Roald Dahl: Children can be Heroes too.

Among the great titans of children’s literature, I believe that Roald Dahl should never be excluded from that pantheon. His imaginative stories and charming, memorable characters, are recognized the world over in his many books, almost all of which have been adapted into film and television at least once.

The lessons Dahl puts forth in his stories are both simple and important for the children who travel along on a flying giant peach, or explore the inner machinations of the world’s most famous chocolate factory, or go catching dreams with a net and sealing them in a jar.

Writing for children can often be a more difficult task than it seems on the surface. When you’re a child, you don’t quite have the developed skills or knowledge to write a compelling story or book. But when you grow up you no longer have the frame of reference to understand the perspective of a child and thus write in an appealing way to them.

With that being said, relaying messages and memories to children that will last a lifetime, can be a heavy weight to bear. The entertainment and media that a developing child receives can pave the way for how they view the world and how they behave and react to it.

A book or story, written for a certain demographic or audience, usually has (and should have) its hero or protagonist sit directly within that demographic as well. A story with a teenager at the centre of the adventure, could well appeal to teenagers as well. Tom Clancy’s work would more cater to older generations such as my father, or individuals who have lived the jobs and lives that Clancy writes with such frightening accuracy.

As for Roald Dahl. For his time, he seemed to know all this better than most.

While I have seen many adults, young adults, and teenagers plague the covers of children’s literature in hopes of inspiring them, Dahl pushed forward the envelope time and time again, that children can be heroes too.

Matilda, James, Charlie, George, Danny, Sophie, the un-named by in “The Witches” and a good few others are all child protagonists in Roald Dahl’s stories, close in age to the many kids who were no doubt ripping through each of his books like wildfire (myself included).

These characters made a great and amazing impact on their own lives and the lives of those they touched in their stories.

It puts down the idea that children can make a difference, even if only in small ways. Small changes we can make in real life are not quite on par with hunting pheasants en masse, subduing a flesh-eating giant a hundred times your size, or moving things with the sheer will of your mind, but the sentiment is there throughout.

Another interesting thing I’d like to cover is that many writers may take joy in creating annoying, snot-nosed brats who are duly punished for their behaviour. Roald Dahl, on the other hand, took such delicious delight in creating and writing some of the most repulsive and beastly adult villains. They were cruel folk who often didn’t care for the children we root for in these stories. Furthermore, Dahl took great care in crafting the most satisfying punishment and comeuppance for these vile villains, especially if their judgement day was wrought by the hands of the children themselves.

Matilda tormenting Miss Trunchbull with the illusion of a ghost haunting her. James’s new insect friends wrapping up his unloving aunts in a spiderweb. Every single witch at the hotel screaming and howling in terror as they grew fur and shrunk into a swarm of mice. These are some of the best examples of kids one-upping the adults who underestimated them for their age and size. These, I would argue, are the most memorable and greatest pieces of Dahl’s work.

In “Matilda” specifically, Dahl writes almost directly (and suggests emphatically) to the reader, that as opposed to parents punishing their children, children could punish their parents.

When they were asking for it of course.

That is a strange and unconventional lesson to give kids, and something that must be done within reason. Besides, Matilda’s parents were easily contested to be the worst parents in children’s literature, ignoring her potential and skills and treating her as near close to garbage. So I can’t blame dear Matilda for applying super strong glue to her father’s hat and letting it stick hard to his crown.

The underlying themes and values that I think such stories showcase, super glue and floating chalk aside, are integrity and independent thought. Growing youth should not shy away from questioning the world around them, and challenging that which they believe to be unfair, regardless of how much opposition they may face, especially with them being so young.

When they see heroes that are their age, they see themselves in those characters. And so they choose to be heroes too.

The idea that children can be the masters of their own fate, champions of their own destiny and their own fighters for what is right, is not often given to kids. Kids are often told to simply sit by and let the adult world fly past them, often by the adults that raised them. Children are sometimes smarter than we give them credit for, and I think Roald Dahl knew that.

I believe that he wasn’t just telling amazing stories to the generations after his, he was preparing them to be the best they can be and to not be cast aside when the world says no.

And really, that’s what every child writer should strive for.

Every children’s book he wrote never failed to capture the imagination and fill young readers with hope and an encouraging push for them to take on the world, and grip it by the horns if they had to.

And when a kid has the world at their fingertips, they’re not going to let some grouchy grown-up that’s given up on life, stand in the way of that.

And I should know, I was that kid.

Thank you for reading, and have a beautiful day.

• Daniel