Quote 1
"They have all learnt their three-times table. But I see no point in teaching it to them backwards. There is little point in teaching anything backwards. The whole object of life, Headmistress, is to go forwards. I venture to ask whether even you, for example, can spell a simple word like wrong backwards straight away. I very much doubt it." (20.24)
Let's be fair: the Trunchbull has a point. In business and everyday life, people can enjoy great success when they think outside of the box. So when the Trunchbull has the kids spell things backwards, it might be a way for her to help them expand their minds. But of course that's giving her far too much credit. Really, she's just trying to trap them into messing up, so Miss Honey has to come to their defense.
Quote 2
"Because we are playing with mysterious forces, my child, that we know nothing about. I do not think they are evil. They may be good. They may even be divine. But whether they are or not, let us handle them carefully." (16.7)
Wise words, Miss Honey. While Matilda is too excited to stop to think about the hows and whys of her power, where it came from or why she got it, Miss Honey is taking a bit more of a cautious approach. When you're dealing with the supernatural, it's better to be safe than sorry. Or so they say.
Quote 3
"You seemed so far away," Miss Honey whispered, awestruck.
"Oh, I was. I was flying past the stars on silver wings," Matilda said. "It was wonderful."
Miss Honey was still gazing at the child in absolute wonderment, as though she were The Creation, The Beginning Of The World, The First Morning. (15.43-5)
Matilda has just done something amazing, something that Miss Honey has never seen before and something that we readers will probably never see at all. But Matilda isn't as awestruck as Miss Honey is by the experience, even though she's the one who really lived it. It's a wonderful thing for Matilda, but Miss Honey is the one who sees the real wonderment of it. In fact, this passage compares Miss Honey's reaction to Matilda to the reaction someone might have to watching the world be created.
Quote 4
"Up to now," Miss Honey went on, "I have found it impossible to talk to anyone about my problems. I couldn't face the embarrassment, and anyway I lack the courage. Any courage I had was knocked out of me when I was young. But now, all of a sudden I have a sort of desperate wish to tell everything to somebody. I know you are only a tiny little girl, but there is some kind of magic in you somewhere. I've seen it with my own eyes." (17.14)
This is the real tragedy of the Trunchbull's abuse. She's so frightening, so awful, that she knocks the courage out of her victims, particularly those she has been abusing for ages. Miss Honey isn't not brave. It's just that any courage she may have had has been squelched by the evil Trunchbull.
Quote 5
"Do you think that all children's books ought to have funny bits in them?" Miss Honey asked.
"I do," Matilda said. "Children are not so serious as grown-ups and they love to laugh."
Miss Honey was astounded by the wisdom of this tiny girl. She said, "And what are you going to do now that you've read all the children's books?"
"I am reading other books," Matilda said. "I borrow them from the library. Mrs Phelps is very kind to me. She helps me to choose them." (7.116-119)
We can't help but wonder if Matilda might be speaking for the man himself, here—Roald Dahl. After all, all the books he wrote for children had funny bits, and that's what makes him such a memorable author. Kids love to laugh, and Roald Dahl loved to make kids laugh.
Quote 6
"I'm sure you know," Miss Honey said, "that children in the bottom class at school are not expected to be able to read or spell or juggle with numbers when they first arrive. Five-year-olds cannot do that. But Matilda can do it all. […]" (9.27)
Miss Honey compares Matilda, the genius, against all the other five-year-olds there are. She says, very confidently, that there are things children that age simply are unable to do. The fact that she "can do it all" shows how exceptional Matilda is. She's young, sure, but she can do more than many adults (like, oh, her father).
Quote 7
"But does it not intrigue you," Miss Honey said, "that a little five-year-old child is reading long adult novels by Dickens and Hemingway? Doesn't that make you jump up and down with excitement?" (9.39)
In this moment, Miss Honey is the voice of reason. She's the one who is making sense. She's correct that if someone Matilda's age is doing such advanced things as reading Dickens and Hemingway, people should be amazed and excited. If Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood aren't excited, that shows they're the ones who are messed up, not Matilda.
Quote 8
"A precocious child," Miss Honey said, "is one that shows amazing intelligence early on. You are an unbelievably precocious child."
