KNOW THE AUTHOR
John Hoyer Updike  was an American novelist,
(March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009)
poet, short-story writer art critic, and literary
critic, one of only four writers to win the 
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once.
Updike populated his fiction with characters who
"frequently experience personal turmoil and must
respond to crises relating to religion, family
obligations, and marital infidelity".  His most
famous work is his "Rabbit" series which
chronicles the life of the middle-class everyman 
Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom over the course of
several decades, from young adulthood to death.
 THEMES
⮚ Should Wizard Hit Mommy is a children’s story dealing with the
serious theme of good parenting

⮚ The story is partly autobiographical, with “Jack” standing in for

his author, John. Roger’s bullying from the other animals
reminded him of “certain humiliations of his own childhood
which takes bedtime tale out of the realm of allegory and makes
it directly autobiographical

⮚ Jack and Jo represent two distinctly different generational

perspectives. For the father, the moral of his story is that
Mommy Skunk knew ‘what was right.’ For his daughter, Mommy
Skunk does not know what’s right; she is looking out for herself
and not for little skunk.
⮚ The moral issue that the story also raises is that - whether parents
should expose their children to the reality of life or they should let
them live in their world of fantasy where hatred and ugliness have
no place.
⮚ One of the underlying themes is changing gender roles. The image
of Clare wearing one of Jack’s old shirts over a maternity smock as
she is moving around heavy furniture and doing the ‘man’s job’ of
painting the interior of her home is the central symbol of changing
gender roles.

⮚ In the story , the process of crafting a story is as important as the

story itself. Indeed, Jack uses the Roger Skunk story to exercise
control and decisiveness that he feels like he no longer possesses in
his own life.
 ABOUT THE CHARACTERS
Jack the father-As a story teller , Jack was not innovative . The dull and
repetitive narration speaks for the boredom that is there in his life also. He
represents the author John Updike. He has great reverence for his mother in
particular and all mothers in general.
Like the modern man , he is a victim of ennui and seeks escape from this
dreary life by talking of magic and fantasy.

Joanne(Jo), the Daughter-Four-year-old Jo is an avid listener of stories even if

they are a repetition of the same old story. She is an inquisitive child and does
not take things for granted. She remains unconvinced by father’s argument
that mother are always right. She takes after her mother in appearance and
mannerism.

Clare, Jo’s Mother-Unseen until the final moments of the story, Clare’s
presence is felt by Jack throughout the story, as he can hear her moving 
furniture in the living room 
 Overview
Story Session of Jack
✔ Story telling session by Jack on Saturday evenings to put her daughter to sleep

✔ Every story is a variation of the same tale , concerning an animal named Roger who

has a problem. Roger goes to the wise owl, who in turn sends him to the wizard who
performs a spell and fixes the problem and makes Roger very happy. Roger then plays
with the other little animal and gets home in time to hear his daddy come home on
the train for dinner
✔ Jack tired of the story time ritual because he has run out of ideas for stories and Jo
 never falls asleep in naps anymore.

✔ That day Jo wants it to be a Roger Skunk’s Story who smell very

bad and no animal wants to play with him. They would tease him
by saying ‘ stinky skunk’
 Analysis

The story seems simple . A father making up a bedtime story for

his daughter conjures of memories of being bullied as a child ,
maternal protection and the reinforcement of traditional values
which he is trying to pass along to his daughter , but which she
seems to be rebelling against in her immature way