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Who Was Roald Dahl?

Roald Dahl was a British author who penned 19 children's books over his decades-long writing career. In 1953 he published the best-selling story collection Someone Like You and married actress Patricia Neal. He published the popular book James and the Giant Peach in 1961. In 1964 he released another highly successful work, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was later adapted for two films.

Early Life and Education

Dahl was born in Llandaff, South Wales, on September 13, 1916. Dahl's parents were Norwegian. As a child, he spent his summer vacations visiting with his grandparents in Oslo. When Dahl was four years old, his father died.

The young Dahl received his earliest education at Llandaff Cathedral School. When the principal gave him a harsh beating for playing a practical joke, Dahl's mother decided to enroll her rambunctious and mischievous child at St. Peter's, a British boarding school, as had been her husband's wish.

Dahl later transferred to Repton, a private school with a reputation for academic excellence. He resented the rules at Repton; while there, the lively and imaginative youngster was restless and ached for adventure.

While Dahl hardly excelled as a student, his mother offered to pay for his tuition at Oxford or Cambridge University when he graduated. Dahl's response, as quoted from his autobiography, Boy: Tales of Childhood, was, "No thank you. I want to go straight from school to work for a company that will send me to wonderful faraway places like Africa or China."

And that he did. After Dahl graduated from Repton in 1932, he went on an expedition to Newfoundland. Afterward, he took a job with the Shell Oil Company in Tanzania, Africa, where he remained until 1939.

Lusting for yet more adventure, in 1939, Dahl joined the Royal Air Force. After training in Nairobi, Kenya, he became a World War II fighter pilot. While serving in the Mediterranean, Dahl crash-landed in Alexandria, Egypt. The plane crash left him with serious injuries to his skull, spine and hip. Following a recovery that included a hip replacement and two spinal surgeries, Dahl was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he became an assistant air attaché.

Books

Over his decades-long writing career, Dahl composed 19 children's books. Despite their popularity, Dahl's children's books have been the subject of some controversy, as critics and parents have balked at their portrayal of children's harsh revenge on adult wrongdoers. In his defense, Dahl claimed that children have a cruder sense of humor than adults, and that he was merely trying to appeal to his readers.

'James and the Giant Peach' (1961)

Dahl first established himself as a children's writer in 1961, when he published the book James and the Giant Peach, a book about a lonely little boy living with his two mean aunts who meets the Old Green Grasshopper and his insect friends on a giant, magical peach. The book met with wide critical and commercial acclaim.

'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (1964)

Three years after his first children's book, Dahl published another big winner, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A quirky, solitary businessman, Willy Wonka, has been holed up alone inside his fantastical chocolate factory until he releases five golden tickets inside the wrappers of candy bars. Winners - including the poor little boy Charlie Bucket, who doesn't have much to eat - are awarded a visit. Some critics have accused Dahl of portraying a racist stereotype with his Oompa-Loompa characters in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

'Fantastic Mr. Fox' (1970)

Three farmers are out to get the cunning trickster Mr. Fox, who outwits them every time. Mr. Fox lives in a tree with his wife and family, which was inspired by a real 150-year beech tree Dahl knew as the "witches tree" standing outside his house.

'The BFG' (1982)

Of his many stories, Roald Dahl said The BFG was his favorite. He came up with the idea for a giant who stores dreams in bottles for kids to enjoy when they sleep several years before, and he told the story of the Big Friendly Giant to his own kids at bedtime.

'The Witches' (1983)

A boy happens upon a witch convention, where the witches are planning to get rid of every last child in England. The boy and his grandmother must battle the witches to save the children.

'Matilda' (1988)

Roald Dahl's last long story follows the adventures of a genius five-year-old girl, Matilda Wormwood, who uses her powers to help her beloved teacher outwit the cruel headmistress.

Movies

Dahl wrote several television and movie scripts. Several film adaptations of his books have also been created (all of those made during his lifetime Dahl famously despised), most notably:

'Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' (1971)

This Dahl favorite, originally known as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a book, starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. An originally titled remake of the film, starring Johnny Depp, was released in 2005.

