The Hundred Dresses Part 1 - Question & Answers

The Hundred Dresses Part 1 - Question & Answers

Q1. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?

A. Wanda is an immigrant who belongs to a poor family. Other girls take her to be a strange person having an eccentric name and ethnicity. They ridicule her for wearing the same dress daily but claiming to have a hundred dresses all lined up in her closet. 

Q2. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?

A. Wanda feels embarrassed and humiliated when the other girls played the dresses game on her. Wnada’s claim of having a hundred dresses put her in more severe situation, wherein the other girls cross all boundaries to insult her. They feel quite startled as to why a girl having a hundred dresses, wears the same dress daily.  Nobody bothered to care that Wanda is referring to her beautiful drawings of a hundred dresses, which she has made for the drawing competition.

Q3. Why does Maddie stand by and not do anything? How is she different from Peggy? (Was Peggy’s friendship important to Maddie? Why? Which lines in the text tell you this?)

A. Maddie herself belongs to a poor family and she dislikes Peggy’s humiliating Wanda for her dresses and strange name. However,instead of objecting to it, she stands quietly and watches the fun making going. Maddie is also afraid that she might lose Peggy’s friendship if she takes Wanda’s side and also she might become the next one to be mocked at. As Maddie was poor herself, she feared that she could be the next target for the girls to mock at.

Q4. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?

A. Miss Mason is quite surprised and elated to see Wanda’s excellent drawings. She also announces that the judges liked all the drawings for their creativity, excellence and beauty and thus decided to give her the first position. The children get too amazed to see the drawings hung in the class, each one beautiful being extent. Peggy and Maddie feel guilty of ridiculing Wanda and resolve to apologize.

Extra Questions

1.   What is the theme of the story ‘The Hundred Dresses’?

Ans: Never ever discriminate with any one on any ground is the most highlighted theme of the story. Also, the feelings of the victim of discrimination are being talked about in the story. Specifically, in school days, humiliating others on the basis of their ethnicity, language, name, caste, creed, etc. leaves an indelible mark that takes years to erase; so such practices should never be encouraged. Adult intervention is direly needed to snub such malpractices. Care should be taken to develop unity, equality among the students.

2.   What values Peggy and Maddie miss?

Peggy belongs to a rich family who doesn’t know how a poor family manages the livelihood; she lacks awareness and value of sympathy & equality; due to which she keeps humiliating Wanda for her clothes, culture and strange name.

Maddie lacks courage and will power; that is why in spite of disliking Peggy’s behavior, she never raised her voice.

3.   Why was Wanda absenting herself from the school for some days?

Ans: The poor girl Wanda had to face severest of embarrassment and ridicule on account of her ethnicity, poverty and strange name. Already fighting for survival as an immigrant, Wanda was subjected to discrimination; and it was beyond an extent for a person to tolerate. She lacked human company at school and instead of offering understanding, she was offered mockery; so she must have decided stop attending such a school wherein feelings of equality and accepting and respecting others are not practiced. 

4.   What corrections would you make in the behavior of Peggy and Maddie?

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