Riding a Bike Without Hands (Symbol)
Early in the book, Dahl recounts one of his most vivid childhood memories. In the memory, he sees an older boy descending a hill on a bicycle. What catches Dahl's attention is that the boy has his arms crossed over his chest; without holding onto the bars, the boy maintains stability and whizzes down the hill. The sight bewitches Dahl because of the freedom it symbolizes. From then on, he dreams of attaining the same ability as the boy, longing to experience the freedom he imagines the boy must feel.
Facing Home (Symbol)
While living away from his family at St. Peter's boarding school, Dahl goes to sleep every night imagining a line connecting him to his home in South Wales. He faces the same direction each night so that he can feel the comfort of maintaining an invisible connection to his family members. In this way, Dahl's need to face home while he sleeps is a symbol for the homesickness he feels. If he were more comfortable staying at St. Peter's, he would vary his sleeping position and not think twice about it. As it is, he faces the same direction every night, abiding by an almost superstitious rule he sets for himself.
Letters Home (Symbol)
While at St. Peter's in England, Dahl writes weekly letters to his mother at home in South Wales. Although he has many complaints about his treatment, Dahl is always sure to say only kind things about his teachers and the school. Dahl knows the Headmaster is lurking over his shoulder, ensuring no one criticizes the for-profit school he runs. Because of this censoring presence, Dahl's letters home symbolize the oppression he and the other pupils live under. Even in supposedly genuine expressions of their feelings, the boys' are implicitly pressured to conceal the truth and accept their torturous circumstances.
Whipping Cane (Symbol)
Throughout Dahl's childhood and adolescence, school officials and older boys use whipping canes against him as instruments of discipline and punishment. The cane beatings symbolize authority figures' sadistic nature. After recounting several traumatic memories of being hit with a cane, Dahl comments on why he keeps returning to the subject, stating that he cannot avoid thinking about it. Even as an adult, Dahl remembers the cane's physical imprint on his body when he sits on a hard chair, and he continues to resent sadistic authority figures who preach principles of morality they don't practice themselves.
Summers in Norway (Symbol)
Although most of Boy: Tales of Childhood comprises memories of Dahl's time at school, he spends every summer visiting family in Norway, his parents' birthplace. These summers in Norway symbolize escape. While at school, Dahl lives under the oppressive, sadistic authority of cruel headmasters and matrons and senior "boazers." In Norway, he can escape the concerns of his everyday life and be himself again: a playful, happy boy who loves nothing more than to eat fresh fish and lounge in the sun with his mother and siblings.
