VISTAS XII

SECTION – C (VISTAS)

(SUPPLEMENTARY READER)

 The Third Level 3-25

 The Tiger King 25-53

 Journey To The End Of The Earth 53-71

 The Enemy 72-102

 Should Wizard Hit Mommy 102-125

 On The Face Of It 126-155

 Evans Tries An O-Level 155-187

 Memories Of Childhood 187-217

MONTH SECTION D
(Literature)
Mar Vistas
 The Enemy

Apr Vistas
 The Third Level
 The Journey to the end of the
Earth

Vistas
 The Third Level
May  Memories of Childhood
 Should Wizard Hit mommy
July
Vistas
 On the Face of It
 The Tiger King
Aug
Revision

Sep Revision & First Term Exam

Sep-Oct Vistas
Evans Tries an O Level

Nov Recapitulation & Pre-Boards

Dec -Jan Recapitulation & Pre-Boards

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- stamp collectors affix new stamp on an envelope

- mail the envelope to themselves on the first day of sale
- the postmark gives proof of the day
- envelope never opened, nothing written
- it is called first-day cover

 Narrator finds a strange first-day cover in his collection

- a strange cover mailed to narrator’s grandfather’s address in Galesburg
- present there since July 18, 1894
- the six-cent stamp bears the picture of President Garfield
- the envelope contains letter for Charley by his friend Sam
- Sam confirms presence of the third level
- Sam advises Charley to keep looking for the third level

 More about Sam’s disappearance

- Same had bought eight hundred dollars’ worth of old-style currency
- money sufficient to set him up in a little hay, feed and grain business, says the
narrator
- Sam can’t go back to old business since psychiatrists are redundant in Galesburg
of 1894

Useful Websites

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Finney
www.tv.com/jack-finney/person/115244/summary.html
www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/jack_finney

CHARACTERS

Charley

The protagonist of the story, Charley is a supersensitive and highly imaginative

character who indulges in flights of fancy. He is a true representative of the modern
man who is a victim of insecurity as well as indecision and wants to escape, to run
away from reality.
However, he is a loving husband who likes to rush back home immediately after office
to be with his loving wife Louisa. He is fond of stamp collection, which his friend calls
“a temporary refuge from reality”. He is fascinated with the good old simple days of
his grandfather when “things were pretty nice and peaceful.”
He is intrigued by the mystery whether the third level exists or not. Having ‘been’ there
once, he fails to locate it a second time. Even when he and his wife think that they have
proof of its existence, they fail to find it despite their best efforts.
In sum, Charley is a true picture of the modern man who is caught in the unwanted pulls
and pressures of life and wants to escape.

Sam, the psychiatrist friend

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As a psychiatrist, Sam is perfect in his profession. His diagnosis is precise and terse.
He does not believe in mixing up his profession with his friendship. When Charley
consults him, he clearly tells him that he is looking for ways to escape since he is not
happy.
However, fearing that there might be reaction from Charley’s wife, he is wise enough
to quickly revise his statement by saying that, like any modern Youngman, Charlie is a
victim of insecurity. He dubs the narrator’s hobby of stamp collecting to be a
“temporary refuge from reality.” Thus, Sam is a thorough-bred professional and does
not mince matters where his patients are concerned. He may be a psychiatrist but he,
too, is affected by the pulls and pressures of the modern life and in his sub-conscious
mind seeks an escape route. Thus in the end of the story, he ‘discover’ the third level
of Grand Central and ‘escapes’ to Galesburg of 1894.

Louisa

Louisa is Charley’s wife. Like most women, she refuses to accept any criticism, even
if it happens to be positive and rational. The psychiatrist’s observation that her husband
was ‘unhappy’ angers her and she challenges it. She takes this comment as a personal
attack on wifely care and she feels ‘kind of mad.’
However, she is a simple lady and it is not difficult to take her on. On being told that
the ‘modern’ world is full of insecurity, fear etc. She feels satisfied with the
psychiatrist’s explanation, little realizing that he is saying the same thing in different
words.
She is a loving and caring wife. When Charley talks to her about his predicament
regarding the third level, she gets pretty worried and advises him not to look for the
third level any more. However, she is a credulous lady not given to reason out things
on her own. When Charley tells her about Sam’s disappearance, she joins him in
looking for the third level ‘every weekend’.