'The BFG' (1989, 2016)

The BFG was first made into a stop-motion animated film in 1989, with David Jason playing the voice of the Big Friendly Giant. The movie was remade in 2016 by Steven Spielberg and featured live actors.

'The Witches' (1990)

In this live-action film features Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch. Rowan Atkinson also appeared as hotel manager Mr. Stringer.

'Matilda' (1996)

Danny DeVito directed this movie adaptation and also voiced the narrator.

'The Fantastic Mr. Fox' (2009)

In 2009, Wes Anderson directed this quirky, touching animated feature about the adventures of the farm-raiding Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney), with a cast including Meryl Streep (Mrs. Fox) and Bill Murray (Badger).

'The Witches' (2020)

Another live-action film of the book starring Anne Hathaway.

Short Stories

Dahl began his writing career with short stories; in all, he published nine short story collections. Dahl first caught the writing bug while in Washington, D.C., when he met with author C.S. Forrester, who encouraged him to start writing. Dahl published his first short story in the Saturday Evening Post. He went on to write stories and articles for other magazines, including The New Yorker.

Of his early writing career, Dahl told New York Times book reviewer Willa Petschek, "As I went on the stories became less and less realistic and more fantastic." He went on to describe his foray into writing as a "pure fluke," saying, "Without being asked to, I doubt if I'd ever have thought to do it."

Dahl wrote his first story for children, The Gremlins, in 1942, for Walt Disney. The story wasn't terribly successful, so Dahl went back to writing macabre and mysterious stories geared toward adult readers. He continued in this vein into the 1950s, producing the best-selling story collection Someone Like You in 1953, and Kiss, Kiss in 1959.

Wives and Children

The same year that Someone Like You was published, Dahl married film actress Patricia Neal, who won an Academy Award for her role in Hud in 1961. The marriage lasted three decades and resulted in five children, one of whom tragically died in 1962.

Dahl told his children nightly bedtime stories that inspired his future career as a children's writer. These stories became the basis for some of his most popular kids' books, as his children proved an informative test audience. "Children are ... highly critical. And they lose interest so quickly," he asserted in his New York Times book review interview. "You have to keep things ticking along. And if you think a child is getting bored, you must think up something that jolts it back. Something that tickles. You have to know what children like."

After Neal suffered from multiple brain hemorrhages in the mid-1960s, Dahl stood by her through her long recovery. The couple would eventually divorce in 1983. Soon after, Dahl married Felicity Ann Crosland, his partner until his death in 1990.

Death

Dahl died on November 23, 1990, at the age of 74. After suffering an unspecified infection, on November 12, 1990, Dahl had been admitted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England.

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Roald Dahl was a British author who penned 19 children's books over his decades-long writing career. In 1953 he published the best-selling story collection Someone Like You and married actress Patricia Neal. He published the popular book James and the Giant Peach in 1961.

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Having privilege means that you possess an unearned advantage in society through some aspect of your identity, in comparison to folx who lack that attribute. These dynamics tend to reflect larger power differentials in society as folx who are members of a dominant group possess privilege over those whose identity marginalizes them by comparison.

While it can be uncomfortable to recognize that you have unearned advantages over other folx through no fault of theirs, working through your discomfort can allow you to utilize your privilege in a way that promotes more equitable outcomes for others in society.

This article will provide examples of what privilege can look like in everyday life, tips on how you can gain better awareness of your privilege, and how you can use it to work in solidarity with marginalized groups.

Examples of Privilege in Society

There are many ways in which privilege can present itself, and while there are general trends, anomalies do exist. It's possible that certain types of privilege may not hold true in all circumstances. What's more, when people are accustomed to having privilege, that experience is normal for them and thus it is hard to recognize. For example, you may have privilege based on facets of your identity in the following ways:

When it comes to race, white folx benefit from an unearned advantage in society, as they are treated better than those who come from BIPOC communities based on their skin color.

