2. Table of Contents
Introduction
Roald Dahl’s past plays a role in his dark writing style
How children responded to his work
How adults responded to his work
Why he chose to write in the style he did
Examples of Roald Dahl’s work
Conclusion
Works Cited
3. Introduction
Roald Dahl:
Famous Author who wrote several children’s
books. He famously allowed children to see
the darker side of life in his work’s.
4. Roald Dahl’s past plays a role
in his writing style
Major Life Experiences Include:
The death of his father when Dahl was only 4
years old
He was a Fighter Pilot for the Royal Air Force
and he saw a lot of action in the war.
He was basically raised in a boarding school
where he was treated poorly (even beaten).
All of the above experiences led Dahl to write the
way he did.
5. How Children Responded to
Dahl’s Writing Style
Children found Dahl’s works “particularly
easy to read, because when characters
converse they come across as being
real and believable…..He does not
encumber his writing with unnecessarily
difficult words.” (Lopes)
6. How Adults Reacted to Dahl’s
Writing Style
Many adults complained that Dahl’s work
displayed “racism”, “disturbing characters”, and
“low regard for corruption and hypocrisy amongst
adults and other authority figures”
(Who2Biography)
Fewer adults loved his writing style, Danny De Vito
said, “He speaks to children. He doesn’t speak
down to them. He asks them to think, he asks
them to be afraid, and he asks them to conquer his
fears.” (qtd. in Author Profile)
7. Why Dahl enjoyed his writing
style
Roald Dahl loved his writing style.
An article in the New York Times quoted
Dahl, “The key to his success was to
conspire children against adults.” (Honan)
Roald Dahl’s quirky personality allowed him
to thoroughly enjoy making children see a
different side to life, a darker side.
8. Examples of Roald Dahl’s
works
To name a few….
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James and the Giant Peach
The Gremlins
Matilda
The Witches
And many, many more….
9. Conclusion
Roald Dahl was an exquisite author who
allowed children to see something
society had never let them see before,
true life. Many viewed this as a darker
side during his the 1960’s when Dahl’s
books were first coming out.
10. Works Cited
Honan, William. “Roald Dahl, Writer, 74, Is Dead; Best Sellers Enchanted Children.”
1990. The New York Times. 15 Jul. 2009.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/24/obituaries/roald-dahl-writer-74-is-dead-
best-sellers-
enchanted-children.html>.
Lopes, Tony. “Assessment of the aesthetic value of Roald Dahl’s ‘The Great Automatic
Grammatizator and Other Stories’.” Editred. 15 Jul. 2009.
<http://www.editred.com/Uploads/st_36232_Assessment_of_the_aesthet>.
“Roald Dahl.” Who2 Biography. Answers.com. 15 Jul. 2009
<http://answers.com/topic/roald-dahl>.
