The Hundred Dresses Part 2 Summary

The Hundred Dresses-I Summary: In the first part of the chapter “the Hundred Dresses” we had seen as how a Polish poor girl Wanda Petronski was teased and made fun of by asking questions as how many dresses, shoes etc. she had. There was a drawing competition and Wanda had won it. The next part “The Hundred Dresses” part two begins with the letter from Wanda’s father about their leaving the place and school. Maddi was very disturbed to hear about it. she realised her guilt for remaining passive when Wanda was made fun of They write a letter to Wanda and after getting the reply, Maddie gets more so emotional. Wanda wins the heart of the readers when Wanda mentions the drawings meant for Peggy and Wanda. By the time we reach the end of the story we can not remain but marvelling Wanda and her great heart. Tears may roll down from the readers eyes.

Summary of the chapter ‘The Hundred Dresses -I’ Class 10 book First Flight

---

Miss Masson receives a letter from Wanda’s father

The class was circling the room when Miss Masson received a note from the principal’s office. The letter was from Wanda’s father.  She read it several times herself. She studied with thoughtfully. Miss Mason clapped her hands and asked the students to get back to the seats. She told that she had got a letter from Wanda’s father and she wanted to read to them.

The letter is read out

Miss Masson stood there for a movement, adjusted the glasses slowly and got ready to read out the letter-

Dear teacher:

My Wanda will not come to your school anymore. Jack also. Now we move away to big-city. No more Holler “Pollack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in the big city.

Yours truly,

Jan Petronski

Deep silence in the class

A deep silence at the reading of this letter. Miss Masson took off her glasses, blew on them and wiped them on her soft white handkerchief. Then she put them on again and looked at the class. When she spoke, her voice was very low.

Miss Mission calls it unfortunate to hurt anyone’s feelings because of his or her name

Effect of the letter on Maddie

Maddie Was highly disturbed. It was first. But she was not able to concentrate. See had a very sick feeling in the bottom of the stomach. She cursed herself for remaining silent when Peggy teased Wanda Petronski. She only stood by silently and said nothing. It was as bad as what Peggy had done. She was nothing less than a coward. She put herself in Wanda’s shoes. She decided to find Wanda.It was possible that she had not left Boggins Height yet. Peggy had also the same idea. Both the girls planned to visit Wanda’s house at  Boggins Heights.

Peggy and Maddie visited Wanda’s house

The two girls started for Boggins Heights. Peggy felt that she never called Wanda a ‘foreigner’ and made fun of her name. She thought that Wanda was too dumb. She praised the drawing skills. At last, they reached Wanda’s house. It was a little house with shabby but clean courtyard. They knocked firmly on the door but got no answer. No doubt, the Petronskis had gone. Peggy said that if she had not asked Wanda about al dresses, she would have no ideas for her drawings. She might not have won the context either.

Maddie thinks a lot about Wanda and reaches a conclusion

Maddie could not get to sleep that night as she thoughts about Wanda kept coming into her mind. Maddie thought Wanda, blue dress and the little house she had lived in. She reached an important conclusion. She was not going to stand by and say nothing again. Should never forgive anyone insulting others because they were funny looking or had strange names. She would stand up and speak up. She would oppose it injustice even If it meant losing Peggy’s friendship.

Peggy and Maddie write a letter to Wanda

Peggy and Maddie decided to write a letter to Wanda. They wrote how pretty her drawings were. They asked her if she liked her new place and her new teacher. They wanted to feel sorry but they ended up writing just as a friendly letter.

No any sooner reply from Wanda

Days passed and there was no answer, but the letter did not come back, so maybe Wanda had received it. Weeks went by and still no answer. Peggy had begun to forget the whole business, and Maddie put herself to sleep at night making speeches about Wanda defending her from great crowds of girls were trying to tease with the questions like “How many dresses have you got?” Maddie would then cry out, ‘stop!”. Then everybody would feel ashamed the way she used to feel.

Reply from Wanda with special mention of Peggy and Maddie

It was Christmas time. On the last day of school before Christmas holidays, Miss Mason showed the class a letter from Wanda. In the letter Wanda had wished that the girls of room 13 could keep the Hundred dresses.  In her new house they had 100 new ones. She would like Peggy to have the drawing of the green dress with the red trimming and Maddie to have the blue one. She wished Merry Christmas to all. She wrote that she missed the school. A new teacher did not ‘equalise’ Miss Mason.

Reaction of Peggy to the letter

on way home Maddie and Peggy held drawings very carefully. All the houses had been decorated beautifully as it was Christmas time. Light reflected different colours on the snow. Peggy told that the letter showed that she had got their letter. She liked the place. She also liked them. She had a different way to so that. There was no ill feeling among them. Everything was alright

Reaction of the letter and the drawing on Maddie

Maddie thought differently. She felt sad that she would never see the little tight-lipped polish girl again and couldn’t ever really make things right between them.

She went home and sleep in her drawings over a torn place in the pink flowered wallpaper in the bedroom. Her shabby room came alive from the brilliancy of the colours of the drawing. She kept watching the drawing but said nothing. She thought that Warner had been nice to her, anyway. Tears blurred her eyes and she gauged for a long time at the picture and its brilliant colours. She looked intently and found that the face and the head of the drawing looked like her own self. Excitedly, she ran over to Peggy’s.

Maddie tells Peggy that Wanda had drawn them in the drawings

“Peg!” She said, let me see your picture.” Peggy’s drawing was lying face down on her bed. Maddie carefully raised it. The drawing looked like Peggy. “What did I say!” said Peggy, “she must have really like us, anyway.” Maddie agreed. while blinking away the tears that came every time, she thought of Wanda standing alone in that sunny spot in the school yard, looking stolidly over the group of laughing girls after she had walked off, after she had said, “Sure, a hundred of then, all lined up.”