Quote 7
"You shouldn't have done that," Matilda said. "Your salary was your chance of freedom."
"I know, I know," Miss Honey said. "But by then I had been her slave nearly all my life and I hadn't the courage or the guts to say no. I was still petrified of her. She could still hurt me badly." (17.69)
Even when Miss Honey should have had freedom from the Trunchbull—as an adult making her own money and starting her own career—she couldn't stand up to her. Both her memories of how the Trunchbull had hurt her in the past and her worry that the Trunchbull "could still hurt [her] badly" keep her from striking out on her own. That's some powerful fear right there.
Quote 8
"What happened when you were left all alone with the aunt? Wasn't she nice to you?"
"Nice?" Miss Honey said. "She was a demon. As soon as my father was out of the way she became a holy terror. My life was a nightmare." (17.40-1)
How sweet. Even though Matilda has a rough family life, she still looks for the good in other people. Her default setting is good. That's why her first impulse is to think that an adoptive aunt would be nice to Miss Honey. Unfortunately, as Miss Honey quickly explains, her aunt was a demon. Of course this makes the Trunchbull's violent abuse all the more terrible. How could she be so awful to sweet little Miss Honey?
Quote 9
"She [my mother] doesn't really care what I do," Matilda said a little sadly. (1.41)
Okay, Matilda might not be sitting up in her room sobbing over it every night, but that doesn't mean she doesn't care that her mom totally ignores her. In fact, we think Matilda probably cares a great deal (what kid wouldn't?), and this little line goes a long way to show it. But the fact that she says it only "a little sadly" shows she's resigned to her parents' behavior. They've always been like that and probably always will be.