John Updike's, 'Should Wizard Hit Mommy?' is about a clash of World-Views

John Updike's Should Wizard Hit Mommy is an important short story that deals with the theme of Generation Gap resulting in a clash of worldviews. The story stresses how the family as a base unit, is an important support structure, and this is what children should know. Friends who run away because one doesn't conform to their ideals, in this case, the foul smell of Roger Skunk, don't deserve to be called friends. By the end of the day, Roger Skunk has to return home to his mother and father, and it is his mother who asks him why he smells so awful! The central theme of this lesson is based on the relations between children and their parents and vice versa.

Jack wants to tell her through the story of Roger Skunk that one should not change how nature has made one to be, that too for the sake of friends who run away. He views the lessons of life through the lens of experience. He wants to convey to his daughter that it is OK to be who you are, it is alright to be your authentic self, in due course of time, your friends will accept you as you are. He wants to tell her that parents know what is best for their children because they love their children a lot. He wants to convey to her the message that there are no instant solutions to the problems in life and that in fact, magic is not a solution because it does not work, after all, if magic had been effective, why did the wizard not use his magic to tidy his own house?

Jo, however, doesn't accept her father's perspective because she thinks differently from him. She believes that there are instant solutions for the problems in life like changing the smell of a skunk into the smell of roses. After all, from her point of view, Roger Skunk's friends accept him and they play all day. By the end of the day, however, (and Jack introduces a twist in the tale) Roger Skunk's mother thinks Roger Skunk's Rose Scent is awful. Jo had not anticipated such a complication. She doesn't like such an ending because it challenges her worldview.

John Updike does not give the story an ending. He leaves the story open-ended. Jo will not accept her father's point of view, and Jack will not accept his daughter's point of view. They have arrived at a stalemate. Generation gap results from a clash of world views and perspectives between two people belonging to different age groups. The younger person thinks the elder person to be a preacher, someone who really doesn't know about the world. The child, in this case, doesn't respect her father's wisdom. The elder person, on the other hand, is not ready to accept that the younger person has every right to think differently. The father doesn't realise that his daughter is growing up, and having a distinct perspective is a sign of growing up. 

Should Wizard Hit Mommy describes the process of growing up in a child. The poem Childhood by Markus Natten very clearly describes that cognitive development taking place in Jo in the following lines:

          When did my childhood go?

          Was it when I found my mind was really mine,

          To use whichever way I choose,

          Producing thoughts that were not those of other people

          But my own, and mine alone.

The extract from the poem, Childhood clearly addresses the issue of growing up, and it suggests that children will often have a point of view that differs from that of their parents. It is however alright for children to have a different point of view!
This doesn't necessarily mean that children don't respect or consider their parent's point of view, rather, it is about developing a culture of trust, understanding, and tolerance and respect for divergent views. Jack's message is not morally wrong, but then the way it is conveyed is wrong. Jack doesn't like being interrupted, he likes women to be 'apprehensive, hanging on his words. He has a rather bossy kind of attitude towards others, and this is evident in the way he rebukes and warns his daughter each time she tries to divert the story towards her point of view. Finally when Jo gets perplexed and states ' "But the other little amum..."' (after Jack tells her that "Roger skunk did not smell of roses anymore.") He rebukes her, "Joanne. It's Daddy's story. Shall Daddy not tell you any more stories?" ' The first two sentences are very short! The first is just one word, and the second is just four words such as a Boss would use while instructing his workers in very strict terms.
What makes matters really bad is that both of them, Jack and his daughter Jo are not ready to accept or respect the right of each to express his own or her own point of view. They are so rigid in their stance, they just cannot listen to the other speak!
Elizabeth Jennings very succinctly describes how a clash of world views leads up to a breakdown in relations between a father and his son in the poem Father to Son:


        We speak like strangers, there's no sign
        Of understanding in the air.

        We each put out an empty hand,
        Longing for something to forgive.

The only solution is to develop an atmosphere of trust, understanding and respect for each other in the family. A Boss at work can simply not behave like a Boss at home. In the same way, a child should give her parents respect because they love her and know what is best for her!