THEME

The underlying idea behind the story “The Third Level” is the torture of stress, sense
of insecurity and fear that people of modern times have to undergo. This results in
incessant tension and worry. Consequently, people become escapists and run away
from reality. Such state of affairs did not exist in the good old days of the grandfathers
whose lives were simple and devoid of all complexities. They did not need to run after
wild fanciful and unrealistic ideas and situations.
Another underlying theme is that Human mind is so complex that it is not possible to
fully explain its urges, instincts and thoughts scientifically.

TITLE

Oppressed by the pulls and pressures of modern life, man yearns for an escape from all
the tensions and worries. He looks for a level of existence that would yield peace and
tranquility. Trying to delve deeper into life, he wonders whether it is possible for him
to live on a different plane and he looks for this ideal world, hoping to come across it
some day. It is this Utopian world that the author has chosen to call ‘the third level’.
‘Third level’ can also refer to a level of reality that exists in our mind only and not in
space and time. It is this faculty of mind that makes virtual travel in time possible and

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READING WITH INSIGHT

Q1. Do you see an intersection of time and space in the story?

‘The Third Level’ is a shorter story based on the idea of time travel about a
commuter who discovered a train that runs between New York and the year
1894. One definitely gets the impression that Finney would rather have
been anywhere else than the mid-20th century- a feeling most of us have
probably shared from time to time. The happiness of all the three characters
revolved around the third level.

Charley, the main character, was the one who initially found the third level.
While everyone thought that there were only two levels of Grand Central
Station, he knew that there was a third level. And if one could find it, by
taking the right twists and turns down corridors and stairs, one would
discover that the third level transported one to 1894.

Louisa was Charley’s wife. She did not believe in the third level until
Charley received the letter from his friend. Sam was Charley’s psychiatrist
friend. He was initially worried about Charely. Later on Sam drew nearly
all of his life’s savings from the bank and exchanged it for 1894 currency.
He was able to find the third level. However, he was able to catch a train
back into a quieter, happier past-moving back to the year 1894 after he had
drawn all the money he had from the bank and turned it into 1894 currency.
He was very pleased with his choice of moving back to a more peaceful time
in Galesburg, Illinois.

Q2. Philately helps keep the past alive. Discuss other ways in which this is
done. What do you think of the human tendency to constantly move
between the past, present and future?

Philately is one of the oldest hobbies in the world, which is still popular as
it cuts across age groups. Through Philately, you study about politics, the
history of prominent personalities, national and international events,
monuments, warriors/arms, geographical flora and fauna, agricultural
crops/scientific equipment/scientist/vehicles on the moon, satellite, eclipse
etc. Well, is there a better way of learning things? Stamps reflect a
country’s history culture and civilization. Hence these bits of paper are
priceless. It is no wonder that philately is considered to be the ‘king of all
hobbies’. It promotes logic, inquisitiveness and a scientific spirit.

Some other ways in which this is done is through the study of coins,
archaeology, the study of fossil (Paleobiology), and the study of plants.

Yes, it is queer that we often retrospect about the past that has been and the
future that we anticipate but strangely live in the present. Well, certainly we
all are always in the present, since there is nowhere else to be, but that
doesn’t mean our thoughts are in the present. We as humans are the rarest
of all species in that not only can we think but we can think about our
thinking. We often take only the bad from the past, quickly breeze through
the present, and falsely make up the future. The result is frequently guilt

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about our imperfect past, anxiety about a future that doesn’t exist, and
impatience with the Now.

Though it is the Now which can help us to live our lives today, fully alive,
happy and content, it is our past that gives us direction and the hope of a
happier future motivates us to keep striving.

Q3. Apparent illogicality sometimes turns out to be a futuristic projection.

