roald dahl biography boy

by Roald Dahl

Is "Boy" by Roald Dahl an autobiography or a biography, and why?

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M.A. from OPEN UNIVERSITY,UK

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Boy by Roald Dahl is an autobiography because it is a factual account of his own life. A biography is also a factual account of a person's life but written by someone other than the subject.

In Boy, Roald Dahl describes his life from his birth in Wales to his first job at Shell. His father and sister died when he was only three years old, and he was brought up by his mother. Many of his early memories are full of life and color. He talks about the sweets he enjoyed as a kid, the Great Mouse Plot of 1924, and his times at a boarding school in Weston Super Mare. He struggled to cope at Repton College, a renowned British public school, where he describes some of the behavior by his teachers and the older boys as sadistic.

Boy was followed by another autobiography called Going Solo that picks up from where Dahl left off and includes details about his time in the air force during the Second World War.

Cite this page as follows:

Scarbrough, Maud. "Is "Boy" by Roald Dahl an autobiography or a biography, and why?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 14 Feb. 2019, https://www.enotes.com/topics/boy-roald-dahl/questions/boy-by-roald-dahl-autobiography-biography-why-249479.

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I taught English, social sciences, and education at the college level from 2005 to 2008.

This is a great question to ask, because in his preface to this excellent work, Dahl himself says that this is "not an autobiography." However, let us be aware of how he defines autobiography:

An autobiography is a book a person writes about his own life and it is usually full of all sorts of boring details.

Dahl claims that this novel is not an autobiography because he would never "write a history" of himself. However, at the same time he says he will communicate a series of incidents from his life that have remained firmly in his mind. The final words in the preface are that "All are true." The definition of an autobiography is a text that tells the life of a person that is written by that person. So, in spite of Dahl's protestations otherwise, this is an autobiography, and an excellent example of one. A biography is a text based on a person's life that is not told by that person.

Hathaway, John. "Is "Boy" by Roald Dahl an autobiography or a biography, and why?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 14 Mar. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/topics/boy-roald-dahl/questions/boy-by-roald-dahl-autobiography-biography-why-249479.

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B.A. from The University of KwaZulu-Natal

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Professional writer with over ten years of experience.

How is Boy by Roald Dahl an autobiography and in what ways is it a biography? In what ways is it an autobiography?    

It is not possible for a book to be both an autobiography and a biography. An autobiography is a work written by someone in which they are telling you the story of their own life. A biography, on the other hand, is when somebody is telling you the story of someone else's life.

In other words, if I had to write a book about Roald Dahl's life, it would be a biography. However, as this great book was written by Roald Dahl himself, it is an autobiography and is, in my opinion, one of the funniest and most sincere autobiographies you will ever read.

Dahl does not take us on a chronological journey through his life. Rather, his autobiography is a series of significant and amusing anecdotes from this childhood.

Müller, Steph. "Is "Boy" by Roald Dahl an autobiography or a biography, and why?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 11 Apr. 2019, https://www.enotes.com/topics/boy-roald-dahl/questions/boy-by-roald-dahl-autobiography-biography-why-249479.

Your question indicates your confusion regarding the two separate and different terms of autobiography and biography. Let us be very clear about the differences between these two words: an autobiography is the life of a person written by that same person, whereas a biography is the life of a person written by somebody else and not by the character that is the subject of this work. Therefore your question is an impossibility as a work of literature is not able to simultaneously be an autobiography and a biography.

However, it is important to realise that Dahl writes this not as a traditional autobiography which systematically goes through his entire life. In his preface, he makes his intention clear. He does not wish to bore his readers and thus selects a series of events that he talks about that are not necessarily thematically united. However, this does not detract from the fact that this work can only be considered as an autobiography. It can never be considered as a biography, for the reasons outlined above.

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Hathaway, John. "Is "Boy" by Roald Dahl an autobiography or a biography, and why?" edited by eNotes Editorial, 17 Mar. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/topics/boy-roald-dahl/questions/boy-by-roald-dahl-autobiography-biography-why-249479.

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Boy: Tales of Childhood Paperback – January 22, 2009

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• Book 1 of 2 Roald Dahl's Autobiography
• Print length 192 pages
• Language English
• Grade level 3 - 7
• Lexile measure 1020L
• Dimensions 5.06 x 0.48 x 7.75 inches
• Publisher Viking Books for Young Readers
• Publication date January 22, 2009
• ISBN-10 014241381X
• ISBN-13 978-0142413814
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Boy: Tales of Childhood

35 pages • 1 hour read

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Introduction

Many readers are familiar with Roald Dahl (1916-90) as the author of popular stories such as James and the Giant Peach (1961) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964). Dahl published 19 novels and short story collections for children. He was born in Wales to a Norwegian family and spent most of his life in England. He was an intelligence officer and fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II and suffered injuries in a crash in Egypt. Dahl began writing during his recovery period, and his first publication shared his war experiences in the Saturday Evening Post . He published novels for adults but transitioned to writing for children when he became a father. According to Dahl’s website, over 300 million copies of his books have been sold in 68 languages. Several of his books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda , have been adapted as films. Netflix paid $684 million in 2021 to acquire the Roald Dahl Story Company, which held the rights to his works, and has announced plans for a series based on Charlie’s world. This acquisition placed Dahl at number one on the Forbes list of “The Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities” that year.

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Dahl’s 1984 memoir , Boy: Tales of Childhood , offers a glimpse of his British boyhood experiences. He recalls family events, sweet shops, and harsh headmasters, and the book’s structure and tone , with very short chapters and villainous adults, echo those of his fiction books for children. Organized chronologically from before Dahl’s birth in 1916 to the beginning of World War II, Boy is not, Dahl states, an autobiography, but rather “a number of things [that] happened to me that I have never forgotten” (8).

This guide is based on the 2009 Puffin Books edition.

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Content Warning: In this novel, Dahl uses the word "fag," a term referring to a lowerclassman who served an upperclassman. While it is a derogatory term, during Dahl's childhood the word did not have the same offensive connotation that it does today. The word appears in this guide in quoted material. Boy also contains frequent episodes of violence and child abuse.

Boy begins in Norway, where Dahl’s father, Harald, was born in the 1860s. At age 14, Harald falls off a roof and breaks his arm. His drunken doctor mistakes the injury for a dislocated shoulder and damages the arm beyond repair while trying to relocate it. Harald’s arm is amputated at the elbow. He adapts well to life with one arm and goes on to build a successful shipbroking firm in Paris. He marries a French woman, and they move to Cardiff, Wales, where his business booms. When his wife dies after the birth of their second child, Harald marries a Norwegian woman, Sophie Magdalena. Together, they have five more children, including Roald. During the last three months of each pregnancy, Harald and Sophie take “glorious walks” in nature to encourage the forthcoming child “to be a lover of beautiful things” (14).

