Roald Dahl's Life and Work Sometimes it's difficult to find the connections between the patterns in an artist's life and his work. But with Roald Dahl, the connections are quite clear. It is known that there were many tragedies in Roald Dahl's life and he had to overcome these somehow, whether he gave up and moved on, or fought against them and found victory. All of Dahl's works reflect at least one aspect of his personal life, whether it be his childhood, his marriage, his children, his experiences, or himself. It is quite apparent that after all the hardships he survived, he managed to turn such experiences into creative stories for children. He wrote about small aspects of his life and magnified them, and made them amusing for children, and even adults. One theme that is apparent in almost all of Dahl's works the use of violence and cruelty by authority figures on the weak, and once again, he seems to turn this around to be more of a positive, amusing aspect, rather than a negative, traumatizing one. There are many patterns that are apparent in Dahl's life and works, which include tragedy in the family, negativity towards figures of authority, and lastly, orphans and absent parental figures. There was a great deal of tragedy that occurred in Dahl's family while he was growing up, and while he was a parent as well. It all began when his sister, Astri died of appendicitis in 1920. Roald's father, Harald Dahl, quickly deteriorated and died of pneumonia a few months later. Pneumonia was treatable, but only if the patient is willing and will fight to stay healthy and alive. Harald refused to fight, therefore the disease took its toll and he died. Most people believe he died of a broken heart. Roald married actress Patricia Neal, and had three daughters and a son: Olivia Twenty, Tessa Sophia, Theo Matthew Roald, and Ophelia Magdalena. On July 30th, 1960, Theo Matthew Roald's baby carriage was hit by a taxicab in New York City, causing massive head injuries. On November 17th 1962, their eldest daughter Olivia Twenty died of measles encephalitis. On February 17th 1965, Patricia Neal suffered three massive strokes. On November 17th 1967, Roald's mother Sofie died. On November 17th 1983, Roald and Patricia Neal divorced, and he married Felicity Crosland. From reading Going Solo, the sequel to his autobiography Boy, we learned of his own tragic times in the Royal Air Force and the war, where he was shot down over Libya, and suffered many serious injuries.
After a four week survey of a multitude of children’s book authors and illustrators, and learning to analyze their works and the methods used to make them effective literary pieces for children, it is certainly appropriate to apply these new skills to evaluate a single author’s works. Specifically, this paper focuses on the life and works of Ezra Jack Keats, a writer and illustrator of books for children who single handedly expanded the point of view of the genre to include the experiences of multicultural children with his Caldecott Award winning book “Snowy Day.” The creation of Peter as a character is ground breaking in and of itself, but after reading the text the reader is driven to wonder why “Peter” was created. Was he a vehicle for political commentary as some might suggest or was he simply another “childhood” that had; until that time, been ignored? If so, what inspired him to move in this direction?
Children have often been viewed as innocent and innocent may be a nicer way to call children naive. Since children’s lives are so worry free they lack the knowledge of how to transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. Their lack of knowledge may be a large part of their difficulties growing up, which could be a few rough years for many. In books like the boy in the striped pajamas the story is told from the point of view of a little boy, this way we get a full view of how innocent he is. In this book the writer shows the reader first hand how a child viewed the holocaust and how his innocence cost him his life. Then in books like the perks of being a wallflower Charlie is a teen whom is struggling with the transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. In this book the writer gives a first hand look at how difficult it can be to transition into an adolescent. Charlie has many difficulties in this book; he is in search of his identity and how to fit in.
‘Every child knows what it’s like to be Cinderella because all children feel unappreciated at times and want to be special.’ (Smith, 2007. P.6). While it is unlikely that most parents would abuse their children in the same way as in our fairy stories, or lock them in the cupboard under the stairs like Harry Potter, every child knows what it is like to be ignored, or (in their eyes) unfairly punished for something. ‘Children often feel helpless because they are subject to what they consider the whims of adults.’ (Cleaver, 2004, p.56).
may have caused Albert to act the way he did. His father died of a heart attack in 1875, Albert
Roald Dahl’s childhood was full of some tragedies and then some happy moments. At a very young age, he was faced with death in his family. He was soon sent to boarding school with cruel teachers and odd punishments. When he was sent to a certain age, he was sent to a different boarding school with just as cruel teachers, if not worse, and almost the same punishments. He was very mischievous but he was also captain of many sports teams. I feel he would be a good friend because he is very witty and seems adventurous. He stated in the book that was generally a good student, but did not do very well in certain
Levi, Claudia. "Roald Dahl: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Young children have active imaginations and need time to express themselves whether it is through their words, their actions, or through fun and games. However, more often than not adults deprive children of the opportunity to do so. They are hurt in the process and grow to treat others the way they have been treated; poorly. In Anton Chekhov’s “A Trifle from Life” the mother’s boyfriend takes advantage of and disrespects a young boy named Alyosha when Alyosha tells a story to him. Similarly, in Margaret Atwood’s poem “Dutiful”, the protagonist reflects on her childhood and how the adults always control her. Adults often overlook children because they care more for themselves
D.H Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies view children as easily manipulated figures. D.H. Lawrence’s short story demonstrates how easily children, Paul, can be influenced into believing that money and luck indicate one’s level of happiness. William Golding’s novel tries to show that all children are evil and have savage impulses. A common theme in both of these works is that children create their own downfall and loss of innocence.
