Literatus

 

In the story, ‘Should Wizard hit mommy’, the writer, John Updike examines the issues of parenting and the flaws that inadvertently creep in. The adult tendency to quell the questioning mind of a child and also the intrusion of the beliefs held by adults to represent the only valid viewpoint, are areas that find mention in this simple yet powerful story. Jo, the four-year-old daughter of Jack, has been subjected to a bedtime story telling by her father ever since she was two years of age. As the story has a slight variation of a basic talk. It follows a simple unchanging plot in which the various characters all bear the name of Roger and the ending is predictable. Jack prides himself on what he thinks of as his ingenuity, and is especially proud his ability to enact the role of the old wizard, an integral part of each story, changing his voice so much better when Jo was smaller and would go to sleep sooner. He things of her two-year-old brother, Bobby, peacefully asleep and is almost pl...

Themes Storytelling and Control In “Should Wizard Hit Mommy?” the process of crafting a story is as important as the story itself. Indeed, Jack uses the Roger Skunk story to exercise control and decisiveness that he feels like he no longer possesses in his own life, and also to delay helping his pregnant wife, Clare, repaint the living room (and, in the process, delay confronting the fact that his family is about to get bigger). Far from merely a mechanism to get his daughter to sleep, the story becomes a way for Jack to re-contextualize his personal unhappiness, exercising total control over his simple narrative to compensate for a lack of control he feels in life. As a result, Jack is incredibly protective over his story and its hero, Roger Skunk, and views Jo’s attempts to change the structure of his story as more sinister attempts to control him as well. “Should Wizard Hit Mommy” was written in 1959 when John Updike was married to his first wife Mary Pennington. The couple lived in...

Short questions What was the regular routine of Jack in the evening and for Saturdays? (p-49 , 1st para) Which animal did Jo suggest for the story that day? Why? (skunk, must have heard about skunks at nursery school) Do you think Jack and Jo could identify with Roger skunk as a victim of the hatred of other creatures (Jack brought the story to life when he narrated the tale remembering certain humiliations of his own childhood. The corners of Jo’s mouth drooped down and her lower lip bent forward. A tear flowed along the side of the nose. This shows that even Jo could identify with Roger skunk.) Which two opposite forces acted on Jack while he was telling Jo the story? (p-49 , last para) What was the cause of Roger Skunk’s sadness? (p-50 ,4th para, Mr Owl) Why did Roger Skunk go in search of the wizard? (SP) (-Everybody made fun of Roger Skunk because he gave out a bad smell.- he was upset about this-He met the old owl who advised him to go to the wizard, which would help him and give...

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 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 as a skunk and wanted his friends to accept him for himself. So the...