The Hundred Dresses Part 1

By El Bsor Ester

About the Author

El Bsor Ester ( 9 May 1906 – 15 July 1988) was an American author. Her genre was children literature. Her fictions were mostly based upon reality of the society

Introduction

This story ‘ The Hundred Dresses Part 1’ revolves around a poor Polish girl ‘Wanda Petronski’ whose family has immigrated from Poland to America.

She is a victim of bullying by her classmates due to her poverty striken condition and her polish name.

This story illustrates how discrimination is done on the basis of race and status in the society.

The theme of the Story:

Bullying and discrimination

The story targets upon the impact of racism and social status that leads to bullying and discrimination even at the school level by the students .

Wanda Petronski who is a polish immigrant and is a subject of fun in the class as she had a polish name which seemed too big to the rest of the students.

She has no friend even, as she always wears the same dress being poor.

The Hundred Dresses Summary

In The story , ‘Wanda Petronski’, is a Polish immigrant, who had come to America with her family.

In American school, her classmates ‘American children’ poke fun at her as according to them her name is too strange and difficult to pronounce.

Moreover, she always wears the same faded blue dress. She gets teased by Peggy and Maddie as she claims that she has hundred dresses all lined up in her closet even though she is seen in the same attire every day.

However, Maddie the closest friend of Peggy feels embarrassed when Wanda gets teased but she doesn’t dare to take stand against Peggy as she is afraid of being the next victim of bullying because she herself is a poor girl and wears the dresses handed over by the rich society.

Peggy herself is a kind-hearted person even for animals but she thinks that Wanda deserves to be teased as she always lie about her hundred dresses. One could easily get to know that she just boast of her dresses as she wears the same dress everyday and belongs to a poor society.

However, the reality of hundred dresses gets revealed when the results of drawing competition is announced. Both Peggy and Maddie get dumbstruck on the beautiful hundred designs of dresses with lavish colors, drawn by Wanda.

On the very day they realized what was Wanda mean by ‘ hundred dresses all lined up in the closet’ . She used to refer the hundred beautiful drawings of dresses she has made. At last, both the girls Peggy and Maddie felt ashamed of their misbehaviour toward Wanda.

The Hundred Dresses Part 1 Lesson Explanation

TODAY, Monday, Wanda Petronski was not in her seat. But nobody, not even Peggy and Madeline, the girls who started all the fun, noticed her absence. Usually Wanda sat in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room Thirteen. She sat in the corner of the room where the rough boys who did not make good marks sat, the corner of the room where there was most scuffling of feet, most roars of laughter when anything funny was said, and most mud and dirt on the floor. Wanda did not sit there because she was rough and noisy. On the contrary, she was very quiet and rarely said anything at all. And nobody had ever heard her laugh out loud. Sometimes she twisted her mouth into a crooked sort of smile, but that was all.

Word meanings

• Scuffling - noisy, dragging movements of the feet on the ground

This story illustrated the pitiful condition of Wanda Petronski who had been a subject of laughter in the class. Her classmates Peggy and Maddie would made fun of her. On Monday they noticed that she was not on her seat, a corner seat next to the last row of room no. 13. Which is occupied by the students who are poor in studies and usually misbehave in the class by laughing loudly and making noise by dragging their feet. However, Wanda was not that sort of girl, on the contrary she was calm and quiet and rarely smiled in the class.

Nobody knew exactly why Wanda sat in that seat, they it was because she came all the way from Boggins Heights and her feet were usually caked with dry mud. But no one really thought much about Wanda Petronski, once she sat in the corner of the room. The time when they thought about Wanda was outside of school hours — at noon-time when they were coming back to school or in the morning early before school began, when groups of two or three, or even more, would be talking and laughing on their way to the school yard. Then, sometimes, they waited for Wanda — to have fun with her.

Nobody knew the exact reason why she sat there except that she belonged to a poor locality Boggins Heights and usually have dirty shoes with dry mud.

Nobody in the class paid attention upon her as she remained silent in the class before the end of the school hours. However at the end of the school, a group of two or three girls waited for Wanda to poke fun at her.

The next day, Tuesday, Wanda was not in school, either. And nobody noticed her absence again. But on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie, who sat down front with other children who got good marks and who didn’t track in a whole lot of mud, did notice that Wanda wasn’t there. Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her closest friend. The reason Peggy and Maddie noticed Wanda’s absence was because Wanda had made them late to school. They had waited and waited for Wanda, to have some fun with her, and she just hadn’t come. They often waited for Wanda Petronski — to have fun with her.