When Roald is four, his sister dies of appendicitis. Heartbroken, Harald soon contracts a fatal case of pneumonia. Widowed in Wales, with five children to care for and expecting another, Sophie chooses not to return to her family in Norway. Harald wanted his children to attend British schools, and Sophie resolves to fulfill his wish.

Acknowledging that most memories before age seven don’t survive, Dahl recalls only one noteworthy experience from age five: careening about on a tricycle. With that, he jumps to 1924, when he is eight and attending Llandaff Cathedral School. This was the year that he and some mischievous friends perpetrate “The Great Mouse Plot” (35). There is a sweet shop in town that enthralls Dahl and his friends. When they have money, they swoon over their purchases of gobstoppers and licorice. The only stain on this otherwise glorious shop is the shopkeeper, Mrs. Pratchett. Crusty and cruddy, as if she never washed, Mrs. Pratchett always snaps at the boys, making herself a ready target for pranks. When the boys find a dead mouse at school, Dahl hatches a plot to slip it into the gobstoppers and give Mrs. Pratchett a fright. They succeed, but Mrs. Pratchett reports the pranksters to the schoolmaster, and they receive a severe caning.

Dahl’s family spends their summer holidays in Norway, and he presents sketches of their various adventures there. After a four-day journey, the family arrives in Oslo at the home of Sophie’s parents, whom Dahl refers to as Bestemama and Bestepapa. An elaborate meal ensues. The next day, the family sets off for a hotel on the “magic Island,” where they enjoy boating and exploring. Dahl remembers one strikingly unpleasant day during these holidays: His mother takes him to the doctor, and—without warning or anesthetic—the doctor cuts out his adenoids. Removing adenoids without anesthesia was a common practice at the time.

Year after year, the Dahls return to the island, eventually including the eldest—or “ancient”—sister’s fiancé. The young couple’s aloofness irks everyone, so Dahl schemes to puncture their reserve by filling the fiancé’s fancy pipe with goat dung. When he next takes a puff on his pipe, the fiancé chokes and sputters, causing the ancient sister much alarm.

Dahl recounts the misery he endures during his years at St. Peter’s, a boarding school in England. At age nine, he leaves home with the requisite trunk and tuckbox , a small trunk boys use to hold their personal items at boarding school. He is excruciatingly homesick, a feeling that is compounded by the cruelty of the staff. The “Matron” ruthlessly enforces law and order on the dormitory floor, as well as in the infirmary, and prohibits any sound after bedtime. When a student named Tweedie defies her by snoring, she drops soap flakes into his wheezing mouth to punish his insubordination. Then Captain Hardcastle, the Latin teacher, pounces on the opportunity to report Dahl when he quietly asks another student for a pen nib during class. For this crime, Dahl receives six cracks of the cane on his behind.

One enduring benefit from Dahl’s time at St. Peter’s is the habit he acquires there of sending a weekly letter to his mother. He continues to write these weekly missives for 32 years, until his mother’s death. 

The Christmas holiday finally arrives, and Dahl remembers his euphoria upon returning home. After two half-hour driving lessons, Dahl’s half-sister proudly takes the wheel of the family’s new car. When she miscalculates a turn in the road and steers into a hedge, Dahl plunges through the windscreen, nearly slicing his nose off. With much effort, they drive to the doctor, who is able to restore the nose, working at the family’s table.

From ages 13 to 18, Dahl attends Repton Public School , where severe discipline for seemingly minor infractions continues, but with added abuse from the “Boazers,” or upperclassmen bullies. Dahl’s anecdotes from that time also include some pleasant developments. To his delight, the nearby Cadbury chocolate factory delivers samples to the school to obtain feedback from the boys. The math teacher, Mr. Corker, brightens his students’ days by skipping lessons in favor of crossword puzzles and pranks. Additionally, Dahl discovers photography at Repton and excels at Eton Fives , a handball game.

At 18, Dahl chooses to pursue adventure outside England instead of further schooling. He takes a job with Shell Oil in Africa and joins the Royal Air Force during World War II. The book ends with Dahl’s account of sustaining serious injuries when his plane crashes in Northern Africa.

Dahl continues his autobiographical reflections in Going Solo (1986). He died in 1990. Published posthumously in 2008, More About Boy contains additional stories and letters, along with the original text of Boy .

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Tales of Childhood

By roald dahl.

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Boy is an autobiographical book by British writer Roald Dahl. This book describes his life from birth until leaving school, focusing on living conditions in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, the public school system at the time, and how his childhood experiences led him to writing as a career. It ends with his first job, working for Royal Dutch Shell. His autobiography continues in the book Going Solo. An expanded edition titled More About Boy was published in 2008, featuring the full original text and illustrations with additional stories, letters, and photographs. It presents humorous anecdotes from the author's childhood which includes summer vacations in Norway and an English boarding school.

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"My father, Harald Dahl, was a Norwegian who came from a small down near Oslo, called Sarpsborg."

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9780141322766

Penguin Random House Children's UK

04 September 2008

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Phizzwhizzing new cover look and branding for the World's NUMBER ONE Storyteller! BOY, Roald Dahl's bestselling autobiography, is full of hilarious anecdotes about his childhood and school days, illustrated by Quentin Blake. As a boy, all sorts of unusual things happened to Roald Dahl. There was the time he and four school friends got their revenge on beastly Mrs Prachett in her sweet shop. There are stories of holidays in fishing boats, African adventures and the days of tasting chocolate for Cadbury's. You'll hear tales of horrible school bullies and the motor-car accident when Roald's nose was nearly sliced clean off . . . Roald Dahl vividly shares his memories; some are funny. Some are painful. Some are unpleasant. All are true. You can listen to all of Roald Dahl's stories on Puffin Audiobooks, read by some very famous voices, including Kate Winslet, David Walliams and Steven Fry - plus there are added squelchy sound effects from Pinewood Studios! Also look out for new Roald Dahl apps in the App store and Google Play- including the disgusting TWIT OR MISS! and HOUSE OF TWITS inspired by the revolting Twits.

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Boy: Tales of Childhood

By roald dahl, boy: tales of childhood character list, roald dahl ("boy").

