the umbrella man book report

The Umbrella Man – Roald Dahl: Summary, Analysis and Theme

Table of Contents

The Umbrella Man – Roald Dahl

In this story, there are three people: the mother, the girl, and a little man with an umbrella. The girl is the narrator in the storey. She talks about an event that happened to her and her mother. Interesting and funny, too. It shows the difference between how things look and how they really are.

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Summary of The Umbrella Man

Analysis of the umbrella man.

This is a funny story written by Roald Dahl Fans. It contains a humorous incident that is narrated by a small child. The mother and daughter visited the dentist in London one day. The young lady was having difficulty with a tooth. They returned to the cafe after the dentist’s clinic. The mother drank coffee, while the girl enjoyed a banana split. They emerged from the cafe shortly after six p.m. Rain had begun to fall. Mother and daughter were not wearing raincoats or hats. They were dressed in their customary garb. As a result, the mother chose to travel by taxi. They took their places on the pavement and began waiting for a taxi.

This story is one of the most memorable stories. The story is a humorous incident that is narrated by a small child. The mother and daughter visited the dentist in London one day. The young lady was having difficulty with a tooth. They returned to the cafe after the dentist’s clinic. The mother drank coffee, while the girl enjoyed a banana split. They emerged from the cafe shortly after six p.m. Rain had begun to fall. They took their places on the pavement and began waiting for a taxi.

Theme of The Umbrella Man

Thus, the storey highlights the contrast between appearance and reality. The elderly gentleman appeared polite and gentle. Furthermore, he appeared to be in need. His situation appeared to be legitimate. The mother exercised caution to avoid being duped. However, the man was successful in his deception.

Questions and Answers

Ans: “The Umbrella Man” is a well-known short storey by Roald Dahi, a British novelist, short storey writer, poet, and former fighter pilot. Among his most celebrated works are ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ ‘Matilda,’ and ‘The Witches,’ among others. The storey has a genuine twist that makes it enjoyable to read, and we can appreciate the irony, the disconnect between appearance and reality.

d) What did the young lady and her mother discover about the gentleman upon his entrance to the pub?

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‘The Umbrella Man’ by Roald Dahl: Short Story Analysis

May 12, 2020 By fizapathan Leave a Comment

‘The Umbrella Man’ by Roald Dahl was published in the year 1980 in the short story collection More Tales of the Unexpected . Today, it’s one of the best-remembered short stories of the master of the twist in the tale – Roald Dahl . ‘The Umbrella Man’ is a story of a master trickster who for a pound robs umbrellas from pubs worth even twenty pounds. He aims to show his vulnerability and ‘so-called’ genuine concern for the person he is tricking to loan him the money. The point is, he tries to say that he has forgotten his wallet while out on a walk. He asks for a pound note for taxi fare home and in return to the person who gives him the note he bestows upon them as a gift an umbrella. The pound note is for a tumbler of neat whiskey. The umbrella is just a ruse to get the pound. In this story, this elderly alcoholic called simply the Umbrella Man tricks a thirty-four-year-old stern mother and her twelve-year-old daughter. Although there are only three characters in the story, thanks to Dahl’s unique descriptions and suspense, ‘The Umbrella Man’ is a tale worth your money.

The story is told from the point of view of a twelve-year-old girl who has just been taken to the dentist by her mother. This reminds us of all the wonderful Roald Dahl novels which are always told from the perspective of the child and had children as main protagonists of the novels. This nameless girl gives the bare minimum description of who she is, which sums up her character quite well:

• She is twelve years old.
• She is a girl.