On next day, Tuesday, Wanda was again absent and none noticed it , but on Wednesday, Peggy and Maddie the intelligent girls who didn’t belong to poor locality and come without dirt in the class, noticed that Wanda was not in the class. Besides being smart Peggy was the most popular girl as she was quite pretty in term of her looks and attire. Maddie was her closest friend. Both the girls used to wait for Wanda to tease her every day and on that day they kept waiting her as usual so that they could have some fun by laughing at Wanda.

Wanda Petronski. Most of the children in Room Thirteen didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen. There was one boy named Bounce, Willie Bounce, and people thought that was funny, but not funny in the same way that Petronski was.

Since Wanda had Polish name it seemed too strange to her classmates. All the class fellow had simple and easy name except Willie Bounce but it was also not that strange and funny as compared to Wanda Petronski

Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right. It was clean, but it looked as though it had never been ironed properly. She didn’t have any friends, but a lot of girls talked to her. Sometimes, they surrounded her in the school yard as she stood watching the little girls play hopscotch on the worn hard ground.

Word meanings

• Didn’t hang right- didn’t fit properly
• Hopscotch- a game in which children hop into and over squares marked on the ground

Wanda had no friend thus she had to go and come alone . She always wore an unfit and faded blue dress. Although it used to be clean but never seemed properly ironed. Although she had no friend, she had been a matter of discussion and fun in the class due to her funny name and poor dress . Sometimes, she was surrounded by her class mate in the school yard and got teased by them , while she would watch little girls playing hopscotch.

“Wanda,” Peggy would say in a most courteous manner as though she were talking to Miss Mason. “Wanda,” she’d say, giving one of her friends a nudge, “tell us. How many dresses did you say you had hanging up in your closet?” “A hundred,” Wanda would say. “A hundred!” exclaimed all the little girls incredulously, and the little ones would stop playing hopscotch and listen. “Yeah, a hundred, all lined up,” said Wanda. Then her thin lips drew together in silence. “What are they like? All silk, I bet,” said Peggy. “Yeah, all silk, all colours.” “Velvet, too?” “Yeah, velvet too. A hundred dresses,” Wanda would repeat stolidly. “All lined up in my closet.” Then they’d let her go. And then before she’d gone very far, they couldn’t help bursting into shrieks and peals of laughter

Word meanings

• Nudge- a gentle push
• Incredulously- showing unwillingness to believe
• Courteous- polite, respectful
• Stolidly- calm, dependable, and showing little emotion and animation
• Shrieks- scream

Peggy pretending to be most respectful, would ask Wanda that how many dresses she had in her closet by gently pushing one of her friends. At this Wanda would reply a hundred all lined up, without any emotion. The girls used to laugh and mock at this answer asking about the dresses regarding color and fabric and Wanda repeated the same answer. They even laughed loudly at Wanda when she just left them.

A hundred dresses! Obviously, the only dress Wanda had was the blue one she wore every day. So why did she say she had a hundred? What a story! “How many shoes did you say you had?” “Sixty pairs. All lined up in my closet.” Cries of exaggerated politeness greeted this.

“All alike?” “Oh, no. Every pair is different. All colours. All lined up.” Peggy, who had thought up this game, and Maddie, her inseparable friend, were always the last to leave. Finally Wanda would move up the street, her eyes dull and her mouth closed, hitching her left shoulder every now and then in the funny way she had, finishing the walk to school alone.

Word meanings

• Exaggerated- overemphasise.
• Her eyes dull- having eyes wanting brightness, liveliness, and vivacity

Since Wanda used to wear the same dress, no one believed at her answer and wondered why did she boast like that regarding her hundred dresses of different colors and Sixty pairs of shoes all lined up in her closet. Thus, they mimiced their whole conversations with Wanda even in her absence and laughed.

It was all the plan of Peggy to tease Wanda at her lies. Peggy and Maddie both inseparable friends were the last ones to leave school while Wanda would go back all alone with her dull eyes and behaved in a strange way.

Peggy was not really cruel. She protected small children from bullies. And she cried for hours if she saw an animal mistreated. If anybody had said to her, “Don’t you think that is a cruel way to treat Wanda?” she would have been very surprised. Cruel? Why did the girl say she had a hundred dresses? Anybody could tell that that was a lie. Why did she want to lie? And she wasn’t just an ordinary person, else why did she have a name like that? Anyway, they never made her cry.

Bullies- someone who hurts or frightens someone else, often over a period of time, and forcing them to do something that they do not want to do.
Mistreated- to treat someone badly

Peggy was not actually unkind to others. She would protect children and animals from being mistreated. However, she thought that the way she treated Wanda was not cruel as that girl just boast about her hundred dresses in a weird way as it was evident that she used to lie. Moreover her name was also weird. They are only curious to know about the reasons of her lies. They hadn’t made Wanda cry.

