Should Wizard Hit Mommy MP Board Solution
Should Wizard Hit Mommy MP Board Solution
Q1.Who is Jo? How does she respond to her father’s
story-telling?
Ans. Jo is the shortened form of Joanne. She is the four year old
daughter of Jack and Clare. For the last two years, her father, Jack, has been
telling her bed-time stories. Since these stories are woven around the same
basic tale and have the same characters and turn of events, Jo takes so many
things for granted and takes active interest in the story-telling session. The
protagonist (main character) is always named Roger. It may be Roger Fish, Roger
Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk or Roger Skunk. The other characters are the huge,
wise, old owl and the thin small wizard. The creatures of the forest—small
animals—also take part in playing with Roger and liking/disliking him.
Q2. What possible plot line could the story continue with?
Ans. Jack told the story of Roger Skunk—an animal which emitted a
foul smell and how the wizard changed his smell to that of roses at his
request. The other little creatures, who earlier hated Roger Skunk, now gathered
around him because he smelled so good. They played various games of children
till dark and then went to their homes happily.
Jo thought that the story was all over. Jack continued the story. When Roger
Skunk returned home, his mother felt angry at the unusual smell he had
acquired. She called it an awful smell and asked who had made him smell like
that. She took her umbrella and went to the wizard with Roger Skunk. She hit
the wizard right ‘wer the head. The wizard agreed to change his smell back. She
wanted that a skunk should smell the way a little skunk should have. It should
behave naturally and normally and not roaxn ahout in acquired smell or
artificial manners. After a while the other small creatures got used to bhe
typical smell of the skunk—the foul odour—and did not run away.
Q3.What do you think was Jo’s problem?
Ans. Little Jo had been accustomed to the happy
ending of the stories of Roger, where the wizard was helpful to him in
fulfilling his wish. At the request of Roger Skunk, the wizard had changed his
awful smell to that of the roses. Other small animals liked it and played with
Roger Skunk happily. She could not digest the ending of the extended story
where Roger Skunk’s mother hit the wizard on the head and forced him to change
Skunk’s smell to the earlier foul one.
Jo could not accept Skunk’s mother’s
stubbornness e.g. hitting the wellwisher of her son, Roger Skunk. Jo insisted
that her father should tell her the same story again the next day with changed
ending. The wizard should hit that unreasonable mommy on the head and leave
Roger Skunk emitting the pleasant smell of roses. In the beautiful world of a
child’s imagination, fairies and wizard’s are more real than reality itself.
She could not digest the harsh realities of life. She did not like the rude
mother who hit the benefactor of her own son.
Should Wizard Hit Mommy INSIGHT
Q1. What is the moral issue that the story raises?
Ans.The story raises a moral issue—should parents always decide what the
children should do or let the children do what they like to do. There is an
evident contrast between an adult’s perspective on life and the world view of a
little child.
Jack, the father, defends the behaviour of Roger
Skunk’s mother who forced the old wizard to restore the natural but offensive
smell to Roger Skunk. He sums up the issue in one sentence: ‘She knew what was
right’. As to why the little skunk agreed to her mother’s proposal, Jack says
that the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little
animals. Jack cites an instance. When Roger Skunk was in bed, Mommy Skunk came
up, hugged him and said he smelled like her little baby Skunk again and she
loved him very much.
Little Jo, the spokesperson of children, does
not agree with her father’s view. She feels that the Skunk’s mother should not
have robbed the pleasure of her little son and deprived him of the pleasant
smell of the roses. She insisted that the wizard hit that mommy on the head and
did not change that little skunk back. She calls the little skunk’s mother “a
stupid mommy”. She realised that her father was defending his own mother to
her, or something odd.
Jo stuck to her view point. She insisted that
her father should tell her the story the next day in a different manner. It was
the wizard that took the magic wand and hit that mommy.
Should Wizard Hit Mommy important Question Answer
Q1.Who is Jo? How does she respond to her father’s
story-telling?
Ans. Jo is the shortened form of Joanne. She is the four year old
daughter of Jack and Clare. For the last two years, her father, Jack, has been
telling her bed-time stories. Since these stories are woven around the same
basic tale and have the same characters and turn of events, Jo takes so many
things for granted and takes active interest in the story-telling session. The
protagonist (main character) is always named Roger. It may be Roger Fish, Roger
Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk or Roger Skunk. The other characters are the huge,
wise, old owl and the thin small wizard. The creatures of the forest—small
animals—also take part in playing with Roger and liking/disliking him.
