Humanistic Theory in Matilda by Roald Dahl

The humanistic theory, the social cognitive theories, and the behaviorist theories all achieved the goal of explaining the personality of Matilda Wormwood but had different philosophies on describing the personality. Behaviorist theories focus on the character’s external behavior, while Maslow’s humanistic theory focuses on describing the character’s personality as a whole. The humanistic theory also follows a more subjective point of view because of the use of qualitative research, while behaviorist theories depend on scientific data.

The humanistic theory described the character’s personality based on emotions (Madsen & Wilson, 2012) and believes that all individuals should enjoy free will, while behaviorist theories follow the idea that individuals should have a sense of control over their behavior.

All three theories thoroughly analyzed Matilda Wormwood’s behaviors and how her personality was formed. The theories helped one understand why Matilda Wormwood was the way she was at home, at school, with her friends, and people she did not like. Matilda embodied a strong Sanguine personality due to her love for books but also having the ability to live fearlessly and be who she is with her friends and Miss Honey at school.

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Miss Honey cared for Matilda and let her Sanguine personality flourish while Matilda’s parents could careless of her.

B. F. Skinner stated that all learners were passive because he or she would react to stimuli especially in environments that were made for learning (Phillips, 2012). Miss Honey designed the learning environment for Matilda by introducing her to new novels to read and letting her knowledge flourish.

Miss Honey was able to engage that Matilda was a bright student on the first day of school because Matilda was able to calculate a large number in her head. She also learned that Matilda loved to read and could have higher-level homework because of her brilliant mind.

B.F. Skinner also stated that a new behavior should be created in the learning process. Skinner believed all learning processes needed the use of reinforcement when learning a new skill, using the extinction process to modify unwanted behavior, and the ability to distinguish an individual’s intelligence and behaviors based on environments (Phillips, 2012). Modern researchers utilize the ideas from behaviorist theories to describe personality.

Miss Honey helped Matilda’s love for reading to be a quality that should be nurtured and not punished. Matilda started to read various more authors and different novels letting her Sanguine personality to flourish. Miss Honey also warned Matilda to never go back to Miss Trunchbull’s house and use her telekinesis powers to grab items that were left behind. Matilda still disobey Miss Honey by going back to the house after being told not to but Matilda wanted to punish Miss Trunchbell because she was a evil headmistress and person in general. The humanistic theory stated that all learners need to be active (Phillips, 2012). The theory recognizes that the role of the teacher, Miss Honey, is important in motivating Matilda to follow her love for reading and learning in general. Matilda loved going to school, and learning new concepts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the fictitious character from Roald Dahl book, Matilda Wormwood, personality was investigated though behavioristic theories, social cognitive theory, and the humanistic theory. Matilda was invisible to her parents from the beginning, which resulted in Matilda learning how to cook for herself, take care of herself, and even go to the library everyday to read books. Matilda’s parents never understood her and her love for learning. Matilda’s father ripped the pages out of her book because “dinner time was family time which meant watching television” (Dahl 2016). Matilda soon learned she had telekinesis powers that she used to punish those that were wrong. For example, Matilda put super glue on her father’s hat after he ripped her book.

When Matilda was finally able to go to school, she immediately loved her teacher Miss Honey. Miss Honey was sweet and encouraging to every child. She learned quickly that Matilda had a keen interest in learning and reading. Miss Honey realized right away that Matilda was bright. The theories differed in how personality was described such as humanistic theories focused on qualitative research while behaviorist theories focused on scientific data. Even with the different approaches to examining personality, all the theories helped explain Matilda Wormwood’s Sanguine personality.