Danny, the Champion of the World

Dahl was born in Wales in 1916. He trained as a fighter pilot and fought in World War II, rising to the rank of wing commander in the Royal Air force. After the war, Dahl became a critically acclaimed author, writing both children’s and adult literature, poetry, biographies, and screenplays. He has won multiple literature awards, including the Surrey School award (UK 1978), and the California Young Reader Medal (USA 1979) for Danny the Champion of the World.

Many of Roald Dahl’s books follow a similar thread: A young protagonist who is a clever underdog, ultimately gets the upper hand over an authoritative or oppressive adult. Dahl’s stories often focus on the generosity and morality of people in poverty who have suffered tragedy, such as Charlie (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, published in 1964), James (James and the Giant Peach, 1961), Matilda (Matilda, 1988), and Sophie (The BFG, 1982), while reviling the wealthy characters, equating them with greed, immorality, and heartlessness. Strong, clever, and protective father figures feature prominently in Dahl’s works, for example William (in Danny the Champion of the World) and Mr. Fox (in Fantastic Mr. Fox, 1970). Grasshopper and Centipede take on the “father figure” roles in James and the Giant Peach.

Dahl lost his father and sister when he was three years old, and he often draws characters for his books from his own difficult childhood, modeling cruel adults, such as Spiker and Sponge in James and the Giant Peach, and Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, on teachers from his time in boarding schools. Like his character Danny in Danny the Champion of the World, Dahl was “caned” at school, and these early experiences colored his view of authority figures. Although the exact timing has been disputed, according to Dahl’s book Boy: Tales of Childhood, one of his friends was viciously “caned” by their headmaster who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury. Dahl aims a subtle, sarcastic dig at this supposedly noble Archbishop in his children’s book Matilda: Matilda’s evil father responds to her questions about his dirty money with, “[W]ho the heck do you think you are...the Archbishop of Canterbury or something, preaching to me about honesty” (Matilda, Puffin Books 1989 edition, p. 19), highlighting Dahl’s long-lasting disdain for (and distrust of) figures of authority.

Dahl incorporates many situational aspects of his life into Danny the Champion of the World. The English countryside and village community that feature prominently in the book reflect the English village of Great Missenden, where Dahl lived. The Romani caravan that is the beloved home of characters Danny and William is modeled on a Romani wagon Dahl bought in the 1960s as a playhouse for his children. This wagon later became Dahl’s writing room, where he wrote Danny the Champion of the World in 1975.

Dahl’s characters and educational facts recur in several of his books. In Danny the Champion of the World (1975), William tells Danny a bedtime story about the Big Friendly Giant (BFG), which Dahl expanded into a bestselling children’s book (The BFG) seven years after Danny was published. Interesting facts about nature that are shared in James and the Giant peach (1961) are shared again in Danny: While William is walking Danny to school he chats about the English countryside, saying, “And did you know that crickets have their ears in their legs? […] And grasshoppers have theirs in the sides of their tummies” (104), echoing what the insect characters in James and the Giant Peach taught James. Dahl uses many of his children’s books to educate children about the importance and beauty of nature. Interestingly, Danny the Champion of the World is a reworked short story for adults about poaching that Dahl wrote in 1959 for The New Yorker magazine.

Even though Dahl was a wealthy high achiever (by the end of World War II Dahl was a Wing Commander in the Royal Airforce), his children’s stories often depict the wealthy upper-class as gluttonous, evil adults while he champions the impoverished, downtrodden working-classes, giving them traits of patience, kindness, intelligence, and humility.