Q2. What possible plot line could the story continue with?
Ans. Jack told the story of Roger Skunk—an animal which emitted a
foul smell and how the wizard changed his smell to that of roses at his
request. The other little creatures, who earlier hated Roger Skunk, now
gathered around him because he smelled so good. They played various games of
children till dark and then went to their homes happily.
Jo thought that the story was all over. Jack continued the story. When Roger
Skunk returned home, his mother felt angry at the unusual smell he had
acquired. She called it an awful smell and asked who had made him smell like
that. She took her umbrella and went to the wizard with Roger Skunk. She hit
the wizard right ‘wer the head. The wizard agreed to change his smell back. She
wanted that a skunk should smell the way a little skunk should have. It should
behave naturally and normally and not roaxn ahout in acquired smell or
artificial manners. After a while the other small creatures got used to bhe typical
smell of the skunk—the foul odour—and did not run away.
Q3.What do you think was Jo’s problem?
Ans. Little Jo had been accustomed to the happy ending of the stories
of Roger, where the wizard was helpful to him in fulfilling his wish. At the
request of Roger Skunk, the wizard had changed his awful smell to that of the
roses. Other small animals liked it and played with Roger Skunk happily. She
could not digest the ending of the extended story where Roger Skunk’s mother
hit the wizard on the head and forced him to change Skunk’s smell to the
earlier foul one.
Jo could not accept Skunk’s mother’s stubbornness e.g. hitting the wellwisher
of her son, Roger Skunk. Jo insisted that her father should tell her the same
story again the next day with changed ending. The wizard should hit that
unreasonable mommy on the head and leave Roger Skunk emitting the pleasant
smell of roses. In the beautiful world of a child’s imagination, fairies and
wizard’s are more real than reality itself. She could not digest the harsh
realities of life. She did not like the rude mother who hit the benefactor of
her own son.
Should Wizard Hit Mommy MP Board Solution
Q1. What is the moral issue that the story raises?
Ans.The story raises a moral
issue—should parents always decide what the children should do or let the
children do what they like to do. There is an evident contrast between an
adult’s perspective on life and the world view of a little child.
Jack, the father, defends the behaviour of Roger Skunk’s mother who forced the
old wizard to restore the natural but offensive smell to Roger Skunk. He sums
up the issue in one sentence: ‘She knew what was right’. As to why the little
skunk agreed to her mother’s proposal, Jack says that the little skunk loved
his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals. Jack cites an
instance. When Roger Skunk was in bed, Mommy Skunk came up, hugged him and said
he smelled like her little baby Skunk again and she loved him very much.
Little Jo, the spokesperson of children, does not agree with her father’s view.
She feels that the Skunk’s mother should not have robbed the pleasure of her
little son and deprived him of the pleasant smell of the roses. She insisted
that the wizard hit that mommy on the head and did not change that little skunk
back. She calls the little skunk’s mother “a stupid mommy”. She realised that
her father was defending his own mother to her, or something odd.
Jo stuck to her view point. She insisted that her father should tell her the
story the next day in a different manner. It was the wizard that took the magic
wand and hit that mommy.
Q2. How does Jo want the story to end and why?
Ans. Jack ends the story in a way that seems unusual to Jo. In her
dream world, the wizard is a miracle worker. She can’t digest the statement
that the little skunk’s mother hit the wizard right on his head with her
umbrella and he agreed to do what she desired. Roger Skunk did not smell of
roses any more. He smelled very bad again.
Jo did not want the story to end this way. She had in mind, the pleasure of all
the little animals. She says, “But daddy, then he said about the other little
animals run away!” Her
father admits it. He agrees that Roger Skunk told his mother, “But Mommy, all
the other animals run away!” -The mother does not bother about them. She says
bluntly, “I don’t care. You smelled the way a little skunk should have.”
Jo can’t, digest the ending that the mother hit the wizard right over the head
and he made Roger Skunk smell very bad again. She suggested to her father to
end the story in another fnanner—“The wizard hit her on the head and did not
change that little skunk back.” She “” wanted that stupid mommy to be punished
and insisted repeatedly on the changed ending next night till her father agreed
to consider it, saying, “Well, we’ll see.”
Q3. Why does Jack insist that it was the wizard that was hit and
not the mother?
Ans. Jack has the typical parental attitude. He is of the opinion
that the parents know what is best for their children. He asserts the parental
authority time and again to quieten Jo and stifle her objections and amendments
to the story of the foul smelling Skunk related by him.
