Matilda by Roald Dahl Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Nine (Matilda by Roald Dahl)

CHAPTER NINE – Throwing the Hammer.
62.	34	Matilda found it easy to make friends at school, and never tried to impress anyone or show off about her intelligence. One of her closest friends at school was a young girl called Lavender. Both girls liked each other for the same reason. What was this?	Each girl thought the other to be ‘gutsy and adventurous’ and they liked each other very much as a result.
63.	34	The new students in the bottom class were soon told many stories about Miss Trunchbull or ‘The Trunchbull’ as she was known. One older student tells Lavender and Matilda that Trunchbull hates the bottom class most of all. What reason does the student give for this?	The older student tells Lavender and Matilda that Trunchbull hates the bottom class most of all because she hates very small children.
64.	34-35	Lavender and Matilda are told many horrible stories about The Trunchbull. Some of these involve ‘The Chokey’. What was ‘The Chokey’	‘The Chokey’ was used by Trunchbull to punish students. It was a very tall but very narrow cupboard. The inside of the door and the three inside walls were covered in broken glass. Students would be locked inside ‘The Chokey’ for hours at a time and had to spend all of this time standing to attention or cut themselves on the glass.
65.	35	An older girl called Hortensia tells Lavender and Matilda that she had been made to stand in the Chokey six times during her first term. What had she done to deserve this punishment the first time?	Hortensia tells Lavender and Matilda that she had been made to stand in ‘The Chokey’ for the first time because she had poured a tin of golden syrup on a chair just before Trunchbull sat down on it at prayers.
66.	35-36	On another occasion, Hortensia had been sentenced to ‘The Chokey’ when she managed to sneak into Trunchbull’s office. Finding the drawer which contained her gym knickers, what did Hortensia sprinkle into each pair?	Hortensia had ordered some packets of high power itching powder and sprinkled the contents of these packets into each pair of Trunchbull’s knickers.
67.	36	As punishment for putting itching powder in Trunchbull’s knickers, Hortensia was sentenced to a full day in ‘The Chokey’. How did Trunchbull know that Hortensia was guilty?	Trunchbull didn’t know who was guilty for the itching powder but, as Hortensia tells Lavender, Trunchbull has a knack of guessing who is to blame and, on this occasion, guessed correctly.
68.	37	Hortensia tells Lavender and Matilda about Julius Rottwinkle who was thrown out of an open window by Trunchbull and ended up with a number of broken bones as a result. What had Rottwinkle done to deserve this?	Rottwinkle was thrown out of the window by Trunchbull because she caught him eating Liquorice Allsorts during Scripture class.
69.	37	We have already been told that, in her younger years, Trunchbull was an athlete. What sport had she competed in for Britain at the Olympics?	Trunchbull had thrown the hammer for Britain at the Olympics.
70.	37-38	Whilst Hortensia, Lavender and Matilda are talking – the playground suddenly fell silent as Trunchbull walked out looking for Amanda Tripp. What had Tripp done wrong and how was she punished?	Over the course of the holidays, Amanda Tripp had let her hair grow even longer than before and her mother had plaited it into pigtails. According to Hortensia, if there is one thing Trunchbull hates it is Pigtails. Trunchbull tells Tripp that she is to have her pigtails cut off that evening before grabbing the terrified girl by her hair and swinging her around and around like an Olympic hammer and launched her over the school fence.