Book Club Guide

Matilda

by Roald Dahl · 1988 · Literary Fiction

Key themes

Intelligence as power in a world that ignores children
Reading and books as liberation
The adult world's cruelty and the child's capacity to defeat it

About this book

Matilda Wormwood is a precocious five-year-old with parents who ignore her brilliance. She teaches herself to read, devours the local library, and eventually discovers she has telekinetic powers — which she uses to bring justice to her terrifying headmistress Miss Trunchbull. Dahl's most beloved novel for children is about the power of intelligence, reading and kindness in a world that prefers children to be seen and not heard.

Published in 1988 as one of Dahl's last children's novels, Matilda has sold over 17 million copies and was adapted into a hit West End and Broadway musical.

Discussion questions

Matilda is extraordinary — a genius in a family of idiots. How does Dahl balance sympathy for her situation with the risk of making her too special to be relatable?
Miss Trunchbull is one of fiction's great villains. What makes her effective — is it the physical grotesqueness, the specific cruelties, or something more structural?
Reading is Matilda's first superpower — before she develops her telekinetic ability. What is Dahl saying about the relationship between reading and power?
Miss Honey's situation — trapped by a cruel guardian — mirrors Matilda's own. What does this parallel say about the powerlessness of adults as well as children?
The novel ends unusually happily, with Matilda choosing her own family. Is this satisfying — does the fairytale ending feel earned given the darkness that precedes it?