Are adults overprotective of their children? To what point do we protect children? Where should the line be drawn? Along with those questions is how easily children can be influenced by these same adults. Two poets, Richard Wilbur and Billy Collins, express the ideas of how easily children can be manipulated and how sometimes adults think they are protecting their innocent children, when in reality they are not. Wilbur and Collins express these ideas in their poems through numerous literary devices. The literary devices used by Wilbur and Collins expose different meanings and two extremely different end results. Among the various literary devices used, Wilbur uses imagery, a simple rhyme scheme and meter, juxtaposition of the rational and irrational, and a humorous tone to represent the narrator’s attempt to “domesticate” irrational fears. Conversely Collins uses symbols, historical interpretations, imagery, diction and other literary devices to depict the history teacher’s effort to shield his students from reality. In the poems, “A Barred Owl,” by Richard Wilbur, and “The History Teacher,” by Billy Collins, both poets convey how adults protect and calm children from their biggest, darkest fears and curiosities.
Instructor’s comment: This student’s essay performs the admirable trick of being both intensely personal and intelligently literary. While using children’s literature to reflect on what she lost in growing up, she shows in the grace of her language that she has gained something as well: an intelligent understanding of what in childhood is worth reclaiming. We all should make the effort to find our inner child
In September of 1940, a debonairly young RAF pilot named Roald Dahl crashed in the Western Desert of North Africa. From the crash, Dahl is rewarded with severe injuries to the head, nose and back. In 1942, Dahl, was commanded to take a job working at the British Embassy in Washington where he worked as an assistant air attaché. He was a 26 year old and he desperately wanted to be in the middle of the battle, where he could shoot other planes and enemy soldiers from his Gladiator plane. He didn’t want to be shoved into an office where he had to sit at a desk for 11 hours. Soon after his arrival in the United States Capitol, Dahl was “"caught up in the complex web of intrigue masterminded by [William] Stephenson, the legendary Canadian spymaster, who outmaneuvered the FBI and State Department and managed to create an elaborate clandestine organization whose purpose was to weaken the isolationist forces in America and influence U.S. policy in favor of Britain. Tall, handsome, and intelligent, Dahl had all the makings of an ideal operative. A courageous officer wounded in battle, smashing looking in his dress uniform, he was everything England could have asked for as a romantic representative of their imperiled island. He was also arrogant, idiosyncratic, and incorrigible, and probably the last person anyone would have considered reliable enough to be trusted with anything secret. Above all, however, Dahl was a survivor. When he got into trouble, he was shrewd enough to make himself useful to British intelligence, providing them with gossipy items that proved he had a nose for scandal and the writer's ear for damning detail. Already attached to the British air mi...
My thesis statement is that children’s innocence enables them to cope in difficult situations. Children generally have a tendency to lighten the mood in sad situations because of their innocent nature. They turn even the saddest situations to mild, innocent situations. This is evident when Marjane says “these stories had given me new ideas for games”, (Satrapi, 55). By saying this she refers to her uncle’s stories of how he and other prisoners were tortured in prison. Stories of torture have never been easy to hear even for adults but Marjane so innocentl...
The musical, Matilda, by Roald Dahl was performed on a thrust stage, at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. Matilda is a story of an astonishing little girl who despite has a bad beginning controlled by evil parents and a scary headmistress, she decides to make her story the greatest of them all.
When one has mastered the art of deception, one can almost do anything one wants. If one is also ruthless, one will become a dangerous person. In Roald Dahl’s “Man From the South”, Carlos, a man with a gambling addiction persuades an American sailor to bet on a game that Carlos will offer his Cadillac against the sailor’s little finger. Carlos bets that the sailor cannot ignite his cigarette lighter ten times in succession. Carlos almost wins the bet, and in a nick of time, Carlos’ companion reveals his trickery and his ruthlessness to collect fingers. Through his deception and ruthlessness, Carlos is able to make a game that will physically hurt the sailor. One must not be fooled but others appearance because people might have hidden intentions.
Roald Dahl was a famous British Writer. He was born in Llandeff, Wales on September 13th 1916. His parents, Harold and Sofie, came from Norway. He had four sisters, Astri, Affhild, Else and Astra, His father died when Roald was only four years old. Roald attended Repton, a private school in Derbyshire. He did not enjoy his school years, “I was appalled by the fact that masters and senior boys were allowed, literally, to wound other boys and sometimes quite severely. I couldn’t get over it. I never got over it…” These experiences inspired him to write stories in which children fight against cruel adults and authorities.