While white folx do experience challenges in life, these challenges are not caused by the color of their skin. In addition to recognizing white privilege, research has found that such awareness of this kind of privilege alone did not result in a change regarding racial bias.

However, in addition to recognizing privilege, if white folx also feel empowered by their ability to engage in social change, that allowed them to take the actions needed to address injustice. Doing so ultimately results in an impact on racial biases.﻿﻿

Wealthy folx have unearned advantages over those who lack such financial resources because they have greater access to opportunities. In this way, while wealthier individuals may deal with difficulties in life, these hardships are not caused by their increased financial resources in the same way that folx who lack wealth are oppressed.

Research shows that talking about class is often difficult because these discussions typically bring up the topic of race (an uncomfortable subject for many). Moreover, these conversations may also affirm the fact that those of a higher class are afforded privileges that others do not have the opportunity to access.﻿﻿

If those with class privilege avoid talking about that and hold negative attitudes towards marginalized groups, this problematic way of thinking will continue. By this, it is crucial to get comfortable with acknowledging your privilege so you can utilize it for good.

Cisgender individuals possess privilege over transgender and nonbinary folx. Also, men have unearned advantages over marginalized genders.

While those who identify with the gender that they were assigned at birth may experience challenges, these difficulties are not tied to their identity as a cisgender individual. In contrast, cissexism greatly impacts the lives of trans and nonbinary folx.

Similarly, the difficulties that men face are not a result of their gender. Due to this, gender privilege oppresses marginalized genders and negatively impacts their lives in various ways.

In working towards more inclusive gender policies at a university, researchers found that "the work of facilitating a cultural shift, the reality of what often must occur, is time consuming and one that requires partnership across traditional lines of power and privilege."﻿﻿

Regarding ability, folx who are able-bodied have unearned advantages over disabled folx, which impacts their lives. Those who do not experience disabilities possess privilege over disabled individuals.

Research on the experiences of ableism found that 28.3% of the disabled students reported having experienced microaggressions in their social work classes, such as minimizing or dismissing disability issues, bullying, etc.﻿﻿

If these issues are being reported in an academic program, in which faculty are expected to promote equitable outcomes (a core value of the social work field), it shows how those working in academic institutions can fail to acknowledge their own able-bodied privilege when relating to disabled folx.

Sexual Orientation

With respect to sexual orientation, heterosexual folx possess privilege over other sexual orientations, as they benefit from societal constructs that place them in the dominant group over folx who are homosexual, pansexual, asexual, etc.

While heterosexual folx may experience difficulties in their lives, these are not related to their sexual orientation.

A study of heterosexual women sampled at twenty‐year intervals from 1952 to 1992 found that social change in attitudes can and did occur during the first 20 years, but less so in the second 20-year period.﻿﻿ In this way, it is easy to see how those with privilege often take it for granted.

Other Examples of Privilege

These are just a few examples of how you can possess privilege in our society, but there are many other aspects of your identity whereby you may have an unearned advantage including:

Gaining Awareness of Your Privileges

Like most things, becoming aware of your privilege takes work, but if you are interested in helping to promote equitable outcomes for all folx, such investment in efforts to better understand your privilege can pave the way towards dismantling oppressive systems and attitudes.

This is really a challenge for all of us because of how we are socialized in society and because of the constant messaging we get in all different forms (education, media, etc.) about all of these different types of anti-isms.

Some of us would benefit from individual therapy to assist with identifying privileges if we are unable to thoroughly work on it by ourselves. It is something that has to be continuously worked on.

Intersectionality

Back in 1989, Kimberle Crenshaw first coined the term " intersectionality" to highlight the many attributes of one's identity.

What Is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality includes gender, race, class, sexual orientation, etc. Crenshaw argues that without taking these pieces of someone's identity into consideration it becomes difficult to understand the extent of an individual's marginalization.﻿﻿

Crenshaw argued that the "focus on the most privileged group members marginalizes those who are multiply-burdened and obscures claims that cannot be understood as resulting from discrete sources of discrimination."﻿﻿

In other words, once you have an understanding of the aspects of your identity that afford you certain privileges, it can be helpful to reflect on how your privilege manifests itself in different situations.