Textbook Questions and Answers

1. What is the moral issue that the story raises?

One moral issue raised by the story revolves around respect for one another. It is about respecting diversity and each other's points of view. Children need to respect their parents for the wisdom they carry because of their experience in life and parents need to appreciate their children's differing perspectives.

In this lesson, both Jack and Jo are not ready to accept the other's perspective regarding whether the Wizard should hit Mommy or Mommy should hit the Wizard. Jo wants Roger Skunk to smell of roses because according to her, Roger Skunk would be able to make lots of friends. Jack, however, wants Jo to understand that it is the skunk smell that make Roger a skunk and that ultimately Roger's friends would get used to the smell.

Another moral issue raised by the story is associated with our tampering with nature. How ethical is it really to change the way you smell? Was it ethical for the wizard to change Roger Skunk's smell to that of Roses? Roger Skunk's mother hit the Wizard with the umbrella because he had "all the nerve" to change his smell.

If one looks into the matter in depth then one realises that nature has made us what we are and how we are, and it is not right to play God in these matters. In the long term, Roger Skunk would no longer be a Skunk. He would neither be a Skunk nor would he be a Rose and this in itself would have pushed him into an identity crisis, something worse than what he was facing when his friends ran away from him because of his Skunk smell.

2. How does Jo want the story to end and why?

Jo is a little girl who is growing up. She is beginning to understand and relate to the actual world. She has begun to distinguish between fact and fiction. She is undergoing 'a reality phase' but then is still fascinated by the possibility of magic existing as a possible solution to the problems one faces in life. It is exactly for this reason that Jo wants the story to end with the Wizard hitting Mommy, and Roger Skunk smelling of Roses.

Jo, has limited experience and for her, at this stage of life, friends mean more to her. She is troubled that Roger Skunk's friends run away because of his bad smell. It is important, therefore, for Roger Skunk to address the issue of bad smell according to her. She believes that the smell of roses will help Roger Skunk have many friends.

Ultimately it is all about perspectives, and for Jo, a sure shot, and an instant solution is for Roger Skunk to visit the Wizard and get a magical solution to the smell problem.

3. Why does Jack insist that it was the Wizard that was hit and not the mother?

The answer to this question is a counterpoint to the previous one. Again, it is all about perspectives and world views. Jack believes that it was correct for the mother to hit the Wizard because the Wizard had the 'nerve' to change Roger's skunk smell.

Through his story, Jack wants to tell his daughter that some of the problems in life don't have magical solutions. The skunk smell was an important aspect of being a skunk. When Roger Skunk returns home smelling of roses, his mother remarked, "What's that awful smell?" Which meant that a skunk that smelled of roses would be rather awful, horrible or even an aberration.

Jack's contention is that even if Roger Skunk had held on to his skunk smell, "eventually" the "other little animals" would get "used to the way he was" and would "not mind it at all." It was, therefore, according to Jack, not right for the wizard to have interfered with how nature had made Roger Skunk to be, and thus he had deserved to have been hit by Mommy.

4. What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly middle position?

Jack was someone who was used to being obeyed in his office. To quote from the story, 'Jack didn't like women when they took anything for granted; he liked them apprehensive, hanging on his words.' He, therefore, felt perplexed by the manner in which Jo kept on interrupting him. Later on in the story, Jack, says to his daughter, "Joanne. It's Daddy's story" meaning that he is not really happy that his daughter is not ready to accept his point of view in the story. 

Later, when he is finally able to join Clare his wife downstairs, (who has begun to paint the woodwork) she remarks, "That was a long story" suggesting or hinting that he had probably delayed coming downstairs to help her? The insinuation would be there in the tone of the question. It was for this reason that  Jack felt stuck 'in an ugly middle position' between a daughter who would not accept his story at face value and a wife who did not appreciate the fact that he had been trying very hard to get to sleep.

It was this lack of understanding between the three of them that makes Jack feel stuck in an ugly middle position. It looks like home is where no one understands him.