Chapter 4 The Wish

 

Chapter 4 The Wish 

Class 11 English Exercise 

Roald Dahl 

About Author 

Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, poet,
screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot. His books have been sold
more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has born in Wales to
Norwegian immigrant parents. He served in the Royal force during
the Second World war.
The story “The Wish” is about a young child and his imaginative
game of carpet. This story has presented the child’s wish as well as
the frightening event of his childhood. 

Summary 

The story “The Wish” is about a young boy who had a frightening
event in his childhood. At the beginning of the scene, we find an
unnamed child looking at his kneecap’s scab and bent forward to
examine it closely. He picked his scab gently which fell upon the
edge of the red carpet. When he moved near the scab different
colours of the carpet attracted his attention. He creatively imagined
each different colour represent something. In his imagination, he
supposed the red coloured spots as lumps of coal that could burn
him, black colour as a poisonous snake that could bite him, and
yellow colour as the only safe zone for him where he could step and
cross the huge carpet to get inside, he would be gifted a puppy for
his birthday.
So the boy begins his quest. 

The first part is easygoing but reached
some difficult parts and has to take long strides. He wobbles but
stretched out his arm to keep himself in a steady position. Then
reaching a turning point, he chooses left because it’s difficult but
black spots were less there. He reaches the halfway point and knows he cannot turn back or jump off. Then he begins to feel panic
rising in his chest. He takes another step to the only close yellow
spot and his foot is only a centimeter from the black patch. 

A snake
stirs and raises its head to watch him. Although he was trying to
balance himself it did not work. He started to cry as he touched the
black.
And the story ends with his mother who was looking for him behind
a house outside the sunshine.knows he cannot turn back or jump off. Then he begins to feel panic
rising in his chest. He takes another step to the only close yellow
spot and his foot is only a centimeter from the black patch. A snake
stirs and raises its head to watch him. Although he was trying to
balance himself it did not work. He started to cry as he touched the
black.
And the story ends with his mother who was looking for him behind
a house outside the sunshine. 

Analysis and Interpretation of The Wish 

• The story “The Wish” is about a young boy’s fantasy in which
his carpet is alive with snake and fire.
The writer has used imagery and metaphor which helps to
reflect on the delicacy of our childhood innocence. 

• Unnecessary fear is harmful. 

• Fear causes people to make bad choices. 

• The images and metaphor represent the obstacles and
challenges he faces as he matures. Vivid challenges that Dahl
uses to reinforce the metaphor include the scab, red spots on
carpet, black sections, etc. He faces many challenges in
pursuit of his goal which represent the obstacles in his path to
maturity.

The Wish – Complete Exercise 

Understanding the text 

Answer the following questions. 

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

Answer: The child gently picked the scab off his cut with his finger
nails and put it on his thigh. Finally he flipped it with his finger. 

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

Answer: The child became extremely amazed to see the red carpet.
He had never really notice it before in such a way. The different
colors of carpet seemed to brighten mysteriously and spring out at
him in a most dazzling way. He was thoroughly lost in those colors
and his imagination. 

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

Answer: He was afraid of the black poisonous snakes and the red
coals while walking across the carpet. 

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

Answer: His wish of getting a puppy on his birthday or as a birthday
gift 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? 

Answer: The child saw different colours brightening mysteriously.
He was lost in different colours’ spots. He kept on thinking in his
imagination about the colours and their different forms. Hence, the
child saw the poisonous snake with the oily body of snake arising to
catch or bite him as he looked down on the black patterns of the
carpet. 

Reference to the context

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

Answer: Yes, the writer creates two voices in the story and they
were (a narrator) and the voice of the young boy i.e. the child. 

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 around 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? 

Answer: The black part means the difficulty, challenges and
suffering in the journey. 

ii. Who is the speaker? 

Answer: The speaker is a young boy. 

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

Answer: He doesn’t want to be burnt because he wants to reach
across the carpet safely to receive the gift ‘a puppy’ on his birthday. 

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

Answer: The main metaphor in the story “The Wish” by Roald Dahl
is the child’s journey along the carpet as a representation of the
obstacles and challenges he faces as he matures. Vivid images that
Dahl uses to reinforce the metaphor include the scab as the boy’s
primary challenge, the red spots on the carpet as hot lumps of coal,
and the black sections as evil poisonous snakes. 