Roald Dahl, nicknamed "Boy," is the author and protagonist of the novel. The child of Norwegian immigrants living in Wales and England, Dahl is viewed by the authorities as a troublemaker at the schools he attends. Although his father considers English schools to be the best in the world, Dahl lives in constant fear of being disciplined with vicious canings from school officials. Instead of continuing with education by going to university, Dahl takes a job at Shell Oil. Later in life, Dahl will become one of the world's most widely read children's authors.

Harald Dahl

The author's father, Harald, is a Norwegian shipbroker who makes a comfortable living for his family after starting a shipbroker company in Wales. In the wake of his daughter's death, Harald falls ill and dies of pneumonia several weeks later.

Dahl's mother, Sofie, is a Norwegian woman who moves to Wales after meeting her husband, Harald. When her daughter and husband die with weeks of each other, Sofie decides to stay in the UK because she hopes to fulfill her husband's wish that his children attend English schools, which he believed to be the best in the world.

Mrs. Pratchett

Mrs. Pratchett is the despicable and grubby owner of the candy shop near Dahl's elementary school. As revenge for her unpleasantness toward him and his friends, Dahl devises a plan to put a dead mouse in her gobstoppers jar. Afterward, she goes to the boys' school and talks the Headmaster into punishing the boys by hitting them with a cane.

Mr. Coombes

Mr. Coombes is the Headmaster of the elementary school Dahl attends as a young boy. He disciplines Dahl and other misbehaving boys with brutal canings.

The Matron is a nurse responsible for overseeing the boys' health and well-being while they live at boarding school. An imposing, large-chested woman, the Matron strikes fear into Dahl's heart because she is looking for any excuse to send pupils for a caning from the Headmaster. At one point, she confiscates the keys to the tuck boxes, leaving Dahl famished for six weeks.

Captain Hardcastle

Captain Hardcastle is one of the teachers Dahl most fears while at boarding school. He has bright orange hair and an orange mustache that curls up at the ends. When he overhears Dahl ask another boy for a writing nib, Hardcastle accuses him of cheating on his essay and sends him to the Headmaster for a caning.

The Headmaster of Repton Prep School

The Headmaster at Repton is a short clergyman known for the vicious beatings he doles out to boys at the school. Dahl considers it hypocritical that the man preaches mercy and forgiveness in the chapel while carrying on with such brutal punishments. Dahl finds it even more ironic when the man eventually becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, meaning he crowns Queen Elizabeth II in an event half the world watches on TV.

Thwaites is a childhood friend of Roald Dahl. Because Thwaites's father is a doctor, Thwaites impresses his friends with facts purportedly learned from his father. Thwaites eggs on Dahl to prank Mrs. Pratchett with a dead mouse, later accusing Dahl of murder when he suspects Pratchett had a heart attack upon finding the mouse.

Dahl's Elder Sister

Referred to by Dahl as his "ancient" sister, Dahl's eldest sibling is approximately a decade older than Dahl. She is the biological child of Harald and Marie, Harald's first wife, although she is raised most of her life by Dahl's biological mother. She drives the family car into a hedge on the day they receive it, causing an accident that nearly takes Dahl's nose off his face. She also becomes engaged to a young English doctor whom the rest of her family decide to prank after he spoils their summer vacation.

Dahl's Sister's Fiancé

Dahl's sister's fiancé is a young English doctor. He accompanies the family on their summer holiday to Norway. When his presence irritates the family, Dahl stuffs his pipe with goat droppings and the entire family watches eagerly as he coughs and splutters, claiming someone has poisoned him.

Boy: Tales of Childhood Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Boy: Tales of Childhood is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What did Ronald Dahls grandfather think of his fathers plan?

Which plan are you referring to?

Question I have on my homework

What did the boys like about corker

From the text:

Corkers was a charmer, a vast ungainly man with drooping bloodhound cheeks and filthy clothes.

Study Guide for Boy: Tales of Childhood

Boy: Tales of Childhood study guide contains a biography of Roald Dahl, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Boy: Tales of Childhood
• Boy: Tales of Childhood Summary
• Character List

Lesson Plan for Boy: Tales of Childhood

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Boy: Tales of Childhood
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
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• Boy: Tales of Childhood Bibliography

Biography Online

Roald Dahl Biography

Roald Dahl – (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a best selling British children’s author and a flying ace in the Second World War.

Short Bio Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl was born in 1916, Cardiff to Norwegian parents. At a young age, his father passed away, and Roald was sent to boarding schools in England. His childhood years left a lasting impression on Roald, and he later serialised these in his autobiography – Boy .

These times were generally unhappy for Roald; he recounts the excessive strictness, corporal punishment and fear amongst the boys. The brutal canning meted out to boys by both staff, and ‘prefects’ particularly stuck in the mind of the young Dahl.

“All through my school life I was appalled by the fact that masters and senior boys were allowed quite literally to wound other boys, and sometimes very severely.” Roald Dahl

He recounted the fear and pain in great detail. He also mentioned a friend who was flogged – by the then headmaster of Repton, leaving a trail of blood. Roald wrote this headmaster went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury and this is one incident that turned him away from religion and God.

Roald Dahl never really fitted in with the public school ethos of discipline and fags. Fags were young boys who would serve elder prefects – for example, Roald wryly wrote how he was chosen to be the favoured ‘bog warmer’ of his prefect. – His job was to sit on an outside toilet to warm it up for his prefect. Despite excelling at sports, Roald later turned down the opportunity to be a prefect as he admitted he could not agree with the general principles.

The only glimpses of happiness were in the school holidays when he visited the beautiful Norwegian Fjords of his parents’ homeland and also towards the end of his school career when he got his first motorbike.

On leaving school, Roald got a job with Shell Petroleum company and in 1934 he was transferred to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. He enjoyed his job and made good progress. However, on the outbreak of war in August 1939, he soon joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter ace. He gained little training in an old Tiger Moth before being flung into brutal dogfights.

On an early flying mission, Roald Dahl crashed on route to Egypt. He was badly injured and was blinded for several weeks. By February 1941, he was discharged from hospital and was transferred to the Greek Campaign. This was a fight against overwhelming odds as the British forces were outnumbered with only a few aircraft to defend against the German invasion. Roald Dahl was one of the few airmen to survive the bitter dog fighting and was evacuated to Egypt before the fall of Athens. During that time he shot down numerous enemy aircraft, though the exact number was difficult to ascertain. His official figure was confirmed as 5, though this was likely to be more.

After a medical condition, Dahl was invalided back to Britain. For the remainder of the war, he was given a job writing propaganda for the allies. He also supplied intelligence to the British Security Coordination which was part of MI6.

