The Wish || Roald Dahl || Compulsory English Grade 11

 

4. THE WISH

 

About the Writer: Roald Dahl

v Roald Dahl was born 1916 and died in 1990,

v He was born in Wales of Norwegian immigrant parents,

v He is a novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, adult and children's stories writer,

v He spend his childhood in England,

v Worked at the Shell Oil Company at the age of 18,

v Joined Royal Force, fought in the WWII as a fighter pilot,

v Went to the USA at the age of 26 and began to write there,

v In 1966 he began to write children's stories,

v His famous works are:   

o   James and The Giant Peach

o   Matilda

o   Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

 

About the Story

v This is a story about a young boy who is imaginative, adventurous, fearful, overconfident, curious, careful etc.

v Use of imagery and metaphor

v Depicts the delicacy of childhood innocence, as well as a frightening even in his childhood,

v Point of view: Third Person

 

Plot:

Introduction: Describing the carpet

Rising Action: The boy begins to cross the carpet/adventure

Climax: When the boy was about to fall into the snakes,

Falling Action: When his mother calls him after she hears him yelling

 

Characters:

The boy (both antagonist and protagonist)

 

Setting: Somewhere in England, midday, in a large carpeted room of his house

 

Theme:

v Go for your goal, but don't harm yourself in the process

v Don't let your imagination conquer your common sense

v Don't let your greed overpower your abilities

v Fear leads to failure

v Unrealistic and difficult task by freewill of overconfidence

v Man enjoys the victory but the successive victories intoxicate human nature

 

Connection:

v In the beginning the boy was analyzing his scab

v Playing a similar game as a child

v Playing the floor (lava)

 

Images:

v A scab of old cut on the kneecap of the boy

v Red, black and yellow carpet etc.,

v The boy's panic when comes too near to the snakes

v Different colors of the carpet represent different things (Red- hot coal, Black-snakes, Yellow-passage)

 

 

Exercises:

Understanding the Text

Answer the following questions.

 

a. What did the child do to the scab on his knee?

The child explored the scab cautiously around the edge; he got his nail underneath it and raised the cover slightly. After he put the scan on his thigh and flipped with his finger and it flew away and landed on the edge of the carpet.

 

b. What kind of effect did the carpet have on the child?

The carpet, which was much bigger than the tennis lawn, stretched from one end of the hall to another, was tapestry of Red, Black and Yellow colors. The colors brightened mysteriously in dazzling way. The red colored part turned to be red hot lumps of coal, the black parts were deadliest snakes and Yellow patches were the ways to reach from one end to another.

 

c. What was he afraid of while walking across the carpet?

He was afraid of the red and yellow colored patches of the carpet because for him red colored patched were lumps of burning coal which could burn him completely and black patches were poisonous snakes which could bite him to death.

 

d. What motivated and encouraged the child to start and continue on his journey?

The reward of a puppy for his birthday the following morning motivated and encouraged the child to start and continue on his journey.

 

e. What did the child see as he looked down on the black patterns of the carpet?

When the child looked down on the black patterns of the carpet he saw a great glistening mass of black snakes almost touching him.

 

Reference to the Context:

a. The writer creates two voices in the story. Who are they?

The story is being told by two people and they are the narrator and the boy.

 

b. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

"…the black parts are snakes, poisonous snakes, adders mostly, and cobras, thick like tree-trunks round the middle, and if I touch one of them, I'll be bitten and I'll die before tea time. And if I get across safely, without being burnt and without being bitten, I will be given a puppy for my birthday tomorrow."

 

i. What does 'the black part' mean?

The black part means poisonous snakes such as adders (small snakes) and thick cobras.

 

ii. Who is the speaker?

The protagonist of the story- the young boy is the speaker.

 

iii. Why doesn't the speaker want to be burnt?

The speaker doesn't want to be burnt because he wishes to get a birthday gift-a puppy tomorrow, after the successful completion of the deadly journey.

 

c. Which images and metaphors are used in the story?

Images and metaphors are the literary devices used in the story. The images are the scab, the boy's panic when coming near the snakes, the red, black and yellow patches of the carpet etc. The first image, the scab represents the boys challenge and red and black patches represent adventurous and risky journey where as yellow patches represent happiness, hope, pleasure and self confidence.

