The Magic Shop by Herbert George Wells - Book Report/Review Example

 The Magic Shop H.G.Wells known for his scientific romances seems to be the writer of some strange unknown world which is quite different from ours. His fantasy worlds present such happenings as are not expected in this mundane world. Though The magic shop is not in the tradition of science fiction, yet the tale is told in a quite weird and strange style. According to O’ Neill the story is pure fantasy (p 1640) .The supernatural is pervasive but one is not sure about the presence of supernatural as we remain speculating whether it was the story of some wizard who astonished the boy and his father with his magical tricks or it is a tale of a rendezvous with some unknown creature quite different from human beings. The fanciful story is entertaining both for its content and descriptions of the shop and for the way in which Wells portrays the loving relationship between a father and his young son. Known primarily for his visionary science fiction novels, here the author delves into the world of magic (Smith 318). The very presentation of the story draws the attention of the reader to the fabulous magic shop which has all paraphernalia of a genuine magic shop. Minor miracles of wish-fulfillment are worked for the customers of real ‘magic shop’(Williams 177).The children are really attracted to this shop. Gip is readily fascinated by this shop and through his innocent gestures shows his insistence on going into that shop.His birthday is near so he wants to buy a birthday gift from this shop.The writer’s description of the magic shop is so vivid: There was a tiger in papier-mache on the glass case that covered the low counter--a grave, kind-eyed tiger that waggled his head in a methodical manner; there were several crystal spheres, a china hand holding magic cards, a stock of magic fish-bowls in various sizes, and an immodest magic hat that shamelessly displayed its springs ( The Magic Shop 1). When they enter into a shop they see quite fascinating stuff there. They also meet the weird shop man who in a quite strange way enters into the scene. His exit from the scene in no less mysterious. This Chatterbox keeps them engaged and makes them realize the importance of his ‘genuine magic shop’.Why he harps on the genuineness of the shop is hard to understand. As we know that father remains always in doubt about the genuineness of this magic shop. Sometimes he calls it too genuine. He reflects, “I was beginning to think the magic just a little too genuine.” The two characters have two different standpoints about the shop. The little child Gip has no doubts about the genuineness of the shop and he is awed by the magical atmosphere and is enjoying being part of the scene. “Dada!” said Gip, at last, “that WAS a proper shop!”. Though the father in the end gets scared and wants to come out of the shop as soon as possible but the boy felt no such desire.The boy enjoyed all the fun there.He liked crystal balls and the rabbit trick .He also liked the beautiful show room with all its colorful and fascinating stuff. Unlike his father, he is not frightened to see the weird tricks of the shopkeeper rather he is amused at the spectacle and exclaims in the end , “Dada!that WAS a proper shop!” Through the young boy’s understanding of the shopkeeper’s tricks, Wells implies that magic is for the young, and bemoans the fact that we adults have a difficult time giving ourselves over to possibilities that we cannot imagine (Smith 318). The character of the salesman of the shop is very interesting .He seems to be professional who knows how to capture the customers. He casts his spell on the customers and forcefully makes them visit his show room. He tries to make the father realize that the magic shop is genuine. He remarks, “I don’t know if you noticed our inscription—the Genuine Magic shop.” He drew a business-card from his cheek and handed it to me. “Genuine,” he said, with his finger on the word, and added, “There is absolutely no deception, sir.” The father seems quite amused at his use of these words as he knows that all the magic is about trickery and deception. That’s why there is so much emphasis on the use of word genuine. The word has been used in ironic terms. There is another queer thing about the shop that only particular sort of the persons are granted entry into this weird shop. The others are denied entry through magical means. The door even remains closed for them. The children who are not true candidates for entry into this shop keep on crying at the door but no one listens to them and their parents take them away from the shop.Gip was granted permission as he was the ‘Right Sort of Boy’. “It’s only the Right Sort of Boy gets through that doorway.” Says the shopkeeper. That’s why his attitude toward Gip is quite friendly and he knows even the child’s heart’s desire. “You were saying,” he said, addressing himself to Gip,“before you came in, that you would like one of our ‘Buy One and Astonish your Friends’ boxes. The comments of Shopkeeper after the hat trick are pregnant with deep meaning. He keeps on taking out stuff after stuff from the hat and shows his assumed astonishment at the presence of such stuff. “All sorts of things accumulate, sir. . . . Not YOU, of course, in particular. . . . Nearly every customer. . . . Astonishing what they carry about with them. . . .”