After the war, Dahl began to concentrate more on writing as a career. His first successful story was an account of his crash in Egypt – “A Piece of Cake” – initially published as “Shot down over Libya”. This led to his first children’s book – Gremlins, commissioned by Walt Disney.

He went on to create some of the most memorable children’s books. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda . They set a new tone for children’s books. They often featured a dark sense of humour, grave injustice and grotesque figures (often fat e.g. Augustus Gloop, Bruce Bogtrotter).

“Fairy tales have always got to have something a bit scary for children – as long as you make them laugh as well.” – Roald Dahl

Using elements of semi-autobiography his stories often featured a divide between one or two good people against people who were abusing their positions of power. In books such as Danny The Champion of the World , he introduces elements of class conflict and the triumph of the underdog. His books often had unexpected endings.

In the 1960s, Dahl acquired an old-fashioned gypsy caravan which he parked in his garden where he lived in Great Missenden, Oxfordshire. He used this caravan to write some of his children’s books.

He also wrote short adult short stories, and in the 1960s he also wrote two successful screenplays – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the James Bond film – You Only Live Twice. But, it is primarily for his best selling children’s books that he is remembered. In a poll commissioned by Canon UK, Canon was considered Britain’s greatest storyteller – above both Dickens and J.K.Rowling.

He married Patricia Neal on 2 July 1953 in New York. They had five children during their 30-year marriage.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “ Roald Dahl “, Oxford, UK www.biographyonline.net , 22nd Jan. 2010. Last updated 18 February 2018.

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Children's author Roald Dahl wrote the kids' classics 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' 'Matilda' and 'James and the Giant Peach,' among other famous works.

(1916-1990)

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.

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.

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.

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.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Roald Dahl
• Birth Year: 1916
• Birth date: September 13, 1916
• Birth City: Llandaff, South Wales
• Birth Country: United Kingdom
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Children's author Roald Dahl wrote the kids' classics 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' 'Matilda' and 'James and the Giant Peach,' among other famous works.
• Writing and Publishing
• Astrological Sign: Virgo
• Interesting Facts
• Of the films that were adapted from his books during his lifetime, Roald Dahl came to despise them.
• Of his many stories, Roald Dahl said 'The BFG' was his favorite.
• Death Year: 1990
• Death date: November 23, 1990
• Death City: Oxford
• Death Country: United Kingdom

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

• Children are ... highly critical. And they lose interest so quickly. 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.
• As I went on, the stories became less and less realistic and more fantastic. But becoming a writer was pure fluke. Without being asked to, I doubt if I'd ever have thought of it.
• A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.
• The writer for children must be a jokey sort of a fellow. He must like simple tricks and jokes and riddles and other childish things. He must be ... inventive. He must have a really first-class plot.

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Roald Dahl (born September 13, 1916, Llandaff , Wales—died November 23, 1990, Oxford , England) was a British writer who was a popular author of ingenious and irreverent children’s books . His best-known works include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Matilda (1988), both of which were adapted into popular films.

Following his graduation from Repton, a renowned British public school, in 1934, Dahl avoided a university education and joined an expedition to Newfoundland. He worked from 1937 to 1939 in Dar es Salaam , Tanganyika (now in Tanzania), but he enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF) when World War II broke out. Flying as a fighter pilot, he was seriously injured in a crash landing in Libya . He served with his squadron in Greece and then in Syria before doing a stint (1942–43) as assistant air attaché in Washington, D.C. (during which time he also served as a spy for the British government). There the novelist C.S. Forester encouraged him to write about his most exciting RAF adventures, which were published by the Saturday Evening Post .

Dahl’s first book, The Gremlins (1943), was written for Walt Disney but was largely unsuccessful. His service in the RAF influenced his first story collection, Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying (1946), a series of military tales that was warmly received by critics but did not sell well. He achieved best-seller status with Someone like You (1953; rev. ed. 1961), a collection of macabre stories for adults, which was followed by Kiss, Kiss (1959), which focused on stormy romantic relationships.

Dahl then turned primarily to writing the children’s books that would give him lasting fame. Unlike most other books aimed at a young audience, Dahl’s works had a darkly comic nature, frequently including gruesome violence and death. His villains were often malevolent adults who imperiled precocious and noble child protagonists. James and the Giant Peach (1961; film 1996 ), written for his own children, was a popular success, as was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), which was made into the films Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). His other works for young readers include Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970; film 2009 ), Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972), The Enormous Crocodile (1978), The BFG (1982; films 1989 and 2016 ), and The Witches (1983; film 1990 ). One of his last such books, Matilda (1988), was adapted for film (1996 and 2022) and the stage ( 2010). Many of Dahl’s books have been illustrated by the award-winning illustrator Quentin Blake .

While Dahl focused primarily on children’s literature late in his career, he continued to produce short stories for adult audiences during this time, which were published in collections such as Switch Bitch (1974), The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and Six More (1977), and Tales of the Unexpected (1979). Dahl also wrote several scripts for movies, among them You Only Live Twice (1967) and (with Ken Hughes and Richard Maibaum) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). His autobiography, Boy: Tales of Childhood , was published in 1984.

While his lasting reputation to many is that of a beloved children’s author, Dahl has also been a controversial figure both during his lifetime and after. Some of his works, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , were criticized at the time of their publication for their use of racial and sexual stereotypes , but his most notable transgressions came outside of his fiction. In several interviews and nonfiction writings during the 1980s and ’90s, Dahl expressed opinions that were widely viewed as anti-Semitic . While he defended himself as being “anti- Israel ” rather than anti-Semitic, that distinction was not accepted by a number of readers, and his estate published an apology for his statements in 2020. Three years later, Dahl’s publishers announced that they had revised hundreds of insensitive and outdated passages in his classic children’s books, a move that was met with both support for reflecting a changing culture and criticism for perceived editorial overreach.

Biography of Roald Dahl, British Novelist

The Memorable Author of Iconic Children's Novels

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Roald Dahl (September 13, 1916–November 23, 1990) was a British writer. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II , he became a world-famous author, particularly due to his best-selling books for children.