How Intersectionality Can Highlight Your Privilege

If you are white and able to reflect on your white identity and think critically in terms of your understanding of law enforcement, whereby Black folx are killed at a rate that is 2.8 times higher than that of their white counterparts,﻿﻿ you may understand whiteness as a privilege.

In another example, you might take note of how your physical appearance, body size, and age offer you certain privileges over those with a disability or who are older.

If you are able-bodied, you likely do not experience people assuming that you are incompetent without ever knowing your work ethic and abilities.

Using Your Privilege to Help Others

After recognizing the ways in which you have privilege, you can use those advantages to help promote equitable outcomes for others.

Self-Reflection to Address Your Privilege

Self-reflection is a great way to understand your privilege because it fosters critical thinking so you can connect your individual lived experiences to larger systemic realities.﻿﻿ Doing so can pave the way for you to help create social change.

Acknowledge Your Privilege in Conversations

When it comes to using your privilege to help others, you can probably imagine many ways to do good, but often those with privilege fail to recognize how much harm they can do when they do not think critically enough about the power they hold.

The potential for harm in this way is particularly impacted by that very privilege because having privilege can lead you to believe you have earned more than you have actually worked for. This can lead to feeling superior over your oppressed counterparts.

To avoid additional harm, when engaging in conversations about America's social issues, try to preface your statements with the aspects of your identity in which you have privilege.

For example, if you are a cisgender, white man and find yourself in a discussion about societal issues with someone who identifies as nonbinary, you can acknowledge that your gender and race affords you certain privileges in society.

It's also important to be mindful of your privilege, and listen a lot more than talk when engaging with members of marginalized communities.

Privilege Lessens the Severity of Your Oppression

It's important to understand your privilege and marginalization affects the oppression you face.

Having privilege in one area can lessen the oppression you face in another. For example, white transgender folx face less oppression than transgender folx who are also BIPOC.

In another instance, an able-bodied white woman may have fewer disadvantages than a white man dealing with a disability.

A Word From Verywell

It's important to understand how having privilege affords you unearned advantages in life over marginalized groups. Acknowledging privilege in conversations can help to make room for oppressed folx to express themselves.

The more willing that you are to think critically about your privilege, the more comfortable you can become using your privilege to help enact social change-something that is extremely necessary for those who are continuously disadvantaged.

Deep self-reflection can feel overwhelming, but it's crucial to put in that consistent effort in order to see a shift in the treatment of those who are oppressed.

If you really want to make a difference, it's also important to examine the ways that you could use your privilege in your daily life to help those from marginalized spaces. That would ultimately have the impact on society that we need.

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This article identifies some ways in which you may possess privilege in society and discusses how your privilege can be used to help marginalized groups.

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The Criticism Against Dahl: What We Failed To Understand As Children

Roald Dahl is a prolific children's author who has delighted young and old alike for decades. Most of his works are considered classics in children's literature and you'll be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't read his work. But, as much as children have loved his work, there has been a lot of criticism against Dahl, largely for portraying unsavoury themes and elements, such as anti-Semitism, misogyny and bigotry in his works. He also holds the honour of being fired by his publisher, at the height of his popularity, due to his terrible behaviour and views.

However, criticism may not always be well-founded. Personal biases, context and a lack of understanding can affect the way someone's work is perceived. I grew up on Dahl's work, so I decided to reread some of his most famous books to investigate the criticism and see if there is any merit to it.

BOIL THEIR BONES AND FRY THEIR SKIN

I first reread The Witches, and I was thrilled to be reading a Dahl again; his books had taken up much space in my library during my childhood.

The book is primarily accused, by multiple critics, of misogyny. By stating that 'a witch is always a woman', critics think the book teaches young boys to think of women as witches and build a life-long distrust of women. I find myself unable to completely agree with this, for the simple reason that Dahl clearly writes that 'a ghoul is always a male' and that not all woman are witches, and in fact, 'most women are lovely'. He doesn't say that one gender is dangerous and the other is not, but that witches disguise themselves as women to hide their true identity. Also, throughout the book, the unnamed protagonist relies on, loves, and respects his grandmother, a strong female character in a children's book, who helps him destroy the witches. I read the book more as a case of good vs. evil, and did not pick up on the apparent misogyny.

