Matilda By Roald Dahl Chapter 06

CHAPTER SIX – The Platinum Blond Man.

31.

17

Mrs Wormwood was exceedingly proud of her ‘platinum blond’ hair and, in between visits to the hairdressers, would use hair dye to keep it looking as good as possible. How many times a year would Mrs Wormwood visit the hairdressers to get her hair completely dyed?

Mrs Wormwood would visit the hairdressers twice a year to get the ‘big dyeing job’ done.

32.

17

According to Matilda’s father, what does “Good strong hair” mean that there is underneath?

Matilda’s father was very fond of saying that “Good strong hair…means there’s a good strong brain underneath.”

33.

17

Matilda plans to get her own back on her father by replacing his purple coloured ‘oil of violet hair tonic’ with her mother’s platinum hair dye. She carefully pours three quarters of the hair tonic down the sink before replacing it with hair dye. Why does she not pour all of it down the sink?

Matilda doesn’t want her father to suspect anything unusual and therefore she leaves just enough hair tonics in the bottle so that, when shaken, the new mixture of hair tonic and hair dye will still look purple.

34.

18

Mr Wormwood liked to have the same large breakfast every morning. What does he always eat?

Mr Wormwood always had two fried eggs on fried bread with three pork sausages and three strips of bacon and some fried tomatoes for breakfast.

35.

18

What makes Mrs Wormwood scream out in surprise and drop her husband’s breakfast on the floor when he arrives for breakfast that morning?

Mrs Wormwood is taken by surprise by her husband’s hair which has gone a ‘dirty silver’ colour as a result of Matilda’s handiwork.

36.

19

When Mr Wormwood sees his hair, he announces that he can’t go to work looking so ridiculous before asking ‘how could this have happened’. What does Matilda say must have happened?

Matilda tells her father that he must have accidentally used his wife’s hair dye instead of his hair tonic.

37.

19

Mrs Wormwood tells her husband that her hair dye is very powerful stuff and contains peroxide. Mr Wormwood will be lucky, his wife tells him, if his hair doesn’t all fall out. What else is peroxide used for, according to Mrs Wormwood?

According to Mrs Wormwood, peroxide is sold under another name to clean and disinfect toilets.

38.

20

Matilda tells her mother that her father ‘does do some pretty silly things now and again’. What does her mother tell Matilda she will learn about men when she gets a bit older?

Mrs Wormwood tells Matilda that ‘men are not always quite as clever as they think they are. You will learn that when you get a bit older, my girl.’