The Wish CLASS-11 NOTES 

Summary

In "The Wish", a boy uses his imagination to walk a red, black, and yellow carpet pretending to have treacherous parts (betrayal), motivating himself with the fantasy of receiving a puppy if he succeeds. Vue is more interesting and effective than that of the narrator because it is clear and suspenseful. The story is mostly about self-confidence overcoming fear rather than greed.

In "The Wish", a boy removes a painless scab from his knee and throws it away. He lands in the distance on a carpet in the hallway of his house with a red, black and yellow pattern.
The boy decides that the red parts of the carpet are hot coals and the black parts are snakes. He decides that only the yellow areas are safe and makes up a story that if he makes it to the front door by walking only on the yellow parts, avoiding coals and snakes, he will be rewarded with a puppy. It goes well when he loses his balance and his hand falls on a "black snake".You know I don't touch you!

It's a story of self-confidence overcoming fear. You could argue that the boy is motivated by greed, wanting the dog, but this seems secondary to the desire to face and overcome a challenge. The boy, after all, knows he won't really be rewarded with a puppy.

 

 Understanding the text 

Answer the following questions.

a.      What did the child do to the scab on his knee?
➜ The child examined his knee cap's scab at first. He pondered much and decided to pick it up. He gently picked that scab with his fingernail 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?
➜ The child became very excited after seeing the carpet of the hall. He thought he had not noticed it before in that way. Different colors of carpet seemed to his mystery. By the means of different three colors as red, black, and yellow, he was lost in imagination and planned a game.

 

c.      What was he afraid of while walking across the carpet?
➜ When walking on the carpet, she was afraid of the red and black stains on the carpet. In his imagination, he imagined that the colors of the carpet were different things. He thought the red spots were lumps of hot coal and the black spots were black poisonous snakes. He was afraid of being burned and bitten by hot coals and poisonous snakes on his journey. So, he walked very carefully only on yellow spots that he thought were a safe area.

d.      What motivated and encouraged the child to start and continue on his journey?
➜ The child planned to play a game in the carpet with help of his imagination. The wish of getting a puppy( dog) as a gift on his birthday or as a birthday gift motivated and encouraged the child to start and continue his journey from one door to another door of the hall.

e.      What did the child see as he looked down on the black patterns of the carpet?
➜ The child saw different colors illuminate mysteriously. It was lost in spots of different colors. He kept thinking in his imagination about colors and their different shapes.

 Then the child saw the poisonous snake with the oily body of the snake stand up to grab it or bite it while looking at the black patterns of the carpet.

 Reference to the context 

a.      The writer creates two voices in the story. Who are they?
➜ 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?
➜ The black path means the difficulty, challenges, and suffering in the journey.

ii.  Who is the speaker?
➜ The speaker was a young boy i.e the child.

iii.  Why doesn’t the speaker want to be burnt?
➜ The speaker doesn't want to be burnt because he wants to get a birthday gift as a puppy tomorrow.

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

➜ Images:

i.                Scab (knee of the boy).
- It represents the boy's curiosity, desire, interest to go ahead in his journey.

ii.               Black parts of carpet (snake).
- It depicts hardship, difficulty, suffering, and troubling in life.

iii.             Read patches (fire)
- it shows about fire i.e danger because it can burn a little child.

iv.              Yellow patches (happiness)
- the yellow patches of the carpet represents relief, pleasure, hopefulness, happiness, and self-confidence in his life.

Metaphors:

The carpet represents a conflict in his life. He may not be able to make the right decision or choose the right option. We could suffer a lot because of the wrong choice. If we choose the right option, it leads to the right path and we don't have to feel any difficulty in our life. Otherwise, we will suffer if we make the wrong decision or the wrong path at the wrong time.

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?
➜ The child represents the story in more interesting and effective ways than the narrator because the child was uncomfortable. He faced and won all challenges. The puppy's birthday gift motivated and encouraged him to continue on his journey. He was strong enough to complete his journey. He not only took on all the challenges, but he also won them.

f.  Is “The Wish” a story about self-confidence overcoming fear or about greed? Give your arguments.
➜ "The story of "The Wish" is about self-confidence and overcoming fear. We can also take this story as a motivational story because the child completed their journey or challenges as the birthday gift encouraged them. The child looks scared looking at his scab. Think a lot about the collection. He asks himself a lot of questions. He takes his itch in panic. But when he sees the carpet, his fear increases. Create a game plan with imagination. He gathers his confidence to cross the mat. He creates his obstacles by taking colors such as coals and snakes. He even puts his goal on the mat. She bravely moves on the carpet wishing a puppy on her birthday as a birthday present. He does his best to overcome his fear. His self-esteem and desire come to an end when he falls into the dark.

 

 Reference beyond the text 

a.      Do you think our wish can be fulfilled? Why or why not?
➜ Not all wishes, desires, and wishes are fulfilled. We need hard and complicated practice to satisfy our desire, desire, desire, interest. We need to be calm when making every decision. The right decision leads to the right path which can only satisfy our needs and desires.
 When we want something called desire. Hard work is required for the wish to come true. But not all of our desire can be satisfied at all. Not everyone is happy because their desire and desire are not satisfied and when the desire is not satisfied, they will be upset. The Almighty helps in all conditions.
 Therefore, to satisfy our wants, needs, wants, and satisfaction, we have to practice a lot, only we can be happy.

b.      Why do you think some people might have a frightening nature? What would you suggest to them to overcome it?
➜ Some people might have a frightening nature because they do not have self-confidence.
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.

c.      Write a folktale that you have heard or read.
➜ Folktale (Nepali: Dantya Katha) is a story originating in popular culture, typically passed on by word of mouth. Write one you have heard or read.