The Hundred Dresses

“She came all the way from Boggins Heights, and her feet were usually caked with dry mud that she picked up walking down the country roads.”

Wanda’s poverty is established by her home, which is far away down muddy country roads. The mud she picks up on her walk emphasizes both the distance she travels, as well as the undesirability of the area in which her family lives.

“Peggy was the most popular girl in school. She was pretty; she had many pretty clothes and her auburn hair was curly.”

Peggy is established as a foil to Wanda’s isolation and poverty. Peggy is beautiful, popular, and affluent, marking her as a powerful classmate. While Wanda is an outsider, Peggy is the ultimate insider. Peggy’s role as the class bully is also implied, as she has the power to dictate who should be teased by the rest of the class. Other classmates, like Maddie, don’t interfere because they fear being bullied next.

“The children were reciting in unison the Gettysburg Address.”

The children’s school is established as a bastion of traditional America by the recitation of the Gettysburg Address. This establishes Wanda, who is not a natural-born American, as an outsider to the school’s traditions and values—one of the reasons for her exclusion and bullying.

“Wanda didn’t have any friends. She came to school alone and went home alone.”

Wanda’s isolation, as a young Polish girl from an impoverished part of town, is described. The reader is positioned to feel sympathy for the young girl, who is clearly excluded by her peers because she is different. This alludes to the important and recurring theme of The Damaging Effects of Bullying and Discrimination.

“She always wore a faded blue dress that didn’t hang right. It was clean, but it looked as though it had never been ironed properly.”

Wanda’s faded, ill-fitting dress causes the girls at school to laugh at her. Maddie later realizes that Wanda washes her dress every night so she will be clean for school, causing the much worn and much washed dress to become faded. Furthermore, Maddie realizes that Wanda doesn’t have a mother to help with ironing like she does. Estes suggests that people should try to understand others’ lives before making unfair judgments.

“Every pair is different. All colors. All lined up.”

Wanda’s fantastical story about her shoes is interpreted as a hilarious lie by her peers. In fact, Wanda engages in fantastical imaginations about a full and beautiful wardrobe as a means of coping with, and escaping, her life of poverty and isolation. This alludes to the important and recurring theme of The Power of Imagination.

“Wanda would move up the street, her eyes dull and her mouth closed tight.”

Wanda’s distress at the bullying is evident in her demeanor as she walks away from the group of girls. Her dull eyes illustrate her dissociation from the stressful situation, while her tightly closed mouth illustrates her stress.

“She wasn’t just an ordinary person, else why would she have a name like that?”

Wanda’s ethnicity denotes her as “other” to her peers; even Maddie, who is comparatively kind, feels that Wanda is not an ordinary person because of her Polish name. Wanda’s supposed otherness makes her less worthy of respect and kindness in the eyes of her peers. As Maddie matures, she comes to see that Wanda is just like any other girl, and therefore deserves respect and kindness. This causes Maddie to feel remorse for her role as a bystander in the bullying of Wanda.

“Sometimes when Peggy was asking Wanda these questions in a mock polite voice, Maddie felt embarrassed and studied the marbles in her hand.”

Maddie clearly feels uncomfortable with Peggy’s cruelty, especially given Wanda’s vulnerability as poor, friendless, and ethnically distinct. Maddie’s persistent regret over her involvement in the bullying of Wanda, and her wish that she had treated this lonely person with kindness, come through.

“But suppose Peggy and the other girls started in on her next! She wasn’t as poor as Wanda perhaps, but she was poor.”

Estes highlights the way that bullying is often motivated by fear of being bullied; Maddie resists intervening in the bullying of Wanda for fear that she will be bullied next. Peggy’s cruelty and power in this situation come from her affluence; she is invulnerable to the taunts she levels at Wanda because she has many beautiful dresses. On the other hand, Maddie sympathizes with Wanda because she has similar struggles.

“Of course she would have more sense than to say a hundred dresses.”

Maddie reflects that Wanda’s bullying is somewhat brought upon herself through her continued insistence that she has 100 dresses, when she clearly only has one. The girls find this claim laughable and ridiculous, which encourages them to continue with their taunting. Wanda is characterized as an unusual person compared to her peers, who expect a more literal response from her. It is only later that the girls understand that Wanda vividly imagines her 100 dresses, which she draws for the drawing contest.

“I got a hundred dresses home.”

