Boy: Tales of Childhood

Dahl has few fond memories of his time at the esteemed public schools St. Peters and Repton. Tellingly, he departs Repton as a 17-year-old “without the slightest regret” (208). Dahl is incredibly homesick as an eight-year-old child among strangers, and he condemns the adults at his institution who, instead of treating the children in their care with kindness and compassion, seem to delight in punishing and tormenting them for the most minor infractions. In one anecdote, Dahl recalls that the Matron, hearing his classmate Tweedie snoring, shaves soap into the young boy’s mouth to punish him for this “lower class” habit. Tweedie’s distress at this shocking treatment is apparent when he wakes up crying out “Oh no! Wh-wh-what’s happening? Wh-wh-what’s on my face? Somebody help me!” as he claws at his face with shock and panic (107).

Dahl most strongly condemns the use of flogging with a cane as a punishment. He remembers in detail the instances during his schooling when he is flogged; the precise details he recalls illustrate how vividly this cruelty is imprinted upon him. Experiencing these punishments, as well as hearing about them secondhand from friends, leaves a “lasting impression of horror” upon Dahl (177).