Literary Devices in Matilda
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Based on the small location references in Matilda, you might try to figure out the region of England that the book's probably set in. It's a trick worthy of the genius Matilda herself.But other tha...
Narrator Point of View
Although he's pretty separate from everything that goes down in Matilda, the narrator definitely has opinions about things, like students and parents and teachers and the Trunchbull (for the most p...
Genre
Kids Can DoLet's run down the kid's lit checklist: we've got a youthful protagonist, a school-related plot, some adult antagonists, and pranks (involving newts and itching powder and hair dye). And...
Tone
This isn't a calm book. It's as outrageous in its tone as its characters are in their actions. It makes sense, in a way, doesn't it? Some of the things that the Trunchbull does are so preposterous...
Writing Style
Roald Dahl's writing style is a lot of things all at once. It's playful, funny, engaging, hyperbolic, and exaggerated all at the same time. Remember what Matilda says about how children's books sho...
What's Up With the Title?
Back in the goode olde days, novels usually got stuck with one of two types of titles. They'd either be named after a place, like Bleak House, or after a person, like David Copperfield. Pretty stan...
What's Up With the Ending?
In formal reviews of Matilda, like those that appear in Publishers Weekly and the School Library Journal, the book's ending gets the most disses. The Publishers Weekly review says that "Children [â...
Tough-o-Meter
Trust Shmoop when we tell you that his book is a joy to read. How can you not laugh at some of the things the Trunchbull says, or rejoice when Matilda superglues her dad's hat to his head? It's alw...
Plot Analysis
One of These Things is Not Like the OthersAt the beginning, the narrator tells us that most parents think their children are brilliant, and teachers have to set the record straight when grades co...
Trivia
Get out those jazz hands. Matilda has been made into a musical.If you go to The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, you can peak inside his Writing Hut or eat at Café Twit, although that doesn't s...
Allusions
Easy Cooking (1.9)The Secret Garden (1.24)Charles Dickens (1.43; 2.38; 7.121; 9.39)Joseph Conrad (1.54)John Steinbeck, The Red Pony (4.7)Shakespeare (6.4, 6)The Madonna (7.3)Anonymous, "An Epi...