Key themes in Boy: Tales of Childhood.
This is a real life remembered. Dahl reflects on what childhood felt like from the inside — the scale of things, the intensity of feelings, the way minor events can feel enormous.
Several sections describe adults using their power over children harshly or unfairly. This preoccupation clearly influenced his fiction — particularly novels like Matilda.
Dahl's Norwegian family background is clearly important to him. He describes summer holidays in Norway with great warmth, and portrays his Norwegian grandparents as vivid characters.
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