RJ4陳彥伶

Name: Matilda
Author: Roald Dahl
Illustrator: Quentin Blake

Publishing company: Penguin Group

Year of publishing: 1996.1997

Page: three chapters (133)

The four chapters I read were: Miss Honey ,The Trunchball, The Parents, Throwing the Hammer and Bruce Bogtrotter and the cake

In those chapters, Matilda went to school and met her teacher called Miss Honey. Miss Honey is a nice teacher. When she first spoke to the newcomers to the class, she found out that this little girl was talented. Although Matilda was lucky to have Miss Honey to be her teacher, the headmistress of the school named Miss Trunchball is such a monster. Miss Trunchball doesn't like kids at all so she did lots of unbelievable punishments on students. For example in the chapter Throwing the Hammer, the headmistress throw a little girl as a hammer as she did in the Olympic game just because her mother has plaited her hair into pigtails.

When I first read this I asked why parents allow headmistress did such violent behaviors to their children. The author then quickly explained the reason by Matilda. It is easy to infer that the whole thing was too ridiculous to believe so the grow-ups must not trust what their kids said. I thought the author wants to provide an ironical atmosphere that most of adults are stubborn and down-to earth in the story. They don't admit anything that sounds unreasonable. They just lost their utter innocence and imagination. What a pity!

My favorite part of the four chapters is in Bruce Bogtrotter and the cake. It describe that a mischievous boy ate the headmistress' chocolate cake so she had cook make an enormous cake and command the boy to eat up the big cake. It is a cruel work. Nevertheless, the boy finished it! As the very last mouthful disappeared, a tremendous cheer rose up from the audience were leaping on to their chairs and yelling and clapping. I like this ending.

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