Reading Matilda I first believed that the two parents just lack parental skills or instincts, and that's why they act not only distant, but with hatred towards their child. Thinking again, they indeed lack parental instincts, but they treat Matilda's brother almost reasonably, except the meals in front of tv and such things. So I believe these two parents, both of them, are misogynists. They strongly believe that the woman should be an ornament more in the men's house, and she should keep her mouth shut as much as possible.
Indeed the facts are exaggerated, but I liked very much the way that Matilda chose to deal with her parents. Her little victories over her parents are justified, that's how she didn't let the problems to reach her soul, and took them nicely.
Matilda is also an inspiration for motivation, this shows children that is cool to be smart, and even if they have a special power they should not necessarily rely on it, and work hard to obtain success.
It is a nice reading and the story and the characters are very easy to be imagined, and quite hard to forget. The message is a nice one: children are not pets, you can not return them at the store if you change your mind, so think about it; and also if you like to prove your superiority only among small children and you don't speak kindness, not even as a foreign language, you have nothing to do with being a teacher, so make yourself a favor... prove yourself superior in other ways;
