Matilda Book Analysis

Study Notes

A book analysis breaks down a book into story elements such as character, setting, plot, conflict, and theme.

Matilda Wormwood is the protagonist, a good guy in the story.
Miss Jenny Honey is Matilda's kindly teacher.
Miss Trunchbull, the principal, and Harry and Zinnia Wormwood, Matilda's parents, are the antagonists, or bad guys in the story.

The main setting of Matilda is Crunchem Hall Primary School.
Other settings in the book include Miss Honey's cottage, Miss Honey's childhood home, the Wormwood home, the city library, Miss Honey's classroom, and the school auditorium.

The main conflict is that most adults are cruel to children throughout the novel.
This conflict is solved when the Wormwoods allow Matilda to live with Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull leaves after her encounter with her brother Magnus.

The plot is what happens in the story.
The introduction introduces main characters, setting, and conflict.
Rising action includes events that lead to the climax, such as:
- Matilda learning to read and solve math problems at a young age.
- Her parents ignoring her and her extraordinary abilities.
- Miss Trunchbull teaching her weekly lesson in Miss Honey's classroom and being cruel to Matilda and her classmates.
The climax is the most exciting part of the story, where the problem is about to be solved, which is when Matilda discovers her ability to control objects with her mind and uses it on Miss Trunchbull to help Miss Honey.
Falling action includes events after the climax but before the solution, such as:
- Miss Trunchbull not returning to school after Matilda uses her powers.
- No one being able to find her, and all her belongings being gone.
- Miss Honey receiving word that her father's will has "mysteriously turned up".
The resolution is the solution to the conflict and the end of the story, which is when Miss Trunchbull is never heard from again, the Wormwoods allow Matilda to stay with Miss Honey, and the children of Crunchem Hall Primary School now have a loving adult to look after them.

Matilda includes several themes, such as:
- The importance of accepting others and their differences.
- Having courage.
- Being honest.
- Finding family in those not related to you.