Worldly Wisdom 2

‘The Umbrella Man’ is an enjoyable story of Roald Dahl. Roald Dahl is a British writer of Norwegian origin. He was a fighter pilot during the Second World War and served in the Air Force of England in prominent designations. He started his writing career in the 1940s during the war. He is a popular writer of children’s fiction. His popular novels include ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘James and the Giant Peach’ and ‘The Gremlins’. He is also credited with a lot of short stories too, written with the objective of reaching the children in mind. ‘The Umbrella Man’ is narrated by a twelve year old girl who accompanies her mother to a dentist in London.

The story has values to be imbibed by children. The mother of the twelve year old girl often concentrates on teaching her child through participation in life-events. The girl emphasizes her ability to adjudge people rather better than her mother through the revelation of her height in the story. Her mother is thirty-six and not much taller than her twelve year old daughter, an indication of mental growth of the girl. One fine afternoon, the mother and daughter duo embarks on a trip to London with the mission of filling in the tooth of the daughter. The girl is much pleased with the work of the dentist as she has felt no pain while the doctor filling the hole of a tooth. On their way back home, the duo enters a café and the girl enjoys a banana split. As they come out at about six o’clock in the evening, the rain begins its act of drenching the city of London. The mother has not brought an umbrella and wants to catch a taxi to take them home. The daughter relishes the idea of sheltering in the café and having another of her favourite banana split. Then a little old man approaches them as they are standing on the pavement and fancy themselves whisked away by an un-occupied taxi.

The mother always caution her daughter about strangers and her advice to her is if the stranger is more pleasing then she must be more wary of the stranger. The girl comforts herself on looking at the shoes of the stranger, since, as per her mother, one who wears a fine pair of shoes is a gentleman. The man is very old and has a fluffy mustache. He is holding a silk umbrella very high over his head. The mother puts on an expression one of hauteur as she considers such a one is right in dealing with unknown people. The old man has informed that he is not such type as the one who stops gentle ladies on road side and demand money. However, today he requires money to get back home in a taxi, as he has forgotten to come with his wallet. The mother is not pleased and enquired how he has come there. The man has informed her that it is his habit to take a stroll in the evenings and get back home in a taxi as his legs would not stand him for long. Since he has walked long already, he could not go on foot further and he is ready to offer the silk umbrella, worth twenty pound, for one pound and it is not gentlemanly for him to accept money from anybody. The daughter is upset with the offer as the mother could exploit the situation to grab the costly umbrella for a pittance. The mother is seen thawing and in the end gives out a pound and praises the act of the old man who is considerate enough to offer them the umbrella to shield them from rain.

The old man has accepted the money with gratitude and is only found hurrying on his legs. The act has upset the duo and the mother is pricked with the sense of disappointment of being cheated. They choose to follow the man who evading the evening crowd gracefully enters into a pub. It is not decent for women to enter into the pub and duo stations outside and peers into the glass on the man. The man reaches the bar and gulps treble whiskey for the pound and comes back to the dressing lounge to take one of the umbrellas put there by the pub-users. The mother and daughter are shocked by the act of the man and the man further travels to the very place where he has just now sold the silk umbrella to find another one of his victims, this time a man with no protection of a hat or coat from rain, to sell his stolen umbrella for a drink. Further, he chooses not to go back to the same pub this time. The duo is flabbergasted by the strategy of the old man for a draught. The story ends with the duo finding themselves recipients of worldly knowledge and wisdom.