Comparing “the Mouse Plot, ” by Ronald Dahl, and “All Summer in a Day, ” by Ray Bradbury
When Pranks on Played
Pranks can be funny, but they can also be hurtful. In the short stories, “The Mouse Plot,” by Ronald Dahl, and “All Summer in a Day,” by Ray Bradbury, both involved children whose shenanigans cause painful consequences. “The Great Mouse Plot,” part of Ronald Dahl’s autobiography, a group of schoolmates plays a trick on Mrs. Pratchett the mean, and filthy candy shop owner. They decided to put a dead mouse into one of her jars of candy, causing Mrs. Pratchett to drop the jar of candy. While, in Bradbury’s science fiction tale, “All Summer in a Day,” children who live on Venus lock their innocent peer in a closet while the sun shines for the first time in seven years. Although both pranks have negative out comes, they greatly differ in their motives, victims, and consequences. A motive is a reason to get revenge, or play a mean trick on a person. Ronald and his friends thinking about Mrs.Pratchett thought, “ The other thing we hated Mrs. Pratchett for was her meanness. Unless you spent a whole six pence all in one go, she wouldn’t give you a bag. Instead you got your sweets twisted up in a small piece of newspaper, which she tore off a pile of old Daily Mirrors lying on the counter”(34). This shows that Ronald Dahl and his classmates reason to get back at her was because Mrs. Pratchett was ungenerous. They believed that they would get even with her. On the other hand, Margot in “All Summer in a Day” wasn’t selfish, but an outcast. Depressed and isolated Margot thought, “They edged away from her, they would not look at her. She felt them go away. And this was because she would play no games with them in the echoing tunnels of the underground city. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow”(265). This proves that Margot is not accepting of her classmates, and she is not adapting to her new home. This also implies that Margot is lonely. Every motive has a reason to do a joke, and a person to
Pranks can be funny, but they can also be hurtful. In the short stories, “The Mouse Plot,” by Ronald Dahl, and “All Summer in a Day,” by Ray Bradbury, both involved children whose shenanigans cause painful consequences. “The Great Mouse Plot,” part of Ronald Dahl’s autobiography, a group of schoolmates plays a trick on Mrs. Pratchett the mean, and filthy candy shop owner. They decided to put a dead mouse into one of her jars of candy, causing Mrs. Pratchett to drop the jar of candy. While, in Bradbury’s science fiction tale, “All Summer in a Day,” children who live on Venus lock their innocent peer in a closet while the sun shines for the first time in seven years. Although both pranks have negative out comes, they greatly differ in their motives, victims, and consequences. A motive is a reason to get revenge, or play a mean trick on a person. Ronald and his friends thinking about Mrs.Pratchett thought, “ The other thing we hated Mrs. Pratchett for was her meanness. Unless you spent a whole six pence all in one go, she wouldn’t give you a bag. Instead you got your sweets twisted up in a small piece of newspaper, which she tore off a pile of old Daily Mirrors lying on the counter”(34). This shows that Ronald Dahl and his classmates reason to get back at her was because Mrs. Pratchett was ungenerous. They believed that they would get even with her. On the other hand, Margot in “All Summer in a Day” wasn’t selfish, but an outcast. Depressed and isolated Margot thought, “They edged away from her, they would not look at her. She felt them go away. And this was because she would play no games with them in the echoing tunnels of the underground city. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow”(265). This proves that Margot is not accepting of her classmates, and she is not adapting to her new home. This also implies that Margot is lonely. Every motive has a reason to do a joke, and a person to