Exploring the dark side of human nature

 

Title: Cruelty

Author: Roald Dahl

Publisher: Penguin Books, London

Year published: 2016

240 pages

Cruelty is a collection of ten of his darkest short stories for adults, centered around the theme of human malice, greed, and the capacity to inflict suffering on others, often within seemingly ordinary domestic settings. 

These tales showcase Dahl's signature style, characterized by a sharp wit, sardonic humor, and the famous "sting in the tail" twist ending, which is often darker and more disturbing than his well-known children's works.

The stories explore the various forms cruelty can take, ranging from deliberate malice to thoughtless, accidental unkindness, and the destructive power of obsession. 

The collection includes a diverse cast of characters from different social strata, all revealing their inherent streak of nastiness.

One story, "Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat," involves an adulterous wife who receives a luxurious mink coat from her lover as a parting gift. 

To explain the expensive item to her husband, a dentist, she concocts an elaborate plan involving a pawnbroker, only to discover an unexpected and crueler twist about her husband's own deceit.

"The Swan" delves into childhood sadism, following two young, violent bullies who receive a rifle and use it to torment a smaller, geeky boy at a waterfowl sanctuary, demonstrating a gratuitous and remorseless cruelty.

In "Royal Jelly," a couple struggles to get their newborn baby to feed. The father, a beekeeper, resorts to a disturbing and unconventional solution involving royal jelly, leading to a horror-tinged outcome that highlights his obsessive and questionable parenting methods.

"Poison," set in colonial India, builds unbearable tension as a man lies paralyzed in bed, convinced a lethally venomous snake is under his sheet. 

When a local doctor is called to help, the story culminates in a reveal that suggests the real poison is not the snake's venom but the ugly, racist colors that emerge in a moment of extreme stress.

Another tale, "Skin," concerns an old, impoverished man in Paris who recognizes a tattoo on his back as an early work by a now-famous artist he once knew. 

The painting, an invaluable piece of modern art tattooed directly onto his flesh, draws the attention of wealthy collectors who make increasingly unsettling proposals, questioning the value of art versus human life and ownership.

"The Butler" and "Mr. Feasey" explore the cunning and secret lives of domestic staff who run circles around their obnoxious and nouveau riche employers, using their employers' pretension and greed against them, a form of societal cruelty and comeuppance.

"The Great Automatic Grammatizator" focuses on a brilliant but unsuccessful writer who invents a machine that can mechanically churn out grammatically perfect stories and novels, fulfilling his aspirations for literary fame while demonstrating a cynical take on creativity and the mass production of art.

The collection, which also includes stories like "The Princess and the Poacher" and "Genesis and Catastrophe," consistently delves into the darker side of human psychology. 

It underscores the idea that a capacity for cruelty resides in everyone, often lurking just beneath the surface of domestic familiarity or everyday actions, and that these dark impulses frequently lead to ironic, shocking, or morally unsettling consequences. 

The book is an unsparing exploration of human failures, malice, and the darker, less whimsical side of Dahl's storytelling genius.

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