Children’s Oppression in Roald Dahl’s Children’s Literature

Abstract

The objectives of the study were to, 1) explore children’s oppression depicted in Roald Dahl’s children’s stories, and 2) discuss the meanings of children’s oppression intermingled in Roald Dahl’s children’s stories. The qualitative research approach was employed for the investigation and the results were presented in descriptive form. The examination unveiled that children’s oppression was prevalently depicted in ten Dahlian stories for the children: James and the Giant Peach (1961), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964), The Magic Finger (1966), The Enormous Crocodile (1978), The Twits (1980), George’s Marvelous Medicine (1981), The BFG (1982), The Witches (1983), Matilda (1988), and The Minpins (1991). A multitude scenes of children’s oppression in these Dahlian works were inspired by the author’s personal life. In the meantime, Dahl’s works for the children demonstrated the author’s attempt to reflect the social issues to the readers.