
Here is the Class 11 English – The Wish Summary and Exercise. All of the questions have clear, concise, and easy-to-understand answers.
“The Wish” is a short story written by Roald Dahl.
About the Author
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot. His books have been sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has born in Wales to Norwegian immigrant parents. He served in the Royal force during the Second World war.
The story “The Wish” is about a young child and his imaginative game of carpet. This story has presented the child’s wish as well as the frightening event of his childhood.
Summary of The Wish
The story “The Wish” is about a young boy who had a frightening event in his childhood. At the beginning of the scene, we find an unnamed child looking at his kneecap’s scab and bent forward to examine it closely. He picked his scab gently which fell upon the edge of the red carpet. When he moved near the scab different colours of the carpet attracted his attention. He creatively imagined each different colour represent something. In his imagination, he supposed the red coloured spots as lumps of coal that could burn him, black colour as a poisonous snake that could bite him, and yellow colour as the only safe zone for him where he could step and cross the huge carpet to get inside, he would be gifted a puppy for his birthday.
So the boy begins his quest. The first part is easygoing but reached some difficult parts and has to take long strides. He wobbles but stretched out his arm to keep himself in a steady position. Then reaching a turning point, he chooses left because it’s difficult but black spots were less there. He reaches the halfway point and knows he cannot turn back or jump off. Then he begins to feel panic rising in his chest. He takes another step to the only close yellow spot and his foot is only a centimeter from the black patch. A snake stirs and raises its head to watch him. Although he was trying to balance himself it did not work. He started to cry as he touched the black.
And the story ends with his mother who was looking for him behind a house outside the sunshine.
Analysis and Interpretation of The Wish
- The story “The Wish” is about a young boy’s fantasy in which his carpet is alive with snake and fire.
The writer has used imagery and metaphor which helps to reflect on the delicacy of our childhood innocence. - Unnecessary fear is harmful.
- Fear causes people to make bad choices.
- The images and metaphor represent the obstacles and challenges he faces as he matures. Vivid challenges that Dahl uses to reinforce the metaphor include the scab, red spots on carpet, black sections, etc. He faces many challenges in pursuit of his goal which represent the obstacles in his path to maturity.

Complete Exercise
You can check out the exercise solution of this unit from the following button.
THE END
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