Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

“When I wash dishes, Mary Lou, I pretend that I am a beautiful princess with long, golden, curly hair (Mary Lou’s hair was jet black and braided into two stiff little pigtails), and apple-blossom skin and forget-me-not blue eyes. I have been captured by a wicked witch and my only chance to get free is to wash every single dish and have the whole kitchen sparkly clean before the clock strikes. For, when the clock strikes, the witch will come down and inspect, to see if there is a crumb anywhere. If there are pots and pans that have been put away wet, if the silverware has been thrown in the drawer, or if the sink has not been scrubbed out, the witch will have me in her power for another year.”

This passage helps describe Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and how she relates to children. The passage characterizes intergenerational friendship; Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle talks to Mary Lou as an equal despite their age difference. Rather than being instructional or pedantic, she talks to Mary Lou about her own experience. She describes how she likes to make doing the dishes fun rather than telling Mary Lou she should try to make the experience enjoyable.

“She showed Dicky how a lawnmower is really a magic machine that mows down the enemy millions and billions at a time. She taught Max how to take out the ashes without making a sound and without leaving a trace to show the train robbers who were on his trail that he and the sheriff had camped there that night.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle certainly knew how to make work fun and she also knew that there are certain kinds of work that children love to do even though they do not know how very well. Like painting and ironing and cooking and carpentry.”

This passage emphasizes the character and frequency of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s interactions with children. Though each of these scenes is not described in detail, the passage suggests that such occurrences happen often. It also characterizes Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle as understanding children and having a childlike and imaginative attitude toward work.

“Hubert liked the presents his grandfather sent him, but who wouldn’t? He had an electric train with track that went four times around his bedroom and into the closet and out again and had seven stations and every signal there was and two bridges and a snow shed. He also had a Little Builder set so large that he could build regular office buildings; and a great big wagon full of stone blocks made into shapes so that he could build big stone bridges for his electric train and stone buildings and even stone barracks for his one thousand and five hundred toy soldiers. Hubert also had a circus with every kind of wooden, jointed animal and clowns and tightrope walkers and trapeze artists. He had a little typewriter, and a real desk and a little radio and two automobiles. He had about a hundred or more airplanes and little cars. He had a fire engine with real sirens and lights and hooks and ladders; and so many books that he had to have two bookcases in his room.”

Throughout the novel, MacDonald provides detailed descriptions of settings and items. Rather than describing the number of toys Hubert owns in vague terms, this detailed inventory creates a vivid image of his room. The passage also uses polysyndeton to emphasize the extensive number of toys via syntax. It also makes it easy for the reader to understand just what Hubert would face when his room got messy.

“‘Is it Irish stew, I hope?’

‘Yes, dear,’ said Hubert’s mother worrying about how she was going to serve Irish stew to Hubert on a rake. She finally put a potato on one prong, a carrot on another, an onion on another and pieces of meat on the last three. The window was opened only about three inches but the hand grabbed the food. After dinner Hubert’s father tied the hose to the rake and held it up while Hubert put his mouth to the window opening and tried to get a drink of water.”

Throughout the novel, the inclusion of detail creates both whimsy and humor. The specific image of which parts of Irish stew are put on prongs of the rake creates a vivid visual picture and increases the novel’s comedic tone.

“The only way you can get out of that trap is to put everything away where it belongs. If you hurry we will wait for you. Your friend, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.” 

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s note to Hubert is an example of her intentions with the cures and how she relates to children. She speaks to Hubert as an equal rather than a parental figure, being kind but firm. Her cures emphasize personal responsibility and choice: Hubert has the agency to get what he wants in joining the fun with his friends, but only if he cleans his room.

“Mary said as she gulped her milk and took a large bite of the sandwich, ‘Well, this afternoon, Miss Crabtree said, “Mary O’Toole will stay in at recess and put the paint boxes away,” and I said’—Mary took another gulp of the milk—‘“You’re the teacher here, Miss Crabtree, why don’t you put away the paint boxes and let me go out and play?” Everybody in the whole room laughed but mean old Miss Crabtree, and she sent me into the cloak room.’”

This passage is an example of the novel’s use of dialogue to characterize relationships and situations. MacDonald includes Mary’s detailed description of her interactions with her teacher to show rather than tell about her “Answer-Backishness.” The inclusion of details about Mary drinking her milk increases the day-to-day nature of the interaction.

“[…] Mary stuck out her tongue at Penelope who bounced around yelling, ‘Only snakes stick out their tongues! Only snakes stick out their tongues!’

Mary pulled her tongue in quickly and shut her lips together tight. My, but she thought Penelope was horrid!

Mrs. O’Toole hung Penelope’s cage in Mary’s room and Penelope squawked and made so much noise that Mary finally said, ‘Oh, be quiet!’ And Penelope blinked and said, ‘I’ll do it because I want to but not because you tell me to.’”

