Recognising Roald Dahl – warts and all

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth, a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely.

This is according to Roald Dahl, who I imagine would suggest that the corollary is also true in that no matter how beautiful you seem on the outside, if there is ugliness in your thoughts, you will look hideous.

Roald Dahl was ugly.

Earlier in the week, Dahl’s family apologised for the antisemitic views and statements expressed during his lifetime. It’s hard to imagine that the man who brought so much joy into the world was at the same time a vocal and virulent antisemite.

“The Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company deeply apologise for the lasting and understandable hurt caused by some of Roald Dahl’s statements. Those prejudiced remarks are incomprehensible to us, and stand in marked contrast to the man we knew and to the values at the heart of Roald Dahl’s stories, which have positively impacted young people for generations. We hope that, just as he did at his best, at his absolute worst, Roald Dahl can help remind us of the lasting impact of words.”

And what words they were. In a famous interview with the New Statesman in 1983 soon after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, he was recorded as saying, “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.”

In essence, Dahl was suggesting that Jews were responsible for the Holocaust because we are annoying. Why else would a “stinker” like Hitler pick on us? Even the use of the word “stinker” reduces Hitler to the level of an unruly and naughty child, rather than the mass murderer that he was. Clearly the magnitude of the genocide wasn’t something that Dahl was too bothered by.

In the age of “cancel culture”, Dahl’s comments and prejudice should be simply handled. By all accounts of the 2020 view of history, Dahl himself should be cancelled, and his books removed or banned. What makes this approach problematic is that his writing is so darn good and engaging that we have chosen to ignore his racism so that we can continue to enjoy his work.

But we don’t need to do that. Rather, we can acknowledge that his views are abhorrent and we can condemn his prejudice in the most vocal terms. We can do so while acknowledging that he is a genius, and that his writing is a gift. All this can be true at the same time.

It’s commendable that the Dahl family has addressed his antisemitism in a public manner, and that it has taken ownership of his behaviour. It’s important that it has not ignored it, but has acknowledged the failings of a man in whose shadow it now lives. It’s important that we do the same. Perhaps, somewhat ironically, we could look to Dahl himself, heed his words when he says, “I understand what you’re saying, and your comments are valuable, but I’m gonna ignore your advice.”