Archive · 13 Sep 2026
What Roald Dahl Understood About Children and Adults
Roald Dahl wrote many stories for children.
He understood that children do not always think adults are wise.
In his stories, adults can behave foolishly, cruelly, greedily or absurdly.
Children are often the smartest characters.
This makes the stories funny and surprising.
It also shows children that their ideas matter.
Dahl’s stories treated children as capable people.
That is one reason many young readers trusted his writing.
Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916.
Dahl wrote stories in which adults could be foolish, cruel, greedy or absurd.
His stories often portrayed children as the cleverest people in the room.
The reversal of adult and child authority was central to Dahl’s writing.
Generations of young readers trusted Dahl because his stories reflected their perspective.
- Who
- Roald Dahl and the generations of young readers who read his stories.
- What
- Dahl built a literary career around portraying children as clever and adults as imperfect.
- When
- Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916; the article does not specify when his literary career occurred.
- Where
- The article does not specify a location.
- Why
- Dahl recognized that children do not automatically view adults as wise, and he made that perspective central to his stories.
- Person
- Roald Dahl
- Birth date
- 13 September 1916
- Audience
- Children
- Adult characters
- Often foolish, cruel, greedy or absurd
- Child characters
- Often portrayed as the cleverest people in the room
- Central idea
- Adults are not automatically wise simply because they are grown-ups
- Literary impact
- Generations of young readers trusted Dahl