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12. The Matron
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Authority and Hypocrisy
Beauty and Imagination
Growing Up
English Nationalism
Summary
Analysis
Roald is homesick throughout his first term at St. Peter’s, so he devises a scheme to get back to Wales by pretending to have appendicitis. Since his older sister had appendicitis recently, he has a good sense of its symptoms and succeeds in duping both Matron and the school doctor. Roald’s mother comes to pick him up and brings him to Cardiff to see Dr. Dunbar, who quickly realizes that Roald is faking it. Dr. Dunbar tells Roald not to blame his mother for sending him to boarding school, admitting that it was actually his idea. He advises Roald that life can be hard, and Roald must learn to bear it. Still, he lets Roald stay with his mother for three days under the pretense of a stomach infection.
Dr. Dunbar is a rare example of a positive authority figure in Roald’s life. He listens to Roald and offers him some comfort and relief, even though he insists that Roald return to school after three days. Roald’s mother is the only other character of note in Boy who offers Roald both comfort and discipline. This, combined with Dr. Dunbar’s apparent relationship with Roald’s mother, makes the conversation between him and Roald sound a little like that between father and son. The advice that Dr. Dunbar offers Roald helps him return to school and illustrates the pain and discomfort of coming of age.
Themes