He defends the attitude of Roger Skunk’s mother. She does not approve of the
unnatural, unskunk like smell that Roger has. She calls the sweet smell of the
roses an awful smell. Earlier the little skunk smelled the way a little skunk
should. She wants the natural characteristic—the foul smell—restored. He says
that she knew what was right. Secondly, the little skunk loved his mommy more
than he loved all the other animals. That is why, he took his mommy to the
wizard. She hit the wizard and forced him to change the smell of roses to his
earlier bad odour, He insisted on this ending to emphasize the concern of the
parents for children and their role in bringing them up on proper lines. .
Q4. What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly middle position?
Ans. Jack feels that he
has been caught in an ugly middle position physically, emotionally as well as
mentally. The woodwork, a cage of mouldings and rails and skirting boards all
around them was half old tan and half new ivory.
He was conscious of his duties as a father and as a husband. Little Bobby was
already asleep. His efforts to make Jo fall asleep proved quite fatiguing. She
kept on interrupting him, asking for clarifications, pointing errors and
suggesting alternatives.
Jack did not like that women should take anything for granted. He liked them to
be apprehensive. So, he extended the story, though he was in a haste to go down
stairs and help his pregnant wife in her hard work of painting the woodwork.
The result of the extension to the story proved unfruitful and unpleasant for
Jo, Jack and Clare. Jo wanted him to change the ending of the story. Clare
complained that he had told a long story. Jack felt utter weariness and did not
want to speak with his wife or work with her or touch her. He was really caught
in an ugly middle pisition.
Q5. What is your stance regarding the two endings to the Roger
Skunk story?
Ans. Of the two endings to the Roger Skunk story, I approve of the
mature and realistic one narrated by Jack that the mother skunk hit the wizard
on the head and forced him to restore the original smell to the skunk.
Every species of animals has its special features. She wanted Roger Skunk to
smell the ’ way a little skunk should have. It should not carry the deceptive
and borrowed smell of the roses. Roger Skunk is agreed to go with her because
he loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals. She knew
what was right.
The mother’s point was proved right. When the wizard restored
the original foul smell to Roger Skunk, the other little animals got used to
the way he was and did not mind it at all.
Of course, it took them sometime. Jack did not agree with Joanne’s remark that
she was a ‘stupid’ mother. On the other hand, we find her a caring and’Joving
mother. When Roger Skunk was in bed, mommy skunk embraced him and said he
smelled like her little baby skunk again and she loved him very much. Thus,
Jack’s version brings out the mother’s love, care and concern for her little
baby.
Q6. Why is an adult’s perspective on life different from that of
a child’s?
Ans. An adult’s
perspective on life is different from that of a child’s because of the
difference between their respective experiences and exposure to the world
around them. An adult comes across all sorts of experiences—good or bad,
pleasant or unpleasant, happy or sad, encouraging or discouraging. The child
lives a sheltered life under the protection and love of his parents. In their
rosy dream world of fairies and wizards, nothing good is impossible for their
favourite characters. Their adoration of these characters is nothing short of
hero-worship.
The world of make-believe makes the children lovers of romance, beauty and all
things pleasant in nature. These characters and their super feats, which appear
so real in stories, may not be real at all in real life. The adults who are
familiar with harsh realities of life know that all that glitters is not gold.
Everything is not honey. They accept things critically— with a pinch of salt.
Children usually lack this quality.
Should Wizard Hit Mommy MP Board Solution
Q1.What is the moral issue that the story raises?
A.The moral issue raised by the story is that whether it is right on parents’ part to force their children to believe in everything they are told by their parents. In this case, the father just wants his daughter to believe that whatever is being told to her is right and that she shouldn’t be inquisitive about things.Q2. How does Jo want the story to end and why?
A. Jo wants the story to end with the wizard beating up the mommie skunk and not changing back the smell of Roger skunk from roses to his original foul smell because she thinks that it is stupid on part of the mommie skunk that she doesn’t care about whether Roger skunk has friends to play or not but just wants that he should smell the way a little baby skunk smells.Q3. Why does Jack insist that it was the wizard who was hit and not the mother?
A. He insisted on this ending to emphasize the concern of the parents because he thought that the parents always know what is best for their child. They always do everything out of concern. He starts to justify the action of Roger’s mother of getting his foul smell restored by saying that the mother knew what was right for him and that Roger skunk loved his mommy so much that he took his mother to the wizard at once without hesitating.Q4. What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly middle position?
