Matilda

[WARNING:  This contains MAJOR spoilers]

Hello Friend, I’m back with another smashing post [if I do say so myself…]. Today I’m writing about Matilda, one of the most amazing books I’ve ever read. Matilda is a children’s book by famous British author Roald Dahl, published in 1988. It features a genius child called Matilda Wormwood, her teacher Jennifer Honey [the name suits her, she’s literally as sweet as honey], and the headmistress, a mountain of a woman called Miss Agatha Trunchbull. Miss Trunchbull is one of Dahl’s most memorable antagonists—she’s completely, blatantly, purely evil and has absolutely no redeeming features. She rules by fear, and comes up with painful physical punishments for children who defy her. She’s the reason a lot of the kids at her school are traumatised. Matilda is an extremely [and I mean extremely] precocious child. Her idiotic parents do not appreciate her formidable intelligence and perceptiveness, so she’s had to take care of herself since she was three. She’s five-and-a-half years old now. She does something completely incredible at the end of the book [read on to find out what it is!].

Matilda lives in a small Buckinghamshire village along with her parents and unappreciative older brother Michael. She’s aware of her talents and precocity, and craves some form of recognition as she is so different from other children; but her parents and brother either ignore her or ill-treat her [ they believe little girls should be seen, not heard. Those parents of hers don’t know how lucky they are. Other parents would be over the moon if they had a child like her]. In retaliation, she resorts to very well-thought-out yet childish pranks, such as gluing her father’s hat to his head, secretly bleaching his hair [yes, you heard it right] and hiding a friend’s parrot in the chimney to simulate a burglar or ghost. [Did I mention she can be rather creepy and is a greatly interesting character full of paradoxes?]. She indulges her love of reading at a public library [she doesn’t read picture books like other children do; she reads a vast variety of classics. Her favourite author is Charles Dickens].

Matilda’s journey of formal education begins soon. She befriends her teacher, Miss Jennifer Honey, a kind, intelligent, pretty and soft-spoken young woman. Miss Honey is awed by Matilda’s intellectual abilities, forthrightness and creativity. She tries to get her moved up into the topmost form at once, but the headmistress [enter Trunchbull the Tyrant], who is known for her athleticism and stupidity, refuses to allow the child into the top form. Not one to be deterred easily, Miss Honey tries to talk to Mr and Mrs Wormwood about their daughter’s immense potential, but they ignore her.

Matilda and Miss Honey share a mutual spiritual bond; theirs is a strange friendship, but it’s also a very strong friendship. When Matilda witnesses Miss Trunchbull terrorizing the students with horrible punishments, she is sickened and appalled. Her friend, a feisty dark-eyed little beauty called Lavender, plays a practical joke on Miss Trunchbull by placing a newt in her jug of water; when Miss Trunchbull causes a huge fuss and falsely accuses Matilda of putting a “baby crocodile” in her jug [lol it’s just a newt], Matilda’s temper rises until she cannot control it. She uses an unexpected power of telekinesis to tip the glass of water [containing the newt] onto the headmistress.  Shortly after, an excited Matilda confides in Miss Honey, revealing her powers to her. Reminding herself that Matilda is still just a child, Miss Honey warns her to not get too excited, as she must not reveal her powers to anyone else. However, Miss Honey knows that she can trust Matilda with secrets; she reveals that her mother died when she was only a little girl, and she was raised by her father’s sister, who abused her physically and emotionally. She suspects her aunt of having killed her father, though his death was made to look like an accident. And guess what? Her aunt is Miss Trunchbull. [I kind of saw this coming though].

Miss Trunchbull appears to be withholding her niece’s inheritance, forcing Miss Honey to live in poverty. Matilda is determined to avenge Miss Honey after listening to her heart-wrenching story; she develops her telekinetic gift through rigorous practice at home. The next day, during a class taken by Miss Trunchbull, Matilda levitates a piece of chalk and writes on the blackboard, pretending to be the spirit of Miss Honey’s late father and ordering “Agatha” to hand over “Jennie’s” house and wages and leave the region forever. Miss Trunchbull, who believes in the supernatural, is scared witless. She promptly hands over Miss Honey’s wages and vacates the house, resigning from her post as headmistress [well. Good riddance to very, very bad rubbish.] The deputy headmaster, Mr. Trilby, becomes the new head of the school; he soon proves himself to be capable and good-natured, with the result that Matilda advances to the highest level of schooling. To her relief, she soon loses the power of telekinesis [she was beginning to view herself as a freak]; Miss Honey explains that Matilda’s brain has too much to do now, coping up with a very challenging curriculum, hence the loss of her powers.  Matilda visits Miss Honey daily, but finds her parents hastily throwing clothes and other necessities in their suitcases one day; the police are on her father’s trail for selling stolen cars. They plan on fleeing to Spain [without consulting your children? What kind of parents are you? You shouldn’t have sold stolen cars in the first place! …This is what I’d like to say to ‘em].  Matilda does not want to go to Spain; she asks for permission to stay with Miss Honey, to which her parent agree at once ‘cause they don’t really care what happens to her as long as she’s out of their way. So, she and an overjoyed Miss Honey find their happy ending; Miss Honey is free from the tyrannical repression of her aunt, and Matilda now has a guardian who loves, appreciates and respects her, and whom she can love, respect and appreciate in return.

Told you she did something really incredible!

That’s all for now. See you next time!

Thank you! I hope you liked my article!