Answers the following questions

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

 The child took the scab as a challenge to open it as it was
not ready enough though it had dried up. The boy used his
nail to open it and came out beautifully leaving the round
smooth red circle. So, the boy took it as the token of his
bravery and played with it keeping it on his thigh.s
b. What kind of effect did the carpet have on the child?
 The carpet had a beautiful and imaginative effect on the
child. After seeing the colorful carpet, he child knew red,
black and yellow were the dominant colors and used his
imagination to generate the game to play. He imagined
red color as the burning lumps of coal that would burn
him, black as the poisonous snakes like cobras that would
kill him if he would step on it and yellow pattern as the
safe zone.
c. Why was he afraid of while walking across the carpet?
 The child was afraid while walking on across the carpet as
it was dominated by red and black pattern. According to
the game he created, the red pattern was lumps of coal
which would burn him if he stepped on it while the black
patterns were cobras that would bite him in case, he
stepped on it. Moreover, the child had imagined the
reward, a beautiful puppy for his birthday. So, the child
was afraid if he would step on the red or black pattern
which would deprive him of getting a beautiful puppy.
d. What motivated and encouraged the child to start and
continue on his journey?
 The child had imagined the reward of the game, a
beautiful puppy for his birthday. So, the child was afraid if
he would step on the red or black pattern which would
deprive him of getting a beautiful puppy. This motivated
and encouraged the child to start and continue his
journey.
e. What did the child see as he looked down on the black
patterns of the carpet?
 The child saw the cobras slithering towards him, when he
looked down on the black patterns of the carpet.
f. The writer creates two voices in the story? Who are they?
 The writer has created two voices for a reason. The first is
the narrator’s voice to describe events and activities of the
story. The unnamed narrator opens up the scene where
the boy is sitting on the staircase and peels off the scab.

And the second voice is the inner voice of the boy from
which we know what child is thinking about or feeling or
imagining in his head. From this we come to know, how
the boy being fascinated by the carpet imagines the game
where the red pattern is burning coals, black is the
poisonous snakes and yellow is the safe zone. We know his
fear and motivation of playing the game for a beautiful
puppy for his birthday. He know how he feels when he
fails too.
 In the nut shell, we can say that the writer has created the
two voices in the story for the purpose of opening the
scene of the story, to directly introduce what the boy feels
and imagines and to give the closure to the story.
b. What images and metaphors are used in the story?
 The writer has used plenty of images and metaphors in the
story ‘The Wish’ to make the story interesting and to get
the readers involve in it. Firstly, images are the words
creating picture in our mind by stimulating our five sense
organs. The story is heavily dominated by the visual
images which are listed below
a. The scab in the child’s knee which inspires him to take it
out as the token of his bravery.
b. The beautiful carpet with dominant colors i.e red stands
for the burning coals, the black color for the poisonous
snakes like cobra and the yellow color as the safe zone.
c. The slithering snakes when the child is about to touch or
touches the black pattern.

Similarly, metaphor is a comparison between two

dissimilar things without the use of the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
The story has beautifully used metaphors. The complex
journey set by the child about the carpet and its pattern is
the metaphor of this superb imaginative power. Thus, the
story has used various images and metaphor to make the
 story impressive where the readers can psychologically get
involved.
c. Summarize the short story 'The Wish' in about 200 words.
d. 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 story ‘The Wish’ by Dahl uses two narrative to show
the events from the eyes of the narrator and the child. The
story begins with the unnamed narrator who opens up the
story. The narrator’s voice is mature and objective so
he/she creates balance in the description of the setting
and the activities of the boy. The beautiful description of
the carpet is also given by the unnamed narrator.
On the other hand, the story narrated from the perception
of the boy is more interesting as we come to know what
actually the child feels, thinks and imagines. Through the
narration of the boy’s inner voice, we come to know the
fascinating game created by the boy about the carpet. We
know, how interestingly, the boy associates the red color
with the burning coals, black with the snakes and yellow
with the safe zone. We first handedly, are introduced
about his happiness, fears, greed for puppy and his pain.
 This way, the story narrates the events from the two
perceptive of the unnamed narrator and from the eyes of
the boy which make the story very interesting to read.
e. Is 'The Wish' a story about self-confidence overcoming fear
or about greed?
 ‘The Wish’ by Roald Dahl is about the self-confidence
overcoming fear on the other hand, it is also about the
greed that ultimately leads to destruction which is
beautifully presented in the story.
The boy is not only imaginative and creative but he is
brave as well. We can say this because the boy not only
creates the fascinating game full of dangers but also has
courage to play it for which he imagines a beautiful puppy
for his puppy. This motivates the boy to play the game and
move forward. However, the puppy is not only the source
of motivation rather it turns out to be the greed of the boy
as he is motivated to take any risk to get it. Hence, he fails
the game because he takes unnecessary stress to play the
game for the sake of puppy. Hence, the boy gets the
lesson that greed lead to destruction and balance in life is
necessary. Thus, we can say that the story is about the
destruction that the greed can bring no matter how
talented we might be.