What more could a child say in all honesty at that age during Roald Dahl’s time. The girl is perky, extroverted, and very humorous. Her narration of the story indicates a great judge of character on her part. Though in the story her mother claims that she is the better judge of character, it is quite evident that the daughter is much more precocious than the mother. The mother is young but already a mother of a soon-to-be teenager. She is strict with her daughter but also allows the girl to have a banana spilt ice cream, after the child’s dental appointment. The mother is wary of strangers and comes across as a very coldhearted personality. She is shrewd but even her shrewdness was not enough to catch on to the umbrella man’s trick. She yearns for material comforts, which she does not have, like a car with a chauffeur. She believes the nicer a strange man seems to be the more suspicious should a woman be of his intentions. She is stuck-up but ready for an adventure which is evident when she and her daughter scurry after the old umbrella man to see what he was up to. Roald Dahl, as usual, gives wonderful descriptions of his characters that remain with you long after the story is done. The person who is described the most is the Umbrella Man. He is a marvelous actor and ready to do anything to get his tumbler of neat whiskey. He is clever enough to not go to the same pub twice for a drink so that he wouldn’t be caught stealing the umbrellas. There are many humorous scenes in the story which add color to the otherwise simple ‘twist in the tale’ story of ‘The Umbrella Man’:

• The daughter mentions that the mother is suspicious even of boiled eggs, for she pokes around the inside of it which makes the daughter wonder whether the mother is looking for a mouse.
• When the daughter, in the middle of the chase, asks her mother what would they do if the elderly man spotted them, the mother states quite frankly that she didn’t care as he had lied brazenly to them and was running them off their feet.
• The daughter sarcastically asks the mother if the man was not a ‘titled gentleman’ as she earlier supposed, indicating that the girl was very cheeky and highly precocious.
• The humorous image that we see in our minds of a mother and daughter under a silk umbrella stalking a wiry old man to a pub in the pouring rain.
• The frosty nose stares of both mother and daughter to other people and each other.
• The daughter mentions that once when her mother gave her principal a frosty nosed stare, the poor principal started simpering and stammering.
• The shock of the mother and daughter when the umbrella man entered the pub. The fact that they were shocked is indicative of the social backwardness of the decade when this story was penned by Roald Dahl.
• The parting line in the story where the mother checkmates the daughter by saying that however clever the Umbrella Man was, his whole ruse would have failed if it didn’t rain on a particular day. So, she says that the man must be praying like crazy for rainy days.
•  The image of the Umbrella Man drinking down his tumbler of neat whiskey with such relish when he had tried to portray to the mother and daughter that he was an old man who just wanted to go home after a long walk.

Note in the story how the mother and daughter mistakenly think that the Umbrella Man had spent more in gifting his silk umbrella to them and only taking a pound. They are misled by this thought only for a while until they see him flick an umbrella after collecting his hat and coat. The Umbrella Man comes off as a cool character, a real fraud, but someone good at heart who likes to help others indirectly by at least giving them an umbrella in exchange for their pound note. His eccentricities endear us to him and make us smile from within when he goes flitting from one pub to another for a tumbler of neat whiskey which he doesn’t even get any change in return for.

All in all, ‘The Umbrella Man’ is one of the short story classics that appear in most school textbooks. I have never gone through a single year in my ten-year teaching career without teaching this extraordinarily brilliant Roald Dahl story which is certainly, a story of the unexpected. If you are interested in more book reviews, book analysis, short story analysis, poems, essays, essay analysis, and other bookish content, you can visit my blog insaneowl.com . If you are interested in buying my books then visit my website fizapathanpublishing.us or fizapathan.com . Happy reading to you this week!

Copyright ©2020 Fiza Pathan

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THE UMBRELLA MAN

And other stories.

by Roald Dahl ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1998

A baker’s dozen of barbed, witty, obliquely macabre short stories, most drawn from—or at least previously published in—Tales of the Unexpected (1979, 1990). Additionally, there is a heart-rending wartime story of a young Greek orphan adopted by a beleaguered RAF squadron, a hilarious tale of two airheads who decide to make a fortune from grateful socialites by punching a gossip columnist in the nose, and “The Great Automatic Grammatizator,” a period piece about a primitive computer that whips out hugely profitable novels and stories in minutes. Nearly every story ends with a twist: a scam revealed or going wrong; a sinister revelation; or, as in the final entry, “Neck,” a sudden conclusion that derails carefully established expectations. Several stories show their age in dated details, or are slow to develop, and younger fans may find many of the conversations as tedious as the lengthy, satirically exact speeches about bees, wine, and antique furniture. Still, this sampler of Dahl’s writing at least conveys a sense of his versatility. (Short stories. 13+)

Pub Date: May 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-670-87854-5

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1998

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION

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BOOK REVIEW

developed by Roald Dahl ; illustrated by Quentin Blake

by Roald Dahl ; illustrated by Pénélope Bagieu

THE NEW QUEER CONSCIENCE

From the pocket change collective series.

by Adam Eli ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2020

Small but mighty necessary reading.

