-John Updike
Text:
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Summary:
The given story revolves around Jack who is a father of two kids.It is about the worldview of a little child and the difficult moral question she raises.Jack had keep his habit to tell his daughters a story every evening.Sometimes whenever they questioned he would be at a fix.
The story starts with daily routine that Jack had been following for almost 2 years now.His daughter,Jo,was two years old when the daily routine of story-telling began.Even then when she was already 4 years old,Jack had continued to tell her stories from his mind.This would take place everyday before going to sleep or also on Saturday afternoons during her nap.
The issue was that Jack had been telling stories for so long now that he had started to exhaust his ideas for a good story.Jo also didn't sleep anymore during the story sessions as they were becoming monotonous with every passing day.
The central character of the story would always remain the same of with his name as "Roger" in the narrations.Everyday a different animal would be called Roger.Whenever Rodger used to have any sort of trouble,he would approach the wise owl for help.The owl would always refer him to the wizard. The wizard would solve Roger's issue but would demand for more pennies that Roger possessed. But, the wizard would also provide him with the solution to fetch the pennies from a specific place. Roger would follow his orders and fetch the pennies,then Roger would continue to play with his friends.After happily playing with his friends Roger would go back before it got dark.He would wait for his father who would be back on his way from Boston.Then,Jack would describe what all Roger and his family had for supper.This had remained the climax of the story for a long time now.
One specific Saturday afternoon,Jack asked Jo about which creature did she want to hear a story.To this,Jo told that she wanted to hear a story about a "skunk".So,Jack started the story with Roger skunk who was a very stinky animal. None of his friends liked to play with Roger skunk. Like every story plot Jack had earlier described,Roger skunk went to the wizard and shared his problem. The wizard helped him solving his struggle and asked how he wanted to smell. Roger replied to this that he wanted to smell like roses and with the wizard's magic he started to smell as magnificent as a rose. When he went out in public, all the animals started gathering around him as he was starting to smell good.
However, later in the day when he went to his house, his mother asked him who made him smell like roses.Roger skunk describe the entire story to her mother. Her mother was not at all impressed and told him that is earlier smell was nice and good. She also said that she didn't care much if other animals didn't talk to him because of his foul smell. She went to the wizard along with Roger skunk. As soon as the wizard open the door, mother skunk give him a hard blow. The wizard reversed his spell which again returned the foul smell to Roger skunk.
While returning back, Rodger skunk had the sound of an incoming train. His father was returning on the train. The family had dinner together and well going to sleep, the mother skunk came to Roger and told him that she is totally comfortable with the way he smells. There is is no reason to change it smell and the story ended there.
Then,Jo asked her father Jack if the animals ran away from the skunk because of his smell to which Jack replied 'no'.This was because all the animals around him had totally adopted to the smell of the skunk.However,Jo could n't accept this narrative easily.She was not all convinced with idea of the mother skunk forcing her child to be as she liked.This not only made Roger skunk smell bad again but also was a potential barrier in socialising with others.She wanted her father to tell a story where the wizard would hit back the mother skunk and refuses to change the skunk's smell back.
To this,Jack replied her that he would think about it.Upon persistence,he told her that the primary point of the story was that loved his mother more than anyone else and obeyed her command.The mother skunk being more experienced what was correct for Roger skunk.The mother told her that she loved him the way he is and he needn't change for others.
With this Jack told Jo to sleep as her little brother was already asleep.He bid her goodnight and went downstairs.Here,his wife Clare was painting the chair rail.He wanted to help her but was too tired to help her.Upon hearing some footsteps,he immediately scolded Jo and the footsteps soon faded.Between,all this he was also preoccupied with the thoughts of his marriage as it was in a bad state.There was no solution to it.He also didn't feel like touching or helping Clare.
Parents are of the opinion feel that children should do or think exactly what they are told.They should believe whatever they are told by their parents.The daughter of Jack questions this attitude and even is the right attitude.The author has left it for the reader to decide about what should be done.
Difficult Words:
i)Rite:A social custom, practice and conventional act.
ii)Skunk:A cat-sized mammal of the weasel family with black and white fur.
iii)Crick:A painful stiff feeling in the neck or back.
iv)Woodwork:The wooden parts of a room or building.
v)Lacrosse:A team sport which involves a ball and catching it with a L-shaped stick.
vi)Molding:To give a shape to.
vii)Lima Beans:An edible flat whitish bean.
About Author:
John Hoyer Updike born on March,18,1932 was an American novelist,poet,short-story writer,art critic and literary critic.He is one of the only 4 writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction more than once.He has published more than 20 novels during his life along with a dozen of short story collections,poetry etc.
NCERT Questions:
A)Reading with Insight.
1)The story raises a very fundamental issue prevalent in our contemporary society.It is regarding the choices and decisions made by a child.Actually,the parents decide for their children.The story raises a moral question whether the parents should leave the children to decide for themselves or should the parents keep deciding for their children.Here,we need to understand that their is a stark contrast between the perspective of an adult and a child.When Jo questioned the decision of the mother skunk,Jack defended the behaviour of the mother skunk who actually restored the foul smell back to Roger skunk.He summed up his entire answer that the mother skunk knew what was correct for him.When asked why Roger agreed to his mother's decision,Jack told that Roger loved her more than any other animal and at that moment didn't care about other animals.This shows that parents being older feel that they know what is best for their children and their children should do as instructed.
2)Jack ended the story in a way where it was not easily acceptable by Jo.She simply couldn't accept the thing that the mother of the skunk beat the wizard to restore the foul smell to the skunk again.This is one of the few examples which shows that the decisions of the parents can sometimes be nightmarish for the children.
Jo was simply not at ease with the climax of tej story.This was because of the fact she was not all convinced with thing that how a mother can do anything which proves to be a hindrance for her own child.
3)Jack,being a parent,has the typical parental attitude where he is almost stubborn to reject the opinion that parents don't know what is best for their children.In order to keep his point relevant,he asserts the parental authority to quiten Jo and stifle all her amendments to the story.The entire narrative was made in such a way which defended the mother's behaviour of restoring back the foul smell back to the skunk.He mentioned in his story that the mother skunk told Roger that he is better off with his original smell rather the smell of the roses.He told Jo that as the skunk loved her mother more than anyone else,he obeyed her command unquestioningly.Jack was almost insistent on the ending that emphasize the concern of the parents for their children.
4)Jack felt that he was caught in a ugly middle position both physically and mentally.Jack was conscious of his duties as a father as well as a husband.His efforts to make Jo fall asleep was proving to be futile as she was constantly interrupting him and suggesting alternatives.He extended the story but it backfired as Jo now wanted him to change the ending of the story.Finally,when he went downstairs,Clare complainingly told that it was a long story.Jack who wanted to help his wife could n't do anything as he was utterly tired.
5)Of both the given endings to the story,I personally think that Jo's ending of the story was more convincing and relevant for me.Roger skunk was having various problems because of his foul and nasty smell.The wizard should have hit the mother skunk because this decision of the mother was not all good.Jack,being a parent,tried his level best to justify his point by the means of the story.
6)There is certainly a striking contrast between the outlook of an adult and that between of a child.This is because of the difference between their respective experiences and the varied exposure of both the persons.An adult being older in age has come across various sorts of persons and experiences in his life.On the other hand,a child is well-protected under the umbrella of his parents.The children living in the world of make-believe become lovers of romance,beauty and all the other pleasant things in nature.The adults are quite familiar with the harsh and tough realities of life are well-aware that every flashy is not beautiful.Adults,being familiar with the crests and troughs of life,take everything with a pinch of salt.
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