The Enemy – Important Questions

Important Question and Answers

Q. What forced Dr. Sadao to be impatient and irritable with his patient? OR What made a cool surgeon like Sadao speak sharply to his wife and what was her reaction?

Ans. When Dr. Sadao started operating on the wounded American soldier, Hana had to be there to assist him. As someone who had never witnessed surgery before, the sight of blood disgusted Hana and she choked. In a sharp tone, Dr. Sadao told his wife to be strong and not faint. However, Hana ran outside and vomited. Sadao wanted to comfort his wife but at the same time, could not leave the American soldier unattended. This helplessness forced an otherwise calm and composed Dr. Sadao to be impatient and irritable with his patient.

Q. Did Hana think the Japanese tortured their prisoners of war? Why?

Ans. Yes, Hana thought the Japanese tortured their prisoners of war. She thought so because she had heard about stories of suffering of prisoners of war. When she saw the tortured body of the American soldier, it confirmed her fears. She remembered General Takima beat his wife cruelly at home and wondered, if he could be so cruel to his wife, he would surely be more cruel to an enemy soldier.

Q. What help did Dr. Sadao seek from Hana while operating on the wounded white man?

Ans. First, Dr. Sadao asked Hana to fetch towels. Then he told her that she would have to give the anaesthesia to the wounded soldier. Hana had never done this before. So, Dr. Sadao explained that it was easy. All she had to do was soak the cotton with anaesthesia and hold it near the patient’s nostrils. Since Yumi and the other servants had refused to help, Dr. Sadao tend to the American P.O.W, it was Hana who had to wash his wounds.

Q. How did Dr. Sadao ensure that the American sailor left his house but he himself remained safe and secure?

Ans. Dr. Sadao offered his personal boat with food and extra clothing and advised the American soldier to go to a nearby island and escape from there by boarding a Korean fishing boat. One week later, he informed the General about the American soldier’s escape, thus, saving the American and remaining safe and secure himself.

Q. Why did Hana wash the wounded soldier herself? OR Why did Dr. Sadao seek Hana’s help to treat the U.S. soldier?

Ans. Hana had to wash the wounded soldier herself because Yumi, the nanny, refused to wash the American soldier. She and the other servants were frightened when they learned about the enemy being in the house. They did not want to get into trouble of any kind. This is why they refused to help their master and mistress.

Q. How does the writer indicate that Dr. Sadao’s father was a very traditional and conventional man?

Ans. Dr. Sadao’s father wanted his son to marry a girl who had been pure in her race. Dr. Sadao and Hana had fallen in love in America but their marriage was arranged by Dr. Sadao’s father in the traditional Japanese way only after he had approved of Hana.

Q. Why did the messenger come to Dr. Sadao? What did Hana think about it?

Ans. The messenger came to Dr. Sadao to inform him that the old General was in pain again and needed his care. Hana had thought that the servants had betrayed them and the messenger had come to arrest Dr. Sadao for sheltering the American, an enemy soldier.

Q. What was his father’s chief concern about Dr. Sadao?

Ans. Dr. Sadao’s father’s chief concern was his education. He wanted Dr. Sadao to go abroad for higher studies and to see him as the best surgeon in the world.

Q. Why was Dr. Sadao not sent abroad along with the troops?

Ans. Dr. Sadao was an eminent surgeon and a scientist. He was perfecting a discovery, which would render wounds entirely clean. Moreover, the old General was being treated medically for a condition for which he might need an operation. This is why Dr. Sadao was not sent abroad with the troops.

Q. Where, when and how did Dr. Sadao meet Hana? OR What role did the American professor play in bringing Hana and Sadao together?

Ans. Dr. Sadao met Hana during his stay in America where he was studying medicine. It was at Professor Harley’s house that Dr. Sadao met Hana for the first time. The professor and his wife organised a party for their foreign students. Dr. Sadao was reluctant to go. Nevertheless he went there, literally by chance and he met Hana, who was a new student.

Q. What conflict in his mind troubled Dr. Sadao when he came to know that the wounded man was an American POW?

Ans. When Dr. Sadao came to know that the wounded man was an American P.O.W., he was troubled by the conflict between patriotism and professional ethics. Dr. Sadao was caught in the dilemma of handing over the wounded soldier to the Japanese authority who would surely end his life and his humanitarian instincts.

Q. How did the General plan to get rid of the American POW?

Ans. In order to get rid of the American P.O.W the General planned to send private assassins to quietly kill the prisoner in his sleep and then dispose off his body without trace.

Q. How did the servants react when they realised that Dr. Sadao was going to save the life of an enemy?

Ans. When the servants realised that Dr. Sadao was going to save the life of an enemy, the servants were not happy. In fact, they disapproved their master saving the wounded American soldier’s life. They refused to serve the patient and quit their job. They were worried for their lives and their master’s and mistress’ too.

Q. What was Sadao’s father’s dream for him? How did Sadao realise it?

Ans. Dr. Sadao’s father wanted him to go abroad for higher studies and become the world’s best surgeon. Dr. Sadao worked hard and became an eminent surgeon and scientist. He was perfecting a discovery, which would render wounds entirely clean.

Q. Who did Dr. Sadao think the survivor from the sea was when he first saw him?

Ans. When the survivor from the sea first came into Dr. Sadao’s view, the doctor thought that he was a fisherman from nearby village who had been badly wounded.

Q. On the seventh day after the American soldier was found by Dr. Sadao two things happened. Why did Hana feel scared of the second?

Ans. On the seventh day, after the American Soldier was found by Dr. Sadao, two things happened. First, all the household servants quit their job and second, General’s messenger in official uniform came to meet Sadao. Hana felt scared of the uniformed messenger because she thought he had come to arrest Dr. Sadao.

Q. What was the General’s plan to get rid of the American prisoner? Was it executed? What traits of the General’s character are highlighted in the lesson ‘The Enemy’?

Ans. The General planned to get rid of the American prisoner by sending his private assassins to kill him and then remove his body from Sadao’s house. The plan was not executed since the General forgot his promise to send the assassins because of his own pain. The old General seemed to be a cold, calculated ruthless man. He had an unusual sense of humour and seemed to generate fear in others’ hearts quite effortlessly. In his interaction with Dr. Sadao, he comes across as a man who puts his self-interest above everything else. The only reason he did not get Dr. Sadao arrested for treason was because he feared that no other surgeon would be as good as Dr. Sadao if ever the General is fatally wounded again. To save Dr. Sadao from his unusual predicament, the General suggested getting the American soldier killed by his private assassins and getting rid of his body off at the same time. When he admitted to have forgotten to send the assassins, the General asked Sadao not to speak about this carelessness. Nevertheless, the General is not completely devoid of human considerations. He understood that from a surgeon’s point of view, Dr. Sadao did the right thing by saving the wounded soldier’s life, later he even promises reward to Dr. Sadao for proving his loyalty and patriotism.

Q. Explain the reactions of the servants in Dr. Sadao’s house when he decided to give shelter to an enemy in the house.

Ans. When Dr. Sadao decided to give shelter to the enemy, the servants in Dr. Sadao’s house openly expressed their disapproval. The old gardener expressed his concern saying the bullet and the sea wanted the enemy dead. They might take revenge on their master for healing the white man. Although they remained skeptical of their master’s loyalty, they did not disclose the secret to the world. For them, the white man was an enemy who did not deserve their help. Yumi, the nanny of the children, refused to wash the American POW. The wounds took time to heal; Dr. Sadao and Hana took great care of the American soldier. However, None of the servants tried to hide their displeasure and they voiced their opinion loudly for Sadao and Hana to hear. They felt that since both Hana and Dr. Sadao had lived in America for a while, they favoured the American P.O.W. over their own countrymen. The servants constantly pressurised the Hoki family to disclose the secret and get the American caught by the police. Finally, their displeasure at their master’s decision made them leave his household.

Q. ‘The Enemy’ portrays the victory of humanity in a moment of crisis. Illustrate this fact through the actions taken by Dr. Sadao for the enemy soldier. OR Good human values are far above any other value system. How did Dr. Sadao succeed as a doctor as well as a patriot? OR Dr. Sadao was a patriotic Japanese as well as a dedicated surgeon. How could he honour both the values? OR Dr. Sadao faced a dilemma. Should he use his surgical skills to save the life of a wounded person or hand an escaped American P.O.W. over to the Japanese police? How did he resolve this clash of values?

Ans. Dr. Sadao Hoki was not only a trained surgeon but also a fervent patriot who dedicated himself to the cause of serving his country in the wartime through scientific research. However, the dilemma that Dr. Sadao faced on the arrival of the wounded American soldier at his doorstep was a clash between his duties as a doctor and that of a patriotic citizen. Since Dr. Sadao was under the Hippocratic oath to serve the mankind as a whole and put his professional duties first, he decided to save the enemy at any cost. For this he faced difficulties at his home from his wife and servants. He even endangered his own life and that of his family. However, he was able to show his patriotism by informing the General about the wounded American soldier and how he saved him. He requested the General to do whatever was necessary in the matter and even agreed to the arrangement of getting the enemy soldier killed by professional assassins sent by the General. The fact that he informed the General about the American’s escape, even though it was he who helped the soldier, is also a proof that Dr. Sadao was a dedicated surgeon as well as a patriotic Japanese.