Animals function as a motif throughout the novel. Penelope is an example of the compounding effect of bad behavior and the fact that it can be learned (or “caught”) from others. Because she is only around children with Answer-Backishness, she has a large repertoire of impertinent phrases to use. Penelope is an example of a cure that helps teach empathy because Mary experiences how it feels to be spoken to impudently.

“Mary’s mother said, ‘I am the boss and I think it is time you went home, Penelope. Mary, would you like to return Penelope to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle?’

Mary said, ‘Oh yes, Mother. And may I stay and play?’

Mrs. O’Toole said, ‘I think you had better come home and practice. Your music lesson is tomorrow, you know.’

Mary started to draw down her mouth, squint up her eyes and blink but suddenly she looked at Penelope and so she turned up her mouth, opened her eyes and smiled. She said, ‘All right, Mother. I’ll come right home after I return that rude Penelope.’”

The chapters of the novel often end with a clear example of a child’s changed behavior. In this instance, MacDonald represents the dichotomy between impulse and thoughtful decision. Mary’s first reaction to hearing something she doesn’t want to do is to be impudent, but thinking about Penelope reminds her to change her behavior.

“One day Dick’s mother bought a big box of peppermint sticks. She called Dick into the house and said, ‘Now, dear, I have bought this large box of peppermint sticks for you, but I want you to share them with your friends. There are about fifty sticks in the box and I want you to divide them with all the children in the neighborhood. Don’t forget the little children, Dick, and you might send one or two to Old Mrs. Burry, she is so fond of peppermint.’

Dick said, ‘Thank you, Mother, for the fine candy.’ Then he took the box out of doors and put it in the basket on the front of the bicycle and allowed the neighborhood children to look at the peppermint sticks, but he warned them, ‘This is MY candy and if anyone touches it I will hit him with MY baseball bat!’”

This passage provides a detailed and vivid incident that shows Dick’s selfishness. Rather than an extensive description, Dick’s dialogue at the end of the passage confirms his ailment. MacDonald also uses detail in the passage, like Old Mrs. Burry’s fondness for peppermint, to characterize the neighborhood and make it feel familiar.

“At school the children paid little attention to the sign on his bicycle but when he opened his lunchbox and took out the sandwiches marked DICK’S SANDWISCHES—DON’T TOUCH! and the apple marked DICK’S APPLE—DON’T TOUCH and the cookies marked DICK’S COOKIES—DON’T TOUCH! Everyone laughed and wanted to see them and in the resulting crowding and pushing one of the sandwiches was dropped and stepped on and some of the big boys grabbed the apple and tossed it in the air just above Dick’s head shouting, ‘Throw me DICK’S APPLE. Oh look, I dropped DICK’S APPLE! I wonder if DICK’S APPLE will bounce.’ When they finally gave Dick his apple it was bruised and very dirty.”

Dick’s cure is a unique example of the involvement of natural consequences in one of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s cures. In this instance, the natural consequence of Dick’s behavior, when it is labeled and made extra visible, is the mockery of other children. The novel thus represents the role of society and other people’s opinions in moderating one’s behavior.

“[…] ‘Now, Patsy, stop all this nonsense and hop into the tub.’

Patsy gave a piercing shriek and ran from the bathroom stark naked and yelling ‘I won’t take a bath! I won’t ever take a bath! I hate baths! I HATE BATHS! I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaate baaaaaaaaaaaths!’

Patsy’s mother let the water out of the tub and went downstairs to telephone her friends and find out if their children had ever behaved in this unusual fashion; if it was catching and what to do about it.”

Through dialogue, this passage is a vivid picture of Patsy’s upset at taking a bath. It is portrayed humorously with the inclusion of a high number of extra letters in the words hate and baths. It also includes an instance of the use of illness as a symbol in the novel since one of Patsy’s mother’s first questions is whether not wanting to take a bath is contagious.

“So Patsy’s mother called Mrs. Grotto. She said, ‘Hello, Mrs. Grotto, I just called to see if you could help me with Patsy. She won’t take a bath and I am at my wits’ end.’

Mrs. Grotto said, ‘Well, frankly, I don’t know what to suggest because our little Paraphernalia simply worships her bath. Of course, Paraphernalia is quite a remarkable child anyway. Why, Thursday afternoon she said…’

‘Yes, yes, I know,’ said Patsy’s mother quickly. ‘Goodbye, Mrs. Grotto, thank you anyway.’”

In this passage, MacDonald uses a humorous tone to represent some parents’ bragging attitudes about their children. Paraphernalia’s name and her mother’s quick shift from failing to answer Patsy’s mother’s question to telling an unrelated story about her daughter’s accomplishments both add to the comedic tone of the passage.