As for Maddie, this business of asking Wanda every day how many dresses and how many hats, and how many this and that she had was bothering her. Maddie was poor herself. She usually wore somebody’s hand-me-down clothes. Thank goodness, she didn’t live up on Boggins Heights or have a funny name.

For Maddie, teasing Wanda regarding the dresses and other accessories was irritating. However, she hadn’t any sympathy for Wanda. The main reason was her own poor status as she herself used to wear handed over clothes from rich people. But she didn’t live in the poor locality Boggins Heights and had weird name like Wanda.

Sometimes, when Peggy was asking Wanda those questions in that mocking polite voice, Maddie felt embarrassed and studied the marbles in the palm of her hand, rolling them around and saying nothing herself. Not that she felt sorry for Wanda, exactly. She would never have paid any attention to Wanda if Peggy hadn’t invented the dresses game. But suppose Peggy and all the others started in on her next? She wasn’t as poor as Wanda, perhaps, but she was poor. Of course she would have more sense than to say she had a hundred dresses. Still she would not like for them to begin on her. She wished Peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski.

When Peggy tease Wanda, Maddie used to get embarrassed . To avoid that present situation she would pay attention on the marbles in her hand. In reality she would never take any interest in Wanda and her possessions unless that teasing game invented. Maddie hadn’t any sympathy toward Wanda but she was worried about her own condition in future if she became the next target of the students as she herself was poor though, not like that of Wanda. But she would never lie like Wanda if such situation arises.

Today, even though they had been late to school, Maddie was glad she had not had to make fun of Wanda. She worked her arithmetic problems absentmindedly. “Eight times eight — let’s see…” She wished she had the nerve to write Peggy a note, because she knew she never would have the courage to speak right out to Peggy, to say, “Hey, Peg, let’s stop asking Wanda how many dresses she has.” When she finished her arithmetic she did start a note to Peggy.
Absentmindedly- distracted

That day even though they were late to school as they were waiting for Wanda Maddie was happy that they could not tease Wanda as she didn’t arrive.

At the time of solving Mathematics problems she wished that she could have courage to write Peggy a note and tell her to stop teasing Wanda by asking such ridiculous questions. Being lost in her thoughts Maddie forgot her fear and started writing a note to Peggy however she knew that she couldn’t summon courage to stop Peggy teasing Wanda.

Suddenly she paused and shuddered. She pictured herself in the school yard, a new target for Peggy and the girls. Peggy might ask her where she got the dress that she had on, and Maddie would have to say it was one of Peggy’s old ones that Maddie’s mother had tried to disguise with new trimmings so no one in Room Thirteen would recognise it.

Word meanings

• Shuddered- shake, tremble
• Disguise- to give a different appearance to conceal its identity

At the time of writing, Maddie stopped getting scared of thinking about the consequences of her actions against Peggy regarding teasing Wanda. She would be the new target of Peggy.

Peggy would tease her in a same way and she would be a trying to conceal the reality of her dresses that they are actually the customized form of the old one of Peggy’s dresses.

If only Peggy would decide of her own accord to stop having fun with Wanda. Oh, well! Maddie ran her hand through her short blonde hair as though to push the uncomfortable thoughts away. What difference did it make? Slowly Maddie tore into bits the note she had started. 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.

Maddie wished that Peggy herself stopped making fun of Wanda.

She tried to push away those negative thoughts thinking that Peggy would not be wrong as she was her closest friend and even the most liked girl of the class.

She tore the note she had written as didn’t want to loose her true friend.

As for Wanda, she was just some girl who lived up on Boggins Heights and stood alone in the school yard. She scarcely ever said anything to anybody. The only time she talked was in the school yard about her hundred dresses. Maddie remembered her telling about one of her dresses, pale blue with coloured trimmings. And she remembered another that was brilliant jungle green with a red sash.

“You’d look like a Christmas tree in that,” the girls had said in pretended admiration.

Word meanings

• Scarcely- barely
• Trimmings- decoration
• Pretended- not genuine
• Admiration- praise or appreciation regarding the attire or looks.

Being satisfied by her decision that she was not going to be against Peggy, Maddie thought that Wanda is simply like other girls who lived in a poor locality like Boggins Heights who barely spoke to anybody besides telling about her hundred dresses.

Maddie recalled one or two incidents when Wanda had spoken up about her pale blue trimmed dress and jungle green colored dress with red sash and how girls mocked to be respectful towards her and made fun of her saying that in those dresses she would be looking like a Christmas tree .

