Who is Jo? How does she respond to her father’s story-telling?
Joanne is the eldest child of Jack and Clare. Her pet name is Jo. She is four years old now and has been listening to bed-time stories from her dad for the past two years.
Earlier when she was an infant, she’d fall asleep while listening to the stories. But now the entire scenario has changed. She doesn’t fall asleep anymore, rather she listens to the stories with interest and asks questions to her dad about the same. She has entered an interrogative phase in life and wants to know about everything in detail. She also remembers the sequence of the Roger stories in detail and corrects her dad whenever he says something wrong or different.
What possible plot line could the story continue with?
The story could’ve ended in a way that Jo considers to be a happy ending. According to Jo, Mommy Skunk is extremely foolish in asking the wizard to take away the smell of roses from Roger. She is furious about mommy Skunk’s decision and wants her dad to change the course of the story. The story could’ve continued with mommy Skunk being really happy with the new smell that her son has. She could visit the wizard only to thank him for making his son smell so nice. But the story changed its course and made Jo learn a lesson.
What do you think was Jo’s problem?
Jo is a little four years old girl for whom everything in life is perfect. So she couldn’t accept the fact that mommy Skunk went back to the Wizard to get her son smell foul again. Mommy Skunk appeared to be extremely selfish to her. She couldn’t understand re reason behind what Mommy Skunk did so she was furious and wanted her dad to change the ending of the story and have Mommy Skunk punished.
What is the moral issue that the story raises?
The story discusses the issue of the relationship of child-parent relationship deeply. It shows us clearly how a parent directs a child towards a better life. Though Roger Skunk didn’t like the idea of smelling foul again, he agrees to his mom because he loves her mom more than all the other animals. It also shows the kind of trust that Roger had on her mother. This is the kind of trust that Jack was Jo to have on him so that later in life Jo realizes how important this lesson was for her.
How does Jo want the story to end and why?
Jo wants the story to end on a note where the old Wizard hits Mommy Skunk hard on her head and refuses to get Roger back to his original smell.
She wants this to happen because she cannot see Roger Skunk being left alone by his friends. According to her Roger is perfect in smelling like roses and that his friends won’t run away from him anymore. She doesn’t understand the purpose behind Mommy Skunk’s eagerness to her little roger back to smelling foul.
Why does Jack insist that it was the wizard that was hit and not the mother?
Jack insists on the Wizard being hit and not the mother since he wanted Jo to understand that whatever parents do for their children is for their own good. He wished to make Jo realize that there’s no wizard in real life. So the only way to solve a problem is to face it. Also, his prominent defense for Mommy Skunk made Jo understand that Jack was actually defending his own mother or something as important.
What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly middle position?
Jack feels in an ugly middle position since both his wife and his daughter are in of his presence and help, but he is unable to choose between the two. Clare is six months pregnant. She’s painting the furniture alone and expects Jack to help her. She also says “That was a long story” when Jack comes downstairs. Her comment makes Jack feel guilty because he couldn’t come to help his wife on time. On the other hand, all his efforts to make Jo fall asleep has gone into vain. Moreover, he couldn’t make Jo understand Mommy Skunk was indeed doing what was the best for little Roger. Everything that Jack wanted to do was left undone. All these things made him feel in an ugly middle position.
What is your stance regarding the two endings to the Roger Skunk story?
Though Jo’s preference to how the story should look like is very attractive. But I agree to the ending that Jack chooses. This is because Jack’s storyline doesn’t constrict the story to a mere fairytale. It gives the story a touch of Jack’s own life and makes us see how Jack was supported by his mom. It becomes a story with a lesson wherein Jo realizes how much Jack loves his mother by his way of defending Mommy Skunk.
Why is an adult’s perspective on life different from that of a child’s?
An adult is an experienced person. He has more knowledge about life since he has lived for long and witnessed the stark realities of life. But children are innocent. For them, life is all about being happy momentarily. They do not realize that there are consequences of every action. So an adult’s perspective is always different that of a child’s.