Having said that, Dahl could have just done away with the 'witches have to be women' aspect of The Witches and the story wouldn't have suffered, but I do feel we should extend him that creative license.

Context is an important aspect when it comes to books, and given our current sensibilities, it definitely caused me to raise my unibrow when I read The Witches. I was rather shocked that the stalwart Norwegian grandmother was a chain cigar smoker! And even offered her eight-year-old grandson a puff! In a day and age when health and the dangers of smoking are being spoken about more than ever, it definitely did not go down well for such an important character to advocate smoking and say "I don't care what age you are, ... you'll never catch a cold if you smoke cigars". Similarly, the allusion that because a witch is bald she has to wear a wig as else she will not be perceived as a 'true women' is rather a blow to the feminist cause which is, and as it should be, all about choice and pride in one's body and said choices.

OF COURSE, THEY'RE REAL PEOPLE. THEY'RE OOMPA-LOOMPAS

Done with the bald, clawed, square-footed witches, I moved onto what was probably my favourite childhood book, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory- the magical story of a poor boy and an eccentric chocolatier. I couldn't contain my excitement, and then my disappointment. I had to agree with the critics - the book is one hot mess, and I'm shocked that it was ever published to begin with.

The enigmatic, intelligent, and cuckoo Mr. Wonka holds a competition, the five winners of which get to visit his chocolate factory- only for all, except one, to be shamed, tortured, and humiliated for simply doing what children do. Wonka not only does nothing to protect most of the children but delights in their suffering. There is an unfortunate boy, by the name of Augustus Gloop, who is quite overweight- and when tempted by a river of chocolate, he begins to drink the chocolate and subsequently almost drowns in the river. Instead of trying to save him, Mr. Wonka giggles and his precious oompa-loompas sing,
"..The great big greedy nincompoop!
How long could we allow this beast
To gorge and guzzle, feed and feast
On everything he wanted to?
Great Scott! It simply wouldn't do!
However long this pig might live,
We're positive he'd never give
Even the smallest bit of fun
Or happiness to anyone."
I find it shocking that Dahl so callously wrote about an overweight boy and downright poked fun at him only because of his weight, and even went to the extent of alluding that because of his weight he'd never provide happiness to anyone. Whether then, or now, children need to be taught to love their body and appreciate themselves even if they are overweight, or like to chew gum, or watch TV, and not feel that they are lesser than someone else because they have certain habits or look a certain way.

A large part of the criticism against Dahl was because of his treatment of the oompa-loompas, who unsurprisingly, originate from some wild and dangerous land ( presumed to be Africa). Willy Wonka is their saviour- much like the image white colonists created for themselves. He shamelessly uses them for experiments, letting one's beard grow uncontrollably, or letting 15 of them turn into giant blueberries- and though it may seem comical his attitude is scarily reminiscent of that adopted by slave-owning Americans towards their slaves or Nazis towards the inmates of the concentration camps. The book fails on many, many levels- mostly in teaching children that if you have power over someone, or that you provide them with a 'better' life, it gives you a license to treat them however you may wish to do so. A lesson that will not serve them well in the days to come.

HE HATES TO BE HAPPY. HE IS ONLY HAPPY WHEN HE IS GLOOMY

While critics have been kinder to one of Dahl's earliest novels- James And The Giant Peach, it none the less met with its fair share of criticism and the author even had trouble finding a publisher in the U.K. The criticism against Dahl for James has primarily been for the racism and profanity it features. What makes this even more interesting is that despite the book trying to portray a modern and accepting view of the world, there is a lot of inherent and subtle racism through the book. The protagonist, James, befriends some overgrown insects across a variety of species and collectively they go on a fantastic journey across the Atlantic, whilst living inside of a giant peach.

