Mr. Harry Wormwood is a fictional character in the British book Matilda, by Roald Dahl, and lead character in the film based on the book.[1] He is the father of title character Matilda Wormwood and her older brother Michael, and the husband of Mrs Wormwood. While he treats Michael nicely, he treats Matilda abusively.
Contents |
Dahl describes Mr. Wormwood as a "small ratty looking man" with buck teeth who continuously wears loud checkered jackets and ties that were normally yellow or green. The film version of his gaudy home includes an alarm-clock with in a casino dice casing and plenty of meals in front of the TV, prompting Salon.com critic Charles Taylor to describe the Wormwoods as "the apotheosis of middle-class bad taste" in the American setting for the film.[2] He works with crooks, he hates books and forbids Matilda to read them, he is greedy and likes Michael. With Matilda, his abuse has been ripping pages out of books, calling her names, and forcing her to watch television. He seems to be quite happy with his shady used car business.
Mr. Wormwood is an exaggeration of the scheming used-car salesman stereotype. He grooms his son Michael to eventually join the business. An example of a particular day includes buying one car for 118 dollars and selling it for 760 dollars, such that during the entire day, he made $4303.50.
Danny DeVito played Mr. Wormwood in the 1996 film, which he also produced and directed. The film was by all accounts faithful to Dahl's book[3] (except for the ending, notes Roger Ebert[4]). New York Times' critic Janet Maslin cheerfully credits DeVito for "stealing his own movie", adding a "jolt of caricature" and jointly giving the first half of the film a lot of its fun.[5] In other senses, DeVito's presence keeps the film true to the book. Variety critic Joe Leydon says the preservation of enough of the novel's humor and British slang, including the "You lying little earwig!" line voiced by Mr. Wormwood, means the change of setting has little effect.[3] DeVito also narrates the film. San Francisco Chronicle critic Edward Guthmann also lauds DeVito's acting, but finds it "jarring" to hear the same voice from Mr. Wormwood and as commentary on Mr. Wormwood's actions.[6]
Matilda has played numerous tricks on Mr. Wormwood. First, he put on a hat with superglue on it and had to have it cut off the next day by Mrs. Wormwood. Next, she stuck Fred's parrot, Chopper, up the chimney, which scared Mr. Wormwood so much that it made him turn gray in the face. Finally, she caused him to put platinum blond hair dye on his hair instead of his Oil of Violets Hair tonic. Although after these tricks, he refuses to regret what he has done.