The Wish
The Wish Three examples to prove the boys young age
“The Wish” written by Roald Dahl concerns a young boy, a preschooler’s fantasy in which his carpet comes to life. He must travel to the other side without touching the snakes and lumps of coals in order to win a prize, a puppy for his birthday. The young boy’s age is open to interpretation, although I believe he is of preschool age. To begin with, the short story starts off with the child picking off a scab. To him “a scab was always a fascinating thing; it presented a special challenge he was never able to resist.” That very action provides a great deal of insight into the age of the child. Preschool aged children are not old enough to know better, to them scabs are fascinating and nothing more, their naïveté prevents it. In fact, they have no knowledge of how the body works and in this case the scab probably seemed like some sort of magic or sorcery to the young boy. He was not bothered by the fact that the scab was premature, his only goal was to peel it off and what would come after that caused him no worry. The young child was in a little bubble of imagination that no-one could penetrate. Furthermore, the young boy “got to his feet and climbed higher up the stairs to obtain a better view” of the carpet, which to him was a “vast tapestry of colour and death.” Most children are able to see the entire carpet as it doesn’t require much height. The child in “The Wish” must have been rather young, or small in height as in order for him to see the whole carpet, he had to ‘climb’ and not walk up the stairs. The fact that he climbed and didn’t walk up the stairs helps us make an inference regarding his young age. As a matter of fact, the child made a deal with himself, if he succeeded in traversing “all the way along” the carpet “to the front door without touching” the coal or snakes he would receive a puppy for his birthday. Though it is true that all children have wild and vast imagination, most children
“The Wish” written by Roald Dahl concerns a young boy, a preschooler’s fantasy in which his carpet comes to life. He must travel to the other side without touching the snakes and lumps of coals in order to win a prize, a puppy for his birthday. The young boy’s age is open to interpretation, although I believe he is of preschool age. To begin with, the short story starts off with the child picking off a scab. To him “a scab was always a fascinating thing; it presented a special challenge he was never able to resist.” That very action provides a great deal of insight into the age of the child. Preschool aged children are not old enough to know better, to them scabs are fascinating and nothing more, their naïveté prevents it. In fact, they have no knowledge of how the body works and in this case the scab probably seemed like some sort of magic or sorcery to the young boy. He was not bothered by the fact that the scab was premature, his only goal was to peel it off and what would come after that caused him no worry. The young child was in a little bubble of imagination that no-one could penetrate. Furthermore, the young boy “got to his feet and climbed higher up the stairs to obtain a better view” of the carpet, which to him was a “vast tapestry of colour and death.” Most children are able to see the entire carpet as it doesn’t require much height. The child in “The Wish” must have been rather young, or small in height as in order for him to see the whole carpet, he had to ‘climb’ and not walk up the stairs. The fact that he climbed and didn’t walk up the stairs helps us make an inference regarding his young age. As a matter of fact, the child made a deal with himself, if he succeeded in traversing “all the way along” the carpet “to the front door without touching” the coal or snakes he would receive a puppy for his birthday. Though it is true that all children have wild and vast imagination, most children