The Hundred Dresses - I Summary Class 10 English First Flight

DETAILED SUMMARY

This is a story about a Polish girl. Her name was Wanda Petronski. Her family had immigrated to America. She studied in a school with other American students. She belonged to a very poor family. Daily she came to school in a faded blue dress. It was clean but not properly ironed. She used to sit in the corner of room number thirteen in the last row. This was a corner where the rough boys, who did not make good marks, sat. They made a lot of noise. There was the most noise of the feet when some fun occurred. Wanda did not sit there because she was rough and noisy. On the contrary, she was very quiet. But she came on foot from Boggins Heights area and brought a lot of dirt with her shoes.
She was an introvert girl and did not speak much in the class. No one had ever heard her laugh. Nobody really thought much about Wanda. Students thought of Wanda only outside the school hours. They waited for her while she was going to or coming from a home. They waited for her in order to have fun with her. Two girls of her class, Peggy and Maddie, often talked to her and made fun of her. Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty and had curly hair. She belonged to a rich family. She had many pretty clothes. Maddie was her closest friend.
Peggy and Maddie were not bad girls but they used to have some fun with Wanda Petronski. The students in Wanda’s class found her name funny. Wanda was always alone in her class. Wanda did not have many friends but a lot of girls talked to her. They surrounded her in the schoolyard. Peggy made fun of Wands and asked her how many dresses she had in her closet. Wanda replied that she had one hundred dresses. These dresses were of different colours and designs. Then Peggy would ask her whether the dresses were of silk or velvet. Wanda would reply that she dresses of velvet as well as silk. The girls would ask her how many pairs of shoes she had. At this Wanda would tell them that she had sixty pairs of shoes. The girls would suppress their laugh when talking to her. But as soon as Wanda’s back was turned, they would burst into peals of laughter.
Peggy was rich but she was not arrogant. She was not cruel. On the other hand, she saved younger girls from bullies. But she and other girls could not understand why Wanda told a lie about her dresses and shoes. But the girls only made fun of Wanda. They never made her cry.
Maddie herself was a poor girl. She used to wear clothes given by other persons. So she was sympathetic to Wanda. She and Peggy were fast friends. That is why she never said anything when Peggy made fun of Wanda. But she herself never laughed at Wanda. She did not like Peggy’s asking Wanda about the dresses. Whenever Peggy mocked at Wanda, Maddie felt bad. She wished that Peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski. Maddie decided to write a note for Peggy asking her to stop making fun of Wanda but she could not muster the courage to do so.
Wanda did not come to school on Monday. But nobody missed her. She did not come on Tuesday also. But when she missed the school on Wednesday also, Peggy and Maddie noted her absence. They wondered why she had not come to school. Maddie remembered Wanda talking about one of her dresses which was pale blue with coloured trimmings. Then Maddie thought about the drawing and colour contest in the school. The girls were to design dresses and the boys were to design motorboats. Maddie thought that Peggy would win the contest as she was very good at design.
Next day it was drizzled. Peggy and Maddie hurried to their school as Miss Mason would announce the results of the drawing contest. They did not wait for Wanda. When the girls reached their school they were surprised. There were hundreds of designs of dresses displayed in the room. Then Miss Mason announced the names of the winners. Jack Beagles had won for the boys. She said that all the hundred designs of dresses had been made by one girl and she had won the Medal. Her name was Wanda Petronski.
But Wanda was absent. The children clapped their hands in joy. Maddie asked Peggy to look at the blue dress about which Wanda had told them earlier. They appreciated the drawings made by Wanda.

