Writer's Craft: Vivid Descriptions Used in "Matilda"

Roald Dahl used imagery to describe characters in the book, "Matilda". These vivid descriptions help to bring the characters alive and readers can imagine how the characters look like or how they behave. 

1) Description of Miss Trunchball 

"She had once been a famous athlete, and even now the muscles were still clearly in evidence. You could see them in the bull-neck, in the big shoulders, in the thick arms, in the sinewy wrists and in the powerful legs." (Pg 66)

2) Description of a newt that Lavender finds in her backyard pond

"[The newt] is about six inches long and very slimy, with a greenish-grey skin on top and an orange-coloured belly underneath." (Pg 11)

3) Description of Matilda from Miss Honey's perspective

"She saw the child white in the face, as white as paper, trembling all over, the eyes glazed, staring straight ahead and seeing nothing. The whole face was transfigured, the eyes round and bright and she was sitting there speechless, quite beautiful in a blaze of silence." (Pg 144)