds significance in Wonkas choice pointing out that Wonka responds to Charlie differently, not only because he is the one good kid, but because he lacks-figuratively-a father, and because Wonkas real purpose is to find an heir, or son (3).Schultz also points out that in Wonka, Dahl-as well as Charlie-finds a father (3). Charlie achieves his dream from being a young boy who ate sparingly to the proud, new possessor of Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka tells Charlie, As soon as you are old enough to run it, the entire factory will become yours (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 151). Dahl as a young boy, feeling doubly rejected because his father didnt see his only son worth chip for the death of his father lead him to believe that everyone can overcome rigorousness (Boy Going Solo, 2). In the end of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and his family overcome their hardships.In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dahl provides an outlet for his anger through the other four children who have found their golden tickets, inresponse to the various losses he had endured (Schultz, 5). Dahl, a man who did not directly talk about his feelings, verbalised them through the harsh and unusual punishments he assigns to each of the naughty children. Augustus Gloop is a repulsive boy, and his mother a revolting wo man, he is doomed. Veruca Salt, the spoiled abundant girl was even worse than Augustus and in need of a real good spanking. Violet ends up getting what she deserved, and if Mike Teavee couldnt be stretched back into his original size, it serves him right (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 149). In the end, only the large(p) kids meet with disaster and the good kids, who havent done anything wrong, prevail.In crowd and the Giant Peach, crowd is an orphan who is left to be elevated by his two aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. Like Matilda, pile was rejected by his aunts, and similarly as Dahl was rejected by his father. Dahl exaggerates when his story depicts James parents being eaten by a rhino that escaped from the London Zoo, and similarly may have used the Boazers power of life and death that he experienced and exaggerated it with the power that James aunts had over him. James uses the peach as a way to escape the cruel treatment of his aunts just as Dahl uses the charact ers in his stories to situate his horrible childhood.Perhaps it is the richness of his life and experience that has enabled him to create such richly imaginative stories. You start with a germ of an idea, Dahl once said, a tiny germa chocolate factory?a peach, a peach that goes on growing( Author Bio Roald Dahl, 2). Dahl makes it ponderous that the ideas for his stories may have no real rhyme or reason, and perhaps he really believes that they do, there are so many relationships between his works and his childhood experiences, that it must come out of somewhere. Certainly it must be true that his unhappy school days were at least partly responsible for some of the rude tales he wrote many years later. Stories in which oppressed kids triumph over tyrannical adults and underdogs always come out on top.In some ways, Dahl uses his stories to tell of his own experiences, both negative and rarely positive, and in other ways, his main characters triumph over the predicaments they find themselves. The independence of Dahls characters like Matilda and James allows them toexact revenge against their oppressors. Even though these stories try to mend what he went through, the anguish must have been so overwhelming that he couldnt escape and as a result, there are many biographies that tail him mean because one can only attempt to escape the past, but sometimes the past will continue to be haunting. And unlike Dahls main characters, he is never able to triumph.