Grandpa Joe is bedridden for years, being a strain on the family, but as soon as Charlie comes home with a golden ticket he can somehow dance and sing. Add theft of fizzy lifting drinks and Grandpa Joe turns out to be an asshole.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Witches. Matilda. James and the Giant Peach. Turns out Roald Dahl was just universally distrusting of all adults. Rightfully so.
Except for the dad in Danny Champion of the World, who was the coolest dad ever.
I’ve read all of the books I listed. And most of his short stories as well. I don’t think he hated anyone, he just had a very dark perspective in general. The whole world is grotesque, but the antagonists are adults in a majority of his novels. It’s very much in the tradition of Lewis Carrol; children serve to contrast the absurd and cruel aspects of daily life. Industrialization, authoritarianism, violence, poverty; it’s all deconstructed through a child’s lens.