Quote 1
The father glanced down at the paper in his hand. He seemed to stiffen. He became very quiet. There was a silence. Then he said, "Say that again." (5.30)
Matilda's dad doesn't feel positive amazement here. Instead, he's horrified and stunned that she got the right answer. Rather than marveling at what a genius his daughter is, his immediate reaction is going to be that she must have cheated. He can't stand the thought that she could be smart, let alone smarter than him. What a nice guy, right?
Quote 2
"What the blazes are you all talking about?" the father yelled, putting both hands to his hair. "I most certainly have not dyed it! What d'you mean I've dyed it? What's happened to it? Or is this some sort of a stupid joke?" His face was turning pale green, the colour of sour apples. (6.27)
Seems like Mr. Wormwood is always turning funny colors, right? In the previous quotation he turned grey (4.41) and here he turns pale green. Both times, we see his fear written on his face through this change in color. We know he's scared because he looks so, well, ridiculous. This is not a guy who can keep his emotions in check.
Quote 3
She gave the hat a sharp yank. Mr Wormwood let out a yell that rattled the window-panes. "Ow-w-w!" he screamed. "Don't do that! Let go! You'll take half the skin off my forehead!" (3.5)
Although Mrs. Wormwood is trying to help her husband, we're thinking she probably could have done so a bit more gently. To be honest, though, Mr. Wormwood's reaction is equally ridiculous and extreme (although, to be fair, he probably wasn't expecting it to hurt so much). Do you think it's more likely that Mrs. Wormwood is surprisingly strong, or that Mr. Wormwood is a total wimp?
Quote 4
"I don't want to know what it's about," Mr Wormwood barked. "I'm fed up with your reading anyway. Go and find yourself something useful to do." With frightening suddenness he now began ripping the pages out of the book in handfuls and throwing them in the waste-paper basket. (4.10)
Ack! To any self-respecting nerd, this scene of a poor, innocent book being torn to shreds by the cruel Mr. Wormwood is absolutely terrifying. What did the book ever do to him? Why does he have such a violent, physical reaction to Matilda's reading? The one good thing here, though, is that he takes it out on the paper, not the person.
Quote 5
"Don't give me that rubbish!" the father shouted. "Of course you looked! You must have looked! No one in the world could give the right answer just like that, especially a girl! You're a little cheat, madam, that's what you are! A cheat and a liar!" (5.36)
Although Mr. Wormwood doesn't touch Matilda, this scene is still really violent. His words and actions are brutal and cruel, and he accuses his daughter of some really nasty things. Don't forget the "especially a girl" comment, either, which shows that Mr. Wormwood thinks men are better than women. So he's belittling Matilda's intelligence in several ways, and you know what that means, folks? This is emotional abuse.