Danny, the Champion of the World

“During my early years, I never had a moment of unhappiness or illness.”

Danny adds this reflection directly after he has shared that he lost his mother when he was four months old and is being raised by his father in an old Romani caravan. Danny is reassuring the reader that despite loss and poverty he has not suffered and is happy because of his wonderful father. Danny was too young when his mother died for it to directly affect him, and he is still too young to dwell on how her death may have affected his father. For now, Danny is content to have his father (whom he idolizes) fulfill the roles of mother, father, and best friend.

“Most wonderful of all was the feeling that when I went to sleep, my father would still be there, very close to me, sitting in his chair by the fire, or lying in the bunk above my own.”

This quote captures the smallness of their home (a one-bedroom caravan) and the positive spin Danny puts on their situation. Rather than wishing for more space or his own bedroom, Danny loves the fact that his father is always close by and derives comfort and security from his presence. This physical closeness mirrors William and Danny’s emotional closeness.

“‘You must be easily the best 5-year-old mechanic in the world’. This was the greatest compliment he had ever paid me. I was enormously pleased.”

William’s style of parenting is full of positive reinforcement and hands-on learning. In this quote, William compliments