When James questions his new friends about other subspecies, both the ladybird and the grasshopper aren't the kindest to their brethren. The ladybug prides herself on being nine-spotted and generalises that all the two-spotted ladybirds are 'common and ill-mannered', while the five-spotted ones are 'a trifle too saucy for (the ladybird's) taste'. Similarly, the grasshopper says that he is a short-horned grasshopper and is rather dismissive of his long-horned cousins. My issue with this is that it subtly teaches children to judge others based on how they look and their physical characteristics, and to stereotype by asserting that all people who belong to a certain race will behave in a similar fashion to each other- ill-mannered or saucy as far as the ladybird is concerned.

The book, similar to Charlie, indulges in a fair amount of fat-shaming when it comes to the evil aunt Sponge. Starting with her name, the characters are constantly deriding her not only because she is evil but also because she is fat. Should aunt Sponge be hated because she is nasty and tortures James? Yes. Should she be poked fun at because she is fat? No.

HUMAN BEANS IS THE ONLY ANIMAL THAT IS KILLING THEIR OWN KIND

Maybe Dahl wanted to portray the above statement through his work, but I found a disturbing pattern throughout his works- he featured gratuitous violence. James' parents don't just die, but they are eaten by a rhino on the loose, and he didn't just escape his aunts but he squashes them dead, leaving them as 'lifeless as a couple of paper dolls cut out of a picture book.' Similarly, the witches are turned into mice and then squashed with frying pans and decapitated with meat carving knives. And Mr. Wonka takes a certain perverse delight in the cruel punishment being meted out to the 'nasty children'- whether them turning into giant blueberries that need juicing, or getting pushed by squirrels into giant garbage chutes and almost being incinerated.

Similar to his adult fiction, Dahl takes delight in creating macabre situations where the antagonists meet with violent ends or punishments. The danger in this is that it teaches children that if someone is 'bad', it is alright to exact revenge on them, and that too violently. Children's minds are easy to influence- it is imperative for an author to be aware of what he writes and try to mould their fragile minds in the best way possible.

It is possible in 20 years the whole world will have turned vegetarian and J.K. Rowling will be heavily criticised for featuring exotic meat-laden feasts in Harry Potter, or Julia Donaldson will be thought of as anti-animal rights because the old woman in A Squash And A Squeeze didn't want to share her house with the farm animals. Sometimes books do not stand the test of time, and that is fine because they need to be relevant to the current audience. However, with Roald Dahl I found that it isn't just about the test of time- his books are not the best work to be read to children, for the lessons they teach are just wrong- when he wrote them and even now. Much of the criticism against Dahl is fair.

As a young boy, Nirbhay had the annoying habit of waking up at 5 a.m. Since television was a big no-no, he had no choice but to read to entertain himself and that is how his love affair with books began. A true-blue Piscean, books paved the path to his fantasy worlds- worlds he'd often rather stay in. Nirbhay is the co-founder and publisher of The Curious Reader.

You can read his articles, here .

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The Criticism Against Dahl: What We Failed To Understand As Children

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The Criticism Against Dahl: What We Failed To Understand As Children Roald Dahl is a prolific children's author who has delighted young and old alike for decades. Most of his works are considered classics in children's literature and you'll be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't read his work.

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My essential question is “how do your past experiences, race, culture, and upbringing, shape how you view the experiences that are given to you.” This is a topic worth reading about because it explores how different bringings and cultural differences will affect how you got out into the world and use your resources. This could be used to expand our knowledge on different privileges and the blind spots privileges make us have. Charlie and the chocolate factory directly show off his by showing the difference in how more finally privileged characters feel entitled to Mr. Wonkas's price. According to VeryWell Minded, it is not the act of having a bad privilege, when you don't accolade it is when your actions could be harmful. You can see a character in the story like Vecura Salt who is very entitled and does not seem to notice or when she does care how it affects other people. It shows that your past experiences, race, culture, and upbringing all shape how you will view a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like having the golden ticket. In today's America, I have a few privileges and keep an open mind to others' everyday struggles and other experiences I have never had or even thought of.