Book written by Roald Dahl, published 1988.
At five years old, Matilda Wormwood can do things that other five-year-olds can’t. She can multiply large numbers in her head, she can read Charles Dickens with ease, and her manners are humble and respectable. In fact, Matilda is the most intelligent and precocious child in her English village, but hardly anyone in Matilda’s life recognizes just how sharp she is. Her parents are too obsessed with making money in crooked ways, and the headmistress of her school, Miss Trunchbull, is of the firm belief that all children are dumber than dirt. Only Miss Honey, her teacher, shows Matilda any kindness or respect rightly deserved by any child. In a world full of obnoxious, closed-minded adults, Matilda takes it upon herself to teach her parents and Miss Trunchbull a lesson of their own.
Roald Dahl is one of my favorite children’s authors. All of his books colorfully capture the fears and anxieties that children have and he paints them with a bit of fun and hope. As kids, we were all afraid of getting sent to the principal’s office, but Matilda shows us that even the worst things we imagine in that scenario are not impossible to overcome. As a kid, I loved Matilda’s wit and her imagination. I myself would have never thought to superglue my father’s hat to his head if I ever felt he deserved it. I loved the idea that so small a person had a bit of power in unjust situations over unkind people. Now that I’m older, I appreciate more the subtle-not-so-subtle jabs Roald Dahl takes at adults, mainly parents and those who work closely with children.
Honestly, my favorite part of the book this time around was just the first few paragraphs. They’re such a wonderful example of Dahl’s honest and bold writing style. He doesn’t hold back because children don’t either. They say what’s on their minds without worrying about how it comes across. It makes Dahl a relatable writer, even to adults. Because even though we know better than to make certain comments out loud, that doesn’t mean we don’t think them from time to time. I can’t wait to read this one to my kids one day—or Dalie’s. Either one.
This book contains one swear word, no naughty business, but there is quite of bit of child abuse and neglect to be aware of. I’d recommend this book to any audience eight years old and up.
I do want to talk a little bit about the ending, so cue the spoiler warning!
"A small victory or two would help her to tolerate their idiocies and would stop her from going crazy. You must remember that she was still hardly five years old and it is not easy for somebody as small as that to score points against an all-powerful grown-up. Even so, she was determined to have a go."
I have a deep love for the movie adaptation of Matilda directed by Danny DeVito. I could go on for hours about the casting, the writing, the music, the special effects, the setting . . . but we're here to talk about the book. There is something about Dahl’s original story that I wish DeVito had included in the movie. At the end of the story, Matilda loses her telekinetic powers. Once she has dished out her punishment to the Trunchbull, Matilda goes back to being a regular kid. Miss Honey’s theory is that she got her abilities in the first place because she was sitting in a classroom with no challenge, and all of that extra brainpower went to her telekinesis. In the end, when she moved up a few grades and school was challenging her, her brain became otherwise occupied and her ability just disappeared.
I like that theory. I think it makes for a rather poetic ending to the story, and I think that loss is what truly makes Matilda’s happy ending. But I do have questions about Miss Honey’s theory. Matilda didn’t have much to challenge her brain at home, and her parents were certainly nasty enough to her that she could have developed powers much sooner. I’m not complaining about this—I really enjoyed reading about all of Matilda’s pranks, much more relatable than telekinesis—I just wonder what it was about Miss Trunchbull that deserved special treatment.
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