Roald Dalh

Biography
He was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and fighter pilot. He was born in South Wales on September 13, 1916.

He experienced a lot of tragedy in his life. He lost his father and sister when he was only three years old. Late he was abused in the boarding school he was studying (which, according to him, this part of his life influenced his stories).

It was in school were his teachers started to notice he had some exceptional writing skills). He later became a pilot. In World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. He flew missions in Libya, Greece, and Syria, and was shot down in the Libyan desert, suffering serious injuries.

Dahl had his first publication, in the Saturday Evening Post came when he was suggested to write about his war experiences by the writer C. S. Forester, once he had recovered by the accident he had suffered.

Dahl wrote his first book, The Gremlins, for Walt Disney, in 1943, and the story was later made into a Disney film.

After the war, Dahl married American actress Patricia Neal (an Oscar winner) in 1953, in New York City. Their marriage lasted for 30 years and they had five children. Together they mourned the lost of one of their children, and faced the illness of one of his son and his wife. He was deeply criticized when he openly claimed he was anti-semitic, which had a great repercussion on his social life.

He divorced Patricia Neal in 1983 and remarried later to Felicity d'Abreu Crosland, who was his partner until death in 1990 at age 74. Sources report that his books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide.

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Themes
Some very common themes in his novels are the cruelty shown by adults (usually parents or other type of authoritive figures), orphans, and tragedy.

Style
His style was humorous. However, it is usually considered dark humor. He uses sarcasm and very detailed descriptions of some not very pleasant events. He approaches some adult topics in a humorous way that make them sound as part of a children’s story.

Dahl uses exaggerated description for the antagonist characters of his stories, usually even including some of their personality traits (as the children’s name in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

Criticism
Even when he has been highly praised by his imagination to create such original stories, and humorous style, his book have been a topic of controversy since they he was accused of including anti semitic and misogynist messages on them. In the same way, his portrayal of adult characters has been considered problematic since they are usually cruel, rude people. Some critics also mentioned that his writing promote stereotypes, and bullying, calling it “dark”. Nowadays, his stories are not considered to be appropriate for young audiences.

Other information
1.	His daughter, Olivia, died of encephalitis (consequence of measles). Since that moment, he became a promoter of the Measles disease vaccine.

2.	His parents were Norwegian immigrants, and his first language was Norwegian.

3.	One of his sons suffered an accident when he was only four months old when his baby carrier was hit by a taxi in New York city, and developed hydrocephalus as a result of the impact.

4.	After he suffered terrible injuries in the WW II, he saved a piece of his femur, removed in an operation after an accident, and later used it as a paperweight in his office.

5. He wrote the screenplay for one of the James Bond's movies.

Quotes
“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it, and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.”

-My Uncle Oswald “Well, maybe it started that way. As a dream, but doesn’t everything. Those buildings. These lights. This whole city. Somebody had to dream about it first. And maybe that is what I did. I dreamed about coming here, but then I did it.” -James and the Giant Peach

“If you are good, life is good.” -Matilda