Class 12 English Chapter 20 Should Wizard Hit Mommy? Question Answer to each chapter is provided in the list so that you can easily browse through different chapters Assam Board Class 12 English Chapter 20 Should Wizard Hit Mommy? and select needs one.
Class 12 English Chapter 20 Should Wizard Hit Mommy?
Also, you can read the SCERT book online in these sections Solutions by Expert Teachers as per SCERT (CBSE) Book guidelines. These solutions are part of SCERT All Subject Solutions. Here we have given Assam Board Class 12 English Chapter 20 Should Wizard Hit Mommy? Solutions for All Subjects, You can practice these here.
Should Wizard Hit Mommy?
Lesson – 20
VISTAS (SUPPLEMENTARY)
| READ AND FIND OUT |
Page No – 48
1. 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.
Jack has been narrating bedtime stories to his daughter, Jo, for the past two years. These tales consistently feature a protagonist named Roger be it Roger Fish, Roger Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk, or Roger Skunk. Recurring characters include a wise old owl and a small wizard, with various forest creatures participating, either befriending or ostracizing Roger based on the story’s events. This repetition has led Jo to become deeply engaged in the storytelling sessions, actively anticipating familiar plot developments and character interactions.
| READ AND FIND OUT |
Page No – 53
1. What possible plot line could the story continue with?
Ans: In John Updike’s “Should Wizard Hit Mommy?”, the contrasting perspectives of Jo and her father, Jack, shape the story’s conclusion. Jo, a four-year-old girl, desires a fairy-tale ending where Roger Skunk permanently acquires a pleasant scent, enabling him to play happily with other animals. This reflects her innocent belief in simple solutions leading to universal acceptance.
Conversely, Jack introduces a more complex resolution influenced by his own childhood experiences and his relationship with his mother. In his narrative, Roger’s mother insists he revert to his natural odor, emphasizing themes of self-acceptance and parental authority. Jack’s storytelling suggests that conforming to societal expectations isn’t necessary for personal fulfillment, a lesson he deems important for Jo to understand.
This divergence highlights the tension between a child’s desire for uncomplicated, happy endings and an adult’s inclination to impart life lessons grounded in personal experiences and societal realities.
| READ AND FIND OUT |
Page No – 54
1. What do you think was Jo’s problem?
Ans: Little Jo had become accustomed to the cheerful endings of Roger’s stories, in which the magician aided him in achieving his goal. In the tale of Roger Skunk, the wizard grants Roger’s wish to smell like roses, enabling him to play joyfully with other animals. However, the story takes an unexpected turn when Roger’s mother insists he revert to his original scent, even striking the wizard to enforce this change. This ending unsettles Jo; she cannot comprehend why a mother would undo her child’s happiness and harm someone who helped him. She suggests that the wizard should retaliate against the mother and maintain Roger’s pleasant aroma. In Jo’s innocent worldview, magical beings like wizards and fairies represent the ultimate arbiters of justice and happiness. The harsh realities and complexities of adult decisions are beyond her understanding, leading her to view Roger’s mother as unkind for denying her son the chance to be accepted by his peers. Jo’s reaction highlights the purity of a child’s perspective, where empathy and immediate happiness are paramount, and the nuances of parental guidance and identity are yet to be grasped.
| READING WITH INSIGHT |
1. What is the moral issue that the story raises?
Ans: The narrative explores moral dilemmas at various stages of development. There is a significant difference between an adult’s viewpoint on life and that of a small child. Children stand for innocence. Hatred and inequality should not have a place in the world. The infant skunk in the story was only able to make pals after smelling like roses. In Jo’s opinion, the joy of being able to make friends was greater than anything else.As a result, she can not determine why her mother skunk has coerced her child to restore her original foul body odor.
On the contrary, Jack attempted to justify the skunk’s mother, encouraging Roger to follow her advice, even if it meant smelling unpleasant once again. Like any father, Jack wanted his daughter to believe that parents always have their children’s best interests at heart and should be trusted. As a result, the story prompts reflection on whether parents’ decisions should always be followed without question.
2. How does Jo want the story to end and why?
Ans: Jo was not convinced with the ending of the story and coaxed her father to retell the story the next day giving the story a predetermined path that she had set. According to Jo, the story took a wrong turn, not because of Roger Skunk or the wizard, but due to the mother’s actions. Jo refused to accept the ending, in which Roger Skunk’s mother hit the wizard without being hit in return. Jo wanted to change the conclusion, imagining the wizard retaliating by using his magic wand to strike back and ‘forcefully’ removing her wings.
3. 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 repeatedly asserts parental power to silence Jo and squelch her protests and revisions to his story about the foul-smelling Skunk.
He defends the attitude of Roger Skunk’s mother. She does not approve of the unnatural, skunk like smell that Roger has. She calls the sweet smell of the roses an awful smell.Earlier, the little skunk had the natural scent of a skunk. His mother wanted to restore this characteristic, the foul smell believing it was the right thing to do. She was certain she knew what was best for her child.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. Jack insisted on this ending to highlight the role of parents in guiding their children and raising them according to their own beliefs.
4. What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly middle position?
Ans: Jack believes he has been caught in an unattractive middle ground in terms of his physical, emotional, and mental well-being.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 disliked the idea of women taking things for granted; he preferred them to be apprehensive. Despite being in a hurry to go downstairs and assist his pregnant wife with painting the woodwork, he prolonged the story. The result of the story’s extension was fruitless and unpleasant for Jo, Jack, and Clare. Jo requested that he alter the story’s conclusion. Clare expressed her dissatisfaction with the length of his story.Jack, overwhelmed with exhaustion, felt disconnected; he neither wished to talk to his wife, help her, nor even touch her. He found himself trapped in a difficult and uncomfortable position.
5. What is your stance regarding the two endings to the Roger Skunk story?
Ans: Considering the tender age of Jo, both the endings seem a little irrational. It is certain that she will be learning from whatever she hears and visualizes at this age.If the story finishes the way Jack wants it to, Jo will never be able to question anything she thinks is wrong in her life because the finale emphasizes that elders are always correct in everything they do. In addition, the story shows the skunk’s mommy hitting the wizard for no fault of his. The wizard had only done what he was asked to. This may be frightening to Jo, who is four years old, because it teaches that mothers, as elders, have the authority to hit anyone, even if they are not at fault.
On the contrary, if the story ends as Jo wanted it to, it will stop her from believing in and respecting her elders. She may even start believing that there is nothing wrong in hitting elders.A balanced viewpoint could be presented in an appropriate ending, in which the mother either does not hit the wizard at all or sees her error quickly.
6. Why is an adult’s perspective on life different from that of a child’s?
Ans: A child’s speech, thoughts, behavior, and reactions are natural and uninfluenced by external pressures. They speak from the heart, guided by their own sense of right and wrong. In contrast, an adult must consider various factors before speaking or reacting, as societal norms shape and influence their views. In this chapter, Jo expresses what she truly believes to be right. However, Jack, as an adult caught in a dilemma, struggles with the consequences of accepting his daughter’s version of the story’s ending while also being influenced by what society has instilled in him. Changing social trends, increasing individuality, women’s liberation from male dominance, and the decline of traditional values shape an adult’s world. A child, however, remains untouched by these complexities and perceives the world through their own innocent perspective.
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