Roald Dahl was a renowned British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot of Norwegian origin. More than 300 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. Dahl has been regarded as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".
ABOUT THE STORY
The Wish by Roald Dahl
What is the story "The Wish" by Roald Dahl about?
"The Wish" is a short, sharp, chilling (causing mild fear) story by Roald Dahl, the master of shocking tales. This story has been taken from Roald Dahl's short story collection called "Someone Like You". This short story collection was published in 1953 by Alfred Knopf. In the story "The Wish", the writer Roald Dahl has presented a sinister (ominous or unlucky) story about the darker side of human nature.
This story is about a young boy's fantasy in which his carpet is alive with snakes and fire. Dahl has aimed to reflect the delicacy of our childhood innocence by using imagery and metaphor in the story. He has used the character of a curiously imaginative young boy to present his childhood imagination.
This particular story moves inside the mind of a young child to explore his imagination. This story is about a young boy who had a frightening experience in his childhood.
The writer has created two different voices in the story. The first voice is of the narrator, and the next voice is of the child.
The story is based on a young boy and his imaginative red carpet game. He undertakes this terrible imaginative game of red carpet to fulfil his wish, which is the achievement of a cute puppy on his birthday.
THEMES
The Wish by Roald Dahl
What are the major themes of the story "The Wish" by Roald Dahl?
There are many themes here in this story, such as a child's imagination, the imaginative world of children, reality vs. imagination, fear as an ultimate obstacle, greed etc.
SETTING
The Wish by Roald Dahl
What is the setting of the story "The Wish" by Roald Dhal?
The setting of the story has been the house's front door's stairs and inside the hall where the huge red carpet has been placed. This is a house in England. This imaginative game plan is about crossing the hall's red carpet, stepping on the right colours and reaching inside from outside the front door's stairs.
CHARACTERS
The Wish by Roald Dahl
Who are the major characters in the story "The Wish" by Roald Dahl?
A young boy
This boy is the main character in this story. He is unnamed in the story. His physical as well as mental activities have shown the innocence and fear of the children. Here in the story, the young boy plays a terrible imaginative game of red carpet, especially to get his wish or a puppy as a gift on his birthday.
His mother
The boy's mother is a minor character in the story who has been presented at the end of the story. She is also nameless in the story.
DETAILED SUMMARY
The Wish by Roald Dahl
Write a detailed summary of the story "The Wish" by Roald Dahl.
This short story "The Wish" has been written by English writer Roald Dahl. This story is completely based on the imagination of the main character, who is a child. This story has presented the imaginative acts of this main character in an imaginative game of red carpet.
This story itself is a fictitious story where the characters are unnamed. This story has also mentioned this main character's mother at the end of the story.
The title "The Wish" has created confusion among the readers. Here, the main character expects to get a puppy on his birthday after coming across the red carpet and reaching inside safely. But the long wait for the puppy's birthday finishes as the child falls into the black spot of the carpet and loses his imaginative game.
This story has presented the setting of the house's front door's stairs and inside the hall where the huge red carpet has been placed. This imaginative game is about crossing the hall's red carpet, stepping on the right colours, and reaching inside from outside the front door's stairs.
THE MAIN PLOT
The Wish by Roald Dahl
What is the main plot of the story "The Wish" by Roald Dahl?
In the very first scene, we find an unnamed child looking at his kneecap's scab.
He was sitting alone on his front door's stairs. He had an old cut on his kneecap, and its scab was brown. He bent forward to examine it closely.
After pondering much, he decided to pick up that scab from his wound. He picked up his scab gently with his nail and put it on his thigh. He rubbed his wound's circle and flipped the scab with his finger.
The scab fell upon the edge of the red carpet. When he moved near the scab, different colours of the carpet attracted his attention. He imagined different things on those colours of carpet. He creatively imagined a game plan using different colours of the carpet. In his imagination, he thought of the red spots as a lump of coal that could burn him. The black-coloured spots were the poisonous snakes that could bite him and leave him to die. The yellow-coloured spots were only the safe zones for him where he could step and cross the huge carpet to get inside. If he could get inside, he would be gifted a puppy for his birthday.
The child imagined a very tough and terrible game plan to reach his goal (the wish of completing his game and getting a puppy).
The child started to move ahead in his imaginative game. He moved ahead, stepping on the yellow-coloured spots only. He kept on moving ahead, very carefully stepping on the safe zone (yellow colour).
As he reached halfway across, he started to wobble around. He balanced his body by waving his arms. He didn't get a proper step ahead. He started to panic because there was no turning back due to his body position. The black spots (poisonous snakes) ahead made him so panicky.
He remained there in the yellow safe zone for a long time. He waited and thought about the possible ways to move ahead.
The fear of not getting the puppy compelled him to continue his way ahead. He made proper use of his mind, paused himself, and stepped further quite carefully.
Just a step ahead of halfway, the child had to make a decision. He had to choose whether to move on the left or the right.
The left side was more difficult for him to step on, but there were fewer black spots there. So he decided to move ahead, using the left side.
He took his next step on the yellow spot. He happened to touch the black spot, which was a centimetre away. He felt so panicky because he was nearly going to be bitten by a snake. But his luck saved him.
Again, he had an option to choose from. He could have gone right, but he went left instead because he feared black poisonous snakes.
In his imagination, the snake looked up to see if he had touched it or not. In a very panicked tone, the child said, "I'm not touching you! You mustn't bite me! You know I'm not touching you!"
He continued his journey ahead. His next step was quite far. He decided to slowly step over. But when he jumped ahead, his feet fell on the spots so wide. He tried to get back, but couldn't. He tried to shift all his weight to his front foot, but he couldn't. He was properly stuck.
The snakes started stirring underneath his feet. He started to wobble in panic. He tried to balance himself by waving his arms; however, it didn't work. He slowly started to fall towards the black. He gave a loud cry as he touched the black. His mother was looking for him far behind the house, outside in the sunshine.
SHORT SUMMARY
The Wish by Roald Dahl
This is the story of a boy who looks at a very huge carpet with large black, red, and yellow patches of colour.
In his imagination, he imagines the red spots to be hot lumps of coal, which might burn him, and the black spots to be poisonous snakes, which might bite him. The only safe colour, as well as zone for him, is the yellow one.
He decides to walk across the carpet, only stepping on the yellow spots. He sets this as a challenge for himself. He even fixes a reward for himself too. If he walks across the huge carpet without getting burned or bitten, he'll get a puppy as a birthday gift the next day.
He begins his journey. The first part of the carpet is quite easy. But as he steps further, his journey becomes more and more difficult for him. He has to take longer strides.
Just before the half, he loses his balance and controls himself by waving his arms. Then there comes a turning point where he has to choose either a right or a left turn. Although the left turn is more difficult, he chose it because there are fewer blacks (snakes). He is very afraid of snakes. Then he takes a long step and almost steps on a black stone, and the snakes start stirring. He is just a centimetre away. But luckily, he is saved.
He continues his journey. His next step is quite far away. He tries his best but can't step over properly. His feet fall too wide. He starts wobbling and tries his best to keep his balance by waving his arms. The stirring snakes make him feel so panicky. He slowly falls onto a big black spot with a very loud cry.
His mother is searching for him outside, somewhere back in the house, in the scorching sunshine.
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