"Am I really?" Matilda asked. (16.19-20)
Just in case we were tempted to be jealous of our Matilda, here we get a reminder that she's also a really nice kid. She's too sweet and humble to boast and brag. And that means we can root for her when she puts her awesome smarts on display.
Quote 9
"You are so much wiser than your years, my dear," Miss Honey went on, "that it quite staggers me. Although you look like a child, you are not really a child at all because your mind and your powers of reasoning seem to be fully grown-up. So I suppose we might call you a grown-up child, if you see what I mean." (17.12)
It's one thing for someone to be identified as really smart or really good at math. It's another for someone to be identified as mature and grown-up. Matilda is only five. But she doesn't look at the world through a five-year-old's eyes. She sees it the way a fully grown-up person would. This means she's more advanced than your average, run-of-the-mill prodigy (if there is such a thing).
Quote 10
"I don't want to talk about it," Miss Honey said. "It's too horrible. But in the end I became so frightened of her I used to start shaking when she came into the room. You must understand I was never a strong character like you. I was always shy and retiring." (17.43)
This is one scene in the book in which the Trunchbull's violent abuse takes a turn from the hilarious to the horrible. Her treatment of Miss Honey is in no way funny. It's tragic, sad, and has left Miss Honey severely damaged, maybe for life.
Quote 11
"After my father died, when I was five and a half, she used to make me bathe myself all alone. And if she came up and thought I hadn't washed properly she would push my head under the water and hold it there. But don't get me started on what she used to do. That won't help us at all." (18.4)
We get a lot of hints about how dreadful the Trunchbull's abuse of Miss Honey was, like the fact that she would push the teacher's head under the water and hold it there, but we don't get many details beyond that. Nevertheless, when you stop to think about it, you realize just how incredibly violent the Trunchbull was (and still is!). Just imagine how terrible the other things she did must have been, if Miss Honey doesn't even want to talk about them at all.
Quote 12
"[…] I hated her [my aunt] right from the start. I missed my mother terribly. And the aunt was not a kind person. My father didn't know that because he was hardly ever around but when he did put in an appearance, the aunt behaved differently." (17.25)
Miss Honey could've told her dad about the aunt, but chances are he wouldn't have believed her—and then the aunt would probably have gotten even worse as a result. Sometimes it's tough being a kiddo, and not having much of a voice.
Quote 13
"I think what I am trying to explain to you," she said, "is that over the years I became so completely cowed and dominated by this monster of an aunt that when she gave me an order, no matter what it was, I obeyed it instantly. That can happen, you know. And by the time I was ten, I had become her slave. I did all the house-work. I made her bed. I washed and ironed for her. I did all the cooking. I learnt how to do everything." (17.47)
Miss Honey had to grow up before her time. In a different way, so did Matilda. But boy, did Miss Honey have it particularly rough. As terrible as Matilda's parents are to her, they're nowhere nearly as awful as this aunt is to Miss Honey. Frankly, if this were a true story, Shmoop would be calling the authorities right about now.
Quote 14
"I have kept you here far too long. Your mother will be starting to worry."
"She never does that," Matilda said, smiling. "But I would like to go home now please, if you don't mind." (18.10-11)
Miss Honey insists on thinking the good of people. She's met Mrs. Wormwood, so she knows what a waste of space Matilda's mother is. Yet she still thinks Mrs. Wormwood will miss her daughter or worry about her. Matilda knows better. But hey, at least Matilda's able to smile about it now, rather than talk about it sadly, like she did in "The Reader of Books."
Quote 15
Miss Honey stood there helpless before this great red-necked giant. There was a lot more she would like to have said but she knew it was useless. She said softly, "Very well, then. It's up to you, Headmistress." (8.36)
It's not like Miss Honey is being put in The Chokey or dangled upside down by an ankle. The Trunchbull doesn't make grown-up teachers go through such indignities. But the Trunchbull imprisons Miss Honey all the same. Miss Honey is helpless because nothing she can say or do will change the giant's mind. Miss Honey is trapped with the worst boss ever.
Quote 16
"I only wish you could," Miss Honey said. "But I'm afraid it's not possible. You cannot leave your parents just because you want to. They have a right to take you with them." (21.61-2)
Even though Matilda wants something that would be best for her and Miss Honey (and, honestly, for the Wormwoods too), because she's only five years old, she's not free to follow through on it. She's a kid, and she doesn't have any say. Harrumph.