The BFG

Patricia Neal, Dahl’s first wife, suffered from a number of debilitating strokes in 1965, when she was pregnant with her and Dahl’s fifth child. These strokes left her partially paralyzed and with severe aphasia, a condition in which one loses the ability to understand speech or talk themselves. When his wife was unable to remember a word, she would make up a new one. Dahl recorded these neologisms—new words—which he used to inform an article he wrote for the Ladies’ Home Journal on strokes. Neal allegedly called cigarettes “oblogons” for a time, and would say “I’ll jake my diddle” to express the fact that Dahl was annoying her (Origjanska, Magda. “After Patricia Neal had a stroke, husband Roald Dahl helped with her therapy, and even invented a new language based on her words.” The Vintage News, 2017).

He later used these neologisms to inform the BFG’s manner of speaking. Doctors confirm that the BFG’s expression bears a striking resemblance to aphasia. For example, the BFG tells Sophie, “‘If I don’t, I will be nothing but skin and groans.’ ‘You mean skin and bones,’ Sophie said. ‘I know it is bones,’ the BFG said. But please understand that I cannot be helping it if sometimes is saying things a little squiggly’” (50). (National Aphasia Association. “Profile of Patricia Neal”).

Dahl dedicates his novel to oldest child Olivia, his daughter who tragically died of measles when she was seven years old. This loss of his daughter is known to have devastated Dahl. According to Neal, Dahl’s first wife and the mother of his children, including Olivia, Dahl could never talk about the loss, “It was locked inside him” (Neal, Patricia. “Dealing With Olivia’s Death.” Roald Dahl Fans.com).

Dahl’s protagonist, Sophie, is named after and modeled off his granddaughter, also called Sophie. Sophie Dahl, like the protagonist, wears glasses. Dahl told the story to his granddaughter before recording it. They played it together, with Dahl acting as the giant, even holding a trumpet, pretending it was the BFG’s dream-blowing trumpet. (Gliatto, Tom. “How Roald Dahl's Granddaughter Sophie Helped Inspire 'The BFG' – and More Secrets Behind the Children's Classic.” People, 2016).