A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.

Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.

Pub Date: June 2, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Penguin Workshop

Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

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by Shavone Charles ; illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky

by Gaby Melian

by Leo Baker ; illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky

A QUEER HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

by Michael Bronski ; adapted by Richie Chevat ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2019

Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future.

An adaptation for teens of the adult title A Queer History of the United States (2011).

Divided into thematic sections, the text filters LGBTQIA+ history through key figures in each era from the 1500s to the present. Alongside watershed moments like the 1969 Stonewall uprising and the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the text brings to light less well-known people, places, and events: the 1625 free love colony of Merrymount, transgender Civil War hero Albert D.J. Cashier, and the 1951 founding of the Mattachine Society, to name a few. Throughout, the author and adapter take care to use accurate pronouns and avoid imposing contemporary terminology onto historical figures. In some cases, they quote primary sources to speculate about same-sex relationships while also reminding readers of past cultural differences in expressing strong affection between friends. Black-and-white illustrations or photos augment each chapter. Though it lacks the teen appeal and personable, conversational style of Sarah Prager’s Queer, There, and Everywhere (2017), this textbook-level survey contains a surprising amount of depth. However, the mention of transgender movements and activism—in particular, contemporary issues—runs on the slim side. Whereas chapters are devoted to over 30 ethnically diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer figures, some trans pioneers such as Christine Jorgensen and Holly Woodlawn are reduced to short sidebars.

Pub Date: June 11, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-8070-5612-7

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Beacon Press

Review Posted Online: March 12, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION

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“The Umbrella Man”

Sections: Information  | Plot Description  

Information

• A Second Roald Dahl Selection: Eight Short Stories
• Completely Unexpected Tales
• Further Tales of the Unexpected
• More Tales of the Unexpected
• Tales of the Unexpected (Volume 1)
• The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl
• The Complete Short Stories: Volume Two
• The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories
• The Umbrella Man and Other Stories
• The Australian Women’s Weekly (1981-03-11) - March 11, 1981
• Further Tales of the Unexpected read by Geoffrey Palmer, Joanna David, Tom Hollander
• Tales of the Unexpected (1979)

Plot Description

Spoiler warning! The narrator of this story is a 12-year-old girl who has gone to London with her mother to visit the dentist. The girl has a tooth filled, and then she and her mother go to a café afterwards. When it’s time to go home, they discover that it’s pouring rain and they have no umbrella. They decide to get a taxi. While they’re watching for a cab, an old gentleman sheltering under an umbrella approaches them. He asks for a favor. The girl’s mother is very distrustful of strange men. The old man explains that he has forgotten his wallet and would like to sell them his umbrella in return for taxi fare back to his home. He explains that it’s a very nice silk umbrella worth twenty pounds, but his legs are weak and he simply must take a taxi home. The mother likes the sound of the deal, but the little girl worries that they’re taking advantage of the old man. The mother offers to simply give him the cab fare, but he insists that they take the umbrella. The transaction is made and everyone is happy.

As the mother is proudly explaining the importance of correctly judging people, the daughter notices that the old man has quickly crossed the street and is hurrying away. “He doesn’t look very tired to me,” she said. The mother is displeased. “He’s up to something.” They decide to follow him and find out. They quickly follow him as he rushes through the rainy streets. Eventually they find themselves at a pub called “The Red Lion” and watch through the window as the old man enters and uses the pound note to pay for a triple whiskey. “That’s a jolly expensive drink,” said the little girl. “It cost him a twenty-pound silk umbrella!” They watch as the old man finishes his drink and goes to retrieve his coat and hat. Just before he leaves the pub, he smoothly plucks a wet umbrella from the coat rack and takes it with him. “So that’s his game!” the mother explained. They see him head back to the main street and sell the umbrella to another unsuspecting person. Then he heads off in another direction for another pub. “He could be doing this all night,” the girl says. “Yes, of course,” says the mother. “But I’ll be he prays like mad for rainy days.”

