I'm not sure what word to apply to facing three familial tragedies, any one of which might seem like more than a life's fair share of misfortune, with that kind of perseverance. Inspiring is too glib, inhuman is too alienating. Whatever kind of mettle that is, I hope to never have to prove it.
People are products of their environment. There are people with mettle/grit and then people who are more sensitive to perturbations of fate. The society they live in sets the base level of grittiness that you can expect any average person to be equipped with.
Dahl here is a very hardy man who approaches these issues in a very practical and logical way. But this was also in the post WW2 era where millions died, people lost their families and possessions, and had to start their life anew. It was a period of rebuilding after the devastation of war and hard times build hard people.
Today, all this feels like too much because we were all mostly born and brought up in wealth and prosperity. We have not seen any real hard times and there is no need for mettle.
The fascinating thing about Roald Dahl is that the children's books he wrote are the least interesting thing about his life and when you try to tell anyone about it they just look at you dumbfounded because it sounds so unbelievable.
His two autobiographical books a still a really good read today, and they only cover his life up to about world war 2, which he was extremely lucky to survive. Dan Stevens does a good job narrating the latest audiobook versions my library has.
I was shocked to learn that he was not only a fighter pilot, but also married an academy award winning actress and coinvented a valve used to help brain damage patients recover
When he was young, instead of going to university he went to work for Shell in Tanzania and learned to speak Swahil while living there. And after being pilot, he worked as a diplomatic attaché/spy for BSC in washington and was friends with FDR. He also got to know Ian Flemming during that time. Basically living a posh lifestyle of wining and dining important people while funneling any intelligence he learned back home.
I think your confusing providence with medical science in the form of vaccinations, blood thinners, and Mr. Dahl's contributions to hydrocephalus relief
A child could die from cancer or from falling while playing, and no vaccination or blood thinner can prevent this. I can understand op's reference to providence in not having to face these tragedies.
One of Dahl's surviving daughters, Ophelia, cofounded Partners In Health with Paul Farmer. I highly recommend Tracy Kidder's _Mountains Beyond Mountains_.
In these times the saddest tragedy here is that Dahl was so preoccupied with medical care and expertise for his family – and the one time he let up, his daughter died because his brother-in-law thought "let the girls get measles[...] it will be good for them".
You have it the opposite way round. The UK (for example) never gave a chickenpox vaccine because it reasoned to do so increases the risk of shingles, and shingles is more serious than chickenpox. Also chickenpox is so mild that administering a national vaccination programme is of dubious benefit, the money can be more effectively spent elsewhere.
The JCVI might have recently changed recommendation but whether it is worth the cost/benefit is another matter.
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Dahl here is a very hardy man who approaches these issues in a very practical and logical way. But this was also in the post WW2 era where millions died, people lost their families and possessions, and had to start their life anew. It was a period of rebuilding after the devastation of war and hard times build hard people.
Today, all this feels like too much because we were all mostly born and brought up in wealth and prosperity. We have not seen any real hard times and there is no need for mettle.
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He wasn't "only" a fighter pilot.
He was a fighter Ace, having five confirmed air-to-air kills. (And possibly more unconfirmed in the Battle of Athens).
If you happen not to have to deal with any of this, it is still just providence.
Eerily ominous.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophelia_Dahl
In the US, vaccination for it is prevalent for years now (in a rare win for preventative health there).
Many other countries: "Chickenpox (and risk of shingles) will be good for you..."
The JCVI might have recently changed recommendation but whether it is worth the cost/benefit is another matter.
It seems quite the other way around.
Some other countries just lack the possibilities to vaccinate while the US could but people refuse in favor of „natural“ immunity.
Hence two dead children because of measles.