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Trevor Loman

Ms. Day

British Literature

5 April 2017

The Darkness Within Dahl

A spy. An ace fighter pilot. A chocolate historian. A medical inventor. Roald Dahl partook

in countless professions during his lifetime from 1916 to 1990. However, he is best known to be

a world-class novelist having written the widely popularized Charlie and the Chocolate

Factory. Roald Dahl was born in Wales to Norwegian parents on September 13th, 1916 in a

family of three sisters. Unfortunately, at the age of three, his father and his sister, Astri, both

passed away in a span of only a few weeks. Despite the familys prioritized value of education,

Roald Dahl was very unhappy during his school years and opted not to attend college but rather

to travel the world. His childhood memories went on to influence many of his works, likely

explaining that he typically directed his works toward children. Despite the youth of his

audience, his stories generally revolve around the dark theme of death, expressed through

elements of grotesque humor. Roald Dahls style of writing is likely to have been heavily

influenced by the misery he faced during his childhood and even his adulthood.

As a child, Roald Dahl underwent great distress, especially having been victim to two

family deaths at a very young age. During his early school years, Dahl attended the Cathedral

School in Llandaff, Wales. Due to his extremely mischievous behavior, he got into trouble

countless times with the headmaster who refused to see the humor behind his actions. As a result,

Dahl was transferred to a boarding school in England. St. Peters turned out to be an awful time

for Dahl. He was homesick and relied on weekly letters to his mother to deal with his
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unhappiness. Soon after, he went on to attend Repton School in Derbyshire, England and hated

his experience. Despite being surrounded by an environment of harsh cruelty and violent

punishment, he developed strong passions for photography and, of course, literature.

Immediately following graduation, Roald Dahl work in an oil company which tended to his lust

for global travel; until the outbreak of World War II.

In hopes to fulfill his hunger for adventure, Roald dahl, at the age of 23, joined the Royal

Air Force as an aircraftman. Receiving advanced flying training training in Iraq, he was

eventually named Acting Pilot Officer. While on a mission in his aircraft, or Gladiator, he was

given a false destination and was forced to land in the middle of the Libyan desert while low on

fuel. Unfortunately, the crash left him with a fractured skull, a smashed nose, and temporary

blindness. After recovery in the Royal Navy hospital in Alexandria, Egypt, he was deemed fit to

return to flight. After many successful missions, he retired his job as a pilot officer and became

assistant air attach in the British Embassy of Washington D.C. During his time in Washington

D.C., Roald Dahl met British novelist, C. S. Forester, who, in fact, inspired Dahl to pursue his

passions as a writer. These passions soon turned to a full-fledged career. At first, his audience

consisted mainly of adults, having written mainly of morbid subjects and death. Likely

influenced by the death of his father and sister, his stories often conveyed elements of demise

and the afterlife.

The short story, Lamb to the Slaughter, is among many that exemplify Dahls writing

style. This story focuses on Mary Maloney, a pregnant house-wife who serves as an instrument

for Dahls darkness. One night, a detective, Patrick Maloney, returns home after a long day of

work to inform his wife, Mary Maloney, of his intentions of leaving her. Devastated and unable

to take the news well, she instinctively swings a frozen lamb leg at her husbands head, resulting
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in his immediate death. Frightened by the consequences of execution for her action, she thinks of

a plan to avoid any possible repercussions. She then tosses the murder weapon into the oven to

cook while she leaves to visit the grocery store. Returning home, she calls the police to the sight

of her dead husbands body. With an alibi and no sign of any murder weapon, she invites the

unsuspecting policemen over for an ironic meal of lamb leg. Marys story goes to show that not

everyone may not be who they might seem to be. Through the policemens eyes, Mary Maloney

seemed to be a distraught woman who was too kind and innocent to have killed a man. "Would

you like a drink? You must be extremely tired." The policemen were blinded by her hospitality

and were unaware of the truth. She was fully capable to have committed such a horrible act

regardless of her appearance as a threatened, pregnant lady. This idea can also be applied to the

life of Roald Dahl. During all of his years in school, Dahl proved to be very mediocre in his

education. He was never a top student and he spent his youth acting out on his disobedience. On

top of that, he never had the interest in furthering his education at a college; but rather, he

preferred to remove his shackles and he chose the life of adventure. Having spent many years

devoted to being a pilot in the Royal Air Force, it would have been preposterous to believe one

day he could be world-class childrens book author. From being a troublesome kid with no desire

to succeed in school to becoming one of the best writers in his era certainly displays an example

to not judge a book by its cover.

Roald Dahls The Landlady is the horrifying story of a man named Billy Weaver who

arrives in Bath, England after a train ride from London. Soon to start his new job in the small

town, he is excited for this new venture. In need of a place to crash for the night, he hikes to The

Bell and Dragon, a pub which he was recommended to spend the night at. However, on the way,

he notices a sign, BED AND BREAKFAST, and considers checking it out. Peeking through
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the window to find a seemingly comfortable home, he decides to ring the doorbell. An old lady

promptly answers the door and tells him the cost of a night at the inn. Excited by the bargain

which was presented by the lady, he checks his name into the guest list only to find two other

names before his. The names strike him as familiar and he asks her of them while he sips a cup

of tea that was given to him. Shrugging off an unfamiliar smell from the woman and a bitter taste

from the tea, he asks her about a caged parrot and a lounging dog, both turning out to be stuffed

pets. Curious again of the past guests, he asks her if there had been any other guests besides

himself and the two on the list. The story ends with, No, my dear, she said. Only you.

Similar to Lamb to the Slaughter, The Landlady reflects a similar message in that simple

appearance is fully capable of influencing ones opinion while reality is easy to be pushed aside.

In the case of Billy Weaver, the landlady seems to have Billy under some sort of spell as she

initially appears to be a kind old woman treating Billy with generous hospitality. What may seem

as a small token of affection turns out to be the cause for his inferred death. All the small acts of

her generosity simply serve as a mere distraction to lure his attention away from her true

intentions. Roald Dahls appearance as a childrens book writer distracts readers from the reality

that is his unfortunate life. From the outside, Dahl is a brilliant writer whose works still go on to

make young readers happy and full of imagination. However, underneath all the chocolate

factories, giant peaches, and big friendly giants, there is a man who has endured much suffering

in his lifetime. In fact, it was during the times of most trauma and sorrow in which Dahl found

most of his ideas for his work.

Roald Dahl took a life of unbearable misery and anguish and twisted it into that of great

achievement and influence. Although Lamb to the Slaughter and The Landlady are both

horrifying pieces of writing, they both display positive messages to live by. Despite Dahls
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audience to be mainly consisting of children, Roald Dahls countless novels, poems, and short

stories all serve to entertain readers of any age. In spite of all the hardship he has faced, Dahl has

managed to withstand it and even transfer his wretched circumstances into published writing.

Works Cited

de Castella, Tom. Roald Dahl and the Darkness Within. BBC News. BBC. 12

September 2011. Web. 7 April 2017.

Blake, Quentin. About Roald Dahl. Roald Dahl. 2015. Web. 7 April 2017.