Fast Facts: Roald Dahl

• Known For:  English author of children's novels and adult short stories
• Born:  September 13, 1916 in Cardiff, Wales
• Parents:  Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl ( née  Hesselberg)
• Died:  November 23, 1990 in Oxford, England
• Education:  Repton School
• Selected Works:   James and the Giant Peach (1961), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970), The BFG (1982), Matilda (1988)
• Spouses:  Patricia Neal (m. 1953-1983), Felicity Crosland (m. 1983)
• Children:  Olivia Twenty Dahl, Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl, Theo Matthew Dahl, Ophelia Magdalena Dahl, Lucy Neal Dahl
• Notable Quote:  “Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”

Dahl was born in Cardiff, Wales in 1916, in the district of Llandaff. His parents were Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl (née Hesselberg), both of whom were Norwegian immigrants. Harold had originally immigrated from Norway in the 1880s and lived in Cardiff with his French first wife, with whom he had two children (a daughter, Ellen, and a son, Louis) before her death in 1907. Sofie immigrated later and married Harold in 1911. They had five children, Roald and his four sisters Astri, Alfhild, Else, and Asta, all of whom they raised Lutheran. In 1920, Astri died suddenly of appendicitis, and Harold died of pneumonia only weeks later; Sofie was pregnant with Asta at the time. Instead of returning to her family in Norway, she stayed in the UK, wanting to follow her husband’s wishes to give their children an English education.

As a boy, Dahl was sent to an English public boarding school , St. Peter’s. He was intensely unhappy during his time there, but never let his mother know how he felt about it. In 1929, he moved to Repton School in Derbyshire, which he found equally unpleasant due to the culture of intense hazing and the cruelty with which older students dominated and bullied the younger ones; his hatred for corporal punishment stemmed from his school experiences. One of the cruel headmasters he loathed, Geoffrey Fisher, later became the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the association somewhat soured Dahl on religion.

Surprisingly, he was not noted as a particularly talented writer during his schoolboy days; in fact, many of his evaluations reflected precisely the opposite. He did enjoy literature, as well as sports and photography. Another of his iconic creations was sparked by his schooling experiences: the Cadbury chocolate company occasionally sent samples of new products to be tested by Repton students, and Dahl’s imagination of new chocolate creations would later turn into his famous Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . He graduated in 1934 and took a job with the Shell Petroleum Company; he was sent as an oil supplier to Kenya and Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania).

World War II Pilot

In 1939, Dahl was first commissioned by the army to lead a platoon of indigenous troops as World War II broke out . Soon after, however, he switched to the Royal Air Force , despite having very little experience as a pilot, and underwent months of training before he was deemed fit for combat in the fall of 1940. His first mission, however, went badly awry. After being given instructions that later proved to be inaccurate, he wound up crashing in the Egyptian desert and suffering serious injuries that took him out of combat for several months. He did manage to return to combat in 1941. During this time, he had five aerial victories, which qualified him as a flying ace, but by September 1941, severe headaches and blackouts led to him being invalided home.

Dahl attempted to qualify as an RAF training officer, but instead wound up accepting the post of assistant air attaché at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. Although unimpressed and uninterested with his diplomatic posting, he became acquainted with C.S. Forester, a British novelist who was tasked with producing Allied propaganda for American audiences. Forester asked Dahl to write down some of his war experiences to be turned into a story, but when he received Dahl’s manuscript, he instead published it as Dahl had written it. He wound up working with other authors, including David Ogilvy and Ian Fleming, to help promote British war interests, and worked in espionage as well, at one point passing information from Washington to Winston Churchill himself.

The knack for children’s stories that would make Dahl famous first appeared during the war as well. In 1943, he published The Gremlins , turning an inside joke in the RAF (“gremlins” were to blame for any aircraft problems) into a popular story that counted Eleanor Roosevelt and Walt Disney among its fans. When the war ended, Dahl had held the rank of wing commander and squadron leader. Several years after the end of the war, in 1953, he married Patricia Neal, an American actress. They had five children: four daughters and one son.

Short Stories (1942-1960)

• "A Piece of Cake" (published as "Shot Down Over Libya," 1942)
• The Gremlins (1943)
• Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying (1946)
• Sometime Never: A Fable for Superman (1948)
• Someone Like You (1953)
• Kiss Kiss (1960)

Dahl’s writing career began in 1942 with his wartime story. Originally, he wrote it with the title “A Piece of Cake,” and it was bought by The Saturday Evening Post for the substantial sum of $1,000. In order to be more dramatic for war propaganda purposes, however, it was renamed “Shot Down Over Libya,” even though Dahl had not, in fact, been shot down, let alone over Libya. His other major contribution to the war effort was The Gremlins , his first work for children. Originally, it was optioned by Walt Disney for an animated film , but a variety of production obstacles (problems with ensuring the rights to the idea of “gremlins” were open, issues with creative control and RAF involvement) led to the project’s eventual abandonment.

As the war came to an end, he kicked off a career writing short stories, mostly for adults and mostly published originally in a variety of American magazines. In the waning years of the war, many of his short stories remained focused on the war, the war effort, and propaganda for the Allies. First published in 1944 in Harper’s Bazaar , “Beware of the Dog” became one of Dahl’s most successful war stories and eventually was loosely adapted into two different movies.

In 1946, Dahl published his first short story collection. Entitled Over to You: Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying , the collection includes most of his war-era short stories . They’re notably different from the more famous works he’d later write; these stories were clearly rooted in the wartime setting and were more realistic and less quirky. He also tackled his first (of what would only be two) adult novels in 1948. Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen was a work of dark speculative fiction, combining the premise of his children’s story The Gremlins with a dystopian future imagining worldwide nuclear war. It was largely a failure and has never been reprinted in English. Dahl returned to short stories, publishing two consecutive short story collections: Someone Like You in 1953 and Kiss Kiss in 1960.

Family Struggles and Children’s Stories (1960-1980)

• James and the Giant Peach (1961)
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
• The Magic Finger (1966)
• Twenty-Nine Kisses from Roald Dahl (1969)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970)
• Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972)
• Switch Bitch (1974)
• Danny the Champion of the World (1975)
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (1978)
• The Enormous Crocodile (1978)
• The Best of Roald Dahl (1978)
• My Uncle Oswald (1979)
• Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
• The Twits (1980)
• More Tales of the Unexpected (1980)

The beginning of the decade included some devastating events for Dahl and his family. In 1960, his son Theo’s baby carriage was hit by a car, and Theo nearly died. He suffered from hydrocephalus, so Dahl collaborated with engineer Stanley Wade and neurosurgeon Kenneth Till to invent a valve that could be used to improve treatment. Less than two years later, Dahl's daughter, Olivia, died at age seven from measles encephalitis. As a result, Dahl became a staunch proponent of vaccinations and he also began questioning his faith—a well-known anecdote explained that Dahl was dismayed at an archbishop’s remark that Olivia’s beloved dog could not join her in heaven and began questioning whether or not the Church really was so infallible. In 1965, his wife Patricia suffered three burst cerebral aneurysms during her fifth pregnancy, requiring her to relearn basic skills like walking and talking; she did recover and eventually returned to her acting career.

