41 pages • 1 hour read
Judy BlumeTales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1972A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 8 Summary: “The TV Star”
Peter’s father must watch his sons while Mrs. Hatcher visits her sister in Boston for the weekend. Aunt Linda has just given birth to a baby girl. Peter eagerly anticipates the relative freedom that being cared for by his father represents.
Peter has the day off from school, so Mr. Hatcher brings both boys to his advertising office for the day. The boys meet their father’s pretty secretary, Janet, who agrees to mind them for a while. Janet is a constant source of snacks for the children, and she carries goldfish crackers in her purse.
Janet shows them a room filled with toddlers who are waiting to audition for a Toddle-Bike commercial. This is one of Mr. Hatcher’s important accounts. Peter has a short fantasy about becoming the star of the commercial, but this is short lived. The child chosen to appear in the ad must be approved by Mr. Vincent, the Toddle-Bike company president. Upon seeing Fudge, the cigar-smoking Mr. Vincent picks him up and announces, “He’s perfect” (88). Mr. Hatcher objects that Fudge is not an actor; however, Mr. Vincent threatens to move his account to another agency if the child does not make the commercial. Ultimately, Peter’s father allows Fudge to appear in the ad on the condition that it be filmed immediately.
Peter looks at his own image in the men’s room mirror and allows himself to regret his brother’s birth. He feels that “Everything good always happens to him!” (91). Conversely, when the filming begins, Fudge refuses to participate in the process. Janet, the secretary, tries to tempt the child with cookies. Mr. Vincent repeats his threat to leave the agency should Fudge remain noncompliant. Peter’s father asks him to ride the Toddle-Bike around so that Fudge will imitate him. Fudge immediately demands to ride the bike himself, and the commercial is salvaged. Janet kisses Peter and tells him that he “saved the day” (96).
Chapter 8 Analysis
When Mrs. Hatcher visits her sister in Boston for the weekend, Peter looks forward to the easing of rules under his father’s care: neatness is less important, and bedtimes are later. Mr. Hatcher’s decision to bring both boys to his office are reflective of another era—one that did not allow for remote work situations. Another indicator of this workplace’s anachronistic tone is the fact that Mr. Hatcher assigns childcare duty to his secretary, Janet. She is described rather stereotypically as being a heavily made-up young woman who spends time reapplying her cosmetics throughout the workday. The bullying, cigar-chomping Mr. Vincent, who owns the Toddle-Bike company, also represents a stereotypically aggressive, old-fashioned business tycoon. Mr. Vincent demands that Fudge appear in the commercial for his product and threatens to move his account should Mr. Hatcher forbid this. Once again, Peter is struck by the subordinate position forced upon his father in this professional situation when he is addressed merely as “Hatcher.” Because Peter takes on such a sense of adult responsibility, he worries that his father will lose this account.
When Fudge is chosen to star in the ad, Peter has a moment of self-pity in the men’s room. He regrets his brother’s birth in a typically childlike manner. Nonetheless, Mr. Hatcher repeats the pattern of cajoling Peter into placating Fudge. He asks his older son to ride the tricycle so that Fudge will imitate him; naturally, the boy complies.
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By Judy Blume
