Boy: Tales of Childhood [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

One of the memories that Roald writes a lot about is the beating. He mentions various times where he was sent to the masters dormitory to get a canning. He was sent to get beaten about three times while attending his school. He explains the whole ordeals in fascinating form including every single bit of the cannings with extreme care. The reasons for his beatings were; he and a couple of friends put a rat in a jar of gobstoppers, he and his friends received 4 hits of the cane for this, again he received 4 hits of the cane for not cleaning the study of a boazer properly and for talking in study time which he received 4 hits. "The violence was bad enough, and being made to watch it was even worse, but with Mrs Pratchett in the audience the whole thing became a nightmare.

The main teacher that Roald had to cope with in Llandaff Cathedral School was the principle, Mr Coombe's. He was a giant man with a face like ham and a mass of rusty - coloured hair that sprouted in a tangle all over the top of his head. Mr Coombe's always seemed to wear a black gown draped over his shoulder, which made him look like a judge. Of course Roald remember this man because he was the first person to give him a beating. While in St Peter's Dahl mentions two people; the Matron and Captain Hardcastle. The Matron was a large fair - haired woman with bit breasts. She was twenty - eight years old. Dahl mentions her because of the way she acts and does things around the kitchen. For example, at any time she liked, the Matron could send you down in you pyjamas and dressing gown to report to the headmaster whenever this happened you would have undoubtedly gotten canned. He also explains how she was rough, and hated kids. To Dahl, Captain Hardcastle was one of his most feared masters. He was a slim, wiry and he played football. On the football field he wore white running shorts and white gymshoes and white socks. His legs were as hard and thin as ram's legs and the skin around his calves was almost exactly the same colour as mutton fat. His hair was a brilliant dark vermilion colour, and it was plastered back with immense amounts of gel. The parting in his hair was a white line straight down the middle of his scalp. Captain Hardcastle had a moustache that was a same colour as his hair. Hardcastle dint stop twitching and jerking and snorting, this was supposedly caused by something called shell - shock which means he was very close to a big explosion that made him jump high in the air and he couldn't stop jumping. What Dahl hated the most about Hardcastle was his moustache. He hated the way it was shaped and the colour of it. One time when Dahl was in study time his nib on his pen broke. He was whispering to the boy next to him to lend him a nib when Hardcastle interfered. He made Roald get up and go to the headmaster's dormitory where he received 4 hits of the cane.

While in St Peters Dahl suffered homesickness for the whole of the first term. He was so homesick that he plotted to get himself sent home so he could stay with his parents. He would pretend that he would have a sudden attack of appendicitis. But after a few months he would forget all of his homesickness out in the playground. "The only comfort is that both homesickness and seasickness are instantly curable. The first goes away the moment you walk out of the school grounds and the second is forgotten as the ship enters the port."

Roald Dahl had a youth full of adventure and sadness. He encountered various adventures such as the family trips to the magic island and the mischief he got up to in his days in the sweet shop. Dahl also had sad memories. These were where his sister died and straight after his dad also died which left his mum to take care of about 6 children.