सौ पोशाकें – II — by El Bsor Estes
In Part I, we learned about Wanda Petronski, a quiet Polish girl who was teased daily by her classmates — especially Peggy — for claiming to have a hundred dresses while wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Maddie, Peggy's best friend, felt guilty but never spoke up. Wanda stopped coming to school, and her father wrote a letter saying the family was moving to a big city to escape the mockery.
The class had been participating in a drawing and colouring contest. For the girls, the contest was to design dresses; for the boys, it was to design motorboats. When the results are announced, the class is stunned: Wanda Petronski has won the girls' contest. She has submitted one hundred drawings of dresses — each one different, each one beautiful, with googling colours and brilliant designs.
The drawings are pinned up all around the room. Everyone is amazed at their beauty and detail. Now the class understands — Wanda's "hundred dresses" were her drawings. She wasn't lying; she was talking about her artwork all along.
After hearing Mr. Petronski's letter and seeing Wanda's stunning drawings, Peggy and Maddie feel terrible. Peggy tries to justify herself, saying she never called Wanda a "foreigner" and never made fun of her name — she only asked about the dresses. But deep down, both girls know they were wrong.
Maddie is especially tormented. She resolves that she will never again stand by and say nothing when someone is being treated cruelly. She decides she will speak up, even if it means losing Peggy's friendship, even if it means being laughed at herself. This is her moment of moral awakening.
Peggy and Maddie decide to visit Wanda's house in Boggins Heights to tell her she won the contest and to apologize. They walk up the muddy road to her house but find it empty. The Petronski family has already moved. The house is bare, with a few scraps of paper on the ground. The girls feel a deep sense of loss — they are too late.
Unable to find Wanda in person, Peggy and Maddie write her a friendly letter. They tell her about the contest, how her drawings won, and how beautiful everyone thinks they are. They are careful not to mention the teasing or the "dresses game" — they write a cheerful, friendly letter and hope Wanda will respond.
Just before Christmas, a letter arrives from Wanda. She writes that the girls can keep the drawings. She specifically says that the drawing of the green dress with the red trim is for Peggy, and the drawing of the blue dress is for Maddie.
When Maddie looks closely at her drawing, she notices something extraordinary — the face on the drawing looks like her own. She rushes to Peggy, who has made the same discovery: the face on Peggy's drawing looks like Peggy. Wanda had drawn their faces on the dresses she gave them.
The Trees by Adrienne Rich is a powerful poem that uses the metaphor of trees moving out of a house into the open forest to symbolize women breaking free from confinement and reclaiming their rightful place in the world. The poem operates on two levels — the literal image of indoor plants wanting to be outside, and the deeper meaning of liberation from oppression.
"The trees inside are moving out into the forest,
the forest that was empty all these days
where no bird could sit
no insect hide
no sun bury its feet in shadow."
The poem is about liberation and breaking free from confinement. On the surface, it describes indoor trees moving out into an empty forest. On a deeper level, it represents women breaking free from domestic confinement and societal restrictions to reclaim their place in the world. The empty forest — where no bird can sit and no insect can hide — represents a world that is incomplete without the presence of those who have been confined. The struggle of the trees — roots working, leaves straining, branches shuffling — mirrors the difficult, painful process of liberation.
Wanda's drawings revealed that she possessed extraordinary artistic talent. She had drawn one hundred different dress designs, each unique in colour, pattern, and style. The drawings were so beautiful that they left the entire class stunned when they were displayed. The designs featured brilliant, vivid colours and imaginative details that showed both technical skill and creative vision. Her "hundred dresses" were not a lie — they were real works of art that she had created, reflecting the rich inner world she had beneath her quiet, shy exterior.
Peggy and Maddie went to Boggins Heights to find Wanda and apologize for the way they had treated her. They also wanted to tell her that she had won the drawing contest and that everyone admired her beautiful dress designs. However, when they reached Wanda's house, they found it completely empty. The Petronski family had already moved away. The house was bare, with only a few scraps of paper scattered on the floor. The girls were too late — they had missed the chance to make amends in person, which deepened their feelings of guilt and regret.
Maddie makes a firm resolution that she will never again stand by silently when someone is being mistreated or bullied. She decides that she will speak up, even if it means losing Peggy's friendship or becoming a target herself. She realizes that her silence made her equally responsible for Wanda's pain. She would rather face any consequence than be a coward again. This is Maddie's moment of moral growth — she transforms from a passive bystander into someone determined to stand up for what is right.
In her Christmas letter, Wanda wrote that she wanted Peggy to have the drawing of the green dress with the red trim, and Maddie to have the drawing of the blue dress. When Maddie looked closely at her drawing, she noticed something extraordinary — the face on the drawing looked like her own face. She ran to Peggy, who had discovered the same thing: the face on her drawing looked like Peggy. This revealed that Wanda had drawn these dresses specifically for them, with their faces on the designs. It showed that despite being teased, Wanda had no ill feelings — she had thought of them with kindness and even affection.
The story carries several important messages:
a) What is happening to the trees?
The trees that have been kept inside the house are moving out into the open forest. They are breaking free from their confinement.
b) Why was the forest empty?
The forest was empty because the trees were kept indoors. Without trees, no birds could sit on branches, no insects could hide in leaves, and no sun could create shadows. The forest was incomplete and lifeless.
c) What deeper meaning does this convey?
On a deeper level, the "trees" represent women or oppressed individuals who have been confined within domestic spaces. The "empty forest" represents a world that is incomplete without their free participation. The poem calls for liberation and reclaiming one's rightful place.
a) Who is "she" in this extract?
"She" is Maddie, Peggy's best friend and a silent bystander during the bullying of Wanda.
b) What prompted this resolution?
The realization that Wanda's hundred dresses were actually hundred beautiful drawings, combined with the guilt of knowing that Wanda had been driven away by their teasing. Maddie understood that her silence had made her complicit in the bullying.
c) What does this resolution show about Maddie's character growth?
It shows that Maddie has undergone a moral transformation — from a fearful, silent bystander to someone who is determined to stand up for what is right, regardless of the personal cost.
Wanda's Christmas letter shows her remarkably forgiving nature. Despite being teased and bullied to the point that her family had to leave town, she writes a cheerful, generous letter with no trace of bitterness. She gives her precious drawings to Peggy and Maddie — the very girls who were responsible for her suffering. Most significantly, she had drawn their faces on the dresses, showing that she had thought of them with affection, not anger. Her response is one of grace and kindness, making the guilt of her tormentors even sharper.
The title "The Hundred Dresses" is significant on multiple levels. Literally, it refers to Wanda's claim of having a hundred dresses — which everyone thought was a lie but was actually true: she had drawn a hundred dress designs. Symbolically, the hundred dresses represent Wanda's rich inner world — her imagination, creativity, and artistic talent that existed beneath her outwardly poor appearance. The title also highlights the irony of the story: the girls laughed at Wanda's claim, but her "hundred dresses" turned out to be far more beautiful and valuable than anything they owned.
The story of The Hundred Dresses powerfully conveys the message that silence in the face of bullying is itself a form of cruelty, primarily through the character of Maddie.
Maddie as the silent bystander:
The consequences of silence:
Maddie's transformation:
The story teaches that not speaking up against injustice makes one complicit. Maddie's journey from cowardice to courage shows that moral growth often comes from painful experience. The message is clear: it is our duty to speak up for those who are being mistreated, even when it is difficult or risky.