Discuss.

Is it possible to see into the future? Perhaps, not. Yet there are times when
seemingly irrational views turn out to be a futuristic projection. History is
replete with such examples. To quote some:

(a) Many believe that a man named Michel de Nostradamus could

predict the future. His predictions of the future have mystified
scholars for over four hundred years. Nostradamus made over one
thousand predictions and historians say that over half of them have
already come true.

(b) Leonardo da Vinci, too, succeeded in foreseeing so much. Leonardo

lived five hundred years ago, his life spanning the discovery of the
New World. He made projections in the form of drawings and
inventions; each design may be seen as a projection that something
much like it could be made to work. He succeeded as a mechanical
engineer, he designed workable devices (some were not to be built
for centuries) for excavating, metalworking, transmitting power, and
other purpose.

(c) In fact, the predictions about the aircrafts might have seemed very
illogical when references about them came up in the Vedas and later
India literature with ‘vimanas’ of various shapes and sizes.

 In the Vedas: the sun, and flying wheeled chariots pulled by animals,
usually horses (but the Vedic god Paksan’s chariot is pulled by
goats).
 The ‘agnihotra-vimana’ with two engines. (Agni means fire in
Sanskrit.)
 The ‘gaja-vimana’ with more engines. (Gaja means elephant in
Sanskrit.)
 Other types named after the kingfisher, ibis, and other animals.

(d) Wordsworth’s lament on man destroying Nature, now concerns the

world-the global warming

One could view it as the ‘flight of fancy’ of an imaginative mind.

The same thoughts later concretized through the efforts of more such
creative people. It is then that the common man believed in the

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rationale behind the thought process of such things. It could also be

the inherent desire of the human mind to try to visualize future.

Q4. Imagination is a ‘temporary refuge from reality’. Explain.

Imagination is the process of forming mental images or concepts of

what is not actually present to the senses. We spend more time in our
imagination than most people ever realize. Within our imagination
we create our ideals, role models, heroes, love concepts, perceptions
on how to live and survive in life, plants, goals, ideas of pleasure,
ideas of fun, and concepts of pain, insult, offence, etc. In other
words, we form our personalities and life concepts around our
imagination. On one hand, we escape from the harsh realities as in
an imaginary world, life is exactly whatever we imagine that it is. If
we can derive our pleasure in this tension-ridden age, it would add
both to our mental and emotional health.

On the other hand, imagination, as an escape from reality, can

become addictive and debilitating. In dwelling too long in our
fantasy world we run the risk of losing touch with the real world.
And if everyone goes there, who will remain to straighten up the
problems of this world? Just as it seems wrong, for example, to
prevent terminally ill patients from finding some escape through the
use of medical marijuana, it seems a graver mistake to simply pump
everyone in pain full of morphine in lieu of seeking a cure. If at least
some of us don’t stay grounded in this world to deal with the real
problems of disease, suffering, poverty and war, the world would
truly become a hopeless place.

Q5 Sam’s letter to Charley is a fine blend of reality and fantasy.

Comment.

Sam’s letter, dated 18th July, 1894 written from Galesburg, Illinois
is a proof of his having reached the third level and of having been
transported to Galesburg. The content of the letter indicates that on
diagnosing Charley’s claim to have visited the third level, he had
explained it to be an escape mode. But being equally insecure, in
the heart of hearts, he had wished the entire episode was true. In
fact, inwardly, he too yearned for such an escape. By and by, he
believed in the existence of the third level and carried out an
intensive search for it and eventually found it. Galesburg fascinated
him and gave him the taste of tension-free life with ample leisure
and boundless innocent pleasure. He enjoyed the easy going,
peaceful and simple life of Galesburg where people loved music,
dance and socialising. He suggested to Charley and Louisa to keep
on looking for it till they came across it. The contents of the letter
do not surprise the reader for he has already got a fairly good idea of
Galesburg from Charley’s account of it. But what if the letter is a
mere figment of Charley’s imagination just like the third level? It is
intriguing that the letter should be found in a first-day cover

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addressed to Charley’s grandfather. Was Sam writing to Charley or

Charley’s grandfather? Thus, interesting as it is, the letter appears to
be a strange mixture of the real and the fantastic and the author has
made a very clever use of it so that it boggles the reader’s mind. This
whole idea of travel in time and multiple levels of reality is mind-
boggling and so is Sam’s letter, indeed.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1 Yes, I’ve taken the obvious step. ‘Why does Charley term meeting the
psychiatrist as ‘an obvious step’?

