READING LOG (BOY: TALES OF CHILDHOOD BY ROALD DAHL)

How does the text relate to the theme of a journey?

The story began with the writer told the history of his family and how he lived with his four sisters and a brother and his parents. But after he lost his own eldest sister, Astri and his beloved father, Harald Dahl, when the writer was three years old, they started to live a new life in Wales and later in England. Thus, the text is mainly about the childhood stories of the writer.

What is the main issue in the text?

The main topic in the text is mostly about the life of the children had to face when young. The author, like other ordinary kids, make friends along the journey from Wales to England and also known as naughty. He also was was bullied by the seniors when he went to English boarding school and confronted with teachers and wardens. In short, life as a child is challenging and exciting, yet most adults nowadays have forgot it.

What quality do you admire or dislike in a character?

The qualities shown by the writer’s mother aspires me as although she was destructed by the death of her own eldest daughter and his husband (Harald Dahl) and not to mention her family was left ‘stranded in the foreign land, suddenly having to face alone the very gravest problems and responsibities.’ Still, she refused to go back to her motherland and decided to stay there and raise her children without the love of a father but able to give the best for them until the end of her life. I adore her not only because her willingness to sacrifice for the sake of her children, but also the motherly attitude in her. For instance, although she knew his son, the writer, was guilty due to his action of putting a dead mouse into ‘one of Mrs Prachett’s jars of sweets’, he did not scolded him but had a word with the Mr Coombes, the headmaster of his school instead as she believed ‘they don’t beat small children like that where she came from’.

How does the text develop your understanding of the world?

During those days, children can enjoy a carefree life without burdened by study all the time. To make sure children would not do the same thing in pursue of their study, teachers are made harsh and strict towards them so that they would behave well and disciplined. They had more respect toward the elders, especially teachers- though most of these children were the victim of them. Still, that did not mean they hate adults but children are also people with feelings and yearned to be treated the same. Thus, bullies in schools started to shape as a common feature in school, especially boarding school. The newcomers were the easiest prey for them, like what exactly happened to the writer.