Thinking about Wanda and her hundred dresses all lined up in the closet, Maddie began to wonder who was going to win the drawing and colouring contest. For girls, this contest consisted of designing dresses and for boys, of designing motorboats. Probably Peggy would win the girls’ medal. Peggy drew better than anyone else in the room. At least, that’s what everybody thought. She could copy a picture in a magazine or some film star’s head so that you could almost tell who it was. Oh, Maddie was sure Peggy would win. Well, tomorrow the teacher was going to announce the winners. Then they’d know.

Maddie suddenly wondered about the winner of the drawing competition while thinking about Wanda. In the contest girls had to design dresses while boys were supposed to draw design for motorboats.

Maddie was pretty sure that Peggy would be the winner as none could draw like her in the class that’s why she was supposed to draw the pictures for school magazines as she was expert in copying exactly the same picture even of the film star’s. However, the next day they would know about the winner after the declaration of the results.

The next day it was drizzling. Maddie and Peggy hurried to school under Peggy’s umbrella. Naturally, on a day like this, they didn’t wait for Wanda Petronski on the corner of Oliver Street, the street that far, far away, under the railroad tracks and up the hill, led to Boggins Heights. Anyway, they weren’t taking chances on being late today, because today was important.

Word meanings

• Drizzling- rain lightly
• Hurried- quick

That day, it was raining lightly. Peggy and Maddie were not willing to wait for Wanda on the corner of Oliver Street as they wished to reach school quickly since the result was going to be announced. Moreover, the Oliver Street was too far away, leading up to the hills towards Boggins Heights, through the railroad tracks. Thus they didn’t want to take chance and get late for it was the important day for the declaration of the results.

“Do you think Miss Mason will announce the winners today?” asked Peggy. “Oh, I hope so, the minute we get in,” said Maddie. “Of course, you’ll win, Peg.” “Hope so,” said Peggy eagerly. The minute they entered the classroom, they stopped short and gasped. There were drawings all over the room, on every ledge and windowsill, dazzling colours and brilliant, lavish designs, all drawn on great sheets of wrapping paper. There must have been a hundred of them, all lined up. These must be the drawings for the contest. They were! Everybody stopped and whistled or murmured admiringly.

As soon as the class had assembled, Miss Mason announced the winners. Jack Beggles had won for the boys, she said, and his design for an outboard motor was on exhibition in Room Twelve, along with the sketches by all the other boys.

Word meanings

• Gasped- catch one’s breath with an open mouth, owing to pain or astonishment.
• Windowsill- ledge or sill forming the bottom part of a window
• Ledge- mantel shelf
• Dazzling- extremely impressive, beautiful, or skilful
• Lavish- luxurious, rich in ingredients.
• Murmured- say something in a low or distinct voice
• Admiringly- appreciatively or praising something
• Assembled- gather together in one place for a common purpose

Both the girls were talking about the would be winner of the contest. Maddie assured that Peggy would be the winner and the latter showed her hope too. However, they both got awestruck when they entered the room as there were extremely impressive drawings of dresses with luxurious designs, lined up all over the walls , windows and ledges. They guessed that the drawings were surely for the contest. Everyone in the class was admiring and watching those beautiful drawings.

As soon as the class Assembled, class teacher Miss Mason announced the winners. She declared Jack Beggles , the winner amongst the boys for his best designs of motor boats , displayed in Room No 12.

“As for the girls,” she said, “although just one or two sketches were submitted by most, one girl — and Room Thirteen should be proud of her — this one girl actually drew one hundred designs — all different and all beautiful. In the opinion of the judges, any one of the drawings is worthy of winning the prize. I am very happy to say that Wanda Petronski is the winner of the girls’ medal.

After announcing the results of boys Miss Mason mentioned about the sketches submitted by girls and the winners amongst them. She declared the girl that drew the beautiful hundred different designs of the dresses deserved the first prize and that girl is Wanda Petronski who had won the medal.

Unfortunately, Wanda has been absent from school for some days and is not here to receive the applause that is due to her. Let us hope she will be back tomorrow. Now class, you may file around the room quietly and look at her exquisite drawings.” The children burst into applause, and even the boys were glad to have a chance to stamp on the floor, put their fingers in their mouths and whistle, though they were not interested in dresses. “Look, Peg,” whispered Maddie. “There’s that blue one she told us about. Isn’t it beautiful?” “Yes,” said Peggy, “And here’s that green one. Boy, and I thought I could draw

She further said that sadly Wanda would not be able to receive the prize as she had been absent for some days and she expressed her hope for Wanda’s arrival the next day. She suggested everyone to look carefully at the extremely beautiful designs drew by Wanda. All the children whether boy or girl heartily applauded the sketches. Maddie indicated toward the blue and green dress sketch about which Wanda told them earlier. Maddie said that those dresses were really looking very nice and Peggy replied would that she could draw such beautiful designs.