“By this time she was feeling rather depressed because it seemed that bathing was the most popular indoor sport with every child in town but her own dirty little girl.”

This passage is an example of the novel’s use of third-person omniscient POV because the narrator has access to Patsy’s mother’s thought process and emotions as well as those of other characters at the same time. It also shows the novel’s humor through its hyperbolic characterization of bathing as an indoor sport.

“Quite a few days after that Patsy awoke one morning and there on the back of her hand, in fact on the backs of both hands and on her arms and on her FOREHEAD were GREEN LEAVES! Patsy tried to brush them off but they just bent over and sprang right up again.

She jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs to the dining room where her mother and father were eating breakfast. ‘Ook, ook, at y hands!’ she squeaked.

Her father said, ‘Behold, the bloom of youth,’ and her mother said, ‘George!’ Then jumped up briskly, went over to Patsy, took a firm hold of one of the plants on her forehead and gave it a quick jerk. Patsy squealed and her mother showed her the little red radish she had pulled.”

The use of capitalization and exclamation points in this passage emphasizes the absurdity of Patsy’s appearance, with radishes growing from her dirty skin. Patsy’s speech, which is affected by the fact that the caked dirt won’t allow her to open her mouth very far, also contributes to the passage’s comedy.

“Then Larry. ‘Mother, nobody, not nobody at aaaaaaaaaall goes to bed at eight o’clock.’ Then Susan again, ‘But Mother, we have oooooooonly just staaaaaaarted this game.’ Then Bobby, ‘Pleeeeeeeeese let us finish this game. Pleeeeeese!’ Then Larry, ‘Just one more turn, Mother. It’s my turn, Mother and I haven’t won a game this evening—pleeeeeeeeeeeese!’ Mrs. Gray said, ‘Now, Bobby, Larry and Susan, you know that if you want to grow up into fine young men and women you must have plenty of sleep. I’m sure they teach you that in school.’ ‘We don’t wanna grow up, we just wanna finish this game,’ Bobby wailed.”

The use of extra letters in words creates a vivid auditory representation of the children’s whining. Rather than the chapters about one child at a time, Bobby, Larry, and Susan work together to attempt to stay up late and, at times, influence each other negatively. This passage is also important because it shows the failure of logic—Mrs. Gray’s suggestion about sleep being necessary to grow into fine men and women—and why the natural consequences-focused cure is needed instead.

“Then she called Mrs. Gardenfield. ‘Hello, Mrs. Gardenfield, this is Mrs. Gray and I called to see what time Worthington and Guinevere go to bed at night.’

Mrs. Gardenfield said, ‘Oh, they go to bed any time after Daddy gets home. You see, Mrs. Gray, Mr. Gardenfield gets home at four-thirty, we have dinner at five-thirty, Mr. Gardenfield and I all go to bed at six-thirty.’

‘Six thirty! said Mrs. Gray, amazed. ‘My goodness, that is early!’

Mrs. Gardenfield said, ‘It is not early if you get up at four-thirty.’

Mrs. Gray said, ‘But who wants to get up at four-thirty?’

‘We do,’ said Mrs. Gardenfield and hung up the phone in a huff.”

This passage relates to the novel’s Role of Community in Parenting theme. The need to ask for advice about one’s children is emphasized throughout the novel by the pattern of phone calls asking for help. While mothers in the novel feel the impulse to draw on their community for support and advice, it’s often unhelpful. This passage demonstrates the range of different choices and the prevalence of judgment (or at least perceived judgment) among those who make different parenting choices.

“The next day was Patsy’s birthday. It was a wonderful party with a fishpond and a magician who did tricks and games and balloons and prizes for every child. But Larry and Bobby and Susan did not enjoy it at all. Susan had such big black circles under her eyes that Patsy’s mother thought she was sick and would not let her have any refreshments. Bobby was so sleepy he fell asleep just as the magician pulled a rabbit from under his chair and the magician thought Bobby was so rude he gave the rabbit to Hubert Prentiss. Larry fell asleep right at the table. He laid his cheek in his ice cream, closed his eyes and dreamed he was in the North Pole. Patsy’s mother called all the others to look at him and he awoke very embarrassed.”

This passage is an extended example of the natural consequences of negative behavior. In this instance, MacDonald details the effect staying up late has had on Bobby, Larry, and Susan. The experience prompts the turning point in their behavior as they ask that night to be allowed to go to bed on time. It also shows the combination of the everyday and the whimsical, as Larry falls asleep at the table, a realistic consequence of staying up late; however, that he dreams about the North Pole while lying in his ice cream introduces an element of whimsy.

“Mrs. Gray said, ‘Why I thought you enjoyed staying up late. I thought all the children in this neighborhood stayed up late.’