Friday, July 19, 2019

Dahl study: the umbrella man.

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The Umbrella Man Summary and Analysis

FreeBookNotes found 2 sites with book summaries or analysis of The Umbrella Man . If there is a The Umbrella Man SparkNotes, Shmoop guide, or Cliff Notes, you can find a link to each study guide below.

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Depending on the study guide provider (SparkNotes, Shmoop, etc.), the resources below will generally offer The Umbrella Man chapter summaries, quotes, and analysis of themes, characters, and symbols.

The Umbrella Man

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The Umbrella Man - Pages 663 - 664 Summary & Analysis

The old man’s reasoning was not successful in persuading the mother to give him a pound, so he offered her a silk umbrella worth “twenty pounds” (663). The mother was ready to accept the offer, but the daughter gave her a “frosty-nosed” (663) look to suggest that it would be immoral to accept the umbrella. This caused the mother to offer the pound for free, but the old man insisted that she accept the umbrella. The mother gave her daughter a “triumphant” (663) look before accepting the offer.

After he left, the mother began talking to her daughter about how the man was “a real gentleman” (663). She then lectured her daughter about how one should be patient when assessing a person or situation. The daughter interrupted because she saw the man dodging “nimbly” (664) through traffic to reach the other side of the street. The mother...

(read more from the Pages 663 - 664 Summary)

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The umbrella man and other stories

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Q: What is it that no one wants to have, but no one wants to lose either?

A: A lawsuit.

Q: I welcome the day with a show of light, I stealthily came here in the night.I bathe the earthy stuff at dawn, But by noon, alas! I'm gone.

A: The morning dew.

Q: What goes through cities and fields, but never moves?

Q: What can be touched but can't be seen?

A: Someone’s heart.

Q: In a bus, there is a 26-year-old pregnant lady, a 30-year-old policeman, a 52-year-old random woman, and the driver who is 65 years old. Who is the youngest?

A: The baby of the pregnant lady.

Q: When it is alive we sing, when it is dead we clap our hands. What is it?

A: A birthday candle.

Q: What can go through glass without breaking it?

Q: What gets bigger the more you take away?

Q: I have no life, but I can die. What am I?

A: A battery.

Q: What kind of room has no walls, door or windows?

A: A mushroom.

Q: It belongs to you, but your friends use it more. What is it?

A: Your name.

Q: What 2 things can you never eat for breakfast?

A: Lunch and dinner.

Q: I make a loud sound when I’m changing. When I do change, I get bigger but weigh less. What am I?

A: Popcorn.

Q: I’m orange, I wear a green hat and I sound like a parrot. What am I?

A: A carrot.

Q: What runs all around a backyard, yet never moves?

A: A fence.

Q: Take off my skin - I won't cry, but you will! What am I?

A: An onion.

Q: What invention lets you look right through a wall?

A: A window.

Q: What is always on its way but never arrives?

A: Tomorrow.

Q: Two girls were born to the same mother, on the same day, at the same time, in the same month and year, and yet they're not twins. How can this be?

A: The two babies are two of a set of triplets.

Q: What has a bottom at the top?

A: Your legs.

Q: What can you catch but never throw?

Q: What has many teeth but cannot bite?

Q: What has branches, but no fruit, trunk, or leaves?

Q: What thrives when you feed it but dies when you water it?

Q: What do you buy to eat but never consume?

A: Cutlery.

Q: Two fathers and two sons are in a car, yet there are only three people in the car. How?

A: They are grandfather, father, and son.

Q: A bus driver goes the wrong way down a one-way street. He passes the cops, but they don’t stop him. Why?

