The Hundred Dresses - I

Wanda usually sat on the seat next to the last seat, in the last row, in the room thirteen. She sat there because her feet were usually covered with dry mud. Therefore in order to avoid being the butt of jokes of her classmates, she sat in the corner quietly.

Wanda lived in Boggins Heights. It was probably very far away from the school and it also seemed that there was a lot of dry mud, indicating that it was not a posh and rich locality.

Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence on Wednesday i.e. after three days. They noticed her absence because Wanda had got them late for school. Peggy and Maddie waited for her in order to have some fun, but she did not turn up.

It is a human tendency to make fun of others for their different style and behaviour. In the given text, Wanda Petronski is the girl who is made fun of by her classmates. So ‘to have fun with her’ meant that her classmates liked to tease and mock at her ways.

Wanda was a polish girl who had a funny and difficult name. She walked alone to school as she didn’t have any friends. She had only one blue faded dress which she wore every day to school. All these aspects about Wanda made her different from her classmates in school.

Wanda was a poor polish girl who did not have a hundred dresses as she wore the same faded blue dress to school every day. She had an inferiority complex and knew that other girls were making fun of her by asking questions about her dresses. So, in order to hide this complex and counter the fun made by her classmates, she said so.

Maddie was embarrassed by the questions Peggy asked Wanda as she herself was a poor girl. She used to wear old clothes given handed down by others. But she was different from Wanda as she was not as poor as her and also had a few friends in the class. Maddie considered herself to be different from Wanda in the sense that she would never claim that she had a hundred dresses. Yet she was afraid that others might make fun of her too.

Peggy and Maddie were best friends. But Maddie didn’t like Peggy making fun of Wanda as she herself was poor. However, she didn’t have the courage to stop her to tease Wanda because she was afraid that she might become Peggy’s next target and could be asked about her dresses.

Maddie thought that Peggy would win the drawing contest as she had good artistic skills. She could copy a picture in a magazine or some film star’s head beautifully and with complete perfection. Therefore Maddie thought that she was better than everyone and was sure of her victory.

Wanda Petronski won the drawing contest. She had drawn a hundred designs of dresses. They all were very beautiful and different and Wanda was applauded by the judges and her fellow classmates for her exquisite collection.

Wanda was a polish girl and other girls were American. She had a very strange name and was very poor. She used to sit in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in the class. She sat in the corner of the room among the rough boys and always remained quiet. The girls especially Peggy made fun of her as she had only one faded blue dress while she claimed to have a hundred dresses.

Wanda feels bad about the dresses game since she was a poor polish girl and disliked being the butt of everyone’s joke. Peggy usually made fun of her faded blue dress and so in order to counter Peggy’s fun, she claimed that she had a hundred dresses which in reality did not hold true.

Maddie stands by and does not do anything because she did not have the courage to speak against Peggy as she was her best friend. Maddie is different from Peggy because she did not make fun of Wanda. Moreover, Peggy’s friendship was important to Maddie because she was the best-liked girl in the whole class and she was afraid to be the next target of everyone’s fun.

The line, “She was Peggy’s best friend, and Peggy was the best-liked girl in the whole room. Peggy could not possibly do anything that was really wrong, she thought.” shows that their friendship was important to Maddie.

Miss Mason appreciated Wanda’s drawings as she admired her creativity. The children were also surprised to see her hundred drawings with each drawing having an exquisite and unique design. When Miss Mason announced Wanda’s name as the winner, they stopped to look at them and whistled loudly giving her drawings a big round of applause.

1. This is the bus which goes to Agra.

2. I would like to buy the shirt that is in the shop window.

3. You must break your fast when you see the moon in the sky.

4. Find a word which begins with the letter Z.

5. Now find a person whose name begins with the letter Z.

6. Then go to a place where there are no people whose name begins with Z.

(i) The italicized words in the sentence express Peggy and Maddie’s point of view.

(ii) The italicized words in the sentence express the narrator’s point of view.

1. “Goodness! Wasn’t there anything she could do? If only she could tell Wanda she hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings.”

2. Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies.

1. Surprisingly, he finished his work on time.

2. Hopefully, it will not rain on the day of the match.

3. Evidently, he had been stealing money from his employer.

4. Television is evidently to blame for the increase in violence in society.

5. The children will hopefully learn from their mistakes.

6. I can’t possibly Lend you that much money.

7. The thief had apparently been watching the house for many days.

8. The thief possibly escaped by bribing the jailor.

9. Surprisingly, no one had suggested this before.

10. The water was incredibly hot.