SHORT SUMMARY (2)

1.  Wanda Petronski in the class: Wanda Petronski sat in the seat next to the last seat in the last row in Room No. thirteen. Only ‘rough boys’ who didn’t get good marks sat there. It was this corner where there was most scuffing of feet and most roars of laughter when anything funny was said. It was also the corner where one could find most mud and dirt on the floor.
2.  Very Quiet and Lonely: Nobody knew why she chose to sit in the last row. Perhaps she came from a place Boggins Heights. It was the place where poor immigrants lived. Her feet were usually covered with dry mud. Nobody really thought much about Wanda when she was in the class. Today she was not in her seat but no one noticed her absence.
3.  Wanda Petronski—an Object of Fun: Her schoolmates thought of Wanda only when she was outside. Only outside the school, they waited for Wanda to have fun with her. After two days, Peggy and Maddie noticed that Wanda was not there in the class. Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She had pretty clothes and her hair was curly.
4.  Funny Name: Wanda Petronski was rather a strange name for the children in Room No. thirteen. They didn’t have names like that. They had names easy to say, like Thomas, Smith or Allen. Wanda didn’t have friends. She came to school alone and went home alone. She always wore a faded blue dress. It was clean but never ironed properly.
5.  Peggy Making Fun of Wanda: Peggy would always try to make fun of Wanda in a most courteous manner. She would ask, “How many dresses did you say you had hanging up in your closet?” Wanda would answer, “A hundred”. Then Peggy would ask in a teasing but polite manner, “All silk, I bet”. Wanda would reply that they were all silk and of all colours. Then before Wanda had gone very far, all the girls would burst into shrieks and peals of laughter. The only dress Wanda wore was a blue one. “What a story” they would say meaning that she was telling a lie. They would again ask Wanda teasingly “How many shoes…?” Wanda would reply, sixty pairs.
6.  Maddie was Different: Maddie was not like Peggy. She didn’t like ‘this business’ of asking Wanda how many dresses, shoes and hat she had’. Maddie was poor herself. She often wore old clothes usually given by someone else. She felt embarrassed when Peggy questioned Wanda in a mocking polite voice. She wished Peggy would stop teasing Wanda Petronski. She pictured herself in the schoolyard, a new target for Peggy and the girls. Peggy might ask her where she got the dress that she had on. Maddie would have to say it was one of Peggy’s old dresses that she was wearing.
7. Drawing & colouring contest: Maddie began to wonder who was going to win the drawing and colouring contest. For girls, this contest consisted of designing dresses. Peggy was the favourite as she drew better than anyone else in the room. Everybody thought that Peggy would win the prize. The next day, when they entered the classroom, they found there were drawings all over the room. There must have been a hundred of them. They were all lined up. Miss Mason announced the winners. She told them that one girl drew one hundred & tops—all different and in beautiful colours. She declared that Wanda Petronski was the winner of the girl’s medal. Wanda had been absent from school for some days and was not there to receive the prize. Miss Mason asked the children to file around the room quietly and look at Wanda’s beautiful drawings. Peggy and Maddie noticed that particularly two blue and green dresses which Wanda used to talk about were displayed there.

Main Points of the Story

1. Wanda Petronski usually sat in the last row in Room No. 13.
2. Only ‘rough boys’ who never scored good marks and made a lot of noise used to sit there.
3. Wanda was a very quiet girl who rarely said anything to anybody.
4. She had no friends and came to school and went home alone.
5. Peggy was the most popular girl in the class.
6. She was pretty, had many dresses and curly hair.
7. Wanda was a poor girl who always wore a faded blue dress which was never ironed properly.
8. Her name Wanda Petronski was difficult to pronounce and looked funny to the children.
9. Maddie was poor and wore old clothes given to her by Peggy.
10. She didn’t like Peggy’s questioning of Wanda about her hundred dresses, shoes and hats.
11. She wished Peggy would not tease and mock Wanda in such an insulting manner.
12. Everyone was waiting for the winner of the drawing and colour competition.
13. Everybody thought that Peggy would be the winner as she could draw better than anyone in the class.
14. Next day, when they entered the room 13, they found drawings all over the room.
15. Miss Mason declared that where only one or two sketches were sent by most of the girls, one girl sent a hundred drawings, all different and beautiful.
16. Miss Mason declared that Wanda Petronski was the winner of the girls’ medal.
17. Unfortunately, Wanda was not present to hear the applause that was due to her.