Life and Works of Roald Dahl It is sometimes difficult to find connections between patterns in an artist's life and his work. But with Roald Dahl the connections are quite clear. It is known that there were many tragedies in Roald Dahl's life and he had to overcome them somehow, whether it was by giving up and moving on, or by fighting against them and finding victory. All of Dahl's works reflect at least one aspect of his personal life, whether it be his childhood, his marriage, his children, his experiences, or himself. It is quite evident that after all the difficulties he survived, he managed to transform such experiences into creative stories for children. He wrote about small aspects of his life and amplified them and made them fun for children and even adults. A theme evident in almost all of Dahl's works is the use of violence and cruelty by authority figures on the weak and, once again, he seems to turn this into one that is more positive and entertaining, rather than negative and traumatising. a. There are many patterns evident in Dahl's life and works, which include tragedy in the family, negativity towards authority figures, and finally, orphans and absent parental figures. There were many tragedies that occurred in Dahl's family while he was growing up, and while he was also a parent. It all started when his sister Astri died of appendicitis in 1920. Roald's father, Harald Dahl, rapidly deteriorated and died of pneumonia a few months later. Pneumonia was treatable, but only if the patient was willing and fought to stay healthy and alive. Harald refused to fight, so the disease took over and he died. Many people believe he died of a broken heart. Roald married actress Patricia Neal and had three daughters and one son: Olivia Twenty, Tessa Sophia, Theo Matthew Roald and Ophelia Magdalena. On July 30, 1960, Theo Matthew Roald's baby carriage was hit by a taxi in New York City, causing serious head injuries. On November 17, 1962, their eldest daughter Olivia Twenty died of measles encephalitis. On February 17, 1965, Patricia Neal suffered three major strokes. On 17 November 1967, Roald's mother Sofie died. On 17 November 1983 Roald and Patricia Neal divorced and he married Felicity Crosland. From reading Going Solo, the sequel to his autobiography Boy, we learned of his tragic moments in the Royal Air Force and during the war, where he was shot down over Libya and suffered many serious injuries..