Prasiddhi Dangol - Feb 20 2023 Introduction:
This book is written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake and was published on October 1, 1988, but it was only 2 years before Roald Dahl’s death making it one of his last few books.The genre of this book is completely fiction and is based on the author’s imagination.This book is written in a third-person point of view. It is a fantasy book for kids that describes parents' responsibilities towards their kids and teaches them not to leave their children feeling unloved and to pay attention to them. It can be used for teaching children that they should fulfil their responsibilities like how Matilda has been portrayed in this Novel.
Plot:
Matilda Wormwood is a gifted child with not-so-gifted parents. She was like an adult at a young age because she could speak fluently, and she also could dress appropriately. Her parents did not pay so much attention to her so she had to do everything herself. She went over to the library when her father went to his “work”, which was a scam and her mother went to play bingo. At first, the librarian was very confused as to why a young girl was there all by herself so she thought she would give her some children's books but she asked for classics which made the librarian dumbfounded. Her parents always thought reading was a waste of time and she should watch more television but she mostly denied it unless they forced her.
Matilda’s father , Mr. Wormwood, was a very dishonest man who sold cars. He used illegal tricks to trick people into buying those cars that were complete junk and a waste of money. He regularly tried to train Matilda’s brother Michael to follow him into the family business of selling cars. Matilda advised her father that he was doing a bad thing and it was dishonest, but it only made him mad not regret what he was doing and how it could possibly endanger people’s lives.
Since her parents didn’t treat her well, she wanted to teach them a lesson because she thought it would make them less selfish so she played pranks like glueing her father’s hat on his head, trying to convince him that the house is haunted by the neighbour’s parrot, switching out her father’s hair tonic for a dye her mother used. But sadly they didn't have an ongoing outcome on them as they returned to their selfish nature.
When Matilda grew old enough to finally go to a school, she finally met an adult who actually cared about the splendid future she could have. Miss Honey was her considerate and discernment teacher. She quickly noticed that Matilda was above average. Miss Honey then tried to get Matilda moved to a higher and more appropriate grade for her as she could read and write more reasonable things than the children who were several years older than her. But it was a failed attempt as the Headmistress of the school, who was Miss Trunchbull refused since she thought that Miss Honey was just attempting to get rid of Matilda so she didn’t have to teach her.
When Miss Trunchbull comes to teach Matilda’s class, she is mean to the students and even Miss Honey, who tries to defend the students. Lavender decides to put a newt that she had found into Miss Trunchbull’s water jug, inducing her to scream and jump back. While Miss Trunchbull was busy yelling at the students, Matilda starts to stare at the glass that contained the newt and uses her mind power to cause it to fall over onto Miss Trunchbull. Matilda talks with Miss Honey about what she had accomplished. Miss Honey then tells Matilda to push the glass over using her mind again and she succeeds which causes Miss Honey to be stunned at Matilda’s power. They go to Miss Honey’s small house near the woods to have tea and discuss her abilities.
Matilda sees that Miss Honey was poor so she asks her why she can't afford a better home or good furniture. Miss Honey explains to her that she was raised by a very mean aunt after her father died who took her father’s home and took almost all of Miss Honey’s money when she earns her money. This makes Matilda sad for Miss Honey as she had been so nice to her, and Matilda did not like those types of people. Miss Honey then also reveals about her aunt who is Miss Trunchbull.
Matilda then spent the next week practising her telekinesis power and came up with a plan to teach Miss Truchbull a lesson. When Miss Trunchbull came to teach her class, Matilda lifted a chalk from the table and wrote as if the ghost of Miss Honey’s father was coming back. Seeing that Miss Trunchbull faints. After she comes back to her sense, she immediately departs the town.
Miss Honey finds her father’s will that Miss Trunchbull had hidden from her. She gets full ownership of her father’s house and account. Matilda sees Miss Honey at her brand-new house and they become even closer. Matilda is soon moved to a higher grade at school and loses her abilities since she now has to focus more on her schoolwork.
Matilda one day finds her family frantically packing the car when she returns home. Her father tells her that they were shifting to Spain and never coming back. Matilda goes to Miss Honey who reveals her father had a business with criminals, and it was something that would happen sooner or later. Matilda brought Miss Honey to her house and asked her to stay behind and live with Miss Honey. Matilda’s father decides that she could and they leave her behind.
Setting:
The setting of this book is set at Matilda’s house, her school(Crunchem Hall Primary School), Miss Honey’s cottage, and Miss TrunchBull’s house. Matilda’s house is always full of her parents and brother’s laughing while they were watching their tv but silent in Matilda’s room as she hated watching television and liked to read books. It is like a prison for Matilda as she does not like how her family treats her as an outcast and does dishonest things. Crunchem Hall Primary School is full of the terror of TrunchBull the abusive headmistress who punishes kids severely one time she threw a girl with pigtails over the fence because she did not like them. Miss Honey's cottage was a small cottage near the woods with no proper furniture, it was the place where they went when Matilda first discovered her powers. Miss Trunchbull’s house was actually Miss Honey’s house but it was stolen from her by her aunt who was actually Miss Truchbull and the place she later inherited after Miss TrunchBull left town.
Critical analysis:
At the beginning of the book, Dahl portrays his main character Matilda as a gifted child with cruel and selfish parents who do not care about her at all. This shows us how some parents like to brag about these things but Matilda’s parents are completely the opposite. In the first rising action, Matilda pulls a few stunts like glueing her father's hat to his head so the hair could come off and using the neighbour's parrot to convince them the house is haunted but unfortunately it does not have a lasting effect on her parents who are only affected for a little amount of time before they go back to their selfish nature. The climax is when Matilda discovers her mind powers from which she could lift, trip over objects, etc, this event, in particular, is also foreshadowing the revenge on Miss TrunchBull for her horrible and abusive behaviour. As in the final parts of the book she uses her powers to make TrunchBull flee the town and leave the house and account that rightfully belonged to Miss Honey. But in the falling action, it is shown that Matilda loses her powers as she was bumped up a few grades and there was a pressure of schoolwork. Also her family moves to Spain agreeing to let Matilda stay there with Miss Honey which concludes the book.
Recommendation:
The novel Matilda portrays a young girl who takes responsibility for her own life and stands up to the neglectful adults in her life. Through her intelligence, determination, and kindness, she overcomes adversity and finds happiness. I do recommend the book as it is engaging and fun to read, also basically the protagonist is a kid. This book teaches us that we can own our life and happiness.
Prasiddhi Dangol
Grade: VII
Deerwalk Sifal School
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