Summary of Should Wizard Hit Mommy?
‘Should Wizard Hit Mommy?’ is a story by American writer John Updike that presents a moral conundrum a father runs into. Jack, the father of a four-year-old young girl named Jo, tells her stories to lull her to sleep. One fine Saturday, he decides to impart an important lesson to his daughter. He tells her a story about a young skunk, Roger, who transforms his natural scent, which is unpleasant, into that of roses. He thinks no one wants to play with him because of his smell. Roger’s mother is furious when she learns about this. She takes him back to the wizard. She hits the wizard with an umbrella demanding her son be returned to his previous state. Jo does not like this particular ending. She found Roger’s actions right as they would help him find friends. Jack is now caught up in a dilemma – he wants to emphasise his moral lesson of self-acceptance, but he finds out that reasoning with Jo about this will be difficult. The summary of Should Wizard Hit Mommy? will give you a detailed understanding of the chapter. Students can refer to CBSE Notes and CBSE Summary for further information and learning materials on the Class 12 CBSE English syllabus.
CBSE Class 12 English Should Wizard Hit Mommy? Summary
Jack had started a ritual of telling stories to his daughter Jo to put her to sleep in the evenings and for Saturday naps. He started this thing two years back when Jo was two years old. He made up the stories with the same basic storyline about an animal named Roger. The animal could be a fish, a squirrel or a chipmunk. The story starts with Roger facing a problem and needing a solution. He goes to the wise owl for advice, who directs him to the wizard, who, in turn, solves the problem but asks for more pennies than Roger has. The wizard also helps Roger find the additional money.
Jack found it particularly difficult to tell stories on Saturdays because Jo had changed and did not fall asleep easily. The incident in the story happened on a particular Saturday when Jack tried to create a story, and Jo suggested that the animal should be a skunk. So, Jack started the story. There was a skunk called Roger who smelled very badly. No one wanted to play with him because of his smell. Jack based this story on humiliating experiences from his childhood. He wanted to teach a very important lesson.
The story continued – Roger was upset about it and sought advice from a wise owl. The owl advised Roger to consult the wizard. As Jack was in the flow of telling his story, Jo asked him if magic spells were real. She had started this trend recently where she would question the existence of certain things – seeking validation for her doubts. Jack answered that magic spells were real in stories.
Roger followed the owl’s instructions to find the wizard. When he found the wizard, he found all the magic things jumbled together in a dirty heap. Jack explained that the wizard had no cleaning lady. Jo wanted to know why, and Jack reasoned that the wizard was a wizard and an old man. Jo inquired again if the wizard was going to die. Jack answered that he was not. The wizard asked Roger what he would like to smell like. Roger answered that he would like to smell like roses. So, the wizard chanted a spell, and Roger started smelling like roses. The wizard asked for six pennies as payment, whereas Roger had only four pennies. The wizard told Roger how to find the rest of the money.
After Roger paid the full amount to the wizard, he went to play. All the other animals gathered around him because he smelled so good, and they played many games. Jo thought the story ended there and started looking out the window when Jack started adding more content to the story. When Roger returned home, his mother asked him why he smelled different. This thing baffled Jo because this was not the happy ending she was executing. Roger told his mother about the wizard, and she was furious about it. She took Roger to the wizard with an umbrella in her hand. She hit the wizard on his head and demanded her son be returned to his initial state.
At this point, Jo started feeling sympathy for Roger and reasoned that no animal would play with him now. Jack answered that it was not the case. The other animals got used to Roger’s smell eventually and accepted him as he was. The story was over, and Jack wanted to go downstairs and help his wife paint the room. He was leaving the room when he found Jo asking him to tell her a story about how the wizard hit Roger’s mother right in the head with his wand. Jack refused to do so, telling her this was the original story. Jo was adamant about it and demanded that he tell her that story. She seemed serious about it because she was not laughing. Jack responded by saying that he would think about it.
When he came downstairs, he found his wife Carole had already opened the paint can. She commented that Jack had told a long story. Jack felt exhausted and simply did not want to engage with her in any conversation or work or touch her.
Conclusion of Should Wizard Hit Mommy?
We can see in the summary of Should Wizard Hit Mommy? how Jack wanted to teach Jo a lesson about individuality and the importance of accepting oneself. He narrated a longer story than usual, with some complexities involved. As we can see, Jo had already started asking questions about certain things. She was growing up and had started to formulate her own opinions. The story made Jo sympathetic towards Roger. She found Roger’s actions to be right and his mother’s interference in this unacceptable. Through his story, Jack had already portrayed a mother who stood against her child’s happiness and he found that it was going to be really difficult to explain why it was right. He found himself stuck in an ethical dilemma.
A deep understanding of any piece of literature helps students learn the various concepts and language devices used in it. It also helps students develop critical thinking skills towards literary works. Students can go to BYJU’S CBSE website for guidance and learning support for various topics related to the CBSE English syllabus, like grammar and writing topics.
