The Wish

-Roald Dahl
 About the author
Roald Dahl(1916-1990) was a British novelist ,short story
writer and screenwriter born in Wales to
affluent Norwegian immigrant parents, and lived for most of
his life in England. He served in the Royal Air Force (RAF)
during the Second World War. He became a fighter pilot and,
subsequently, an intelligence officer, rising to the rank of
acting wing commander. He rose to
prominence as a writer in the 1940s with works
for adults. After establishing himself as writer for adults,
he began writing children's stories in 1960 and he
became one of the world's best-selling authors.
 Literary life and
Notable Works: awards
● Children's books: James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The BFG, The Twits, George's Marvellous
Medicine, and Danny, the Champion of the World.
● Works for older audiences include his collections of short stories.

Awards and Recognition:

● Received the 1983 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.
● Named Children's Author of the Year at the British Book Awards in 1990.
● Ranked 16th on The Times' 2008 list of "The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945".
● In 2021, Forbes ranked him as the top-earning dead celebrity.
 Themes of the story
● Power of Imagination The story highlights a
child’s ability to transform an ordinary carpet
into a dangerous adventure, showcasing the
boundless creativity of the human mind.
● Courage vs. Fear The child faces imaginary
snakes and coals, symbolizing the universal
struggle to overcome fears in pursuit of success.
● Desire and Motivation The wish for a puppy fuels
the child’s determination, demonstrating how
clear goals inspire perseverance despite
challenges.
● The Line Between Reality and Fantasy The child’s
vivid imagination blurs reality, reflecting how
perception shapes experiences, especially in
childhood.
 Themes of the story
● Symbolism of Growth and Risk The journey
across the carpet represents the challenges
and risks one faces while striving for
personal growth.
● Consequences of Choice Each step reflects
decisions in life where wrong moves can
lead to failure or danger, teaching the
importance of careful planning.
● Childhood Innocence and Exploration The
narrative captures a child's innocent
outlook and natural tendency to explore,
even when faced with imagined perils.
 Setting and Exposition
The setting of this story is depicted on the front door
stairs of a house and the interior wall with the large
carpet.
It depicts a young boy who is alone and picking at a
scab.
The youngster notices the carpet with various
colours.
He imaginatively plays a game and believes that
each colour represents something.
His imaginative game involves stepping on the
correct colours of the carpet that he believes is safe
and making it across the carpet.
 Summary
● Introduction:
The story begins with a young boy sitting alone on the floor of his house,
staring at the patterned carpet. The boy's mind starts to wander as he
looks at the different colours and patterns on the rug.
● The Game Begins:
The boy imagines that the carpet is dangerous terrain he must cross. In
his mind, the different colours represent different threats:
■ Red areas are scorching hot and will burn him if he steps on them.
■ Black areas are filled with deadly, poisonous snakes waiting to bite
him.
■ Yellow areas are safe zones that he can step on safely.
 Summary
● Setting the Challenge:
The boy challenges himself to reach the other end of
the carpet without stepping on the red or black
sections. If he succeeds, he tells himself, he will get a
puppy as a reward.
He becomes deeply engrossed in his imaginative game,
taking it very seriously as if his life truly depends on it.
● Crossing the Carpet:
The boy starts carefully navigating the carpet, stepping
only on the yellow sections. He is cautious, placing
each foot down with great precision to avoid the
"dangerous" sections.
The suspense builds as he moves slowly across the
carpet. His heart races, and he becomes more nervous
with each step, fearing the imaginary dangers.
 Summary
● Facing Obstacles:
At one point, he encounters a wide stretch of red and black
sections that seem impossible to cross without touching them.
He hesitates, feeling a surge of fear.
Gathering his courage, he decides to take a big leap to reach
the next yellow section, risking everything in his imaginative
game.
● The Climax:
As he gets closer to the end, the tension increases. The boy is
almost there, but just as he is about to step onto the last yellow
section, he loses his balance.
In his mind, he falls onto the black section filled with snakes. He
screams in terror, imagining himself being bitten by the
venomous creatures.
● The Abrupt Ending:
The story ends suddenly with the boy's scream, leaving readers
in suspense. It is unclear whether he truly fell or if it was all just
part of his vivid imagination.
 Symbolism in the story
● At the beginning of the text, the child
plucks off the scan even though it
was hurting him. It represents the will
and power of us human beings to
face difficulties
● The boy symbolizes the colour of the
carpet which were red, black and
yellow. Red colour symbolized hot fire
or coal that would burn him, black
symbolized the poisonous snakes that
were ready to bite him and the yellow
colour symbolized the safe spots.
● The child’s journey along the carpet
represents our journey of life which
are full of obstacles and challenges.
 Analysis
• Roald Dahl’s short story The Wish explores the interplay of imagination, fear, and
innocence in a young boy's mind. The narrative begins with a boy imagining a
vivid and dangerous game: he must cross a carpet avoiding imagined hazards,
where red symbolizes fire, black represents poisonous snakes, and yellow is safe
ground. His vivid imagination transforms the mundane into a life-threatening
adventure, illustrating the power of a child’s mind to shape reality.
• The boy’s journey across the "treacherous" terrain is marked by suspense and
tension. Dahl masterfully uses descriptive language to make the reader
experience the boy's emotions, from his initial excitement to mounting fear. The
stakes feel real to the boy, reflecting the boundless creativity and emotional
intensity of childhood.
 Analysis
• The story’s abrupt and ambiguous ending—where the boy
stumbles and "falls" into danger—leaves the reader questioning
the boundary between imagination and reality. This unresolved
conclusion emphasizes the fragility of innocence and the thin line
between play and peril in a child’s perception.
• Overall, The Wish is a poignant exploration of childhood’s dual
nature: its wonder and vulnerability. Dahl captures a fleeting
moment of youthful imagination, blending whimsy with subtle,
lurking dread.
 Understanding the text
A. What did the child do to
the scab on his knee?

