Matilda

‘Matilda’ is a story about a girl with extreme intelligence and psychokinetic abilities named Matilda Wormwood written by Roald Dahl. The charming way Roald Dahl has written this book is what attracted me to read it in the first place, besides its storyline and amazing plot. Matilda lives in a nice house in an English village with her neglectful and dimwitted parents, Mr and Mrs Wormwood, and a perfectly normal brother, Michael. Mr and Mrs Wormwood are both wrapped up in their silly little lives that they failed to notice anything extra-ordinary about their daughter. 

To start things off, Matilda is a brilliant person. By the age of one and a half, her speech was perfect and she could speak just as well as any grown-up. Her parents called her a noisy chatterbox instead of applauding her and even said ‘small girls should be seen and not heard’. By the age of three, Matilda learnt how to read on her own by studying newspapers and magazines around the house. At the age of four, she could read fast and was beginning to hanker after books, something more interesting than the only book in the house ‘Easy Cooking’ but her parents were strongly against reading and prefer watching television. So everyday she would go to the library and read. Therefore she has read an astounding number of famous books by authors such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, H. G. Wells, Ernest Hemmingway and many more, at the age of FOUR, mind you. 

Matilda is intelligent far beyond her years. In class, she is able to solve mathematical problems quickly and able to read and spell a formidable amount for her age of five when she enrolled into school. Miss Honey, her class teacher, is able to recognise her intelligence almost immediately. Miss Honey calls her ‘a precocious child’. As the story progresses, the bond between Matilda and Miss Honey strengthens, even leading to Miss Honey adopting Matilda as Matilda’s family fled for Spain.

Despite being intelligent and brilliant, Matilda is a very humble person. If you were to see her you would think she is a sensible, quiet and perfectly normal girl. However, if you were to talk to her about literature or mathematics, she would show the extent of her intelligence. However, she would speak with no air of pride and doesn’t show off at all. In fact, she doesn’t even realise that she is special. For all she knows, everyone her age can read and do mathematics just as well as she does.

Matilda is also a brave and fair person. Living with her neglectful and horrible parents and attending school where the headmistress was the terrifying Trunchbull, she was constantly abused, neglected, falsely accused and treated wrongly. Therefore, for each time she was treated wrongly, she would take matters into her own hands and get them back for example replacing her father’s hair tonic with her mother’s platinum blonde hair dye. She also uses her psychokinetic abilities to plan a scheme of revenge against the Trunchbull out of sympathy for Miss Honey.

Finally, being extremely intelligent doesn’t mean there is lack of emotion. Deep down, Matilda just wants to be loved. She just wants to be a part of an understanding, intelligent, loving and caring family. She wants to have relationships and form bonds with people whom she respects and in return, respects her. This may be the reason why she has a very close relationship with Miss Honey.

In conclusion, Matilda is a fascinating person and by reading this book I had the opportunity to explore the way her mind thinks and works, which is extra-ordinary. I would like to thank Roald Dahl for writing this book and giving me the opportunity to experience it.

Shaweena Syaira

4 Cergas

26th January 2014