. He seems to allude to human’s load of sins that we unknowingly keep with us. He reflects repeatedly on this issue and remarks, “We none of us know what the fair semblance of a human being may conceal, sir. Are we all then no better than brushed exteriors, whited sepulchres—”. One poses the question whether it is illusion or reality. The father is also skeptical like the reader about the genuineness of the scene. He himself seems unsure about the reality of the incident. The awful nature of the experience makes him feel that he might have had nightmare.Gip is thrilled by all he sees, and his father is at first amused, but when things become stranger and sinister father is no longer sure where reality ends and illusion begins.(The magic shop ). The writer has created a strange world here which seems to be far from reality. But as we know that Wells enjoyed creating such fantasy worlds as he was the writer of tomorrow not of the day. The story perhaps depicts his worldview which made him see the universe with all its weird contours. In short, the universe appeared to him like that magic shop of which he also wrote, where the astonishing things may happen, if you are the Right Sort of Boy (Parrinder 224). The magic shop has endowed the boy with gifts and parcels while father is left with nightmarish memories feeling that he owes some money to the magic shop. The innocent and believing are rewarded in the magic shop while those who are skeptic are left with anxiety and speculation. This magic shop only welcomes Right Sort of Boys who should take lively interest in the tricks being played at the magic shop. The lovely, considerate boy returns unharmed though his father had quite horrible premonitions about the boy’s safety. He looked completely undamaged—so far, good; he was neither scared nor unhinged, he was simply tremendously satisfied with the afternoon’s entertainment, and there in his arms were the four parcels ( The magic Shop). The Children have superiority over adults in this make-believe created by Wells.As children’s imagination does not differentiate between reality and illusion; they feel no fear in this world. To Gip this was a proper shop as according to his belief a magic shop should be like this. The power of fantasy over realism has quite beautifully asserted by the writer in the story. The fantasy allows for new dimensions in reality. To conclude we may argue that The magic shop is the beautiful presentation of the world of fantasy. The writer’s potent imagination lends this world quite a supernatural flavor. The story has an aura of Gothic literature with all its supernatural happenings. Perhaps that is the reason that Michael Ashley has included this story in his book The Super natural Index. The people disappear and things change in this story. But the element of supernatural is not overemphasized as everything that is happening is justified in a magic shop. Magical tricks are quite amusing and interesting, but they do not have any kind of quaint mystery behind them. They have logic behind them but on the other hand supernatural seems illogical and abrupt. The magic shop is for the chosen people and the people who do not come up to the criterion of the magic are denied entry into it.The Right Sort of boys are welcomed. Gip is the person who is proper for this shop and he himself thinks that it was a proper shop. Father could not adjust himself in this world and is thrown out of this world in a quite strange way. Gip’s soldiers have possibilities of the future and they are his true companions. Father remains entangled in his own web of rational doubts and keeps on speculating about this incident. The reader also ends this story with a lot of questions to be answered. But the action of the story is quite engaging and the attention of the reader remains intact till the end of the story. Works Cited Ashley, Michael and William Contento. The Supernatural Index : a listing of fantasy, supernatural, occult, weird, and horror anthologies.Westport, Conn:Greenwood Press 1995. O'Neil, Patrick M. Great World Writers : Twentieth Century. New York : Marshall Cavendish, 2004. Parrinder, Patrik. H.G.Wells:The Critical Heritage.London: Routlege Publishers, 1997. Smith , Patrick A. Thematic Guide to Popular Short Stories.Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2002. Williams, Keith.H.G.Wells,Modernity and the Movies. Liverpool : Liverpool University Press, 2007. Wells,H.G. The Magic Shop. New York:Purple bear books,2005. Read More