SHOULD WIZARD HIT MOMMY -NCERT SOLUTIONS-CLASS XII ENGLISH CBSE

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

Ans.Although "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" reads like a typical bed time story elders tell little children, it does raise a moral question - Should parents always decide what is best for their children and should children always obey their parents unquestioningly ?

 Roger Skunk is a very obedient child but he feels very sad and upset because he smells so awful that nobody wants to befriend him and play with him. One day he gets a change to get his bad smell replaced with the smell of roses. He feels excited about the change for everyone likes his new smell and readily agrees to play with him. However Roger's mother does not like the change. For her, Roger was better off with his original smell. So, she makes the wizard restore Skunk's original smell. Roger meekly accepts his mother's decision and other children get used to Roger's awful smell and don’t complain about in any more.

 But the narrow world view of the little girl, Jo likes to spell out the slogan of equality for all. She believes in the axiom "Tit for Tat". She feels that mother is wrong in getting her son's original smell back and wants her to be spanked by the wizard for her mistake. Her father, who has modeled Skunk's story on his own story, strongly defends the mother Skunk's decision.

Thus, the author through this story raises a moral question of how much authority parents should exercise in teaching their children what is wrong, what is right, what they should do and what not. Since, there is no single correct answer to the question, he leaves it for the readers to answer it on the basis of their beliefs, cultures and values.

 

2.Why is an adult's perspective on life different from that of a child's ?

Ans.As the child grows into maturity his perspective and vision of life change gradually. A child views things at superficial and sensory level but a grown up's vision is realistic, reflective, philosophical and even psychological. Viewed from the study of the story "Should Wizard Hit Mommy?" Jo, a child of four, like most children of her age, prefers to live in dreams and fantasies. She is hostile by nature and would like to wreak vengeance on Skunk's mother and wants the wizard to retaliate.

 She is annoyed because the father refuses to accept her suggestion. The father has a mature perspective and sees beyond the surface and explores the philosophical and moralistic aspect of the entire situation. The wizard had unwittingly interfered with nature and had thus done a great deal of harm and deserved to be punished. According to him the punishment meted out to the wizard is well merited and retaliation is out of the question.

Thus the story makes it clear that the perspective of a child and that of an adult is totally different. 

 

3.. How does Jo want the story to end any why?

Suggested Answer / Value Points- Jo feels thrilled to hear stories from her father - themes were the extension of childhood memories - Jo does not like the end of the story of Roger Skunk, where the Skunk’s mother hit wizard to restore the natural smell instead of the rose fragrance. She cannot understand the harm that one encounters for opposing nature – she is happy to see Roger Skunks has found many friends - she does not want Roger Skunk to lose his playmates. She also cannot bear the injustice done to the wizard and wants him to hit the mother.

 

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

: Jack firmly believes that mothers can’t err and deserve unchallenged and unconditioned obedience for they know what is right for their children. Secondly, the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals. The another reason was that Jack, while narrating the story, unknowingly got emotionally connected with the character of the protagonist and his mother. He pictured his own mother in place of Roger Skunk’s mother and thus could not imagine his own mother being hit by anyone. Jo also understood that his father was defending his own mother. Moveover , mother was justified in her belief that what is natural is not disgraceful and one should never give up one’s individuality.

 

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

Answer : Jack is a loving father and a caring husband. The day the story happens , Jack is supposed to help his wife paint the household furniture and bric-a-brac. However, he cannot do so because, he has to tell his daughter a story before the Saturday nap.

He thinks that he will finish the story quickly and then go downstairs to help his wife Clare paint. Unfortunately for him that is not to be. The story takes a rather long time, for his daughter who is now four, interrupts it on several occasions and asks him several questions and even corrects him a couple of times. Moreover , she does not like the ending of the story – she wants her father to end the story in a way that the wizard spanks the mother on her head for wanting to change her son’s smell back to the awful one. Although Jack does not like the ending and would rather stick to the original ending ,he knows that Jo will have her way the next day and make him introduce the ending suggested by her.

Although the story Jack has been worrying about his wife Clare who is six months pregnant and who is busy painting downstairs and desperately needs him .Jack is thus face to face with an ‘ugly middle position ‘ where he fails on all fronts and is neither able to make his four year old daughter sleep nor is able to help his wife in painting. Clare, who has finished quite a lot of work , complains that he has taken too long to tell the story. Jack suddenly experiences a mood swing. Tired, bored and dejected , he feels like doing nothing. He feels trapped in a rut of life along with his wife .He has no desire to speak to her , work with her or touch her.