Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

Alongside Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle as a central character, the children represented in the rest of the novel’s chapters function as secondary characters throughout the work. They are described in detail within the individual chapters with regard to their behavior problem and its cure. After their chapter, they largely disappear from the narrative, with the exception of later passing mentions. None of the children are characterized in as much detail as Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, but all function as complex characters. They do not undergo an arc in terms of personality, but they do experience a journey within each chapter in terms of behavior. As such, they are characterized primarily through their original behavior issue and how they respond to the proposed cure for it.

Hubert Prentiss is “a very lucky little boy whose grandfather always sent him wonderful toys for Christmas” (23). Hubert’s father suggests that the toys are sent “to make up for that awful name they had wished on him. Hubert was named for his grandfather. His full name was Hubert Egbert Prentiss” (23). The subject of the Won’t-Pick-Up-Toys-Cure, Hubert’s initial ailment is a refusal to clean up his many toys. Despite this, one of his positive traits is being fairly generous in terms of sharing his toys with other children, which makes him somewhat of a foil to Dick, who initially refuses to share anything with anyone. Despite his nice and presumably expensive toys, Hubert is not described as snobbish. He enjoys the orange crate/tomato can car he is building at Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s house as much as the fancy ones his grandfather has sent him. Hubert eventually learns to clean up his toys and demonstrates a significant change in behavior by the end of the chapter. He has clearly been influenced by spending time with Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle since he plays games to amuse himself while he cleans. After cleaning his room, he feels proud of his accomplishment and then joins the parade enthusiastically, “carrying the flag and yelling the loudest” (36).

Mary is the subject of the Answer-Backer cure. Physically, she has red braids, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle notes that she has “beautiful red hair and such lovely brown eyes” (41). She is clever and, at several points, is represented as being pleased with herself for coming up with her witty, rude expressions. When she tells her mother about being rude to her teacher, she “looked up at her mother expectantly to see if she would appreciate how smart she was” (38). Later, when Penelope arrives, the parrot says something Mary thought she made up. She is disappointed that her thought wasn’t as original as she’d assumed. Mary’s behavior transformation is a shift from replying rudely to being asked to do anything, then eventually returning to being pleasant when her mother makes a request of her. At the end of the chapter, she still has the impulse to answer back but has developed an increased level of empathy for how it feels to be spoken to rudely from her time with Penelope. She, therefore, decides to reply politely to her mother instead.

Dick is the subject of the Selfishness Cure. One of his positive traits is politeness; he “was certainly a nice-looking boy and was smart in school and behaved well at the table” (51), and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle notes that he is “the most well-mannered child who comes to visit me, never once forgetting to say Thank you and Please” (55). He is also described as being very obedient. However, his ailment is that he is very greedy and selfish and “cared more about being a selfish, greedy boy than about what people said” (51). He exhibits violence as well as selfishness; when his mother asks him to share peppermint sticks with the neighborhood children, and he refuses, Mary O’Toole attempts to take a candy anyway, and he hits her hand with his baseball bat. Dick’s cure focuses on empathy and how his behavior affects other children. He is mocked by the other children, who begin to exclude him, so he is able to see how it feels to be left out. He changes his attitude completely by the end of the novel, giving his toys to other children and saying, “Do you want to use these? I don’t care” (66).

Patsy is characterized primarily by her ailment and the Radish Cure. The narrator notes that “up to the time of this story Patsy was just an everyday little girl. Sometimes she was good and sometimes she was naughty but usually she did what her mother told her without too much fuss” (68). She then becomes hysterical one day at the thought of taking a bath. When she begins the radish cure, she is again “sweet and didn’t act like a wild animal” (75) and begins collecting dirt until she develops “straggly, uncombed, dust-caked hair” and a “rapidly forming layer of topsoil on her face, neck and arms” (75). When her mother pulls a radish from her forehead, Patsy requests a bath and emerges from a long shower “clean, sweet and smiling” (77).

Siblings Bobby, Larry, and Susan Gray are characterized collectively as the Never-Want-To-Go-To-Bedders. They initially begin whining each evening at bedtime, so Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle suggests letting them stay up as late as they want. They enjoy playing games together and are often described as playing parchesi or tiddlywinks. They become increasingly irritable and quarrelsome with each other as they get more tired. Larry is represented as the ringleader and negative influence on the others in one instance when both Bobby and Susan have fallen asleep, and he wakes them and suggests that they go downstairs to see “if there are any sandwiches or cookies left” (89) from their parents’ guests earlier in the evening. By the end of the chapter, the siblings realize their lack of night sleep is preventing them from enjoying daytime activities like birthday parties, and they request an early bedtime.

Allen is the subject of the Slow-Eater-Tiny-Bite-Taker cure because he suddenly starts eating all his food extremely slowly and in minuscule portions. Physically, he has “curly brown hair and sturdy legs and a very shiny smile” (91). As the cure progresses and he hasn’t eaten enough for a few days, he becomes much paler and more sickly looking. Allen’s mother describes his eating habits as being those of “a scared mosquito” (95), and he takes great enjoyment in eating slowly and cutting his already small portions into even smaller bites. He is, therefore, characterized as methodical and detail-oriented. By the end of the chapter—when he begins eating again after he realizes he is unable to ride the pony—he exhibits pride at his changed behavior via his upright posture on the horse.