Wanda’s declaration that she has 100 dresses, which is interpreted as a laughable and ridiculous lie by her classmates, is a clear attempt to be included in the group of girls as they admire Cecile’s new dress. However, Wanda’s declaration further establishes her as a social outcast, rather than allowing her entry into the group of girls. Furthermore, her imprecise English paints her as an “object” of ridicule to the girls.

“For now Peggy seemed to think a day was lost if she had not had some fun with Wanda, winning the approving laughter of the girls.”

Estes illustrates the pack mentality which often accompanies bullying; Peggy is encouraged in her mockery of Wanda by the laughter of other girls. It is likely that, like Maddie, many of the other girls join in on the laughter out of fear that they might be picked on next. This illustrates The Damaging Effects of Bullying and Discrimination.

“Was she dumb or what?”

Maddie questions Wanda’s intelligence because the latter struggles with reading aloud. Estes alludes to damaging stereotypes which represented Polish people as less intelligent and sophisticated, due in large part by first-wave immigrants’ not knowing English.

“Dazzling colors and brilliant lavish designs.”

The Power of Imagination is signaled as an important theme; Wanda uses art as a creative outlet and form of self-expression. Her art helps her to imaginatively escape from her life of poverty and isolation, and allows her to imagine a wardrobe full of beautiful clothing.

“No more holler Polack.”

It is implied that the Petronskis were derisively called “Polack” and discriminated against in the Connecticut town. Estes again draws the reader’s attention to The Damaging Effects of Bullying and Discrimination. She alludes to the historical stereotyping and discrimination experienced by Polish immigrants to America in the early 20th century. By critiquing this discrimination, she also signals the theme of The Importance of Respect and Kindness. Maddie comes to learn that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and kindness; she regrets not staying true to this value and resolves to advocate for the friendless in the future.

“The girls hurried out of the building, up the hill towards Boggins Heights.”

Peggy and Maddie’s trip to Wanda’s house in Boggins Heights symbolizes their remorse for bullying Wanda. Although it is not stated explicitly, they hope to make amends with Wanda and tell her the exciting news that she won the drawing contest. The distance of the trip is emphasized, as is the unpleasantness of the surroundings, to illustrate the girls’ determination to find Wanda.

“I never thought she had the sense to know we were making fun of her anyway. I thought she was too dumb. And gee, look how she can draw!”

Peggy’s guilty conscience is clear. She defends herself by claiming she didn’t think Wanda knew she was being teased; however, Wanda’s body language in various descriptions and illustrations makes her pain clear. Furthermore, Peggy is only inspired to respect Wanda because the latter is an incredible artist. Overall, Peggy is characterized as a less sympathetic and less likable character than the genuinely remorseful Maddie.

“She was never going to stand by and say nothing again.”

Maddie’s guilt teaches her an important lesson about The Importance of Respect and Kindness. She realizes that everyone deserves to be treated well—even if (or especially if) they are different, and that she has a duty to stand up for the marginalized.

“Maddie would cry out, ‘Stop! This girl is just a girl like you are!’ And then everyone would feel ashamed the way she used to feel ashamed.”

Maddie’s imaginative reconstructions of saving Wanda from bullies demonstrate her wish to go back in time and treat her with respect. This illustrates Maddie’s growing maturity, that she’s processed her guilt and wishes to do better in the future.

“I’d like that girl Peggy to have the drawing of the green dress with the red trimming and her friend Maddie to have the blue one.”

Despite her poor treatment by others, Wanda responds to Peggy and Maddie in particular with kindness. Instead of feeling angry and resentful, she gifts them two of her drawings, later revealed to be drawings of the two girls. This kindness exacerbates Maddie’s guilt over her inaction.

“It shows she got our letter and this is her way of saying everything’s alright.”

Wanda responds to Maddie and Peggy’s letter with kindness. This demonstrates Wanda’s acceptance of the girls’ implied apology, while highlighting Peggy’s somewhat static characterization—due to her fixating on being forgiven rather than acknowledging her own cruelty and striving to change.

“Why, it really looked like her own self!”

Despite being excluded by her classmates, Wanda fosters a sense of connection to them by drawing them in beautiful dresses; Maddie recognizes herself in Wanda’s gifted drawing. Wanda’s creativity helps her feel connected to her community, reinforcing the theme of The Power of Imagination.