Meanwhile, Dahl was becoming more and more involved in writing novels for children. James and the Giant Peach , published in 1961, became his first iconic children’s book, and the decade saw several more publications that would go on to endure for years. His 1964 novel, though, would be arguably his most famous: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory . The book received two film adaptations, one in 1971 and one in 2005, and a sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator , in 1972. In 1970, Dahl published The Fantastic Mr. Fox , another of his more famous children’s stories.

During this time, Dahl continued to turn out short story collections for adults as well. Between 1960 and 1980, Dahl published eight short story collections, including two “best of” style collections. My Uncle Oswald , published in 1979, was a novel using the same character of the lecherous “Uncle Oswald” who featured in a few of his earlier short stories for adults. He also continuously published new novels for children, which soon surpassed the success of his adult works. In the 1960s, he also briefly worked as a screenwriter, most notably adapting two Ian Fleming novels into films: the James Bond caper You Only Live Twice and the children’s movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang .

Later Stories for Both Audiences (1980-1990)

• George's Marvelous Medicine (1981)
• The BFG (1982)
• The Witches (1983)
• The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985)
• Two Fables (1986)
• Matilda (1988)
• Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: The Country Stories of Roald Dahl (1989)
• Esio Trot (1990)
• The Vicar of Nibbleswick (1991)
• The Minpins (1991)

By the early 1980s, Dahl’s marriage to Neal was falling apart. They divorced in 1983, and Dahl remarried that same year to Felicity d’Abreu Crosland, an ex-girlfriend. Around the same time, he caused some controversy with his remarks centered on Tony Clifton's picture book  God Cried , which depicted the siege of West Beirut by Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War. His comments at the time were widely interpreted as antisemitic , although others in his circle interpreted his anti-Israel comments as non-malicious and more targeted at the conflicts with Israel.

Among his most famous later stories are 1982’s The BFG and 1988’s Matilda . The latter book was adapted into a much-beloved film in 1996, as well as an acclaimed stage musical in 2010 on the West End and 2013 on Broadway. The last book released while Dahl was still alive was Esio Trot , a surprisingly sweet children’s novel about a lonely old man trying to connect with a woman he has fallen in love with from afar.

Literary Styles and Themes

Dahl was far and away best known for his very particular and unique approach to children’s literature . Certain elements in his books are easily traced to his ugly experiences at boarding school during his youth: villainous, terrifying adults in positions of power who hate children, precocious and observant children as protagonists and narrators, school settings, and plenty of imagination. Although the boogeymen of Dahl’s childhood certainly made plenty of appearances—and, crucially, were always defeated by the children—he also tended to write token “good” adults as well.

Despite being famous for writing for children, Dahl’s sense of style is famously a unique hybrid of the whimsical and the gleefully macabre. It’s a distinctively child-centric approach, but one with a subversive undertone to its obvious warmth. The details of his antagonists’ villainy are often described in childlike but nightmarish detail, and the comic threads in stories such as Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are laced with dark or even violent moments. Gluttony is a particular target for Dahl’s sharply violent retribution, with several notably fat characters in his canon receiving disturbing or violent ends.

Dahl’s language is notable for its playful style and intentional malapropisms . His books are littered with new words of his own invention, often created by switching around letters or mix-and-matching existing sounds to make words that still made sense, even though they weren’t real words. In 2016, for the centenary of Dahl's birth, lexicographer Susan Rennie created  The Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary , a guide to his invented words and their “translations” or meanings.

Near the end of his life, Dahl was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare cancer of the blood, typically affecting older patients, that occurs when blood cells do not “mature” into healthy blood cells. Roald Dahl died on November 23, 1990, in Oxford, England. He was buried at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Great Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England, in a fittingly unusual fashion: he was buried with some chocolates and wine, pencils, his favorite pool cues, and a power saw. To this day, his grave remains a popular site, where children and adults alike pay tribute by leaving flowers and toys.

Dahl’s legacy largely dwells in the enduring power of his children’s books. Several of his most famous works have been adapted into several different media, from film and television to radio to stage. It’s not just his literary contributions that have continued to have an impact, though. After his death, his widow Felicity continued his charitable work through the Roald Dahl Marvellous Children’s Charity, which supports children with various illnesses throughout the UK. In 2008, the UK charity Booktrust and Children's Laureate Michael Rosen joined forces to create The Roald Dahl Funny Prize, awarded annually to authors of humorous children's fiction. Dahl’s particular brand of humor and his sophisticated yet approachable voice for children’s fiction have left an indelible mark.

• Boothroyd, Jennifer.  Roald Dahl: A Life of Imagination . Lerner Publications, 2008.
• Shavick, Andrea.  Roald Dahl: The Champion Storyteller . Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Sturrock, Donald.  Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl , Simon & Schuster, 2010.
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Roald Dahl Biography

Born: September 13, 1916 Llandaff, South Wales Died: November 23, 1990 Oxford, England Welsh author

A writer of both children's fiction and short stories for adults, Roald Dahl is best known as the author of the 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (he also wrote the script for the 1971 movie version). Dahl has been described as a master of story construction with a remarkable ability to weave a tale.

A young troublemaker

Roald Dahl was born September 13, 1916, in Llandaff, South Wales, United Kingdom, to Norwegian parents. He spent his childhood summers visiting his grandparents in Oslo, Norway. He was a mischievous child, full of energy, and from an early age he proved himself skilled at finding trouble. His earliest memory was of pedaling to school at a very fast speed on his tricycle, with his two sisters struggling to keep up as he whizzed around curves on two wheels.

After his father died when Dahl was four, his mother followed her late husband's wish that Dahl be sent to English schools. Dahl first attended Llandaff Cathedral School, where he began a series of unfortunate adventures in school. After he and several other students were severely beaten by the principal for placing a dead mouse in a storekeeper's candy jar, Dahl's mother moved him to St. Peter's Boarding School and later to Repton, an excellent private school. Dahl would later describe his school years as "days of horrors" filled with "rules, rules and still more rules that had to be obeyed," which inspired much of his gruesome fiction. Though not a good student, his mother nevertheless offered him the option of attending Oxford or Cambridge University when he finished school. His reply, recorded in his book about his childhood called 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."

