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"Oskar Can't Read?" is an episode in the Hey Arnold! TV Series.
Synopsis[]
Oskar is fed up with the troubles of being illiterate, and with Arnold's help, learns how to read.
Plot[]
During dinner, Ernie asks Oskar to pass the salt, but he passes the pepper instead. The mailman asks Oskar to sign the paper but he makes up an excuse saying he’s busy. Grandpa asks Oskar to read the recipe while he cooks, Oskar says the onion (which is far away from him) prevents him from seeing the words.
Oskar asks Arnold to help him open a bottle that he thinks is aspirin which Arnold points out is actually fish bowl tablets. That’s when Arnold realizes that Oskar is illiterate and Oskar sadly admits this but believes he’s fine being illiterate. Unfortunately, Ernie and Mr. Hyunh heard the conversation and begin teasing Oskar for being illiterate. Ernie makes a bet of twenty bucks that Oskar can’t learn to read by the end of the month, and Mr. Hyunh makes a bet of fifty bucks.
Arnold tries to teach Oskar to read. But Oskar skimps on his assignments like tricking his wife to fill out the spelling worksheet for him. Arnold is fooled by Oskar’s alleged success and Oskar tells him he plans to prove to everyone he can read by reading to them all the first page of A Tale of Two Cities. However, this is another ploy as Oskar bribes Chocolate Boy with a box of malted melt balls to have him read the first page of A Tale of Two Cities aloud for him repeatedly until he can memorize it.
Oskar recites the first page of A Tale of Two Cities in front of the boarders acting like he read it. While most of the boarders are proud of Oskar and Oskar asks Ernie and Mr. Hyunh for the money he bet on them with, Ernie is suspicious and secretly switches the book to War and Peace and asks Oskar to read it one more time. When Oskar begins to recite the same page he memorized, Ernie exposes Oskar’s deceit as the switched book proves that Oskar memorized the first page of A Tale of Two Cities without actually reading it or else Oskar would have been reciting something completely different from War and Peace instead. Arnold, Susie and the boarders are greatly disappointed with Oskar's deception which proved he only cared about getting the wager money instead of actually wanting to learn how to read and Ernie calls Oskar a loser. After hearing everyone’s disappointment in him, Oskar begins to feel ashamed of himself.
A kid asks Oskar to read the map for him but Oskar can’t do it. Oskar walks on the street sadly and remembers how everybody was disgusted at him for cheating and his inability to read.
Oskar asks Arnold to teach him to read again. At first, Arnold wasn’t sure at first since Oskar didn’t take it seriously last time, but Oskar plead on how if he learned to read he can actually help people and not make excuses so Arnold agreed to help him.
Over time, Oskar actually makes an effort to learn how to read, and since Arnold has to go school, he sent Oskar to the library for his lessons. At the library, Oskar had trouble reading some books until he reads a children's book called Pet the Kitty for the kids at the library. He gets into a fight with a kid during story time over wanting to read another book.
For Oskar’s final test to prove he can actually read, Arnold blindfolds Oskar and takes him to a random location in the city. Arnold then gives Oskar a list of step-by-step instructions and challenges Oskar to read the instructions and use them to get back to the boarding house. After some initial progress, Oskar gets lost after misreading a sign in the subway and he sits down and sees a kitty resembling the one from the book he just read and takes it with him. Oskar recalls that since he can read that children's book, then he has the ability to find his way home. Oskar returns home and surprises the other boarders that he can now read well. The episode then ends with all the boarders shouting at Oskar as he pets the kitty so they can get some sleep.