100 Years of Mischievous Brilliance

Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka
from the 1970 adaption of  Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory

  Besides my love for Thomas the tank engine, one of my other favourite authors growing up was Welsh writer Roald Dahl (1916-1991).  With a long career of writing books, poems, screen plays, Dahl has left a lasting impression with empowered characters like Matilda, James, and Charlie; eccentrics like the great Willy Wonka; and brutes like the dreaded Trunchbull, the Twits, or Aunts Sponge and Spiker.  His books have been made into films, stage adaptions and musicals, proving that his stories are timeless.

There is a sense of realism in the world of Dahl.  Here, children aren’t little blessings or golden eyed innocents that need to be sheltered from any form of reality but are the ugly little sociopaths that they are, always getting into trouble or trying to rise out from the bleak world their adults have made for them.  Adults appear in a mix of forms from being nice and fair hellish beasts.

Matilda as illustrated by Quinton Blake

            What I think has allowed Roald Dahl to stand the test of time is the fact that he shows children that is not always dark or even bright for that matter.  In The BFG, the protagonist Sophie is taken by the Big Friendly Giant (BFG) to the land of giants, which while being vast and magical, it is quickly dwarfed by the other giants, who are much bigger than BFG and extremely cruel.  Even Dahl’s book The Twits is basicly a book about a horrible old couple who do all sorts of horrid thing to their victims and each other before receiving their comeuppance in the end.

Bibliography

"Roald Dahl." Roald Dahl Wiki. Accessed September 15, 2016. http://roalddahl.wikia.com/wiki/Roald_Dahl.

"Weatheredwiseman." Weatheredwiseman. Accessed September 15, 2016. https://weatheredwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/04/.

BelleJarTeam. "Fictional Favourites: Matilda Wormwood." Belle Jar. March 08, 2013. Accessed September 15, 2016. https://belle-jar.com/2013/03/29/fictional-favourites-matilda-wormwood/.

portalmvd. "Falleció El Legendario Actor Estadounidense Gene Wilder, a Los 83 Años." Pantallazo. August 29, 2016. Accessed September 15, 2016. http://www.pantallazo.com.uy/contenido/Fallecio-el-legendario-actor-estadounidense-Gene-Wilder-a-los-83-anos-318678.