Q. How did Dr. Sadao help the American POW to escape? What humanitarian values do you find in his act?

Ans. After waiting for several days for the General’s private assassins to come and kill the American P.O.W., Dr. Sadao decided to help the latter escape. Dr. Sadao arranged for a boat, provided fresh water, food, quilts, flashlight, etc. and instructed him to go to the nearest deserted island. Dr. Sadao asked the soldier to wait there for a Korean fishing boat. He also told him to flash the torch light twice as signal in case he ran out of food. Dr. Sadao also provided the American soldier with Japanese attire and covered his blond hair with a black cloth as a part of his disguise. The young soldier shook Dr. Sadao’s hand and left without a word. One can find universal value of sympathy, humanitarian consideration, love for fellow human beings and compassion in Dr. Sadao’s actions.

Q. How did the arrival of the prisoner destroy the peace of Sadao’s home?

Ans. The arrival of the prisoner of war completely destroyed the peace of Sadao household. The servants in Dr. Sadao’s house were against his action of harbouring an American. Yumi refused to wash the wounded soldier. There was a fierce look of resistance on her face. The cook and the gardener criticised Sadao, saying that sea and the gun wanted the white man dead so, why was Sadao trying to save the enemy. They even threatened to leave the house. As the stay prolonged, all the servants quit their jobs and left, it was only Hana, Dr. Sadao’s wife, who stood by him. However, she too lived in constant fear. When the General’s uniformed messenger came for Dr. Sadao Hana thought that he had come to arrest her husband. Hana feared that Dr. Sadao would be condemned as a traitor. Sadao himself was in a dilemma. Being a patriotic Japanese, he doubted whether his action was right since his professional ethics told him to save the wounded American P.O.W. Later, Dr. Sadao had many sleepless nights when the professional assassins did not come to get rid of the American as promised by the General. Only after the American soldier left, things became normal in Sadao household.

Q. Do you think Dr. Sadao’s final decision was the best possible one in the circumstances? Why/ Why not? Explain with reference to the story, ‘The Enemy’.

Ans. In the given circumstances, Dr. Sadao’s final decision to help the American soldier escape was the best possible decision, because Dr. Sadao was a humanitarian. When Dr. Sadao saw the American soldier washed ashore near his house, badly wounded, the doctor could have refused to treat him and handed him over to the authorities instantly. He did not do so because he was duty bound as a doctor to save the American soldier first, even prior to his motherland. Once the soldier recuperated, Dr. Sadao did what he thought was best for his country. He told the General about the American soldier, after all, he had saved an enemy. Dr. Sadao let the General decide the soldier’s fate and agreed with his decision to get him murdered by assassins. However, compassion is a natural instinct in humanitarians. Therefore, after waiting anxiously for the General’s private assassins for three consecutive nights, Dr. Sadao helped the American soldier escape. To have him stay any longer with them was becoming a matter of concern for Dr. Sadao. It could get him imprisoned for treason and jeopardise his family. Besides, Dr. Sadao had already risen above the narrow prejudices of race, hatred and war by saving the American soldier’s life. By letting him escape, the doctor could assuage his conscience; had the General’s plan of the American’s assassination been carried out, it would have bothered Dr. Sadao gravely.

Q. Why did Sadao help the American soldier to escape? How did he do it?

Ans. First, Dr. Sadao was tired of worrying about the General’s private assassins to murder the American. He had already spent three consecutive sleepless nights waiting for them to show up. It was becoming too much for him to bear. Secondly, perhaps Dr. Sadao was feeling sad and sorry for putting the same man’s life in jeopardy whom he had saved. Lastly, Dr. Sadao was a humanitarian by nature. Life was more important to him than war. These are few of the possible reasons why Dr. Sadao decided to help the American soldier escape. To help the P.O.W. escape, Dr. Sadao loaded his boat with food and bottled water, clothing, food, quilts etc. and asked him to row the boat to the island not far from the coast. He also gave the American a flashlight to be used for signalling. Dr. Sadao told him not to light fire and wait only for a Korean boat. Then, Dr. Sadao gave the American soldier Japanese clothes to wear and covered his blonde hair with a black cloth. At last, both men bid each other adieu.

Q. Dr. Sadao was compelled by his duty as a doctor to help the enemy soldier. What made Hana, his wife, sympathise with him in the face of open defiance from the domestic staff?

Ans. While on one hand, her husband was compelled by his duty as a doctor to help the enemy soldier, on the other hand, Hana had to face open defiance from the domestic staff. Amidst the chaos, Hana understood Dr. Sadao’s dilemma is between patriotism and his professional ethics. This made her sympathise with her husband. Hana was a humane and kind person with a tender heart just like Dr. Sadao. She loved and respected her husband and his decisions. She felt that it would be cruel to leave the wounded American soldier to die. This is why she did not give in to the servants’ defiance. She maintained her dignity and selfrespect in front of them. Hana, was proud of her husband and had faith in his expertise, hence she supported Dr. Sadao.

Q. What explains the attitude of the General in the matter of the enemy soldier? Was it human consideration, lack of national loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply selfabsorption?

Ans. The attitude of the General in the matter of the enemy soldier was strange and unusual. He always portrayed himself as the most patriotic and dutiful General there could ever be. However, when Dr. Sadao told him about treating the American soldier the General did not get Dr. Sadao arrested for treason. He needed the highly skilled surgeon for his own survival. This makes it evident that the General was a self absorbed man, who was concerned only about himself. The fact that he offered to get the American soldier killed by his private assassins, that too as secretly as possible, shows the inhuman side of the General. Dr. Sadao waited for three consecutive nights for the assassins to show up at his house and do their job, but they did not come. Later, the General admitted to have forgotten all about the enemy soldier and the assassins whom he was supposed to send to get rid of the American, because be was distressed by his own pain. Once again, it proves the self-absorbed nature of the General. It is also dereliction of duty to quite an extent on the General’s part because he put himself above his country’s safety.

Important Question and Answers

Q. Why did the Maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state?

Ans. There were various reasons because of which the Maharaja banned tiger hunting in the state of Pratibandapuram. He vowed to hunt and kill hundred tigers to prove the astrologer wrong who predicted that a tiger would be the cause of his death. However, the tiger population of his kingdom was quickly diminishing because of the Maharaja’s hunting spree. This is why he did not want anyone else to hunt or kill tigers.

Q. Why did the Maharaja order the Dewan to double the land tax?

Ans. After hearing about disappearances of sheep, the Maharaja set out on an expedition to find the hundredth tiger, which was supposed to be the reason for the disappearances. However, the tiger could not be found anywhere. The Tiger King was becoming impatient day by day. In his rage, the Maharaja ordered the Dewan to double the land tax.

Q. How did the Maharaja please a high-ranking British official?

Ans. A high ranking British officer visited Pratibandapuram and sought permission to hunt tiger from King. Even though the king declined his request, he did not want to displease the officer. So in order to please the high-ranking British officer, he sent fifty diamond rings to his wife which cost the Maharaja three lakh rupees.

Q. What gave the astrologers the greatest surprise of their life while they were studying the horoscope of the ten-day-old prince?

Ans. The fact that the ten-days-old infant prince spoke clearly and coherently and that he raised intelligent questions about life and death, gave the astrologers the greatest surprise of their life while they were studying the horoscope of the infant crown prince.

Q. Why did the Maharaja decide to get married? OR What considerations influenced the Tiger King to get married?

Ans. So far, the Maharaja had succeeded in killing only seventy tigers when they became extinct in Pratibandapuram. In order to fulfil his vow of killing one hundred tigers, the Maharaja decided to get married to a girl from a royal family of a kingdom with a large tiger population.

Q. How did the Tiger King become the victim of the hundredth tiger?

Ans. The Tiger King gifted his son a wooden toy tiger. The toy was made by an unskilled carpenter because of which its surface was rough; tiny slivers of wood stood up like quills all over it. A splinter from the wooden tiger pierced his hand, caused suppurating sore, resulting into his death. This is how the Tiger King became the victim of the hundredth tiger.

Q. What sort of hunts did the Maharaja offer to organise for the high-ranking British officer? What trait of the officer does it reveal?

Ans. The Maharaja refused to allow the British officer to hunt tigers in his kingdom. Instead, the Maharaja offered to organise a boar hunt or a mouse hunt or even a mosquito hunt. It shows the shallowness and pretence of the British official.

Q. How did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his Kingdom? How was he able to avert the danger? or Why, do you think, was the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne? OR When was the Tiger King in danger of losing his throne? OR How did the Tiger King manage to retain his kingdom?

Ans. A high-ranking British officer, who was fond of hunting tigers, visited Pratibandapuram. The Tiger King refused to allow the British officer to hunt tigers saying it was banned in his kingdom. He did not even permit the officer to get himself photographed with the tiger killed by the king. This annoyed the high-ranking British officer because directly or indirectly, the king was preventing an important man from fulfilling his desire. Anticipating unfavourable consequences of denying a British officer and to avert the danger of losing his kingdom, the Tiger King sent a gift of fifty expensive diamond rings to the British officer’s wife. Although he thought that the duraisani would only select a couple of rings, he did not mind that she kept them all. In fact, he was happy to know that he was able to retain his kingdom even though he had to pay three lakh rupees to the British jewellers for the diamond rings.

