Roald Dahl

Largely known as the author of James and the Giant Peach (1961) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), Roald Dahl is also the author of three full-length works for early adolescents. It is of this group of young people that Dahl once said, " 'If my books can help children become readers, then I feel I have accomplished something important' " (West). Dahl's books for adolescents have caught the attention of young people and adults alike. The view of society revealed through his books--his implied criticism of adults and his contempt for social institutions--has made his works popular with adolescents. This same view has brought mixed reactions from critics.

The variety of audiences that Dahl successfully wrote for throughout his career demonstrates his ability to appeal to specific groups of readers. Ironically, Roald Dahl wrote extensively for adults and children before he attempted to write books for young adults. His writing career began when Cecil Scott Forester interviewed him for the Saturday Evening Post and submitted Dahl's fictionalized account of his adventures in the Royal Air Force to the newspaper (Pendergast). In 1943, Dahl wrote his first children's story, The Gremlins, for Walt Disney, who wanted to make it into a film. Although it was never produced, Disney later published the story, complete with Disney's illustrations (West). After The Gremlins, Dahl left the field of children's literature and began writing short stories for adults. Although they were "generally macabre in nature, his stories won praise for their vivid details, carefully constructed plots, and surprise endings" (West). However, when he began to have difficulty coming up with new plots, Dahl decided to return to writing children's books. His first novel was James and the Giant Peach (1961), and his last was The Vicar of Nibbleswicke, published posthumously in 1991 (Bulaong). Dahl emphasized the importance of children's authors having experience with children when he noted, "Had I not had children of my own, I would have never written books for children, nor would I have been capable of doing so" (Howard). Dahl's first attempt at the young adult market was in 1977, with a collection of two autobiographical pieces, one essay, and four short stories, entitled The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six Others. This work was viewed by critics as more appropriate for adults, because only two stories had young characters; therefore, the book was not especially successful (West). Five years later, however, Dahl published the enormously popular The BFG.

Three Novels that Appeal to Young Teens

Dahl's three major works for intermediate readers, The BFG (1982), The Witches (1983), and Matilda (1988) have relatively young protagonists, although the books are written at middle school/junior high reading levels. These books are able to speak to young adolescent readers because the protagonists, in spite of their ages, are at stages in their psychosocial development similar to the readers. Erik Erikson, who studied under Sigmund Freud, said that young people between the ages of 12 to 18 experience the psychosocial crisis of "identity versus role confusion" (Slavin). During this stage, the task of adolescents is to establish themselves as independent and self-reliant individuals (Slavin). This is especially significant for early adolescents because studies show that students' self-esteem is lowest when they are entering middle school/junior high school (Slavin). Each of the protagonists in Dahl's books for intermediate readers illustrates the capacity of young people to accomplish great things, and to exhibit an independent spirit.

The main character in The BFG is Sophie, an eight-year old orphan who is kidnapped by the Big Friendly Giant, or the BFG for short, after she sees him blowing dreams into people's windows. Fortunately for Sophie, the BFG is not interested in eating humans, as are the other nine inhabitants of Giant Country. Outraged by the other giants' disgusting eating habits, Sophie and the BFG develop a plot, which involves the heads of the Army and Air Force as well as the Queen of England, to stop the giants from eating children around the world.

In Dahl's second work, The Witches, the main character is seven years old. His Norwegian grandmother, a retired witchophile, becomes his guardian upon the death of his parents. A short time later, when the two are vacationing in Bournemouth, England, the boy accidentally observes the Annual Meeting of the witches in England, and is turned into a mouse by The Grand High Witch. He manages to escape, and enlists the help of his indomitable grandmother to stop the witches' evil plot to kill all of the children in England in a very creative manner.

The title character in Matilda is a five-year-old child genius whose corrupt parents are practically oblivious to her existence. When she begins to attend school she encounters Miss Honey, her quiet and lovable teacher. She also meets Miss Trunchbull, the headmistress, an ex-Olympic hammer thrower who continues to practice with children. "The Trunchbull" refuses to acknowledge Matilda's genius and promote her, but Matilda finds that she can channel her brainpower to manipulate objects. She then develops a plan to use her power to get rid of Miss Trunchbull for good, and to rectify the wrongs done to Miss Honey. These three books, with their young heroes and heroines, are major contributions to the young adult market, due to the high level of commonality that Roald Dahl's protagonists share with the readers.

Dahl's View of the World- and Its Place in his Books

Several occurrences in Dahl's life can be connected to emerging values seen in his literature for adolescents. From very early in life, he was isolated from society because his mother, who was Norwegian, did not feel comfortable in English society after the death of his father (West). He grew up hearing Norwegian myths and taking annual vacations to Norway, a setting which is significantly reflected in The Witches (Howard). Dahl's mother honored his father's wishes and sent their children to English schools, despite the fact that at that time English schools stressed corporal punishment, of which Dahl's mother did not approve (West). Consequently, Dahl was removed from preparatory school when he was severely beaten with a cane after he played a prank (West). Dahl remembered those times as "days of horrors, of fierce discipline, of not talking in the dormitories, no running in the corridors, no untidiness of any sort, no this or that or the other, just rules, rules and still more