The birth of a writer

After graduating from Repton, Dahl took a position with the Shell Oil Company in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Africa. In 1939 he joined a Royal Air Force training squadron in Nairobi, Kenya, serving as a fighter pilot in the Mediterranean during World War II (1939–45). Dahl suffered severe head injuries in a plane crash near Alexandria, Egypt. Upon recovering he was sent to Washington, D.C., to be an assistant air attache (a technical expert who advises government representatives). There Dahl began his writing career, publishing a short story in the Saturday Evening Post. Soon his stories appeared in many other magazines. Dahl told Willa Petschek in a New York Times Book Review profile that "as I went on, the stories became less and less realistic and more fantastic. But becoming a writer was pure fluke. Without being asked to, I doubt if I'd ever have thought of it."

In 1943 Dahl wrote his first children's story, The Gremlins, and invented a new term in the process. Gremlins were small creatures that lived on fighter planes and bombers and were responsible for all crashes. Through the 1940s and into the 1950s Dahl continued as a short story writer for adults, establishing his reputation as a writer of deathly tales with unexpected twists. His stories earned him three Edgar Allan Poe Awards from the Mystery Writers of America.

Inspired by his children

In 1953 Dahl married Hollywood actress Patricia Neal, star of such movies as The Fountainhead and, later, Hud, for which she won an Academy Award. Although the marriage did not survive, it produced five children. As soon as the children were old enough, Dahl began making up stories for them each night before they went to bed. These stories became the basis for his career as a children's writer, which began seriously with the publication of James and the Giant Peach in 1961. It tells the fantastic tale of a young boy who travels thousands of miles in a house-sized peach with as strange a group of companions as can be found in a children's book. Dahl insisted that having to invent stories night after night was perfect practice for his trade, telling the New York Times Book Review : "Children are … highly critical. And they lose interest so quickly. 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."

Controversy

One way that Dahl delighted his readers was to take often vicious revenge on cruel adults who had harmed children, as in Matilda (1988). But even some innocent adults received rough treatment, such as the parents killed in a car crash in The Witches (1983). Many critics have objected to the rough treatment of adults. However, Dahl explained in the New York Times Book Review that the children who wrote to him always "pick out the most gruesome events as the favorite parts of the books.… They don't relate it to life. They enjoy the fantasy." He also said that his "nastiness" was payback. "Beastly people must be punished."

In Trust Your Children: Voices Against Censorship in Children's Literature, Dahl said that adults may be disturbed by his books "because they are not quite as aware as I am that children are different from adults. Children are much more vulgar than grownups. They have a coarser sense of humor. They are basically more cruel." Dahl often commented that the key to his success with children was that he joined with them against adults.

"The writer for children must be a jokey sort of a fellow," Dahl once told Writer. "He must like simple tricks and jokes and riddles and other childish things. He must be … inventive. He must have a really first-class plot."

Why a writer?

Dahl's children's fiction is known for its sudden turns into the fantastic, its fast-moving pace, and its decidedly harsh treatment of any adults foolish enough to cause trouble for the young heroes and heroines. Similarly, his adult fiction often relied on a sudden twist that threw light on what had been happening in the story.

Looking back on his years as a writer in Boy: Tales of Childhood, Dahl contended that "two hours of writing fiction leaves this particular writer absolutely drained. For those two hours he has been miles away, he has been somewhere else, in a different place with totally different people, and the effort of swimming back into normal surroundings is very great. It is almost a shock.… A person is a fool to become a writer. His only [reward] is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it."

Roald Dahl died in Oxford, England, on November 23, 1990.

For More Information

Dahl, Roald. Boy: Tales of Childhood. New York: Farrar, Straus, 1984.

Dahl, Roald. Going Solo. New York: Farrar, Straus, 1986.

Dahl, Roald. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. New York: Knopf, 1977.

The Depressing Truth About Willy Wonka's Oompa Loompas

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• The Oompa Loompas in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory had origins rooted in racism, colonialism, and white supremacy.
• While all three movies based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory attempted to address the issues with the Oompa Loompas, Wonka (2023) does so most effectively.
• Still, it is important for audiences to look beyond Wonka's "world of pure imagination" and be aware of the implications of the original text.

The following reveals spoilers for Wonka, streaming now on Max.

They were discovered by the eccentric Willy Wonka, who invited them to live and work at his wondrous chocolate factory. The three film adaptations of Roald Dahl's children's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , introduced the Oompa Loompas to viewers differently. In 1971, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory revealed them to be smaller than average humanoid creatures with orange skin and cartoonish features. Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation of the story depicted them as identical workers — all played by actor Deep Roy — dressed in flashy clothes. The 2023 prequel Wonka follows the visual style of the 1971 film, with a single orange Oompa Loompa played by Hugh Grant. All three versions depict them as happy in their work, and the factory as a kind of fairy-tale kingdom where they can live in safety.

However, that dreamy portrayal was far from the truth. Even in Willy Wonka's world of pure imagination , concerning signs about the Oompa Loompas never truly diminished. Traces of slavery, white supremacy, and capitalistic exploitation existed in every corner — hidden in the plain sight of a lighthearted, magical factory. The issue stems from Dahl's book, and all three movie adaptations have taken steps to address those dynamics, with varying degrees of success.

Updated on June 27, 2024, by Robert Vaux: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory continues to captivate readers and audiences alike with its magical story about a disenfranchised boy who discovers the magical world of Willy Wonka. Some of author Roald Dahl's notions have not aged particularly well, however — notably the Oompa Loompas and Wonka's treatment of them. The various movie adaptations have had to grapple with them, with varying degrees of success. The article has been expanded to further discuss their efforts, and the formatting has been updated to meet current CBR guidelines.

Roald Dahl's Original Oompa Loompas Had Racist Implications

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Published in 1964, Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reflected a rise in British social anxieties as immigrants and New Commonwealth citizens entered the labor market. This, of course, led to suspicion and paranoia in the story in the form of Charlie Bucket's Grandpa Joe. As a formally laid-off employee of the chocolate factory (in the 2005 film), Grandpa Joe whispered to Charlie about the new secret workers in the factory:

Not people, Charlie. Not ordinary people, anyway.

In the first edition of Dahl's novel , Oompa Loompas were Black pygmies Willy Wonka imported from "the deepest and darkest part of the African jungle," according to Jeremy Treglown's Roald Dahl: A Biography . In 1970, the NAACP issued a statement expressing concerns about the racist portrayal of the Oompa Loompas in light of the then-upcoming film. Dahl himself showed sympathy for their stance and re-imagined them in the 1973 edition as having "golden-brown hair" and "rosy-white" skin.

