Roald Dahl Roald Dahl was born in Wales

Roald Dahl

� � � Roald Dahl was born in Wales on 16 th September 1916 to Norwegian parents. His father died when he was three years old, and he was raised by his mother. He had a fairly unhappy time at boarding school which provided some of the inspiration for his later stories. He went on to work at the Shell Oil Company based in Africa until the outbreak of World War II when he signed up with the Royal Air Force. After being injured in action, he was sent to Washington DC to work as an attaché where.

� � He was interviewed for an article about his time in action he offered to write about his experiences. His piece was published in the Saturday Evening Post. he was then signed up to write more articles. In 1943 he wrote his first children’s book, The Gremlins. “Lamb to the Slaughter” was published in Harper’s magazine in 1953.

� � He focused on adult fiction after this until he wrote another children’s story in the 1960 s. In the process of making up stores to interest his own children, he came up with “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. ” He went on to write 21 children’s He died on 23 rd November 1990.

Genre-Black Humor � � Popularized in the 1950’s. The use of the morbid or grotesque in a humorous manner. Often highlights the senselessness or futility of life. Often used to describe the works of novelists such as Nathanael West and Vladimir Nabokov.

Point of View � 3 rd Person Limited Omniscient -The narrator is aware of all of the action but has insight only into Mary’s thoughts.

Conflict � Internal- person vs. self �Needs to save unborn child � External- person vs. person �Mary vs. Patrick �Mary vs. Detectives