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It is likely that like Wanda, other members of her family also faced ridicule and mockery because of their long and different names. Wanda’s family moved to a big city as in the city everybody had funny names, so they would not face as much trouble in this regard. However, life could still be difficult for them as they could be teased about various other things.

Yes, Maddie was right when she thought that her silence was as bad as Peggy’s teasing. She was right because even though she felt bad about it and never teased Wanda herself, she did not say anything to stop it. A person who sees something wrong happening in front of him/her is as much an offender as the person committing the offence. Maddie was too afraid to say anything because she did not want to lose Peggy’s friendship. Also, she was poor herself, so she feared that everybody would make fun of her too.

Peggy believed that Wanda was dumb as she could not understand why Wanda said she had a hundred dresses, even when everybody knew that she was poor. She knew everybody was laughing at her. Even then, she kept giving the same answer. She even described the dresses she said she had. That is why Peggy thought Wanda was dumb. She changed her opinion later when she saw the hundred dresses Wanda had talked about. She saw the drawings and was highly impressed by their beauty. She realized that Wanda was a very good artist.

The important decision that Maddie made was that she would never stand by and say nothing again. If she ever heard anybody picking on someone because they were funny-looking or because they had strange names, she would speak up. She did not even mind losing Peggy’s friendship over it. She knew she could not make things right with Wanda. However, she had decided that in the future, she would never make anybody else unhappy again.

She was unhappy that she could not find Wanda at her home. She could not sleep that night. She thought about Wanda, her faded blue dress, and the little house she lived in. She also thought about the hundred glowing pictures, which were all lined up in the classroom. She was feeling guilty of not having said anything when everybody else was teasing Wanda. It was her guilt that made her think very hard and arrive at the important decision.

Maddie and Peggy had written a letter to Wanda. Though it was a friendly letter, Wanda must have understood the emotions behind the writing of that letter. Therefore, Wanda’s request that two of her drawings be given to Maddie and Peggy could be her way of telling them that she had forgiven and forgotten.

When Maddie and Peggy did not receive a reply to their letter for a long time, they felt that perhaps Wanda was still hurt and angry. Therefore, they were surprised when they came to know that Wanda had asked Miss Mason to give them two of her drawings.