The moment Charley talked about his coming across the non-existent third
level, everybody got alarmed and felt that he needed to see a psychiatrist.
Under the circumstances, it was plain and clear that he should seek an
expert’s opinion to rule out any psychiatric problem. Hence he terms it as
‘an obvious step.’

Q2 What does ‘the third level’ symbolize?

‘Third Level’ symbolizes man’s yearning to delve deeper into the world of
imagination as an escape from the world of harsh realities. It stands for his
quest for ‘the fabulous ordinariness of a bygone age’ that was free from the
modern razzle-dazzle, sophistication and material comforts but exuded
peace and tranquility.

Q3. What does Grand Central Station symbolize?

The Grand Central Station symbolizes the labyrinth that this world is, with
its intricate and tangled pathways. The network of passages is so
complicated that rather than reaching the destination, one keeps on moving
up and down all one’s life to look for entries and exists.

Q4. ‘Now I don’t know why this should have happened to me’. Charley
wondered why out of the whole tension-ridden world, he alone took a
flight to the ‘third level’. Why do you think, it happened to him?

The level of sensitivity and power of imagination vary from person to

person. Caught in the web of monotony, dull routine and fast life, Charley
finds it difficult to cope with such a life. So on the wings of imagination,
he takes a flight to the non-existent world.

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Q5. If the third level was just a product of Charley’s imagination, why
wasn’t rosier than reality?

Ordinarily imagination adds colour to reality and makes it look larger than
life. However, the non-existent third level was a lackluster place because
Charley’s imagination took him to the past. Somewhere at the back of his
mind there was a yearning for the fabulous ordinariness of the bygone days.
He was looking for tranquility and not any razzle-dazzle of the modern
world. Hence it lacked rosiness.

Q6. Why did Charley run back from the third level?

When Charley produced the modern currency to pay for the two tickets to
Galesburg the ticket clerk accused him of trying to cheat and threatened to
hand him over to the police. This made Charley sense trouble and he turned
away and got out of the third level fast, lest he was arrested and jailed.

Q7. ‘But I never told my psychiatrist friend about that ’. What did Charley
not tell his psychiatrist? Why?

Charley did not tell his psychiatrist friend about his notion that a long
unknown tunnel ran underground the city and connected important places
like Times Square and Central Park and that his finding himself into a tunnel
like that at the second level of Grand Central was a way of escape. Charley
did not share this idea with the psychiatrist because he did not want the latter
to think of him as crazy and make fun of him as an escapist.

Q8. Why could Charley not reach the third level again?

Charley could not reach the third level of Grand Central Station because
despite his best efforts he failed to locate the tunnel that had taken him to
this level earlier. A more national explanation is that he could never
experience the same level of consciousness which had transported him
earlier to the third level of Grand Central.

Q9. Why was Sam attracted towards Galesburg?

Sam, who was a typical city boy, was fascinated by Charley’s description
of Galesburg, Illinois, as a wonderful town with big old frame houses, huge
lawns and tremendous trees lining the streets. He was so bogged down by
the tension and burden of modern life that he thought of escaping to the
‘peaceful world’ of Galesburg of 1894 with long summer evenings and an
easy going, peaceful life.

Q10. How did Charley come to know that Sam had found the third level?

Charley came across a first-day cover that he had never seen in his collection
earlier. It had his grandfather’s Galesburg address and it contained a note
written by Sam mentioning that he had found the third level and was in

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Galesburg since two weeks. This was a solid proof that Sam had found the
third level.

