User:Rohanmenezes/Book review of the swan by roald dahl

Wiki project - book review of Roald Dahl's "The Swan"
Introduction “The Swan” is the fourth short story in the book The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl. The story is about a smart, young boy who is caught by mean and nasty bullies. The boy’s name is Peter and the two bullies’ names are Ernie and Raymond. Ernie has a gun, and he uses it to threaten Peter to do things like jump from the top of a tree or retrieve birds they shoot. The story ends with a twist, like most Roald Dahl books. Peter is shot, and then is rescued by his mother.

Background	 We do not know much about why Roald Dahl wrote this story, but it could be he wrote it to show the horrors of bullying to the world. This story is all about two boys bullying, or rather torturing, another boy. The bullies tie him up to train tracks before a train comes but he survives that ordeal. Then, they make him get the swan and the duck they shot from the lake. Finally, they make him climb to the top of a tree and try to make him jump from there. This is horrible, cruel torture but it happens in the real world and Roald Dahl is trying to show us that.

Characters Some characters in this book are just plain evil and some are nice, civilized, and do things for the better. Ernie and Raymond are two mean and cruel bullies. Their idea of fun is bullying people by tying them to train tracks when trains come by and see if they survive. Some other things they do for “fun” are killing birds and trying to make people jump from trees. They are mean, nasty, and just plain evil. On the other hand, our protagonist, Peter Watson, is nice, gentle, and cares about animals. He is good at academics and is the exact opposite of the bullies, the reason why they hate Peter so much. He tries to stop the bullies from shooting the birds, but they shoot the birds anyway, something that really saddens him. He is so sad, that he even lies about the number of cygnets in the nest, so they can live.

Plot Summary In the story, a boy named Ernie, a bully, gets a gun for his birthday and goes out to shoot birds and rabbits. His friend, Raymond, and Ernie are shooting birds when they see a boy they like to pick on, Peter Watson. They make Peter do things by threatening him with a gun. They make him do things like getting the birds the bullies shoot, and tying him to a railroad track just before a train comes. They also make him climb a tree and trying to get him to jump off, to see if he can fly with swan wings attached to his arms. Peter manages to survive all these things, but when he doesn’t jump from the top of the tree, they shoot him in the thigh. He dives forward toward a ‘shining light’ and with his wings he manages to fly to his house, where his mother sees him and calls an ambulance and the doctor.

--Rohan M. (Lit F period - Kings Academy 6th grade)