Despite that change in description, the Oompa Loompas' exploitative origin remained. They dressed in deerskins and lived in trees — indicating a primitive existence — and Wonka smuggled them from their home to work at his factory. They worked tirelessly in exchange for cocoa beans, even as the chocolatier earned real money for their labor. They were prisoners restricted to areas inside the factory. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka learned the tribal language when negotiating a deal with the Oompa Loompas, but he was proud that "they all speak English now."

Besides the unreasonable wages and inhumane treatment, Oompa Loompas were Wonka's test subjects for new inventions. Although the film showed "Whips - All Shapes and Sizes" as cows being whipped to produce cream, the rooms could have been another indication of the chocolatier's full ownership of Oompa Loompas. Wonka believed that he had "rescued" them from the dangerous jungles, deadly diseases, and starvation, expressing a pro-slavery sentiment that echoed the "positive good" defense of the Atlantic Slave Trade.

The text was further altered for a new edition of the book in 2023. The publisher, Puffin, made numerous adjustments to the text, including reducing the mention of Mike TeeVee's guns, eliminating the word "fat" as a descriptor, and toning down descriptions of corporal punishment such as spanking. The descriptions of the Oompa Loompas were similarly pared down to eliminate their status as "primitives." The changes have not come without controversy themselves — after all, Dahl has passed away, and can't approve them the way he did in 1973 — but they've further mitigated some of the damaging stereotyping involved.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Are oompa loompas slaves.

The text itself gives further proof of the Oompa Loompas' status. Violet asked her father for an Oompa Loompa, and he promised he would obtain one for her by the end of the day. That suggested a transfer of ownership and reinforced the slave aspect of the Oompa Loompas' condition from a privileged, white supremacist viewpoint. Yet, viewers often overlooked this troubling aspect under the blind worship of the chocolatier.

As Donald Yacovene explains, chocolate has a direct chocolate link to slavery , starting with the first cocoa shipments to Europe in 1585. Great Britain has been knee-deep in the colonial business since the mid-17th century. The cocoa trade significantly impacted countries in Central America and the Caribbean. However, most of the world's cocoa production shifted to West Africa due to Britain's involvement. Many crops exploited enslaved people and child laborers to obtain a more significant profit. Britain passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. However, slavery and exploitation in cocoa production continue in other ways even today.

Through deconstructing the seemingly wonderful supernatural beings of the Oompa Loompas, viewers come to understand the underlying colonial context and severe racial and social issues associated with the beloved children's story. Willy Wonka was certainly not a man to worship, and his chocolate factory, as dreamy as it was, was built on exploitation. Subsequent adaptations have been obligated to either show that exploitation more plainly or re-imagine both Wonka and the Oompa Loompas as different than the text portrays them.

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The Willy Wonka Movies Make Changes to the Oompa Loompas

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The filmmakers for all three movies were aware of the problematic nature of the Oompa Loompas and the implicit exploitation of their status in the factory. All three lean into the idea of the factory as a magical kingdom and its workers akin to fairies or elves rather than maltreated minorities. Naturally, that involves careful revision of Dahl's text: retaining the essence of the idea while steering clear of offensive images and explanations.

The Gene Wilder Film Stresses Oompa Loompas' Fairy-Tale Qualities

The 1971 movie stresses the Oompa Loompas as closer to fairy-tale creatures , divorced from reality and occupying their own unique status in the world. Their skin is orange and their hair green, eliminating references to any specific demographic. They wear brown-and-white uniforms of vaguely European design, and the factory itself is revealed as its own world where they are the sole occupants except for Wonka himself.

In addition, the movie omits mention of how they're paid — only that Wonka wishes them to live in peace and safety. (Though they are still experimented upon: Wonka states that a number of Oompa Loompas were turned into blueberries before Violet Beauregard.) The British setting is also subtly changed to an unnamed city, shot in Munich to enhance a sense of fairy tale timelessness rather than Dahl's late imperialist sensibilities. Wilder's Wonka, however, isn't necessarily viewed as a benevolent figure — at least not all the time. His darker side has become part of the movie's appeal and quietly suggests that he might be capable of exploiting his workers.

Tim Burton's Film Trends Closer to the Book

The 2005 version directed by Tim Burton adheres more closely to the Dahl text (presumably in an effort to distance itself from its predecessor) which brings the Oompa Loompas' problematic qualities into the forefront. It includes a visual depiction of Loompaland as a savage jungle, and the inhabitants are coded as primitives worshiping cacao beans. Wonka still offers to pay them in chocolate, and they're still the subjects of experimentation. The film flirts with other problematic stereotypes as well — such as the story of a foolish Indian prince who commissions a palace built out of chocolate — and its innate sympathy with Wonka as a misunderstood outsider tends to compound his exploitative practices. (Wilder's Wonka has more overtly sinister qualities.)

That said, the film still embraces the idea of the chocolate factory as a wondrous world all on its own, with the Oompa Loompas as the sole occupant. All of them are played by actor Deep Roy, which stresses their status as fictional constructs rather than stand-ins for real demographics. Burton depicts them as technologically advanced (often serving as scientists and researchers, for instance), and, as in the book, they ultimately have the last laugh over the foolish visitors who treat their work with disrespect.

Wonka Returns The Oompa Loompas to the Wilder Film

Of the three films, Wonka (2023) addresses the problem most directly: taking advantage of its status as a prequel to step outside of Dahl's text. A young Wonka traps an Oompa Loompa named Lofty , who was exiled from Loompaland after Wonka himself unknowingly stole several cacao beans on his watch. Lofty has been claiming his chocolates in repayment for the debt, and Wonka's responsibility on that front — however unintentional — becomes a key point in the plot.

Loompaland itself is stripped of its colonialist implications, portrayed as an uncharted island in an unnamed sea, with the Oompa Loompas dressed in striped suits reminiscent of the Vatican's Swiss Guard. That returns it more fully to the fairy-tale ideas from the Wilder film. Far from an exploited worker, Lofty is portrayed as upper-class, well-off, and more than a little snooty; he's sent into exile wearing a wealthy yachtsman's outfit and piloting a speed boat.

Instead, it's Wonka — portrayed as a champion of the downtrodden who is himself exploited through most of the film — offers Lofty a job as the "head of the tasting department" in his new factory, which he builds effortlessly through magic rather than requiring manual labor. It implies that the Oompa Loompas are equal partners in his endeavor, and makes Wonka's bottomless generosity an overt anomaly among rival candy makers motivated entirely by greed.

Wonka is now available to stream on Max.

With dreams of opening a shop in a city renowned for its chocolate, a young and poor Willy Wonka discovers that the industry is run by a cartel of greedy chocolatiers.