Should Wizard Hit Mommy?

by

John Updike

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Jack and Clare’s four-year-old daughter, Jo is a growing girl. She is growing taller by the day, has begun to contradict things her parents tell her, and (to Jack’s great frustration) no longer falls asleep at nap time. All of these traits worry and upset Jack because he realizes he will soon have another woman in his life contradicting him the way his wife Clare does. Indeed, Jo is intent on exercising her opinions and having her ideas heard, even at a young age. With respect to the story of Roger Skunk, Jo does not agree with the ending that her father proposes. As a young child, Jo relates to Roger’s desire to be accepted by his peers, and she does not understand why Roger’s mother would force him to return to his original scent when it made the other little animals run away. While Jack perceives Roger’s sacrifice of his new sweet smell to be a positive lesson about duty and obligation to one’s family, Jo is too young to understand the concept of sacrifice, and therefore believes Roger’s mother to be the villain of the story who deserves punishment. In addition, Jo’s suggestion that the wizard should hit Roger’s mother for her transgression suggests that Jo has picked up on the unhappy (and potentially violent) nature of her parents’ marriage. Unbeknownst to her, her parents’ dissatisfaction is coloring all aspects of her life—even something as seemingly innocuous as a bedtime story.

Jo Quotes in Should Wizard Hit Mommy?

The Should Wizard Hit Mommy? quotes below are all either spoken by Jo or refer to Jo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Marriage, Family, and Misogyny Theme Icon
).
“Should Wizard Hit Mommy?” Quotes

The little girl (not so little anymore; the bumps her feet made under the covers were halfway down the bed, their big double bed that they let her be in for naps and when she was sick) had at last arranged herself, and from the way her fat face deep in the pillow shone in the sunlight sifting through the drawn shades, it did not seem fantastic that something magic would occur, and she would take her nap like an infant of two.

Related Characters: Jack, Jo
Page Number: 75
Explanation and Analysis:

Sitting on the bed beside her, Jack felt the covers tug as her legs switched tensely. He was pleased with this moment—he was telling her something true, something she must know—and had no wish to hurry on. But downstairs a chair scraped, and he realized he must get down to help Clare paint the living room woodwork.

Related Characters: Jack, Jo, Clare
Related Symbols: The House
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:

“Are magic spells real?” This was a new phase, just this last month, a reality phase. When he told her spiders eat bugs, she turned to her mother and asked, “Do they really? and when Clare told her God was in the sky and all around them, she turned to her father, and insisted, with a sly yet eager smile, “Is He really?”

Related Characters: Jo (speaker), Jack, The Wizard
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:

The wizard's voice was one of Jack's own favorite effects; he did it by scrunching up his face and somehow whining through his eyes, which felt for the interval rheumy. He felt being an old man suited him.

Related Characters: Jack, Jo, The Wizard
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:

He paused as a rapt expression widened out from his daughter's nostrils, forcing her eyebrows up and her lower lip down in a wide noiseless grin, an expression in which Jack was startled to recognize his wife feigning pleasure at cocktail parties.

Related Characters: Jack, Jo
Page Number: 78
Explanation and Analysis:

“No,” Jo said, and put her hand out to touch his lips, yet even in her agitation did not quite dare to stop the source of truth.

Related Characters: Jo (speaker), Jack
Related Symbols: Roger’s Smell
Page Number: 80
Explanation and Analysis:

“That was a stupid mommy.”

Related Characters: Jo (speaker), Roger’s Mother (speaker)
Related Symbols: Roger’s Smell
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis:

“Tomorrow, I want you to tell me the story that that wizard took that magic wand and hit that mommy”—her plump arms chopped fiercely—“right over the head.”

Related Characters: Jo (speaker), Jack
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis:
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Should Wizard Hit Mommy? PDF

Jo Quotes in Should Wizard Hit Mommy?

The Should Wizard Hit Mommy? quotes below are all either spoken by Jo or refer to Jo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Marriage, Family, and Misogyny Theme Icon
).
“Should Wizard Hit Mommy?” Quotes

The little girl (not so little anymore; the bumps her feet made under the covers were halfway down the bed, their big double bed that they let her be in for naps and when she was sick) had at last arranged herself, and from the way her fat face deep in the pillow shone in the sunlight sifting through the drawn shades, it did not seem fantastic that something magic would occur, and she would take her nap like an infant of two.

Related Characters: Jack, Jo
Page Number: 75
Explanation and Analysis:

Sitting on the bed beside her, Jack felt the covers tug as her legs switched tensely. He was pleased with this moment—he was telling her something true, something she must know—and had no wish to hurry on. But downstairs a chair scraped, and he realized he must get down to help Clare paint the living room woodwork.

Related Characters: Jack, Jo, Clare
Related Symbols: The House
Page Number: 76
Explanation and Analysis:

“Are magic spells real?” This was a new phase, just this last month, a reality phase. When he told her spiders eat bugs, she turned to her mother and asked, “Do they really? and when Clare told her God was in the sky and all around them, she turned to her father, and insisted, with a sly yet eager smile, “Is He really?”

Related Characters: Jo (speaker), Jack, The Wizard
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:

The wizard's voice was one of Jack's own favorite effects; he did it by scrunching up his face and somehow whining through his eyes, which felt for the interval rheumy. He felt being an old man suited him.

Related Characters: Jack, Jo, The Wizard
Page Number: 77
Explanation and Analysis:

He paused as a rapt expression widened out from his daughter's nostrils, forcing her eyebrows up and her lower lip down in a wide noiseless grin, an expression in which Jack was startled to recognize his wife feigning pleasure at cocktail parties.

Related Characters: Jack, Jo
Page Number: 78
Explanation and Analysis:

“No,” Jo said, and put her hand out to touch his lips, yet even in her agitation did not quite dare to stop the source of truth.

Related Characters: Jo (speaker), Jack
Related Symbols: Roger’s Smell
Page Number: 80
Explanation and Analysis:

“That was a stupid mommy.”

Related Characters: Jo (speaker), Roger’s Mother (speaker)
Related Symbols: Roger’s Smell
Page Number: 81
Explanation and Analysis:

“Tomorrow, I want you to tell me the story that that wizard took that magic wand and hit that mommy”—her plump arms chopped fiercely—“right over the head.”

Related Characters: Jo (speaker), Jack
Page Number: 82
Explanation and Analysis: