Jo was the four year old girl whose full name was Joanne who was a daughter of Jack and Clare. When she was two years old she was used hear a story before going to sleep. Every time Jack was used to tell new story with a slight variations to the old one. Since she was grown up now and was intelligent and inquisitive child, her mind was bubbling with queries regarding whatever she heard or saw. She responded to her father’s tale according to her own perspective. The eagerness to understand and her restlessness made her ask a lot of questions, which sometimes lest her father in a dilemma. But when Jack was telling a tale about the isolation of Roger Skunk, here she promptly questioned about whether he would see the wise owl again. She wanted her father Jack to end the story according to her perspective. These facts tell that she was living in her own imaginary world.
Jo wanted the story to be continued and ended happily. Roger Skunk’s friends didn’t want to play with him due to his foul smell so wizard did a magic and provided him a rose smell so that he can play with his friends happily but Jack didn’t want to end story like a fairly tale so he said Skunk’s mother didn’t like the change that Skunk got. So Jo wanted that wizard should hit the mommy.
Jo was a child who had different perspective and sensibility compared to adults. So she wanted the story to end happily, she wanted that Roger Skunk should get the rose smell forever and could play with his friends. But according to Jack’s story Skunk’s mother went to wizard and hit him on his head asked him to give the foul smell back to the Skunk which Jo didn’t like. So Jo asked her father to change the ending of the story and recite it again tomorrow. The main problem was that Jo was a child and not matured therefore she wants the story according to her perspective.
The story mainly raises the issue of a generation gap and perspective towards world between a father and her small daughter. Hate and injustice didn’t exist in the world of a child. Therefore she wanted Roger Skunk to get the smell of rose forever and could play with his friends and she didn’t want his mommy to hit wizard and forced him to get the foul smell back for her child.
But Jack is a father, who thinks that only parents can think whatever is good or bad for their children so he supports the decision of Skunk’s mother to get the foul smell back to her child.
The story raises the question that whether parents are always right in all the decision towards their child or whether their decision should always be followed by their children.
So in the story Skunk’s mother did what she felt correct for his child and what she wanted to do.
Jo didn’t like the way her father ended the story so she wanted to change the ending according to her and told her father to come again tomorrow with the story in the way she want. She wants that wizard should also hit the mommy back because she didn’t like the injustice that had happened with the hero of the story Roger Skunk.
Jack was a typical father, so as a parent he thinks whatever the parents thinks about their child is correct. So to support this point of view he wanted to insist that it was the wizard that was hit not the mother. There was definitely the generation gap between them so he was unable to understand her daughter’s point of view and continued to support the story in the way he ended.
Jack feels caught himself in an ugly middle position as she wanted to make her daughter sleep and also wanted to take care of her pregnant wife as she was painting the living room. But the task of making her daughter sleep was quite fatiguing as she wanted lots of clarification, pointing errors and suggesting alternatives. He was conscious of his duties, both as a father and as a husband. Therefore he was stuck into two difficult situations.
It is quite obvious that whatever small children see or listen, they start thinking in that manner. So in the first ending of story when Skunk’s mother hit the wizard was wrong according to me as by this instance Jo could learn that hitting others is right doesn’t matter they didn’t had their fault.
But In the other ending that the wizard also hit back to mommy was also not right because Jo could learn that hitting elders or disrespecting elders is right.
But the story could be end like that mommy realized her mistake and get back the rose smell for her child.
Adult’s perspective on life is always different from children because there is always a big generation gap and maturity level. The adults are well experienced towards the world and life. They know the harsh reality of life from which the children are unknown. Children mostly live in their own imaginary world and doesn’t have maturity. They cannot distinguish between what is right or wrong for them which their parents can do and parents always want good for their children. But this is not necessary that all their decisions are correct but most of the decisions are correct. So we should follow and understand what our parents say.