A: He was walking.

Q: If an electric train is traveling south, then which way is the smoke going?

A: There is no smoke—it's an electric train.

Q: Where is the only place where today comes before yesterday?

A: The dictionary.

Q: What can you put in a bucket to make it weigh less?

Q: How can kids drink beer and not get drunk?

A: By sticking to root beer.

Q: What is black when it’s clean and white when it’s dirty?

A: A chalkboard.

Q: I have one eye but am unable to see. What am I?

A: A needle.

Q: What two keys can’t open any door?

A: A monkey and a donkey.

Q: A man and his boss have the same parents but are not siblings. How is this possible?

A: He’s self-employed.

Cameron (she/her) is a staff writer for Good Housekeeping , where she covers everything from holidays to food. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she received a B.A. in magazine journalism. In her spare-time she can be found scrolling TikTok for the latest cleaning hacks and restaurant openings, binge-watching seasons of Project Runway or online shopping.

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New Yorkers headed to the polls Tuesday to cast their votes in primary elections for members of Congress, the state Assembly and state Senate.

The big race to watch — not just by NY but the whole country as well — was the 16th Congressional District covering parts of the Bronx and Westchester, where Westchester County Executive George Latimer handily unseated embattled far-left Rep. Jamaal Bowman.

The “Squad” congressman was elected in 2018 during Donald Trump’s presidency, but his most infamous act as a US rep will likely go down as the time he pulled a Capitol Hill fire alarm during a government shutdown vote.

This live blog has ended. Scroll down for results, photos, analysis and more from New York’s primary election, and other primaries across the US.

What to know

• LIVE RESULTS: The Post’s live map of the New York Primary 2024
• First congressional Democrat endorses George Latimer over Jamaal Bowman in NY primary battle
• Latimer slams Bowman’s ‘inappropriate’ off-the-rails rally on eve of NY primary
• Watch ‘Squad’ Reps. AOC, Bowman’s cringeworthy antics at R-rated NYC rally to boost embattled Dem

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Campaign Notebook

New Book Paints Trump as Wounded, Forgetful and Hung Up on Hollywood

In the dark months following the Jan. 6 attack, Donald J. Trump opened up to an entertainment journalist, revealing his fixation with celebrity, acceptance and the TV show that made him.

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By Shawn McCreesh

It was May 2021, and Donald J. Trump was wounded. Four months earlier, his supporters had ransacked the Capitol. He had departed Washington, disgraced, defeated and twice impeached. His party had abandoned him, however temporarily, and he’d been kicked off his social media accounts. He holed up inside Trump Tower and stewed.

An entertainment journalist named Ramin Setoodeh came knocking. He told Mr. Trump he wanted to write a book, not about the unpleasantness of the previous four years, but about that prelapsarian period before Mr. Trump entered politics. Then, he was merely the star of “The Apprentice,” the reality TV show that aired on NBC beginning in 2004 and “changed television,” as Mr. Setoodeh put it to the former president.

Mr. Trump was sold. He granted the reporter several long, recorded interviews. “He was at his lowest then,” Mr. Setoodeh, 42, said over lunch in Manhattan’s West Village on Friday. “I think talking about ‘The Apprentice’ allowed him to feel comfort.”

Mr. Trump became so excited about the book that he offered to promote it at his rallies, saying that the merchants who follow his traveling roadshow would help peddle it. “You’ll sell 10,000 books at one rally,” he told Mr. Setoodeh. “Let’s see how this works out.”

Not well, as it turns out — at least for Mr. Trump. “Apprentice in Wonderland,” published Tuesday, depicts its subject as a lonely and sometimes dotty man, longing for the days when he was still accepted by his fellow celebrities, even as he seems to crave political power.

One minute he’s bragging that Joan Rivers voted for him in 2016 ( she died in 2014); the next he’s excusing himself to go deal with “the whole thing with the Afghanistan,” as he told Mr. Setoodeh, who happened to be interviewing him the week President Biden was pulling U.S. troops out of the country. It was unclear what Mr. Trump meant.

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