The children said, ‘Nobody has to stay up late but us. We just hate it. May we go to bed, pleeeeeeeese?’

Mrs. Gray said, ‘Very well, children, from now on, if you are good, I will let you go to bed at eight o’clock every night.’”

Mrs. Gray’s reaction is humorous, as she feigns disinterest in the children’s plea to go to bed on time, although it is what she wanted all along. She frames going to bed on time as a reward for good behavior rather than an undesirable necessity. The inclusion of the “please” with extra Es recalls the dialogue earlier in the chapter when the children ask to stay up late. The passage, therefore, demonstrates the starkness of the change from the beginning of the cure to its conclusion.

“As soon as his mother left the kitchen Allen picked up the fork again and began eating his mush by the grain. In a little while even a whole grain seemed too much so he broke each grain in two, taking only half grains on the fork tines. He was so interested in his little bitty bites that he didn’t hear his mother come in and was very surprised when she suddenly whisked away his breakfast and sent him marching up to his room.”

This passage includes extensive detail to describe Allen’s eating habits. It is both a specific, humorous description of his symptoms and an example of the novel’s blend of everyday and whimsical situations. The inclusion of Allen’s surprise is an example of the novel’s omniscient point-of-view, as the narrator knows details about his mindset as well as those of other characters.

“Then she called her friend Mrs. Wingsproggle. ‘Mrs. Wingsproggle,’ she said, ‘do you have any trouble with Pergola at mealtimes?’

Mrs. Wingsproggle said, enunciating very carefully, ‘Nooo, not eggsactly, trouble, but we do have to keeup after her to chew each mouthful one hundred tie-ums. Some tie-ums she is forgetful and only chews her food about ninety-thrrrrrrrrreee tie-ums and one day I caught her stopping at seventy-one.’

Allen’s mother could already picture how disastrous it might be if Allen heard that Pergola Wingsproggle chewed each bite one hundred times because if she multiplied each grain of mush in a dish by one hundred and took into account the unbelievable slowness with which Allen was able to chew, she realized that he would die of slow starvation before a day had passed.”

Mrs. Wingsproggle’s way of speaking shows her affect and increases the humor of the passage. It also recalls the way Bobby, Larry, and Susan’s pleading speech is represented. MacDonald’s choice of names also increases the novel’s comedic tone. While worried about her son, Allen’s mother is wry, and her thought about slow starvation is an instance of dark humor. 

“When he reached the corner by Patsy’s house his mother called him to come back. He turned Spotty around and steered him up to the gate and his mother came out with the basket of Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker dishes. ‘Would you mind returning these to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle?’ she asked.

‘Not at all,’ said Allen graciously. ‘Just hand me the basket. I’ll put it here in front of me and hold it with this hand. You see, Mother, I only use one hand to steer now.’

He carefully arranged the basket, kissed his mother, clucked to Spotty, and away they went, in a very slow walk, toward Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s house.”

This passage shows the effect of the natural consequences approach to behavior change. Throughout the novel, children often express pride after they change their behavior. In this passage, Allen’s posture and way of holding the basket display his pride in himself.

“Mr. Russel came whistling in to breakfast. He said mildly, ‘Oh, scrambled eggs again. I was hoping for sausages and buckwheat cakes.’

Mrs. Russell said, ‘We had sausages and buckwheat cakes yesterday morning.’

Mr. Russell said, ‘What about brook trout? Bill Smith has ’em nearly every morning.’

Mrs. Russell said crossly, ‘Perhaps that is why he looks like a trout and his wife looks like a great big halibut.’

Mr. Russell peered at her over the top of his morning paper. He said, ‘You know, sweetheart, I think that the children’s fighting and quarreling is making you irritable.’

Mrs. Russell said, ‘I think it is too. In fact, it is driving me crazy.’”

The novel focuses not only on children’s behavior and its change as a result of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s cures but also on the intricacies of household dynamics. This passage characterizes the domestic tension in Mr. and Mrs. Russell’s relationship in a comedic way while emphasizing the effect of the children’s behavior on their parents.

“‘Easy to cure? Oh, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, how?’ asked Mrs. Russell.

‘Well,’ said Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. ‘In the first place, fighting and quarreling are merely habits. One morning a child wakens and feels cross and so instead of smiling at his little brother and saying “Good morning!” he glares at his little brother and shouts “You’ve got on MY shirt!” The little brother says, ‘I have NOT” because he hasn’t. The cross child says, “You have too. You have too!” and the quarreling has begun.’”

This passage is an example of the novel’s use of illness-related diction as a motif. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle specifies the role of habit formation in negative behavior. This highlights the universality of negative behaviors as well as separating the behavior from the child’s actual nature.