Q. Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger? OR What led the Maharaja to start out on a tiger hunt?

Ans. When the Maharaja was only ten days old, an astrologer predicted that a tiger would be the cause of his death. In order to prove the astrologer wrong and also to save himself from getting killed, the Maharaja vowed to hunt and kill hundred tigers. This is why he was so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger.

Q. What did the British officer’s secretary tell the Maharaja? Why did the Maharaja refuse permission?

Ans. The British officer’s secretary sent a message to the Maharaja through his dewan that the Maharaja could actually kill the tiger and then allow the British officer to get himself photographed with the tiger while holding the gun and standing over carcass. However, the Maharaja did not agree to him and refused permission because he feared that doing so will encourage other British officers to turn up for tiger hunting. The Maharaja wanted to kill hundred tigers himself.

Q. How did the Tiger King’s marriage bring him closer to his target?

Ans. The Maharaja had exhausted the tiger population in Pratibandhapuram but he still had thirty more to kill, so he asked his dewan to find out the tiger populations in different native states. He decided to marry in a royal family with a large tiger population. The Maharaja decided to do this so that he could be allowed to hunt tigers from the state of his father-in-law. The dewan found out the right girl. The Maharaja killed five or six tigers each time he visited his father-in-law.

Q. What made the chief astrologer place his finger on his nose?

Ans. The chief astrologer placed his finger on his nose because he was filled with surprise and wonder on hearing a small baby, just ten days old, speak.

Q. How did the Maharaja deal with a high ranking British officer who wanted to shoot a tiger?

Ans. When the high ranking British officer expressed his desire to hunt tigers in Pratibandapurm, the Maharaja denied him permission. He said to the British officer that the latter could hunt anything, even mosquitoes, but not tigers. Later, when the Maharaja realised that refusing the high ranking British officer could jeopardise his kingdom, he sent fifty samples of diamond rings to the British officer’s wife to choose from. She kept them all; it cost the Maharaja three lakhs rupees.

Q. When he was only ten days old, a prediction was made about the future of the Tiger King. What was ironic about it?

Ans. The chief astrologer predicted that the Tiger King would die one day. The irony was that, hearing this, the ten days old infant Tiger King, then a crown prince, spoke like a wise man and said that everyone who is born had to die one day.

Q. How did the ten-day-old baby (the future Tiger King) react to the prediction about his future made by the astrologers?

Ans. After listening to the prediction about his death, the ten-days old crown prince responded by saying that death is inevitable for anybody who is born. It does not require prediction. He wished to know about the manner of death as it is more important than the news of his death itself. When he learnt that the cause of his death would be tigers, he said with a growl: “Let tigers beware!”

Q. What kind of life was enjoyed by crown prince Jung Bahadur till he reached the age of twenty?

Ans. Crown prince Jung Bahadur drank the milk of an English cow. He was brought up by an English nanny and tutored in English by an Englishman, saw nothing but English movies. Until he reached his twenties, the crown prince Jung Bahadur enjoyed everything which other Indian crown princes during British rule were enjoying.

Q. Who killed the 100th tiger? Why?

Ans. The hundredth tiger was killed by one of the hunters accompanying the Tiger King. The Maharaja missed his mark, but loud bang of the gun shot made the old and weak tiger faint. If the king had found out about this, the hunters would have lost their job.

Q. The manner of his (the Tiger King’s) death is a matter of extraordinary interest. Comment.

Ans. The occasion was the Tiger King’s son’s third birthday, he had not been paying much attention to the crown prince because of his obsession of killing hundred tigers. Since, it was his son’s birthday, he wanted to give something special to the crown prince. He went to the shopping centre in Pratibandapuram and searched every shop, but could not find anything suitable. He then saw a wooden toy tiger and thought it was perfect for his son. The toy had been carved by an unskilled carpenter. The surface was rough because slivers of wood were poking out, of the entire toy. One of the quills pierced the Maharaja’s hand. Although the king pulled it out the wound became infected. The infection spread all over the arm. As the situation worsened, three famous surgeons were called from Madras to treat the king. All three surgeons agreed that the king needed to be operated on immediately. After the surgery, the three surgeons announced that the operation was successful but king had passed away. Ultimately, the Tiger King met his end by the hundredth tiger, ironically not by a real tiger but by a wooden one whose splinter injured him proving deadly.

Q. Giving a bribe is an evil practice. How did the Tiger King bribe the British officer to save his kingdom? How do you view this act of his?

Ans. The Tiger King dispatched a telegram to a famous British company of jewellers in Calcutta to send samples of expensive diamond rings of different designs. Some fifty rings arrived and the king sent all of it to the British officer’s wife. The king and his minister expected that the duraisani would choose one or two rings and send the rest back. However, it turned out that the duraisani kept the entire lot and replied with a thank you note for the gifts. In two days, a bill of three lakh rupees was sent by the British jewellers, to the Maharaja which he was happy to pay. This is howthe Maharaja had managed to retain his kingdom. This act of the king sheds light on the deplorable practice of bribery that perpetuates the vicious cycle of corruption, especially considering the fact that the king had personal interests to protect rather than the welfare of his kingdom.

Q. Even today so many among us believe in superstitions. An astrologer predicted about ‘The Tiger King’ that he would be killed by a tiger. He ‘killed’ one hundred tigers yet was himself ‘killed’ by a tiger. How did the superstitious belief ‘prevail’?

Ans. From the moment the Tiger King heard the prediction that a tiger would be the cause of his death, he made it the aim of his life not to lose to the tigers. The Tiger King vowed to kill hundred tigers and not rest until his vow was completed. While the Maharaja believed that he was fighting to change his destiny, it was the other way round. One may find it superstitious, but it was his destiny, which pushed him to act the way he did and eventually die because of a tiger. The Tiger King took lives of the innocent tigers, one after another, until it became an obsession of his. He was selfish, self-centred and to quite an extent, hot-headed, which influenced each of his actions. He banned tiger hunts in Pratibandapuram for others and threatened to confiscate wealth and property of anybody who dared to hurt the tigers. He gave up his royal duties only to fulfil his vow, without once thinking about the effects it would have on his kingdom. He bribed the high ranking British officer, whom he had denied permission to hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram, so that he, the Tiger King, did not lose his kingdom. The Maharaja even married into a royal family only on one condition, the forests of that kingdom had to have tigers. After killing ninety-nine tigers, the Tiger King’s obsession grew. On his last hunting expedition, when the hundredth tiger was nowhere to be seen, the Tiger King became furious and asked Dewan to double the land tax of the village where he had gone to hunt. The Dewan feared that the king’s decision would prove to be catastrophic, if the hundredth tiger was not found and killed quickly; the dewan’s job was in jeopardy too. These chain of events paved way for the death of the Tiger King. The Dewan arranged for a senile tiger to be killed by the Maharaja. However, the King’s bullet did not kill the beast; the old tiger merely fainted by the sound of the gun shot. It was one of the king’s hunters who finally killed the tiger, leaving the king content with the thought of killing hundred tigers. Therefore, the king’s death due to the infection caused by the splinter from the wooden toy tiger, was a death caused by his own action, proving that the superstitious belief prevailed.

The Third Level – Important Questions

Important Question and Answers

Q. How many levels are there in the Grand Central Station? How did Charley reach the third level of the Grand Central Station?

Ans. Grand Central Station, New York, has only two levels. One evening, Charley reached the station and then walked down to the second level to catch an early train to his home. While he was on the second level, he strangely happened to notice a doorway down. He followed the steps and reached the third level which was never heard or seen by anyone. In the third level Charley saw a hundred year old world and people.

Q. What is the role of the stamp – collection in the story?

Ans. The stamps collection is the logic behind the story. It was Charley’s favourite pastime. In fact, this collection was passed on to Charley from his diseased grandfather. The most important fact about his collection is that this was the only thing that connected the old world and the new: the same thing but existing in two different worlds. This collection turned out to be useful for Sam, the psychiatrist friend when he attempted to convey to Charley the truth regarding the existence of the third level. It was by keeping his first day cover in Charley’s grandfather’s collection that Sam could make the same available to Charley.

Q. How did Charley ascertain that he had reached the 1894 world?

Ans. The World was a popular newspaper which stopped its publication before 1894. Having reached the third level of the Grand Central Station, Charley noticed that The World and the date, June 11, 1894 and confirmed that he was back in 1894. In the beginning, when he reached the third level, Charley was confused. Whatever he saw in the third level told him that he had travelled back to the past. This was confirmed when he saw The World. The lead story said something about President Cleveland and it was printed June 11, 1894.

Q. Why did Charley run away from the third level?

Ans. Charley was greatly amazed when he reached the hundred year old third level and was planning to buy two rail tickets to Galesburg where he had spent his childhood. But when he took out his money to pay the fare, the clerk found out that his notes were fake and thought that Charley was attempting to fool him. He warned him that he would call the police. Seeing that there was nothing good about police and jail in the hundred year old Galeburg, Charley ran away.

Q. What was Sam’s answer to Charley’s dilemma?

Ans.

Charley met his psychiatrist friend Sam and told him about this experience. The psychiatrist interpreted it as a mental disorder. Indicating his hobby of stamp collection and this sort of experience, the psychiatrist explained his abnormality to be escaping from the struggles of life by fantasizing. Soon his friends and wife began to consider Charley as a mental patient. But how! Charley was not abnormal. He was a happy man who loved his wife and friends and stamps. But the rest of the world believed that Charley was looking for an exit to escape his reality.