Ans:
The child gently picked the
scab off his cut with his
finger nails and put it on his
thigh. Finally he flipped it
with his finger.
 Understanding the text
B. What kind of effect did the
carpet have on the child?

Ans:
The child became extremely
amazed to see the red carpet.
He had never really notice it
before in such a way. The
different colors of carpet
seemed to brighten
mysteriously and spring out at
him in a most dazzling way. He
was thoroughly lost in those
colors and his imagination.
 Understanding the text
B. What kind of effect did the
carpet have on the child?

Ans:
The child became extremely
amazed to see the red carpet.
He had never really notice it
before in such a way. The
different colors of carpet
seemed to brighten
mysteriously and spring out at
him in a most dazzling way. He
was thoroughly lost in those
colors and his imagination.
 Understanding the text
C. What was he afraid while
walking across the carpet?
Ans:
He was afraid of the black
poisonous snakes and the
red coals while walking
across the carpet.
 Understanding the text
D. What motivated and
encouraged the child to
start and continue his
journey?

Ans:
His wish of getting a puppy
on his birthday or as a
birthday gift motivated and
encouraged the child to
start and continue on his
journey.
 Understanding the text
E. What did the child see as he looked
down on the black patterns of the
carpet?

Ans:
The child saw different colours
brightening mysteriously. He was lost
in different colours’ spots. He kept on
thinking in his imagination about the
colours and their different forms.
Hence, the child saw the poisonous
snake with the oily body of snake
arising to catch or bite him as he
looked down on the black patterns of
the carpet.
Reference to the
context
A. The writer creates two voices in the story. Who are they?
Ans:Yes, the writer creates two voices in the story and they
were (a narrator) and the voice of the young boy i.e. the child.

B. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions

that follow.
i. What does ‘the black part’ mean?
Ans: The black part means the difficulty, challenges and
suffering in the journey.
ii. Who is the speaker?
Ans: The speaker is a young boy.
Iii. Why doesn’t the speaker want to get burned?
Ans: He doesn’t want to be burnt because he wants to reach
across the carpet safely to receive the gift ‘a puppy’ on his
birthday.
Reference to the
context
C. Which images and metaphors are used in the story?

Ans: The main metaphor in the story “The Wish” by Roald

Dahl is the child’s journey along the carpet as a
representation of the obstacles and challenges he faces as
he matures. Vivid images that Dahl uses to reinforce the
metaphor include the scab as the boy’s primary challenge,
the red spots on the carpet as hot lumps of coal, and the
black sections as evil poisonous snakes.
Reference to the
context
E. The story shows the events through the eyes of the
narrator and the child. Comparing the two styles, who
presents a more interesting or effective view for the
readers? Why?
Ans: In “The Wish,” a boy uses his imagination to travel
across a red, black, and yellow carpet. The child’s
represents the story in more interesting and effective than
the narrator’s, because it is vivid and suspenseful. The child
was a in a hardship situation and he faces hardships and
won all the challenges as motivated by a Birthday gift as a
puppy by completing his journey at the end.
Reference to the
context
F. Is “The Wish” a story about self-confidence overcoming fear or about greed?
Give your arguments.
Ans: Roald Dahl’s “The Wish” is about self-confidence overcoming fear rather
than about greed aa it is all about self-confidence and overcoming fear.
Admittedly, “greed,” the desire for a puppy, is a motivating factor. However,
the puppy motivator is a fantasy that boy has made up to help him overcome
his fear of crossing the treacherous carpet. He says to himself, ‘if I get across
safely, without being burnt and without being bitten, I will be given a puppy for
my birthday tomorrow.

The child seems fearful while watching his scab. He thinks much about picking
it. He raises many questions with himself. He picks out his scab being panic.
But when he sees the carpet his fear increases high. He gathers his confidence
to cross the carpet. He creates his obstacles supposing the colours as coals and
snakes. He even puts his goal across the carpet. He moves on bravely on the
carpet wishing for a puppy on his birthday as a birthday gift. He tries his best to
overcome his fear. His self-confidence and his wish end as he falls down in
black colours.

Even the puppy becomes part of his project of overcoming fears to achieve a
goal: But the fear of not getting the puppy compelled him to go on. This tale
enters into the mind of an imaginative child and reflects the child’s ability to
turn something as common place as a patterned carpet into a scene of
 Glossary
01 02 03
doing the splits
adder (n.) beady (aadj.)
(idm.)
a type of poisonous spreading legs widely
bright and penetrating
snake apart

04 05 06

frantically (adv.) gingerly (adv.) gravely (adv.)

in a panic and
carefully seriously
frightening way
 Glossary
instinctively
01 fringe (n.) 03 (adv.)
the front part of the
unconsciously, by
hair which covers the
instinct
forehead

02 jerked (v.) 04 scab (n.)

made a sudden sharp a piece of hard skin
movement which covers a wound
or cut
Thank You!