Matilda by Roald Dahl Summary (Question and Answer)

Chapter Fifteen (Matilda by Roald Dahl)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – Miss Honey’s Story.
109	66-67	Curious about why Miss Honey lived in such a simple way, Matilda asks her a few difficult questions about her lifestyle. After an awkward silence, Miss Honey opens up and tells Matilda about her childhood. Miss Honey’s father had been the village doctor and her mother had died when Miss Honey was still very young. Shortly after this first tragedy, Miss Honey’s father also died. How did this happen?	Miss Honey’s father committed suicide. However Miss Honey tells Matilda that the death of her father had been very mysterious and no one could believe that he would have taken his own life.
110	68	After the death of her parents, Miss Honey was raised by her aunt who she describes as ‘a demon’ adding that her ‘life became a nightmare’. Why didn’t Miss Honey go to any of her other aunts, uncles or family members for help?	Miss Honey tells Matilda that she couldn’t go to any other family member as they were all either dead, or they had gone to Australia.
111	69	Discussing her childhood in some detail, Miss Honey told Matilda that she had always been a bright pupil and, after she finished school, she had the grades to have been accepted into university. Why was she unable to go, however?	Miss Honey was unable to go to university as she was needed around the house to do all the work for her aunt.
112	69	Even after Miss Honey started working as a teacher, she was still unable to escape her aunt who had a contract prepared which transferred the vast majority of Miss Honey’s salary straight to her bank account. How much money did Miss Honey get?	Miss Honey only got £1a week pocket money, all the rest of her wages went straight to her aunt.
113	70	Miss Honey finally managed to escape when she persuaded a farmer to rent her the cottage I which she now lived. How much did the farmer charge Miss Honey in rent?	The farmer couldn’t believe that anyone could live in the cottage as there was no running water or modern appliances. Miss Honey told him that she was a romantic and had fallen in love with the cottage and so he charged her just 10 pence per week.
114	71	Miss Honey tells Matilda that she thinks that her aunt forged documents showing that her father left the family home to her and not to Miss Honey. However Miss Honey was unable to contest this in a court of law for two reasons. First of all she had no money to hire a lawyer and secondly her aunt is a respected member of the community who is believed and trusted by many people in the village. What was the profession of Miss Honey’s aunt and what was her name.	Miss Honey’s aunt was a school head mistress and was none other than Miss Trunchbull.