 

The red, black and yellow colors mixed carpet is the metaphor for the challenges the boy faces in his life. The red spots seem to be hot coals, which can burn and destroy him. The black sections are writhing poisonous snakes, which represent evil, lies, and temptations. Although the child is frightened, he accepts the challenge and begins. Dahl describes the boy's journey across the carpet through the child's perspective, as if the images he has created in his mind are real and he is really in danger. In a sense, this is how fantasies sometimes seem to imaginative children. In a metaphorical sense, the boy's apprehension in traversing the carpet represents the apprehension he will feel while growing up as he faces real obstacles in his path to maturity.

 d. Summarize the short story "The Wish" in about 200 words.

The story opens with a small boy picking a scab off his knee. As he sits on the stairs, he becomes aware of the large red, black, and yellow carpet that stretches to the front door. He decides that the red patches are red hot lumps of coal that will burn him up completely, and the black parts are poisonous snakes that will bite him and kill him. If he can make it all the way across without getting burnt or bitten, he will get a puppy for his birthday tomorrow.

 

The boy begins his quest. The first part is easy going, but he reaches some difficult parts and has to take long steps. He wobbles but stretches out his arms to steady himself. He reaches a turning point and goes left, because although it seems more difficult, there’s less black. (He’s very afraid of the snakes.) He reaches the halfway point and knows he can’t turn back or jump off. He begins to feel panic rising in his chest. He takes another step to the only close yellow piece, and his foot is only a centimeter from a black patch. A snake stirs and raises its head to watch him. “I’m not touching you! You mustn’t bite me!” he thinks. Another snake rises as well, and the child is frozen with terror for several minutes. The next step is a very long one, too long to jump. The child manages to get one foot across and transfers his weight. He tries to then bring up his back foot but can’t. He was doing the splits and he was stuck. He looked down at the oily bodies of the snakes writhing beneath him. He began to wobble, but this time waving his arms only made it worse. He was starting to go over. “The next thing he saw was this bare hand of his going right into the middle of a great glistening mass of black and he gave one piercing cry as it touched. Out in the sunshine, far away behind the house, the mother was looking for her son.”

 e. The story shows the events through the eyes of the narrator and the child. Comparing the two styles, who presents more interesting or effective view for the readers? Why?

 The whole story is told from the point of views of the narrator and the child. The first event is told from the point of view of the narrator. The event of uncovering of the scab, being told by the narrator is revelation of the actual nature of the boy who is adventurous, curious, and imaginative. The fall of the scab on the carpet, is connected to the boy's imagination for his carpet game. Then there comes the child's point of view in which the readers are taken into his imagination. He imagines the patches red color as red hot lumps of coal, black patches as adders and cobras and yellow patches for his risky path of journey. Then the remaining parts are told from the point of view of the narrator. The images of the carpet created in the mind of the boy seem real and he is in real situation surrounded by fire and snakes in a narrow safety place. So this part is interesting and effective view for the readers.

 

f. Is "The Wish" a story about self confidence overcoming fear or about greed?

 This is a story of a curious and imaginative young boy who prefers to accept many challenges. In this story the boy weaves a frightening event of carpet game and to motivate him to complete the risky game he makes a wish of getting a puppy for his birthday. Before that event the boy faced both real and imaginative challenges. The real challenge he faced while raising the scab on his knee. He feared if the scab could hurt him, but his self confidence made him uncover it. The carpet game is also about his self confidence overcoming fear not about the greed of getting a puppy. It was only his motivation to complete the journey. He fears a lot while crossing the huge carpet through a narrow passage of yellow color. He feared of red hot coal and poisonous snakes, but he cautiously walked forward without being burnt and bitten. Although he failed to reach at the side of carpet without touching black and red part, his self confidence helped him overcome the fear from the initial stage.    

 

Reference beyond the Text

a. Do you think our wish can be fulfilled? Why or why not?

The things which we don't have and longing to possess them is our wish. Or in other words, thinking of having those things which we don't have is our wish. Human wishes are uncontrollable as it is our nature. We can't get the things we want because of different circumstance. But sometimes we may able to have the things we wish. Some of our wishes can be fulfilled some are not. It depends on the nature of things we wish. However we can make our efforts to fulfill our wish as the proverb says, "Where there is will there is a way." We need determination, headwork and continuous practice to fulfill our wish.

 

b. Why do you think some people might have a frightening nature? What would you suggest to them to overcome it?

The story teaches us that self confidence is a key to overcome fear. Everyone fears in dangerous and difficult situation and it is human nature. But such frightening nature can be overcome by collecting self confidence of regular practice. Humans are rational being and we can use our mind to solve different problems. Actually problems make us fearful but if we employ our mind to solve out that problem, fear goes away. We have to make our heart strong and mind sharp to overcome it.