Should Wizard Hit Mommy? Questions & Answers

Revise the following Questions and Answers

Listen to the story HERE

Q1. Who is Joe? How does she respond to her father’s story-telling?

Ans: Joe is a four-year-old daughter of Jack. Every evening and for Saturday naps, Jack used to narrate his daughter a self-composed story which is a slight variation of the original story.

Joe is captivated by each story her father used to narrate to her. She became so involved with the stories that she kept on asking a host of questions to her father and could even predict the development in the tale.

2. What do you think was Jo’s problem?

Ans: Jo was mainly concerned that Roger Skunk should be accepted by other animals. She was disappointed tha the mother had not understood Skunk’s misery. So she wanted the wizard to teach his mother a lesson. She wanted her father to change the story to suit her taste.

3. What is the moral issue that the story raises?

Ans: The issue that the story raises is whether children should be allowed to use their abilities to reason and to question or be forced to remain mere shadows of adult influence and thought.

Joe disagreed and questioned her father’s interpretation of how the story of the stinky Skunk should end. In fact, Jack had failed to appreciate the fact that Jo was growing up and was likely to have an independent thought of her own. Jack found it very difficult to come to terms with the fact that his daughter could disagree with him in the ending of the story.

4. How does Jo want the story to end and why?

Ans: Jo wants the wizard to hit mommy in revenge as she had hit the Wizard. According to Joe, if Skunk’s mother insisted on changing his smell, then other animals would turn away from him. This is why Joe wanted the story to end when the Wizard hit Skunk’s mother back and wanted that Skunk should have the smell of roses so that other animals play with him.

5. Why does Jack insist that it was the wizard that was hit and not the mother?

Ans: Jack wanted Joe to understand the fact that the Skunk’s mother knew what was best for him. Joe’s questioning about the ending of the story sounded like an act of defiance to Jack. While narrating the story about the poor stinky Skunk to Joe, Jack was reminded of all the humiliations of his own childhood. Jack’s support of Skunk’s mother is in actual terms a defense of his own mother who brought him up in the most authoritative manner.

6. What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly middle position?

Ans: Joe’s defiance of the ending of her father’s story about Roger Skunk took him by surprise and he thought that Joe is questioning his authority. This gave rise to confusion in Jack’s mind and he was at a loss to understand how to react to his little daughter who suddenly started asserting her opinions. Moreover, Jack was also not able to help his wife, Claire with the painting work as he is stuck with his daughter. Thus Jack felt himself caught in an ugly middle position.

7. How did the Wizard help the skunk?

Ans: The Wizard searched for his magic wand and asked Roger Skunk what he wanted to smell like. Roger replied that he wished to smell like roses. As the wizard changed his smell, he was pleased with his transformation and was happy to have friends around him with whom he could play.

8. What had upset Jo about the Skunk’s story? How did Jack react to it?

Answer: Roger Skunk’s mother thought that Roger should smell like a little skunk and not like roses. She took Roger Skunk back to that wizard and hit him right over his head with an umbrella and made him change Roger back. This upset Jo as she wanted the wizard to hit Mommy back and refuse to change Roger back. Jo’s reaction angered Jack as he tried to make her see how Roger Skunk’s mother knew what was best for Roger.

9. What story did Jo want to hear the next day? Why? What was the father’s reaction?

Answer: Jo pleaded with Jack to continue with the same story, the next day, where the wizard hit Roger’s mommy back with the magic wand. Being a child, she looked forward to a happy ending. But Jack declined to have such an ending as he wanted the little skunk to listen to what his mommy thought was best for him. He reasoned with Jo that Roger loved his mother more than all the other little animals, and she knew what was right for him.

( to be continued)