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

The story “The Wish” is about a young boy who had a frightening event in his childhood. At the beginning of the scene, we find an unnamed child looking at his kneecap’s scab and bent forward to examine it closely. He picked his scab gently which fell upon the edge of the red carpet. When he moved near the scab different colours of the carpet attracted his attention. He creatively imagined each different colour represent something. In his imagination, he supposed the red coloured spots as lumps of coal that could burn him, black colour as a poisonous snake that could bite him, and yellow colour as the only safe zone for him where he could step and cross the huge carpet to get inside, he would be gifted a puppy for his birthday. So the boy begins his quest. 

The first part is easygoing but reached some difficult parts and has to take long strides. He wobbles but stretched out his arm to keep himself in a steady position. Then reaching a turning point, he chooses left because it’s difficult but black spots were less there. He reaches the halfway point and knows he cannot turn back or jump off. Then he begins to feel panic rising in his chest. He takes another step to the only close yellow spot and his foot is only a centimeter from the black patch. 

A snake stirs and raises its head to watch him. Although he was trying to balance himself it did not work. He started to cry as he touched the black. And the story ends with his mother who was looking for him behind a house outside the sunshine.knows he cannot turn back or jump off. Then he begins to feel panic rising in his chest. He takes another step to the only close yellow spot and his foot is only a centimeter from the black patch. A snake stirs and raises its head to watch him. Although he was trying to balance himself it did not work. He started to cry as he touched the black. And the story ends with his mother who was looking for him behind a house outside the sunshine.

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

Answer: In “The Wish,” a boy uses his imagination to travel across
a red, black, and yellow carpet. The child’s represents the story in
more interesting and effective than the narrator’s, because it is
vivid and suspenseful. The child was a in a hardship situation and he faces hardships and won all the challenges as motivated by a
Birthday gift as a puppy by completing his journey at the end. 

f. Is “The Wish” a story about self-confidence overcoming fear or
about greed? Give your arguments. 

Answer: Roald Dahl’s “The Wish” is about self-confidence
overcoming fear rather than about greed aa it is all about selfconfidence and overcoming fear. Admittedly, “greed,” the desire
for a puppy, is a motivating factor. However, the puppy motivator is
a fantasy that boy has made up to help him overcome his fear of
crossing the treacherous carpet. He says to himself, ‘if I get across
safely, without being burnt and without being bitten, I will be given
a puppy for my birthday tomorrow.
The child seems fearful while watching his scab. 

He thinks much
about picking it. He raises many questions with himself. He picks
out his scab being panic. But when he sees the carpet his fear
increases high. He gathers his confidence to cross the carpet. He
creates his obstacles supposing the colours as coals and snakes. He
even puts his goal across the carpet. He moves on bravely on the
carpet wishing for a puppy on his birthday as a birthday gift. He
tries his best to overcome his fear. 

His self-confidence and his wish
end as he falls down in black colours.
Even the puppy becomes part of his project of overcoming fears to
achieve a goal: But the fear of not getting the puppy compelled him
to go on. This tale enters into the mind of an imaginative child and
reflects the child’s ability to turn something as common place as a
patterned carpet into a scene of adventure and challenge in which
he can act out his fears in a safe environment. 

Reference beyond the text 

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

Answer: Having wishes is significant in itself. But not all the wants,
desire and wishes are fulfilled. We need hard and complicated
practice to fulfil our wish, want, desire, and interest. If a wish
comes true, it is one of the most beautiful things on earth. It is,
therefore, essential to deal constructively with the obstacles on the way to your wish. Some of the common hurdles that stops us from
fulfilling our wishes are: 

• I have no money for it / I don’t want to spend my money on
it 

• I want to, but I don’t have time for it /I’m too caught up in
my everyday life 

• I’m scared. Fear of failure. Afraid of making the wrong
decision. Afraid to disappoint other people 

• I have doubts whether it is right for me
So to fulfill our wishes we should deal with above mentioned
problems. 

For this we can do the following things: 

• Try to realize the wish in the small version. Try to satisfy the
need behind the wish. 

• Trick everyday life and proceed in small steps. 

• Address fears and debunk them as much as possible. 

• Create clarity. Get a clear picture of where we want to go. 

• Strengthen self-image so that our wishes becomes possible. 

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

Answer: Some people might have a frightening nature due to the
lack of self-confidence and being less sociable. Some people,
especially innocent ones easily lose their confidence as they face
obstacles in their paths of life.

I would suggest the following points to overcome it: 

• Learn more about your fear, this first step can be the hardest
one but it’s also absolutely necessary. 

• Use your imagination in positive ways. 

• Use your brain in a different way than usual. 

• Focus on your breathing. 

• Practice mindfulness. 

• Use nature as your therapist.