How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"You seemed so far away," Miss Honey whispered, awestruck.
"Oh, I was. I was flying past the stars on silver wings," Matilda said. "It was wonderful."
Miss Honey was still gazing at the child in absolute wonderment, as though she were The Creation, The Beginning Of The World, The First Morning. (15.43-5)
Matilda has just done something amazing, something that Miss Honey has never seen before and something that we readers will probably never see at all. But Matilda isn't as awestruck as Miss Honey is by the experience, even though she's the one who really lived it. It's a wonderful thing for Matilda, but Miss Honey is the one who sees the real wonderment of it. In fact, this passage compares Miss Honey's reaction to Matilda to the reaction someone might have to watching the world be created.
Quote #8
Matilda followed her, but just inside the doorway of the so-called sitting-room she stopped and stared around her in absolute amazement. The room was as small and square and bare as a prison cell. […] The only objects in the entire room were two upturned wooden boxes to serve as chairs and a third box between them for a table. That was all. (16.60)
This is maybe one of the saddest things in Matilda that causes amazement. Miss Honey's home life is so poor and meager that it's actually shocking. She has no furniture, just boxes, and her home can barely be called one. Matilda sees her house as more like a prison cell than a comfortable home, and these surroundings stun her much more than the everyday meanness of her parents or the outstanding cruelty of the Trunchbull.
Quote #9
Matilda stared at her. What a marvellously brave thing Miss Honey had done. Suddenly she was a heroine in Matilda's eyes. (17.87)
Matilda idolizes Miss Honey for her bravery in the same way that she idolizes Hortensia for her daring. Miss Honey's bravery is as much of a marvel to Matilda as Matilda's own supernatural brains are marvellous to Miss Honey. So who's the real heroine here?