Matilda by Roald Dahl

    I read the book Matilda by Roald Dahl. Even though the book isn't narrated by the characters in the book, I think there are a lot of perspectives from different characters. Throughout the book, I think the perspectives given are the ones of Matilda, her parents, her teachers, and some of her friends. I think the perspective that is missing is the perspective of her older brother Michael.



    It's made obvious in the book that her parents don't really care for Matilda. But, you can't ever really be sure what her brother's feelings about her are. I think a reason the author decided to exclude Michael's voice was because then it would somewhat ruin the story. The whole point is that Matilda's home life is supposed to be terrible, so if Michael's voice was heard and he did actually love his sister, then it couldn't be said her home life is all bad because there is someone at home that would care about her. I think another reason would be that maybe it just isn't necessary. Michael really doesn't have any big part in the story. He doesn't cause any changes whatsoever (good or bad.)



    I think it creates a big effect not knowing the thoughts of Matilda's brother. This is because throughout the book as Matilda's mother and father and headmistress are being completely awful to her, you keep wondering if Michael would be the one to stop them from doing this or would be one to just join in and treat her badly also? But on the other hand, this makes Matilda's perspective stand out so much more. Because now it seems like she's in a house full of horrible people and she's the only good one. So, it kind of puts her on a pedestal.


    Michael's perspective is probably one of the only ones missing from the book. A lot of other characters have their voices and opinions and ideas shared, while you never see that Michael gets any of his feelings shared. But, I think it's really though provoking because you keep wondering about what he would think.