Roald Dahl's life was almost as fantastic as his books. Dahl's patterns in his life are much like the patterns in his novels. He made a clear connection with the tragedies that his characters are faced with. One theme that is apparent in most of Dahl's work is the use of cruelty by authority figures on the weak and powerless. Dahl with humor turns this cruelty to be more of a positive, amusing aspect, rather …showed first 75 words of 2074 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2074 total…like Matilda and James allows them to exact revenge against their oppressors. Even though these stories try to mend what he went through, the anguish must have been so overwhelming that he couldn't escape and as a result, there are many biographies that label him mean because one can only attempt to escape the past, but sometimes the past will continue to be haunting. And unlike Dahl's main characters, he is never able to triumph.