A. Jack had started his story and Jo was not feeling sleepy due to which she kept on asking questions and he had to extend the story a bit. Also, as he heard the sounds of chairs and furniture being moved downstairs, he wanted to finish the story quickly and go help his wife with the painting work as she was 6 months pregnant. When he finally finished the story, he was very tired due to which he went down and sat, watching his wife doing all the painting work. He got so exhausted from the story session that he did not have the energy to help her, talk to her or touch her. That is why Jack says that he was caught in an ugly middle position.Should Wizard Hit Mommy Short Question answer
Q1.What custom did Jack follow in the evenings and for Saturday naps?Ans. Jack would tell his four year old daughter Joanne (or Jo) a stoxy out of his head in the evenings and for Saturday naps. This custom had begun when she was two and now it was nearly two years old.
Q2. What was the basic tale underlying each story that Jack
told?
Ans. A small creature named Roger had some problem. He would go to
the wise owl who told him to go to the wizard. Theiwizard performed a magic
spell. It solved Roger’s problem. He demanded more pennies than Roger had. Then
he directed Roger to the place where extra money could be found. Roger felt
happy and played many games with other creatines. He then went home. His daddy
arrived from Boston. They had supper. The stoiy wound up with the description
of the items of their supper.
Q3. How was the custom of story telling especially fatiguing on
Saturdays?
Ans. Jo was growing up. She never fell asleep in naps any more. Her
brother, Bobby, who was two was already asleep with the bottle. But Jo would
not take her nap like an infant. The bumps her feet made under the covers were
hallway down the bed. Her fat face deep in the pillow shone in the sunlight.
The custom seemed futile and especially fatiguing on Saturdays.
Q4. Which animal did Jo suggest for the story that day? What do
you know about this new animal?
Ans. Jo suggested ‘skunk’
for the story that day. It was a new animal for her. They must be talking about
it at nursery school. A skunk or a pole-cat is a small black and white North
American animal. It can produce a strong unpleasant smell to defend itself when
it is attacked.
Q5. Why did Roger Skunk go to see the old owl? [All India 2014]
Ans. Due to foul body
odour of Skunk, other animals were not interested in playing with him. But he
wanted to play with friends. So, Roger Skunk went to the wise owl to get rid of
the foul smell.
Q6. How did Jo and Jack react as the new animal was mentioned?
Ans. Jo squeezed her eye&Shut and smiled to be thinking that she
was thinking. She opened her blue eyes and said firmly, “Skunk”. Having a fresh
hero momentarily stirred Jack to creative enthusiasm. He started telling the
story of Roger Skunk that smelled so bad that none of the other little woodland
creatures would play with him.
Q7. How did Jack imagine the reaction of Roger Skunk on being
universally detested ?
Ans. Whenever Roger Skunk went out to play, all of the other tiny
animals would cry: “Uh-oh, here comes Roger Stinky Skunk”. Then they would run
away. Roger Skunk would stand there all alone. Two little round tears would
fall from his eyes. Jack would relate all this with zest, remembering certain
humiliations of his own childhood.
Q8. How do you think, did Jo identify with Roger Skunk, the
victim of the hatred of other creatures?
Ans. Jo seemed to share the pleasure and pain of the hero of the
stray—Roger. So complete was her identification that the mention of tears in
Roger’s eyes brought tears in her eyes. Her mouth drooped down and her lower
lip bent forward. Jack’s finger traced the course of a tear along the side of
her nose.
Q9.Which two opposite forces acted on Jack while he was telling
Jo a story about the little skunk?
Ans. Jack was happy that
he was telling Jo something true, something she must know. He had no wish to
hurry on. But just then, a chair scraped downstairs. He realised that he must
get down to help his wife, Clare to paint the woodwork in the living room.
Thus, the interests of daughter and wife pulled him in different directions
like two opposite forces.
Q10.“This was a new phase, just this last month, a reality
phase.” What do you learn about Jo’s reality phase? How did her parents try to
convince her?
Ans. Jo would ask if the
magic spells were real. When Jack told her that spiders ate bugs, she would
turn to her mother and ask if that was really so. When Clare told her God was
in the sky and all around them, she would turn to her father to know the
reality. Jack tried to convince her by saying? “They’re real in stories.”
Q11. “He felt being an old man suited him.” How would Jack play
the old wizard?