Q. Why was Charley not able to get to Galesburg?

Ans. Next day Charley went to a particular shop that sold old currency. He paid more for less old money and ran to the railway station. He hoped to buy train tickets this time to go to his old village. He reached the first level, went down to the second and searched for the door to the third level. Alas! The door had vanished. He searched and searched but could not find it again.

Q. How did Sam reach Galesburg? How did he settle down there?

Ans. Sam was smarter than Charley. From Charley’s experience, he learnt that one can get into the third level only once. He also believed that once out of the third level, one could never get back. Keeping this in mind, Sam first got old currency from the shop and then went to the railway station. He found the door to the third level as claimed by Charley, purchased ticket and reached the 1894 Galesburg, Charley’s village. Having reached there, Sam settled himself in hay business.

Q. How did Sam’s mail reach Charley?

Ans. When Sam reached the third level and landed in Galesburg, he became part of a hundred year old world, the year 1894 a world devoid of the modern media of communication. He had to depend only on postal system but there was no link between his old world and Charley’s present world. In order to send a mail to Charley, Sam sent it to Charley’s grandfather who still existed in the third level and the grandfather kept the mail in his stamp collection and consequently Charley received the mail.

Q. What was Charley’s strange experience at the Grand Central Station?

Ans. One night, while in a hurry to catch a subway train from the Grand Central Station, Charley took a path, which led him to the third level of Grand Central Station. On arriving here, he encountered something, which appeared outright strange to him. The information booth was made of wood, the lights were open flame gaslight and therefore dim. There where old fashioned railway engines, men and women in old fashioned clothes, carrying old fashioned accessories, such as the gold pocket watch. There were brass spittoons on the floors. By now Charley had an inkling that the path had brought him to the past. In order to confirm his doubt he decided to check the newspaper. The newspaper was ‘The world’ and the date on it read June, 11, 1894. Publication of the same had been stopped hundred years ago. When Charley went to buy two tickets to Galesberg, Illinois, the clerk refused to sell him tickets because he did not recognise the new currency, which Charley was offering.

Q. Do you think Charley was really a worried man as his psychiatrist friend and others believed?

Ans. No, Charley was a happy man. Even though the modern man is generally unhappy and worried, Charley appears to be quite a normal man. The day when he found out the third level, Charley was in a hurry to reach home, to meet his wife. A man who longs to get home and happy with his wife is a happy man. Moreover, Charley had a good collection of stamps which he enjoyed in his free time. Yes, Charley seems to be a worried man, an escapist and a maniac dreamer also. Charley belonged to the post World War time, 1984 and anxiety and insecurity were a part of everyone’s psyche. Everyone wanted to escape to a peaceful place but there was probably none. Charley, being a similar escapist, found peace by escaping into his world of stamps and unknown places in his imagination.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Important Questions Class 12 English

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers Important Questions Short Answer Type Questions (3-4 Marks)

Question 1.
Describe the tigers created by Aunt Jennifer. (Delhi 2009)
Answer:
The poet describes Aunt Jennifer’s tigers as ‘bright topaz denizens’ of the forest. They are fearless and ferocious in sharp contrast to their creator, Aunt Jennifer’s nervousness and timidity. Gallant and confident, they are sure of their purpose and move ahead undeterred by any kind of hindrance or obstruction.

Question 2.
Why did Aunt Jennifer choose to embroider tigers on the panel? (All India 2009)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer chose to embroider tigers on the panel because of the nature of the tigers. They symbolise strength and splendour which was in sharp contrast to her own meek nature. The massive weight of the wedding band that sits heavily on her finger symbolises the ordeals and hardships of her married life so she creates tigers as they are a striking contrast to the frail, meek old lady who created them.

Question 3.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (Delhi 2010)
Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

1. How are aunt Jennifer’s tigers described?
2. Why are they described as denizens of a world of green?
3. Why are they not afraid of the men?

Answer:
1. Aunt Jennifer’s tigers are described as powerful, strong and fearless.
2. The tigers are inhabitants of the dense green forests so they are described as dwellers of a world of green.
3. Their courage and fearlessness gives them a confidence due to which they are not afraid of men.

Question 4.
What will happen to Aunt Jennifer’s tigers when she is dead? (All India 2010)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer’s tigers will survive even after she is dead. She has created the tigers in a panel out of wool. These objects of art are immortal. They will continue prancing, proudly and fearlessly. To express her desire for freedom she had created the chivalrous tigers who will survive long after her death but her own longing for freedom will remain unfulfilled.

Question 5.
How has Aunt Jennifer created her tigers? What traits of tigers do they reveal? (All India 2010)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer has created shining topaz yellow- coloured tigers who are denizens of a dense, green forest. They are fierce, unafraid and fearless and pace in ‘sleek’ and ‘chivalric’ certainty.

Question 6.
Why are Aunt Jennifer’s hands fluttering through her wool? (Comptt. Delhi 2010)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer is a victim of gender oppression at the hands of her husband. She lives a life of total domination and constant fear. So she feels nervous and terrified that the hands shake and flutter through her wool as she sits down to knit.

Question 7.
Describe the contrast between Aunt Jennifer ‘ and her creation, the tigers. (Comptt. All India 2010)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer is totally victimised and suffers from oppression by her male counterpart. So she creates an alternate world of freedom in her art. The tigers she creates go on prancing menacingly, exhibiting their pride and fearlessness of any social group or gender conflicts.

Question 8.
How do ‘denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ add to our understanding of the tigers’ attitude? (Delhi 2011)
Answer:
‘Denizens’ means that the tigers inhabit a green world. They live in the forests where they are free from constraints. ‘Chivalric’ means they are brave and fearless creatures. This helps us to understand that bravery and fearlessness are the basic nature of the tigers.

Question 9.
Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so different from her own character? (All India 2011)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer’s tigers possessed all the qualities that Aunt Jennifer did not have. The tigers were free, fearless, confident and proud whereas Aunt Jennifer was meek, submissive and without any identity. She was a rather indecisive woman unlike the confident tigers she had created.

Question 10.
What do the symbols, ‘tigers’, ‘fingers’ and ‘ring’ stand for in the poem, ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’? (Comptt. Delhi 2011)
Answer:
The ‘tigers’ are symbols of bravery and courage and also of Aunt Jennifer’s desire for freedom. The ‘fingers’ are symbolic of the nervousness and fear experienced by Aunt Jennifer and the ‘ring’ symbolises a binding marriage that is full of oppression and curtails one’s freedom.

Question 11.
Describe the tigers created by Aunt Jennifer. (Comptt. All India 2011)
Answer:
The poet describes Aunt Jennifer’s tigers as ‘bright topaz denizens’ of the forest. They are fearless and ferocious in sharp contrast to their creator, Aunt Jennifer’s nervousness and timidity. Gallant and confident, they are sure of their purpose and move ahead undeterred by any kind of hindrance or obstruction.

Question 12.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (Comptt. All India 2012)
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

1. Who are ‘They’? Where are ‘They’?
2. Why are They’ not afraid of men?

Answer:
1. ‘They’ refers to the tigers that Aunt Jennifer has knitted on the panel. They are prancing jerkily in the forest (across a screen).
2. The tigers are not afraid of men because they are gallant and fearless creatures who are undeterred by any obstacles or hindrances and thus are not afraid of the men.

Question 13.
Why did Aunt Jennifer choose to embroider tigers on the panel? (Delhi 2012)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer chose to embroider tigers on the panel because of the nature of the tigers. They symbolise strength and splendour which was in sharp contrast to her own meek nature. The massive weight of the wedding band that sits heavily on her finger symbolises the ordeals and hardships of her married life so she creates tigers as they are a striking contrast to the frail, meek old lady who created them.

Question 14.
How do the words, “denizens’ and ‘chivalric’ add to our understanding of Aunt Jennifer’s tigers? (All India 2012)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer chose to embroider tigers on the panel because of the nature of the tigers. They symbolise strength and splendour which was sharp contrast to her own meek nature. The massive weight of the wedding band that sits heavily on her finger symbolises the ordeals and hardships of her married life so she creates tigers as they are a striking contrast to the frail, meek old lady who created them.

Question 15.
What kind of married life did Aunt Jennifer lead? (Comptt. Delhi 2012)
Answer:
Aunt Jennifer’s wedding band lies heavily on her hand. It reminds her of her unhappy married life. It is symbolic of male authority and power of her husband who had suppressed her and made her a nervous wreck. He had dominated over her for so long that she had lost her identity.

 Roadside Stand – Important Questions

Important Questions with Answers

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Why greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,
Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits
That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,
And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,
Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way.

1. Who are greedy good-doers and beneficent beasts of pray? Why are they so called? The developers are greedy good-doers and beneficent beasts of pray. They apparently show that they are serving the poor villagers but in fact they are earning a lot of money out of their land. They pretend to be their beneficent but in fact they are hunting them.
2. Who will be soothed out of their wits? How? The poor villagers will be soothed out of their wits. They are being befooled under the pretext that they are being relieved of their pains.
3. How will their sleeping at night be destroyed? Now the villagers are wage-earners. They will have to work in the night shifts. Thus they will be deprived of their sleeping at night.
4. Give the opposite of the word ‘soothe’. – Agiate

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly hear
The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
For the squeal of brokes, the sound of a stopping car.

1. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it vain? – Waiting for the prospective customers is the ‘childish longing’. It is vain because they never turn up.
2. Why does sadness lurk near the Open window? – A lurking sadness prevails near the open window because the owner’s longings prove of no consequence or futile.
3. What does the owner of the roadside stand wait for and why? – The owner of the roadside stand goes on waiting the whole day for the sound of brake and the sound of stopping a car so that some prospective customers might turn up.
4. Which word in the passage mean ‘scream’? ‘Squeal’.

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass,
Just one to inquire what a farmer’s prices are.
And one did stop, but only to plow up grass
In using the yard to back and turn around;
And another to ask the way to where it was bound;

1. Why does the poet call the cars selfish? – Here the ‘cars’ mean the car owners. The poet calls the car owners selfish because they think only of themselves, their journey and self-interest.
2. How do the rich city people ignore the rural people? – The rich city-people ignore the rural people. They bother to inquire the price of their product which is on sale.
3. Why do people generally stop there? People generally stop there to use the yard to turn the car across. Another asks where the road leads to.
4. What does the word ‘inquire’ mean? Request information

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

No, in country money, the country scale gain,
The requisite lift of spirit has never been found
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain
I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.
And then next day as I come back into the sane.
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.

1. What does the poet mean by the line ‘the requisite lift of spirit has never been found? The life of the rural people is very miserable because they are in paucity of money. It is only the money that can lift their living standard, but which is not available there. This is why the spirit of the rural people remains depressed.
2. What does the poet wish he could do for these people? The poet wishes to relieve the rural people of their pain at one stroke.
3. What makes him change his mind? Next day when the poet comes to his senses, he thinks if some person would come to him and offer relieve him of his pain. This idea makes him change his mind.
4. Which word in the passage ‘Necessary’? Requisite.

Q. The city folk who drove through the countryside hardly paid any heed to the roadside stand or the people who ran it. If at all they did, it was to complain. Which lines bring this out? What was their complaint about?

Ans. The people who drove through the countryside hardly paid any heed to the roadside stand or the people who ran it. The following lines bring this out.

“The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts,… “

If ever they paid any heed, it was to complain. The following lines show it.

“At having the landscape marred with the artless paint.
Of signs that with N turned wrong and As turned wrong”.

As these lines suggest, the complaint is that the people who ran the roadside stand marred the landscape. Their signboards seemed a blot on the beauty of the nature. In their artless paints, they gave the wrong turns to the alphabets also.

Q. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand?

Ans. The plea of the folk who ran the, roadside stand was that the people who passed by their stands should buy things from them whenever possible. For these poor people – needed money.

Q. The government and other social service agencies appear to help the poor rural people, but actually do them no good. Pick out the Words and phrases that the poet uses to show their double standards.

Ans. The government and other social service agencies which appear to help the poor rural people, actually do them no good. The following words and phrases used by the poet show their double standard.

1. greedy good-doors
2. beneficient beasts of prey
3. “Swaram over their lives enforcing benefits that are calculated to soothe them out of their wits. And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way.”

Q. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it ‘vain’?

Ans. The childish longing of the poet is that at least one of the selfish cars that pass by these shops would be interested in buying something from them. It is in vain because even when some cars stop, they do so to turn back or to ask the way where the car wants to reach.

Q. Which lines tell us about the insufferable pain that the poet feels at the thought of the plight of the rural poor?

Ans. The following lines tell us about the insufferable pain that the poet feels at the thought of the plight of the rural poor.

“I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.”

Q. Have you ever stopped at a roadside stand? What have you observed there?

Ans. Yes, we have stopped at a roadside stand. We see a lot of people waiting for the bus. We also see some small shops there. Some vendors sell eatables and other articles there.

Q. Discuss in brief : “The economic well-being of a country depends on a balanced development of the villages and the cities.”

Ans. The statement has its importance. The Agriculture growth, cottage industries, infrastructure and the development of health and education in the villages are no less important than the Industrial growth, cottage industries and infrastructure etc. for the economic well-being of the country.

Q. What should the government do for the rural poor?

Ans. The government should provide the rural people with food, cloth and shelter. Facilities of health, education and opportunities for employment are for their uplift.

A Thing of Beauty – Important Questions

Important Questions with Answers

Q. Why does a thing of beauty never pass into nothingness?

Ans. A thing of beauty never passes into nothingness because it would give us a joy which would last with us forever and never end.

Q. What does the line, ‘Therefore are we wreathing a flowery band to bind us to earth’ suggest to you?

Ans. In this line Keats says that human beings are aware of the value of beauty in life. They know that a wreath of flowers in the morning can make their whole day worth living. For, in the moments of gloom and grief, the thought of the beautiful wreath will give them a solace. Thus this line suggests to us that a simple but beautiful thing like a wreath of flower is a very valuable things.

Q. How does a thing of beauty provide shelter and comfort?

Ans. A thing of beauty provides shelter and comfort in many ways. It is like a bower, a place under the shade of tree where we can rest. It gives us a sleep full of sweet dreams in the hot weather, the small streams of cool and clear water and the green forests around making a shady place for us.

Q. How do beautiful things help us to live a happy life?

Ans. Beautiful things are a source of eternal joy which provide peaceful sleep and mental peace, uplift out gloomy souls; provide hope, health, happiness, contentment and comfort. These provide a experience of divine feeling.

Q. Mention any two things which cause pain and suffering. Or List the things that cause suffering and pain.

Ans. There are many things that cause us suffering and pain. Things which cause pain and suffering are sadness, hopelessness, a lack of noble qualities and an unhealthy and wicked style of living.

Q. What makes human beings love life inspite of troubles and sufferings?

Ans. Human beings love life inspite of all the trouble and sufferings they face because of all the things of beauty which surround them. These things remove our despondent state and allow us to enjoy the beauty of nature.

Q. According to Keats, what spreads the pall of despondence over our dark spirits? How is it removed?

Ans. Keats says that pain and suffering are a part of life which spread the pall of despondence Over our dark spirits. But still, we can find hope. The hope and motivation comes from nature and it removes this covering of despondence.

Q. List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.

Ans. The poet refers to objects of nature as well as creation of literary work as things of beauty. The objects of nature mentioned in the poem are clear streams, musk-rose and daffodil flowers, the greenery surrounding them, old and young trees, the forests, the Sun and the Moon.

Q. Why is ‘grandeur’ associated with the ‘mighty dead’?

Ans. The ‘mighty dead’ were very powerful and dominating persons during their own times. Their achievements made them, ‘mighty’ and great. Grandeur is associated with them because our past is full of stories of their glory. They will always be remembered for their achievements.

Q. How is a thing of beauty a joy forever? Or Do we experience things of beauty only for a short moment or do they make a lasting impression on us?

Ans. According to the poet ‘A thing of beauty’ is an idea that beauty is an eternal source of pleasure. A lovely thing can give us heavenly joy for all time to come. We can bring to our mind the dancing daffodils and share their joy.

Q. What does a thing of beauty do for us? Or How do we get joy from life which is otherwise full of sorrows?

Ans. Life is, no doubt, full of sorrows. There are troubles and sufferings in life. A thing of beauty adds endless joy to our life and helps us to overcome our sadness and hopelessness. The memory of such a thing gives us everlasting happiness.

Q. What image does the poet use to describe the beautiful bounty of the Earth?

Ans. The poet uses the image of nature as an ‘endless fountain’ pouring unto us from heaven. Nature is a source of endless joy. The sun, the moon, the daffodils, the clear streams, the forests etc. are a few beautiful images that make a deep impact on us.

Q. What does Keats consider an endless fountain of immortal drink and why does he call its drink immortal?

Ans. Keats considered nature as endless fountain of immortal drink. He called it immortal because a man can get nest, relief, and power in the company of nature and an endless beauty is hidden in her species.

Q. What is the message of poem ‘A thing of Beauty’?

Ans. The message of the poem ‘A thing of Beauty’ is that a thing of beauty gives us endless joy. It can never vanish nor diminish. These things of beauty take away out stress and tension and rejuvenate us each day. The memory of such thing is a source of everlasting happiness.

Important Questions with Answers

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“Perhaps the Earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.”

1. What does the Earth teach us? The Earth teaches us that there is life under apparent stillness. It means that we • can still be alive even if we appear to be ‘still’ or ‘calm’.
2. What does the poet mean to achieve by counting upto twelve? The poet wants to achieve peace by counting upto twelve. He wants us to introspect in a moment of silence.
3. What does the poet ask us to do? Poet asks us to keep quiet while he is counting upto twelve.
4. What is always alive when everything seems dead? Only the Earth is alive when everything else appears to be dead.

Q. What will counting upto twelve and keeping still help us achieve?

Ans. Counting upto twelve and keeping still will bring us the peace of mind. We shall be in a state of mind where we will be able to see the things as they really are. We will be able to understand ourselves better and then we are expected to behave better.

Q. Do you think that the poet advocates total inactivity and death?

Ans. No, he doesn’t advocate either total inactivity or death. He clarifies that he has no truck with death. According to him, life is meant to be lived to the fullest. He just wants the inhuman and destructive activities to stop.

