There is Grandpa Joe, yes. I feel like he acts primarily as an agent to move storyaction along than anything else, however. Though thinking back now (I reread the book after the Johnny Depp movie came out so I could at least chime in re: source text in the discussions) he consistently acts as a counter to Wonka -- pressing him with questions about his logic, etc. The text itself problematizes the character of Wonka through Grandpa Joe.
Definitely agreed re: adultlike children. I think that inversion is a major part of Dahl's critique.
I am now home and can pull out my copy of the book. The end scene is your icon, with the Wormwoods running away, all too happy to have someone take Matilda, but what I always think of as the end scene is her loss of her powers, her having finally found her niche.
Skimming, I come across:
"I'm glad it's happened," Matilda said. "I wouldn't want to go through life as a miracle-worker."
Oh the wonderfully adult child.
Sidenote: From the facing page, after the heartbeats conversation:
This child, Miss Honey told herself, seems to be interested in everything. When one is with her it is impossible to be bored. I love it.
It is your fault that my brain goes shippy fic places reading that.
Wow, harsh on the Gryffindors, much? Though admittedly the pointless (or at least ill-thought-through) acts of "bravery" are probably the most frustrating things about the Gryffindor heroes in the HP books.
I love bookworm!Matilda, but that's more for the ideas of escaping into books and of gobbling up knowledge, but I also really like the idea that she's innately gifted. And I particularly identify with the idea of being able to do math but not be able to explain how :) And that's a bizarre unrealism the movie is working if she's supposed to have all her knowledge from books and superpowers she retains even after finding her intellectual niche.
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Date: 2006-02-09 02:56 am (UTC)Definitely agreed re: adultlike children. I think that inversion is a major part of Dahl's critique.
I am now home and can pull out my copy of the book. The end scene is your icon, with the Wormwoods running away, all too happy to have someone take Matilda, but what I always think of as the end scene is her loss of her powers, her having finally found her niche.
Skimming, I come across:
"I'm glad it's happened," Matilda said. "I wouldn't want to go through life as a miracle-worker."
Oh the wonderfully adult child.
Sidenote: From the facing page, after the heartbeats conversation:
This child, Miss Honey told herself, seems to be interested in everything. When one is with her it is impossible to be bored. I love it.
It is your fault that my brain goes shippy fic places reading that.
Wow, harsh on the Gryffindors, much? Though admittedly the pointless (or at least ill-thought-through) acts of "bravery" are probably the most frustrating things about the Gryffindor heroes in the HP books.
I love bookworm!Matilda, but that's more for the ideas of escaping into books and of gobbling up knowledge, but I also really like the idea that she's innately gifted. And I particularly identify with the idea of being able to do math but not be able to explain how :) And that's a bizarre unrealism the movie is working if she's supposed to have all her knowledge from books and superpowers she retains even after finding her intellectual niche.