Ans. The wizard’s voice was one of Jack’s own favourite effects. He
did it by scrunching up his face and somehow whining through his eyes. During
this brief period of time his eyes would become full of watery secretions. He
would say, ‘Eh? Whatzis? Whatcher want? You smell awful.’
Q12. How was the Skunk’s story different from the other stories
narrated by Jack? [Delhi 2014]
Ans. The stories told by
Jack were well taken by Jo. But the ending of the Skunk’s story did not satisfy
her. She believed that the wizard should have hit back Skunk’s mommy and Skunk
would have kept smelling like roses.
Q13. How did Jack make the role of the wizard more impressive?
Ans. Jack fixed Jo with
the trance like gaze. Then he chanted a magic spell in the wizard’s elderly
irritable voice. The chanting was rhythmical and had sweet rhymes. The
exclamation “Bingo!” confirmed the pleasure, the pleasure of the wizard at
having done what he had been trying to do. All of a sudden, the whole inside of
the wizard’s house was full of the smell of roses.
Q14. How did Jo react to Jack’s chanting of the magic spell ?
Ans. Jack chanted the
magic spell as the wizard would do. When he paused, he noticed a rapt
expression widening out from his daughter’s nostrils. She forced her eyebrows
up and her lower lip down in a wide noiseless grin. This expression reminded
Jack of his wife’s expression while feigning pleasure at cocktail parties.
Q15. “Very silly of your stupid old daddy,” says Jack. Why, do
you think, did Jack say so?
Ans. While narrating the
story of Roger Skunk, Jack by chance said Roger Fish. Jo was quick to interrupt
him and point out the error. She repeated twice that he had said Roger Fish and
asked if that wasn’t silly. Jack had to admit that it had been very silly of
him.
Q16. What action of Jo annoyed Jack? What do you think disturbed
him?
Ans. Roger Skunk began to cry as he had only four pennies. Jo made
the crying face again, but this time without a trace of sincerity. This annoyed
Jack. Some more furniture rumbled down stairs. Jack thought that Clare
shouldn’t move heavy things. He was worried because she was six months pregnant.
It would be their third child.
Q17. Which two factors made Jack continue the story?
Ans. Roger Skunk had returned home at dark after playing happily with
the other little animals. Jo did not fall asleep. She was starting to fuss with
her hands and look out of the window. She thought the story was over. Jack did
not like women when they took anything for granted. He liked them to be
worried. So he continued the story.
Q18. Why was Roger Skunk’s mommy angry? What did she finally
tell him?
Ans. She was angry because Roger Skunk had an unusual smell of roses.
She called it awful and asked Roger who made him smell like that. When he said,
“The wizard”, she ordered him to come with her and they were going right back
to that very awful wizard. She seemed to be very angry with the wizard.
Q19. Why, do you think, did Roger Skunk’s mommy insist on taking
him to the wizard at once?
Ans. Roger Skunk’s mommy
wanted young skunk to smell the way a little skunk should. She did not want him
to acquire the artificial and uncharacteristic smell of the roses. The foul
smell was a tool for him to keep the enemy away. That is why she hit the wizard
right over the head and he agreed to restore the original ‘foul’ smell.
Q20. How did Jo want the wizard to behave when mommy skunk
approached him?
Ans. Jo had a deep regard for the wizard. He had magical powers and
could do anything. She did not agree with her father’s version. She said that
the wizard hit her (Roger Skunk’s mommy) on the head and did not change that
little skunk back. She did not want that the other little animals should hate
him again for his awful smell.
Q21. Why does Jo insist that her father should tell her the
story with a different ending—where the wizard hit that mommy?
Ans. Jo was not convinced that the little animals eventually got used
to the way the little skunk was and did not mind it all. It was just the
opposite of what her father had said at the beginning. (The other tiny
creatures called him Stinky Skunk and would run away, leaving Roger alone to shed
tears.) Later, when the wizard made the skunk smell like roses, the other
little animals gathered around him and played with him till dark. Hence Jo
wanted the wizard to punish the stupid mommy.
Ans. Jack started telling bed-time stories to his two-year-old daughter Jo (Joanne) two ye&fs ago. Now she was four-year-old and had recently entered the reality phase. Jack would tell her stories in the evenings or for Saturdays naps.
Each new story was a slight variation of a basic tale. The central character was a small creature named Roger. He could be Roger Fish, Roger Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk or Roger Skunk. Roger had some problem and went for help to the wise, old owl. The owl would tell him to go to the wizard. The wizard would perform a magical spell that solved the problem. He would demand more pennies than Roger had. He would direct unhappy Roger to the place where extra pennies could be found. Roger would then feel happy and play games with other small creatures till dark. Then he went home to his mommy. His daddy arrived from Boston and they had their supper. The story would end with the description of the items of supper.