Q. What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem?

Ans. The sadness which the poet refers to in the poem is the sadness ‘of never understanding ourselves’. In the race to live our lives we forget to stop and our ponder what is it that we actually need and that leads to sadness.

Q. What symbol from nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life under apparent stillness? Or What symbol from nature does the poet use to prove that keeping quiet is not a total inactivity?

Ans. Poet uses two symbols to prove his statement:

1. ‘Earth’ seeming to be still is very much alive underneath/murmuring life under the apparent stillness, e.g., ‘when everything seems dead and later proves to be able.’
2. In winter, seeds buried are dormant but sprout in the spring.

Q. Which is the exotic moment that the poet refers to in ‘Keeping Quiet’?

Ans. The poet refers to the moment of stillness and quietness as an exotic moment because it will initiate peace and brotherhood. There would be no movement, no talk, no activity and consequently, no violence.

Q. How is total inactivity on the Earth in the winter months full of life?

Ans. In the moment of total inactivity on the Earth in the winter months, the fisherman would not be catching fish. Hence, the whales in the sea will be safe. Also the man who gathers salts will be able to tend to his wounded hands for which he had no time earlier.

Q. Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet?

Ans. When all keep quiet for a while on counting to twelve, there will a strange atmosphere of silence; thus, we will feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ at this moment.

Q. What are the different kinds of wars mentioned in the poem? What is Neruda’s attitude towards these wars?

Ans. The poet writes about wars against humanity and nature. Green wars, wars with poisonous gases and wars with fire are the kinds of the wars that are mentioned in the poem. Neruda’s attitude towards war is one of rejection. He feels that such wars may bring victory but there are no survivors to celebrate the victory.

Q. How is the Earth a source of life when all seems dead on it?

Ans. When everything seems dead, the Earth still remains alive. The life on the Earth goes on as usual under the apparent stillness. For instance, a seed appears to be ‘dead’ but huge fruit bearing tree are ‘born’ from such seeds lying ‘dead’ here and there.

Q. How can suspension of activities help?

Ans. The suspension of activities will give people time to introspect and analyze their actions. This will help them in solving their problems and conflicts. They will develop a new understanding and hence will mend their destructive ways.

Q. What will possibly be the effect of keeping quiet? Or How, according to Neruda, can keeping quiet change our attitude to life?

Ans. As a result of keeping quiet, people would stop harming themselves and others. This will give us a better idea of the consequences of the actions, thus changing our attitude to life.

Q. How will ‘keeping quiet’ protect our environment?

Ans. Keeping quiet and introspecting will initiate peace and brotherhood among men, halting all destructive activities like waging wars which harm people besides damaging the environment. Thus, the environment will be protected.

Q. Which images in the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ show that the poet condemns violence?

Ans. The images of fishermen not harming the Whales in the sea and wars leaving behind no survivors to celebrate victory show that the poet condemns violence. The poet’s refusal to have any association or dealings with death also Shows that he is not in favor of any form of violence.

Q. ‘Life is what it is all about; …… How is keeping quiet related to life?

Ans. Keeping quiet does not mean total inactivity, but stillness and quietness to introspect on what we are doing. This means stopping our normal day-to-day activities to reflect on our actions. Thus it is related to life, although this may not be visible outwardly.

Q. Analyze the poetic devices that the poet adopts in the poem?

Ans. The poet has incorporated the use of repetition in the line ‘let’s not speak’ and ‘let’s stop for one second’ to create the poetic effect of emphasis on his readers. Even the phrases ‘count to twelve’ and ‘count upto twelve’ are symbolic, as the poet repeats his request to keep quiet for a second time. The word ‘twelve’ symbolizes a measure of time representing our clock time of real life, capturing a moment, from our present time. The phrases ‘hurt hands’ and ‘clean clothes’ are examples of alliteration. Man will cleanse his soul, heart and mind in the process. The word ‘brothers’ here implies brotherhood and synecdoche is used by using a concrete object instead of an abstract concept. There is use of metaphor in ‘put on clean clothes’, as the poet wants the warmongers to shed their blood-soiled clothes (meaning, stop wars) and put on fresh clothes (meaning, follow brotherhood).

Q. What are the main ideas contained in the poem “Keeping Quiet”? Or Write the summary of the poem Keeping Quiet.

Ans. Pablo Neruda emphasizes a unique as well as universal impact of having a sense of togetherness alongwith the need of introspection for mutual understanding. In this respect he is of the opinion to bring total inactivity among all the people. They may realize some strangeness and enjoy the exotic moments in their life. So, he urges people of all languages to stop speaking and the fishermen are asked to stop harming the whales. Those who advocate deadly weapons to destruct the humanity have been requested to stop and save humanity.

He says that we should not confuse with, his theory of total inactivity. The life will go on moving as it is to move. There is no change in the laws of nature. There can be no agreement with death but sadness may trouble us. It is very much essential for us that we must understand ourselves because there can be life under apparent stillness and their is life beyond it. The nature teaches us that everything seems dead but later proves to be alive. So it is utmost important for us to realize the feeling of mutual understanding among all of us.

Important Questions with Answers

Q. What do you think is the colour of ‘sour cream’? Why do you think the poet has used this expression to describe the classroom walls?

Ans. The colour of sour cream is white but not pleasant to look at. The poet uses this expression to describe the white class room walls which are also white but not pleasant looking.

Q. The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of ‘Shakespeare’, buildings with domes, ‘world maps’ and beautiful valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these children?

Ans. These contrast with the world of the children. There is no love for art or literature in their lives of which Shakespeare is a symbol. Instead of ‘buildings with domes’ they live in the dark slum houses. The world map for them means nothing because they have hardly seen anything out of their slums.

Q. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?

Ans. The poet wants a better life for these children of the slums. He wants that they should be given better surroundings and better opportunity to study.

Q. How is the atmosphere inside an elementary slum classroom different from the one outside it?

Ans. The children sitting inside the elementary classroom, are sick and under nourished. The atmosphere and surroundings are pate and morose. The world outside is filled with beauty and luxuries.

Q. Which words/phrases in the poem ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ show that the slum children are suffering from acute malnutrition?

Ans. The words or phrases in the poem which show that the slum children are suffering from acute malnutrition are, ‘faces like rootless weeds’, ‘the hair torn round their pallor’, ‘paper-seeming boy’, ‘stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones’ and ‘wear skins peeped through by bones’.

Q. The poet says, ‘And yet, for these Children, these windows, not this map, their world’. Which world do these children belong to? Which world is, inaccessible to them?

Ans. There is a map on the wall. There are pictures, which show beautiful hills and valleys. But the world of the poor school children is not what is shown in the map. Their world is not sunny. It is darkened with the fog of poverty and pain from their slum only dull and dreary sky can be seen.

Q. Why does Stephen Spender feel the maps in the elementary school classroom are meaningless?

Ans. Stephen spender feels that the maps in the elementary classroom are meaningless because the children in the classroom would never be able to reach those places.

Q. How is ‘Shakespeare wicked and the map a bad example’ for the children of the school in a slum?

Ans. Both represent a beautiful world and high values which the slum children will have never experienced. Since the slum children cannot relate to these things, there was no point in giving such examples.

Q. To whom does the poet in the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ make an appeal? What is his appeal?

Ans. The poet makes an appeal to his readers, especially the educated and well-off people the appeal is to help the poor children of the slum come out and be freed from their miserable surroundings. His appeal is that these children should be given quality education, because education holds the key to their emancipation.

Q. What change does the poet hope for in the lives of the slum children?

Ans. Stephen Spender wants a better life for the children of the slums. He wants the officials to help these poor children come out of their miserable surroundings. He wishes that these children should be given education, because education is the key to prosperity.

Q. What message does Stephen Spender convey through the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’?

Ans. The poet wants freedom from a life of hunger and misery for the poor children. He wishes that the children should be provided with quality education. They should be brought out from their filthy surroundings into the comforting lap of nature.

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.

1. Name the poem and the poet.
   An Elementary School Classroom in Slum; Stephen Spender
2. Which image is used to describe the poverty of these children?
   Their slag heap refers to their badly nourished and very weak bodies due to poor living conditions in the slum which were just like unwanted waste materials.
3. What sort of life do these children lead?
   In the dirty and unhygienic surroundings the children lead very pathetic and miserable lives full of woes, wants, diseases, poverty and uncertainty.
4. Identify and name the figure of speech used in line?
   Simile/Alliteration.

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.

1. Who are these children?
   These children are the poor children who live in the slum.
2. What does the poet mean by ‘gusty waves’?
   By ‘gusty waves’ the poet means the beautiful sights of nature which are not visible in the slum.
3. What has possibly weighed down the tall girl’s head?
   The tall girl’s head has possibly been weighed down by being burdened with sad thoughts about her misfortune, which is making her feel depressed.
4. Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.
   Simile is used in these lines when the unkempt hair is compared to rootless weeds.

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

The stunted unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.

1. Who is the ‘unlucky heir’?
   The boy who has a stunted growth with twisted bones, sitting in the slum school classroom, is the ‘unlucky heir’.
2. What is the stunted boy reciting?
   The stunted boy symbolizes the disability that he has inherited from his father and is reciting his lesson from his desk.
3. Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?
   A sweet young boy is sitting at the back of the dim class. He is daydreaming of squirrels playing in a tree.
4. What quality of unlucky heir is depicted in the Stanza?
   The unlucky heir is depicted with twisted bones which he has inherited from his father, who suffers from arthritis.