Question Answers

Q1. Where in the classroom does Wanda sit and why?

Ans. Wanda sits in the corner of the last row where the boys poor on studies sit and make lot of noise by laughing loudly. It is assumed that she probably sits there as she comes from a poor society with a lot of mud in her shoes.

Q2. Where does Wanda live? What kind of a place do you think it is?

Ans. Wanda lived in a poor locality Boggins Heights. According to the author , it was the part of the city or town filled with mud and not proper roads or pathways that is why Wanda had a lot of dirt on her shoes as she was the resident of Boggins Heights.

Q3. When and why do Peggy and Maddie notice Wanda’s absence?

Ans. On Wednesday, while Peggy and Maddie had been waiting for her outside school, before school began, they noticed that Wanda was missing as she did not arrive. They even got late for school. It was then that they realized her absence from school.

Q4. What do you think “to have fun with her” means?

Ans. “To have fun with her” means to poke fun at her about her claim regarding hundred dresses as it was clearly evident that she used to lie.

Q5. In what way was Wanda different from the other children?

Ans. Wanda was introvert as she didn’t talk or laugh loudly in class. Moreover being Polish girl her name seemed quite strange to other students.

Q6. Did Wanda have a hundred dresses? Why do you think she said she did?

Ans. No, Wanda did not have a hundred dresses . However she had hundred sketches of different designs of dresses .

She used to say this just to avoid more bullying that would have been possible if the girls got to know that she had no other dresses wear.

Q7. Why is Maddie embarrassed by the questions Peggy asks Wanda? Is she also like Wanda, or is she different?

Ans. Maddie gets embarrassed as she herself was poor and that situation reminded her of her own predicaments and poor conditions. Moreover, she was also worried to be the next target of the students.

Q8. Why didn’t Maddie ask Peggie to stop teasing Wanda? What was she afraid of?

Ans. Maddie was scared regarding the consequences of going against Peggy. She was afraid of being the next target for the girls as she herself was poor and wore dresses handed over by rich people.

Q9. Who did Maddie think would win the drawing contest? Why?

Ans. Maddie was sure that Peggy would win the contest as she was best at copying exactly the same picture even of the film stars.

Q10. Who won the drawing contest? What had the winner drawn?

A. Wanda had won the drawing contest. She had drawn a hundred different sketches of beautiful luxurious dresses.

Q11. How is Wanda seen as different by the other girls? How do they treat her?

Ans. According to other girls Wanda was different in terms of her attire, name and status.

She had a funny name being a polish immigrant which was not easy to pronounce.

She belonged to a poor locality with muddy pathways as she had a lot of dirt on her shoes every day.

She used to wear a same fade dress everyday and boasted of having hundred dresses all lined up in her closet.

They used to tease her for her lies and poor status.

Q12. How does Wanda feel about the dresses game? Why does she say that she has a hundred dresses?

Ans. Wanda felt quite ashamed and insulted when other girls played the dress game on her. She used to say that she had a hundred dresses to avoid more embarrassing and insulting situations.

Q13. 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?)

Ans. According to Maddie, Peggy could not be wrong as she was a popular and very intelligent girl in the class. Maddie was scared to be against her and become her next target . She didn’t was to loose her closest friend and even face the mistreatment like Wanda.

The lines which tell this are –
“Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty, she had many pretty clothes and her hair was curly. Maddie was her closest friend.”

Q14. What does Miss Mason think of Wanda’s drawings? What do the children think of them? How do you know?

Ans. Wanda’s drawings were beautiful and outstanding for Miss Mason. The children too were speechless. Even the boys who had no interest in dresses were whistling. Peggy herself was agreed that designs were amazing and wished that she could have drawn such designs.

 

The Hundred Dresses- I – Grammar Exercises

Combine the following to make sentences like those above.

1. This is the bus (what kind of bus?). It goes to Agra. (use which or that)

2. I would like to buy (a) shirt (which shirt?). (The) shirt is in the shop window. (use which or that)

3. You must break your fast at a particular time (when?). You see the moon in the sky. (use when)

4. Find a word (what kind of word?). It begins with the letter Z. (use which or that)

5. Now find a person (what kind of person). His or her name begins with the letter Z. (use whose)

6. Then go to a place (what place?). There are no people whose name begins with Z in that place. (use where)

Answers

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 at a particular time when you see the moon in the sky.

4. Find a word that 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.