Since the plot of the story and the actions and reactions of the various characters remained the same, both Jo and Jack would enact typical scenes. Thus, Jo felt involved in the story.
Q2. What problem did Roger Skunk have? How was it solved?
Ans.Roger Skunk smelled very
bad—in fact so bad that none of the other little woodland creatures would play
with him. Whenever Roger Skunk went out to play, all the other tiny animals
would cry: ‘Uh-oh, here comes Roger Stinky Skunk.’ Then they would run away.
Roger Skunk would stand there all alone. Two little round tears would fall from
his eyes. Roger Skunk walked along very sadly and came to a very big tree.
There was a huge, wise, old owl on the topmost branch of the tree. He told the
owl that all the other little animals ran away from him because he smelled very
bad. The owl admitted that he did so. Skunk wanted to know what he could do and
cried hard. The owl advised Roger Skunk to go to the wizard who lived in the
dense forest over a little river. The wizard too observed that the Skunk
smelled awful. He asked what he wanted. Roger Skunk told his problem. The
wizard found his magic wand and asked Roger Skunk what he wanted to smell like.
Roger thought and said, “Roses”. The wizard chanted a magical spell. There was
a smell of roses all around the wizard’s house. Roger Skunk now smelled like
that of roses
Q3. Why, do you think, was Roger Skunk’s mommy angry ? Does her
anger seem justified? What did she decide to do?
Ans. Roger Skunk’s mommy
was angry because he had lost his God-given smell. He no longer emitted the
foul smell he was bom with. On the other hand, he had an awful and unusu¬ally
sweet smell of roses. She wanted her young one to smell the way a young skunk
should. This smell was God-given protection against danger. The predator could
be kept at bay.
The newly acquired smell of roses, howsoever pleasant and sweet smelling could
endan¬ger the skunk’s life by attracting the predators to the tiny skunk. She
wanted to know who had done so. She felt very angry at the wizard. Her anger is
justified because by his simple act he had put the life of the young skunk in
danger. No mother can act peacefully or rationally when there is some danger to
her young one. Hence, she at once decided to go to the wizard with Roger Skunk
so that his foul smell might be restored and his life might be free from
dangers.
Q4. Comment on the ending of the story ‘Should Wizard Hit
Mommy’?
Ans. The story does not
end with the wizard being hit by the mother. Joanne, who believes the fictional
characters to be real, wants her papa to tell the story that the wizard hit the
stupid mommy. Instead of having a nap, she kicks her legs up and sits down on
the bed. Jack advises her to have a rest.
When he went downstairs, he found that his wife, Clare had spread the
newspapers and opened the paint can. She was wearing an old shirt of his on top
of her maternity smock. She was stroking the chair rail with a dipped brush. He
heard footsteps moving overhead and scolded Joanne.
Jack watched his wife labour. He had come there to help her, but the
story-session had filled him with utter weariness. Clare remarked that it was a
long stoiy. Jack uttered only three words: ‘The poor kid’. He felt caught in an
ugly middle position. Though he felt the presence of his wife there, he did not
wish to speak to her, touch her or work with her. It leaves us baffled. We
begin to ponder over human relationships. Thus, the ending is thought
provoking.
Q5. Why, do you think, the title has a question mark? How far do
you find it a convincing and appropriate title?
Ans. The question mark in the title ‘Should Wizard Hit Mommy?’
focuses the reader’s attention on the two well-wishers of the main
character—Roger Skunk. The wizard solves Roger Skunk’s problem of bad smell and
gives him the smell of roses at his request. The skunk’s mother is angry,
because her baby has been deprived of the bad odour which a skunk of his age
should emit. This bad odour is a sort of armoura protection against predators
who are kept away by the dirty smell. The mother skunk hits the wizard on the
head and forces him to restore the foul smell to the skunk.
Jo, the four-year-old girl, for whom the wizard is a real do-gooder, can’t
digest his humiliation at the hands of a stupid mother. From her point of view,
the smell of roses make skunk popular among the other little animals.
The story can take either direction and ending depending on the point of view
of the adult or child. The author very cunningly seeks the reaction of his
readers by putting a ques¬tion mark at the end of the title. One may approve of
it or reject it. Thus, the title is quite convincing and appropriate one.