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young.
His eyes live in a dream, Of squirrel’s game,
in tree room, other than this.

1. Why is the class dim?
   ‘Class’ refers to the classroom which is dark and dingy, as it is in a slum school, where nobody cares for the lighting. ‘Dim’ is also used to denote the bleak future of these children in the class.
2. Why is the child called ‘sweet and young’?
   The child is called ‘sweet and young’ probably because he is an innocent child who is not concerned with what is going on in the classroom. Instead, he is daydreaming.
3. What does the child want to enjoy?
   The child wants to enjoy seeing squirrels playing in the tree outside the classroom.
4. What is the significance of the phrase, ‘other than this’?
   The phrase, ‘Other than this’ refers to the classroom, which does not interest the boy. He wants to go elsewhere, particularly outside, where the squirrels are playing in the tree.
5. How is the young child different from others?
   The young child was sitting at the back of the class unnoticed.
6. What is he doing?
   He was sitting there unnoticed and dreaming of squirrels playing in a tree.

My Mother at Sixty Six – Important Questions

Important Questions with Answers

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother, beside me
doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with pain
that she was as old as she looked …”

1. Name the poem and the poet.
   The poem’s name is ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’ composed by Kamala Das.
2. Where was she driving to?
   The poet was driving from her parents’ home to Cochin airport on a Friday morning.
3. How did her mother look like? Why was her mother looking like that of a corpse face?
   Her mother looked sick and drowsy. Her face was lifeless. She was ash-coloured like that of a dead body.
4. What did she notice about her mother?
   The poet noticed that her mother was sleeping with her mouth open.

Q. What is the kind of pain and the ache that the poet feels?

Ans. The poet feels the pain and ache which is born out of the fear of losing one’s mother. As a child, the poet feared being separated from her mother. Now when the mother is old and weak, the poetess feels the same of fear again.

Q. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?

Ans. The poet is in the car. As she looks out of the window, she feels the trees in the distance are racing away. The young trees remind the poetess of her youngers years which have run by very quickly. They also remind her of the children who run happily while the old people like her mother cannot move.

Q. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?

Ans. The merry children stand as a contrast to the old mother sitting beside the poetess. The mother’s ashen face is a contrast to the rosy faces of the children. The young children are merry but the old faces are sad. Yet both of them are a part of life.

Q. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?

Ans. Mother has been compared to the late winter’s moon because the moon in this seas looks weak and cold. Like an old person, it has lost the charm which it has in the summer season. In summer, the same moon looks bright like a merry child.

Q. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?

Ans. The parting words and the smile of the poetess signify her failure with the words. She feels the pain born out of the fear of separation from her mother who is so old and weak.

Q. Bring out the poetic devices used in the poem?

Ans. The poem captures the complex subtlety of human relationship in a texture of symbols, imagery, and other poetic devices. The entire poem is structured in the frame of a single sentence, punctuated by commas. It indicates a single string of thought that runs throughout the poem. There is a single simile in the explicit comparison of her mother’s ashen face to that of corpse. We find another simile in comparison between the pale visage of her mother and the late winters moon, as her face has lost its brightness.

There is the use of personification in the line “Tress sprinting”, where tree are attributed with the quality of running swiftly, for enhancing the poetic effect. The poet has used alliteration in the use of the words, ‘familiar’, ‘fear’ with the repetition of the consonant sound (f). It also suggests the poet’s familiarity with her childhood fear and sorrow of losing her mother to death.

Q. Give the theme of Kamla Das’ poem ‘My Mother at Sixty Six’?

Ans. The mother of the poet is not yet very old. She is sixty six. But due to her illness or so, she looks pale and ash colored like a dead body. The poet is in a hurry to catch a flight. She is deeply concerned about her aged murder. She is not sure of finding her alive on her next visit. She looks out of the car at the young trees and merry children. By contrast, the sight of the mother looks critical. She casts a last look at her at the airport. In order to cheer up the old mother, she smiles and smiles to hide her own fear and promises to see the old woman again.

Going Places – Important Questions

Important Questions with Answers

Q. What is unrealistic about Sophie’s dream of her future life?

Ans. Sophie dreams of achieving things she has no access to. She belong to a lower middle class family but dreams of owning a boutique, or becoming an actress, or a manager. Moreover instead of working towards her goals, she just dreams about them.

Q. How are Jansie and Sophie different from each other?

Ans. Jansie’s feet are grounded in reality while sophie is a day dreamer. Jansie is very practical in thinking that people of there stature can only become workers in a biscuit factory, whereas Sophie dreams that she will become successful actress, a fashion designer, a store manager or even an owner of a boutique.

Q. Why does Jansie discourage Sophie from living in a world of fantasy?

Ans. Jansie is a practical girl who knows that Sophie gets lost in her dream world. She understands that the world Sophie talks and dreams about is beyond them. So she discourages Sophie from escaping in that world.

Q. Where was it most likely that the two girls would find work after school?

Ans. Sophie and Jansie would soon pass out of their school. Only a few months were left. They knew very well that both of them were most likely to find work in the local biscuit factory. They belonged to the lower middle class family and could not go in for higher studies after school. Besides, they could not think of other job options.

Q. How do we know that Sophie’s family lived in poor circumstances?

Ans. The house that Sophie lived in was not in a good condition. The family members are simple unsophisticated people while Sophie dreams of a fancy world. The father is described as grimy and sweaty, ‘scooping shepherd’s pie in his mouth as hard as he could, while the mother was shown washing dishes. The house was steamy and the atmosphere choked Sophie.

Q. Why did Sophie like her brother Geoff more than any other person?

Ans. Sophie found in her brother, Geoff a patient listener to all her fantasies and also one she could confide in. The other members of her family and even her friend Jansie made fun of her fantastic stories. This made her quite fond of Geoff.

Q. Why was Sophie jealous of her brother’s silence?

Ans. Geoff was silent and did not share his experiences with anyone. Sophie always pondered over the areas of his life which he never talked about. His world remained a fascination for her. She felt that when he was not speaking, his mind was away at some unknown Place, and so she felt jealous of him.

Q. Why did Sophie want to be admitted into Geoff’s affections?

Ans. Sophie wanted to be admitted into Geoff’s affections because she used to envy Geoff’s world which was not accessible to her. He never discussed where he went. His life therefore held a lot of fascination for her and she wanted to be a part of it.

Q. Does Geoff believe what Sophie says about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Ans. Geoff finds it hard to believe the story of Sophie’s meeting Danny Casey. He knew that her stories were never true and he couldn’t believe this one as well. Sophie tries to convince him by even describing Casey’s appearance. He might have believed her story partially, for he tells about it to Jansie’s brother Frank.

Q. How did Sophie’s father react when Geoff told him about her meeting with Danny Casey? Or Does her father believe her story?

Ans. Sophie’s father is a realist to the core and is quite critical of her daydreaming. He does not believe in Sophie’s story at all and dismisses it as another of her wild fantasies. When Geoff tells him about Sophie’s chance encounter with Danny Casey, the Irish prodigy, he expresses disdain and rubbishes her story. He warns Sophie that these stories will someday put her into trouble.

Q. Why is Sophie attracted to Danny Casey?

Ans. Danny Casey is a young, tall and handsome football player who is successful. Romantic young girls of Sophie’s age indulge in daydreaming about things beyond their reach or means. Naturally, she was attracted to him.

Q. Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey?

Ans. Sophie knew her father well. He would be angry if he knew of her meeting with the young Irish footballer, Danny Casey. She didn’t tell him. When Geoff told his father about it, he became angry. He turned his head to look at her with disdain. Sophie wriggled where she sitting at the table.

Q. Did Geoff keep his promise? How do you know?

Ans. Geoff did not keep his promise. He told Jansie’s brother about Sophie’s claim of having met Danny Casey. Jansie came to know ab out Danny Casey and questioned Sophie about him. However, Geoff had not told them about the date so that remained a secret.

Q. Which was the only occasion when she got to see Danny Casey in person?

Ans. The only occasion when Sophie got to see Danny Casey in person was, when she, along with her family, went to watch a football match of their team, United. Sophie was sitting amongst the spectators and could see her hero Casey only from a distance.

Q. Why Sophie didn’t want Jansie to know about her story with Danny? Or Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Ans. Sophie did not want Jansie to know about her meeting with Danny because she thought Jansie would not believe her. Moreover, she knew that she would tell the whole neighborhood. Sophie didn’t want this meeting to reach her father’s ears or else she would be in trouble.

Q. What thoughts came to Sophie’s mind as she sat by the canal?

Ans. Sophie was waiting for Danny Casey, sitting by the canal. In the beginning, she imagined him coming, and even began to fantasize his actions and dialogues. However, after sometime, when he did not turn up, reality hit her and she became sad. She thought that her family would never believe her. She also thought that Geoff would be disappointed.

Q. What is your impression of Sophie’s brother Geoff?

Ans. Geoff is grown up boy. He left school three years ago. Now he is an apprentice mechanic. He has to travel to his work each day to the far side of the city. He speaks little but listens to his sister’s wild stories. But he is not a day dreamer like her. He know the financial limitations of the family. He cautions Sophie against entertaining dreams for a celebrity like Danny Casey.

