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    Should Wizard Hit Mommy

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    Vedika Mahajan
    The document summarizes a short story told by a father to his daughter about a skunk named Roger who goes to a wizard to stop smelling bad. The daughter interrupts with questions and wants to change the ending, posing the moral question of whether the wizard should hit the mommy skunk instead. The father is unsure how to respond to his daughter questioning the story.

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    Should Wizard Hit Mommy

    Uploaded by

    Vedika Mahajan
    45 views7 pages
    The document summarizes a short story told by a father to his daughter about a skunk named Roger who goes to a wizard to stop smelling bad. The daughter interrupts with questions and wants to change the ending, posing the moral question of whether the wizard should hit the mommy skunk instead. The father is unsure how to respond to his daughter questioning the story.

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    The document summarizes a short story told by a father to his daughter about a skunk named Roger who goes to a wizard to stop smelling bad. The daughter interrupts with questions and wants to change the ending, posing the moral question of whether the wizard should hit the mommy skunk instead. The father is unsure how to respond to his daughter questioning the story.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    45 views7 pages

    Should Wizard Hit Mommy

    Uploaded by

    Vedika Mahajan
    The document summarizes a short story told by a father to his daughter about a skunk named Roger who goes to a wizard to stop smelling bad. The daughter interrupts with questions and wants to change the ending, posing the moral question of whether the wizard should hit the mommy skunk instead. The father is unsure how to respond to his daughter questioning the story.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 7

    SHOULD WIZARD HIT MOMMY?

    JOHN UPDIKE
    Introduction
     Little children love to hear stories from their parents at bedtime.
     Such stories are mostly fables and have no logic behind them.
     Many a time, parents make up stories out of their own head.
     Little children take them as literally true.
     But as the child grows up, he becomes inquisitive.
     S/He begins to ask many questions.
     S/He wants to know why and how certain things happen.
     He wants to know the reason behind things.
     Sometimes parents take this questioning of the child as an affront.
     They try to discourage it.
     They want the child to accept as true whatever is said to him.
     Is such an attitude desirable?
     This story poses this very question.
     A father tells his child a story out of his head.
     The child interrupts him a number of times.
     She raises questions whenever she feels that the story is wrong.
     The father feels himself caught in an ugly middle position.
     He does not know whether he should accept the child’s version or stick
    to his own.
     Thus the story raises a moral issue and leaves it to the reader to resolve
    it.
    Theme
    The story raises a moral issue if the parents should always decide
    what the children should do or let the children do what they like to do.
    Children dream and live in their own magical world.
    They are devoid of despise, ugliness, and petty differences.
    They are pure at heart.
    This story raises a moral question at this point, “Should Wizard hit
    Mommy?” Jo feels that he must.
    Jack says that it would be wrong because a mommy is always right.
    She should be loved and respected.
    Characters

    1. Joanne: a four year old girl, lovingly called as ‘Jo’.


    2. Jack: Father of Joanne
    3. Clare: Wife of Jack, mother of Joanne.
    4. Skunk: a baby creature with a bad smell.
    5. Mother Skunk: Mother of baby Skunk.
    6. Owl: a wise creature that solves the problems.
    7. Wizard: A magician.
    Points to Remember

    1. Jack (father) used to tell stories to Jo (little daughter).


    2. Every story had a little variation from the basic tale.
    3. Each story had a little creature Roger, a wise old owl and a wizard.
    4. New story was about Roger Skunk.
    5. Roger Skunk smelled very badly.
    6. All little animals kept away from him and didn’t play with him.
    7. He went to the wise old owl who advised him to go to the wizard.
    8. The wizard demanded seven pennies. Roger had four and found three
    more in a magic well.
    1. He gave the wizard seven pennies who made Roger Skunk smell like
    roses.
    1. Roger became happy and other animals began to play with him again.
    2. Roger’s mother got angry. She didn’t like her son smelling of roses.
    3. His mother took him straight back to the wizard and hit the wizard on
    his head.
    4. The wizard made Roger Skunk smell bad again.
    5. Roger’s mother was very happy now.
    6. But Jo wanted a little change in the story. She wanted that the wizard
    hit the mommy and Roger smelled roses again.
    7. But Jack made no changes in the ending.

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