Should Wizard Hit Mommy? Summary Class 12th English || Theme || Characters || Gist of the story Vistas class 12 English

Should Wizard Hit Mommy? Summary 

John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only three writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once. Updike published more than twenty novels, more than a dozen short-story collections, as well as poetry, art and literary criticism and children’s books during his career.

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. He begins to ask many questions. 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 of Should Wizard Hit the Mommy

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.

Gist of the Lesson

• The chapter captures a very sensitive reaction of a small girl to an important aspect of the story that her father narrates to her.

• The story reveals the worldview of a little child to a difficult moral question that shows her mental or psychological richness.

• Jo is a little girl of four years. She is engaged in a story session with her father.

• Jack, the father used to tell her a story every evening and especially for Saturday naps jo feels herself involved with the characters and the happenings.

• The story always had an animal with a problem. The old owl advises him to visit the wizard who would solve the problem.

• Skunk’s problem- he smelt bad, visited the wizard who changed it to the smell of roses. 

• Skunk’s mother was unhappy with it and took him back to the wizard. She hit the wizard and asked him to restore the original smell. She wanted her son to keep his identity of a skunk and wanted his friends to accept him for himself. So the wizard changes him back to smell like a skunk.

• After hearing the story of Roger Skunk Jo was not happy with the ending.

• She wants her father to change the ending. She wants the wizard to hit the mother back and let Roger be which her father was not ready to do to establish his authority. This raises a difficult moral question whether parents possess the right to impose their will on their children.

• Her father finds it difficult to answer her question.