Q. What were Sophie’s plans for her future ? Why would you call her dreams unrealistic?

Ans. Sophie was teenager who day dreamt most of the times. Her dreams were to open a boutique or to become a fashion-designer. She wanted to be an actress too. She always planned to do something which did not belong to the people of middle class. Her family conditions were not good and so her dreams seemed to be unrealistic and impractical. Her friend, Jansie, unlike Sophie lived in a world of reality and knew that both of them were earmarked for a biscuit-factory. Opening a boutique or becoming a fashion.-designer were next to impossible. Sophie had neither the means nor money to raise herself to the standard of becoming an actress or a fashion- designer. She had many limitations which she was not aware of. She lacked the skills also to achieve those dreams. Thus, we can say that her dreams were unrealistic and practically impossible.

Q. Why did Sophie enjoy living in world of dreams? Describe some of her dreams.

Ans. Sophie enjoyed her life. She is like any other teenager who lived in her own dreams. Though in her case her dreams were a little farfetched. She dreamt of opening her boutique and she imagined herself to be a national like Mary Quant. This shows that she is too imaginative. Another dream that she had, was that she had met Danny Casey a famous player and had talked to him for a while. This meeting was just a figment of her imagination as she had really not met him. It was her dream that she wanted to meet him and concocted a story about it. She was a highly imaginative and had a fertile imagination. She was quite unrealistic and both her dreams show her to be impractical.

Q. Sophie lives in a world full of dreams which she does not know she cannot realise. Comment. Or Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind. Discuss.

Ans. Sophie always lives in a make-believe world of her own. She always imagined that she would have a successful career as a boutique owner, store manager, actress or fashion-designer. Jansie always used to bring her down to earth by remarking that both of them were earmarked to be working in the local biscuit factory after passing out from school. Similarly, she always imagined that a famous footballer like Danny Casey would date her. She even went to the extent of waiting beside the canal for him. After he did not turn up, she realised that this was only her dream and Danny would never date her. Even then, she was lost in her dream world, becoming sad that Danny did not come.

Q. How different is Jansie from Sophie? Or Compare and contrast Sophie and Jansie highlighting their temperament and aspirations.

Sophie and Jansie were classmates and friends. Both friends are teenagers. Sophie belongs to a lower middle class family. She is a daydreamer. She always indulges in fantasy. She wishes to have the finest boutique in the city. Although, she has no money and no means, she is confident that she would be a manager, a fashion-designer or an actress right away.

Jansie is a practical girl. She is aware of the away. realities of life. She does not have any dreams. She is simple and down to earth. She knows limitations. She knows that she belongs to a lower middle class family and is destined to work in a biscuit factory. She also discourages Sophie from Having such dreams because Sophie’s dreams are wild and impossible. She had neither the means nor the skills to achieve them.

Q. Did Sophie really meet Danny Casey?

Ans. No, Sophie has never really met Danny Casey. She has just seen Danny Casey on the field when she went to watch the team United play a football match. There, she was one of the spectators and could see Casey playing, but only from a distance. However, Sophie lives in a world of imagination. Casey was a young sports hero and Sophie idolised him. Her fictitious meeting with Casey was just another of her wild fantasies. Sophie told her brother Geoff that she had met Casey near Royce’s window. As she was looking at the clothes, Casey came and stood beside her. She wanted to take his autograph for her younger brother Derek, but neither of them had a pen or paper. Casey then suggested that they could meet again next week, and then he would also give his autograph.

Q. Attempt a character sketch of Sophie as a woman who lives in her dreams.

Ans. Sophie belongs to a lower middle class family. Her family conditions are not so good. She is a daydreamer. She indulges in fantasy. Her dreams are wild, impractical and impossible. She thinks the world is waiting to receive her with open arms. Although she has no money and no means. She dreams of having a boutique in the city. She is confident that she would be a manager, a fashion-designer or an actress right away. Her dreams are wild and impossible. She has neither the means nor the skill to achieve them. She makes up the story of meeting Danny Casey, a Young charming and upcoming footballer. Nobody believes her but she refuses to accept that it is her dream. Rather, she starts believing that she has met him. To show that she is telling the truth, she makes up another story that she has fixed a date with him. She is so lost in her dream that she does actually goes to the canal and waits for him. He does not show up. Her dreams have become an integral part of her life, and she cannot distinguish between her world of imagination and the real world.

Q. Draw a character sketch of Sophie’s father.

Ans. Sophie’s father is a typical man believing to the working class. He is the sole provider of the family. We first meet him as a coarse, ill-mannered man stuffing shepherd pie into his mouth, wearing his dirty and sweaty vest. He is a practical person who never leaves the world of harsh reality. He wants Sophie to step out of her dream world and tells her that her habit of making up stories is going to land her into trouble some day. He goes to the pub to celebrate something as frivolous as a football match. Thus, he is quite selfish. In spite of being the head of an impoverished family with so many mouths to feed, we never see him indulging in self-pity or cursing his fate. He rather enjoys his life to the fullest by making a weekly pilgrimage to watch the football match.

Q. “Sophie was a dreamer”. The lesson ‘Going Places’ reminds us that mere dreams will not help us to accomplish anything. What qualities, do you think, would help Sophie to realise her dreams?

Ans. Sophie needs to be practical and should be aware of the realities of life. She should be simple and down to earth and should know her limitations that she belongs to a lower middle class family. Initially she would face many difficulties because of her poor financial condition, but after she started working, she should save her earnings and try to improve her education so that she could take up better jobs. This requires her character to be determined and hard-working, instead of being just a daydreamer like she is now. Gradually she can raise her status to the level when she would be able to attract successful people like Danny.

Q. It is not unusual for a lower middle class girl to dream big. How unrealistic were Sophie’s dream? Or It is normal for adolescents to fantasize and indulge in hero worship. How far is it true of Sophie?

Ans. Sophie was an adolescent girl who always An lived in a make-believe world of her own she always had the unrealistic expectation that she would have a successful career as a boutique owner, store manager, actress or even a fashion-designer. This was totally unrealistic, as she was from a working class family and would have to work in the local biscuit factory after passing out from school. Similarly, she unrealistically imagined that a famous footballer like Danny Casey would date her. She even went to the extent of waiting beside the canal for him. After he did not turn up, she realised that this was only her dream and Danny would never date her. Even then, she is lost in her dream world, becoming sad that Danny did not come. This shows how unrealistic were her dreams.

Q. Every teenager has a hero/heroin to admire. So many times they become role models for them. What is wrong if Sophie fantasises about Danny Casey and is ambitious in life?

Ans. Sophie was a girl having unrealistic dreams. She felt that she would become either a boutique owner, shop manager, actress or fashion-designer, though her friend Jansie realised that with their background and education, they would just become workers in a biscuit-factory. Like every young girl, Sophie also had in her fancies a strong feeling of knowing the unknown, seeing the unseen and even dating famous people like Danny Casey. So she visited the perfect place for lovers and sat on the solitary wooden bench under the tree. She waited for her lover coming out of the shadows but there was no sign of him. She became burdened with sadness. This may lead to depression among teenagers, as their life’s ambitions are not fulfilled. Thus, such fantasies are not good for her to develop into a mature adult.

Q. Teachers always advise their students to dream big. Yet, the same teachers in your classrooms find fault with Sophie when she dreams. What is wrong with Sophie’s dreams?

Ans. It is good to dream but one needs to be practical too. Sophie belongs to a mediocre family she aspires to own a boutique, though she has no means or money to fulfil her dreams. After school she is likely to work in a biscuit factory. Her dreams are unrealistic. She loves to indulge herself without even thinking of how to achieve it. In her heart of hearts, she knows that her dreams have little possibility of coming true and are only a product of adult fantasising. She also dream dates Danny Casey, an Irish football player. She gets so pulled into her date story told to her brother Geoff that she was supposed to meet Danny. Irrespective of all this Sophie fantasises about her hero, unperturbed. Dreaming within limits is good. Unless one is impossibly ambitious, hardworking, and have loads of patience and perseverance, such dreams are best kept under lock and key unless one likes to be disappointed.

Q. It is natural for teenagers to have unrealistic dreams. What would you say are the benefits and disadvantages of such fantasising? Elaborate it with references of “Going Places”.

Ans. No doubt the teenagers have ideals. They have no experience of the world. They dream of doing things that the adults would never dream of doing. Dreaming is essential and useful. It Was because of having dreams that great inventions and discoveries were made. Joan of Arc was a young girl. She dreamed and heard voices. She felt they were telling her to do the things that looked impossible to achieve. Because of her dreams, she drove away the British from France. Those who only dream and do nothing become lazy and idle. They are impractical in life. Our dreams can help us. But they should be practical and we ought to try to realise them. Sophie is a daydreamer. She can imagine things and her imagination runs wild. She had watched Danny Casey. He is her hero. She is always dreaming about him. She begins to think of meeting him. She is so engrossed in her dreams that she herself is convinced that she actually did meet him and he had promised to meet her again. She goes to meet him on the bank of a canal. There she waits for him. He does not come. She is disappointed. But all this goes on in her mind all the time. She pictures him meeting her in the arcade once again.