Q11. How did Sam like life in Galesburg?

Sam’s letter to Charley from Galesburg showed that he was quite happy
there. He had taken a fancy to the quiet, simple and peaceful life there, away
from the hurry and worry of New York. He liked the way people enjoyed
music, dance and socializing. It was a perfect place for his hay, feed and
grain business. He even invites Charley and Louisa to come over to
Galesburg through the ‘third level’.

Q12. Why did Sam buy eight hundred dollars of old-style currency? What
did he think of this bargain?

Sam must have spent all the earnings of his lifetime to buy eight hundred
dollars of old-style currency.

What apparently seemed to be a foolish bargain was considered to be very

profitable by him as he had sold his materialistic earnings to buy fulfillment
of his soul. Moreover, eight hundred dollars was enough to start hay, feed
and grain business in Galesburg.

Q13. Why does Charley say, ‘he (Sam) certainly can’t go back to his old
business’?

Charley knew that though it was less profitable, the quiet business of hay,
feed and grain would give Sam a greater sense of satisfaction. Moreover,
being a psychiatrist he had no scope of reverting to his own profession as in
1894 a psychiatrist would be absolutely redundant. By 1894 the science of
psychiatry was in its infancy and psychiatrists were relatively unknown.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What discovery did Charley make? How?

It was common knowledge that there were only two levels at Grand Central Station-
the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Harford. But Charley
was convinced of a third level of the Grand Central Station.
In fact he had often lost his way, though he been in and out of Grand Central
hundreds of times, because there were so many doorways and stairs and corridors.
He felt that Grand Central was growing like a tree, pushing out new corridors and
staircases like roots.

Once, walking down a corridor that seemed to be angling left and slanting
downward, he reached a short flight of stairs beyond which he reached the third

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level at Grand Central Station. After some time of his being confused, he realized
that he was in Galesburg and it was 11 June, 1894.

2. What did Charley’s friends and doctor say about the third level? How did
his wife react? What was Charley’s reaction to them?

When Charley told his psychiatrist friend, Sam, about the third level, he
explained it was a waking dream wish fulfillment. He said that Charley was
unhappy. This infuriated his wife. But Sam explained that in the modern world,
people were insecure, afraid and anxious. They wanted to escape the stress-ridden
world. When he said that his stamp collecting hobby was also a ‘temporary refuge
from reality’, all his friends agreed. They found the argument very logical.
However, Charley felt that all the people he had known wanted to escape but they
didn’t wander down into any third level at Grand Central Station. Secondly, he felt
that it was his grandfather who had put him to his hobby of stamp collection, but in
his days things were pretty nice and peaceful and people didn’t need any refuge
from reality unlike in the present day.

3. Reaching the third level was just a coincidence. This was not the first
time that he had lost the way. Justify.

The Grand Central had so many stairs, doors and corridors that Charley had lost his
way earlier as well. Though he had been in and out of Grand Central hundreds of
times, he was always bumping into new doorways and stairs and corridors. Once
he got into a tunnel about a mile long and came out into the lobby of the Roosevelt
Hotel. Another time, he came up in an office building on Forty-Sixth Street, three
blocks away.

The day he reached the third level he had gone down the steps to the first level,
where trains were like those in the twentieth century and then further walked down
another flight to the second level, from where the suburban trains left. Then he
went through an arched doorway for the subway and got lost. When this led him to
an unknown place that seemed distant in time he realized that he had reached the
third level.

4. How was the third level at Grand Central Station different from the other
two?

The third level at Grand Central Station was smaller, there were fewer ticket
windows and train gates, and the information booth in the centre was wooden and
old-looking. The man in the booth wore a green eyeshade and long black sleeve
protectors. The open-flame gaslights were dim and sort of flickering. There were
brass spittoons on the floor.

The people on the station were dressed like in the eighteen-nineties. They had
beards, sideburns and fancy moustaches. Charley saw a man pull a gold watch from
his vest pocket. He wore a derby hat, a black four-button suit with tiny lapels. A
woman wore a dress with leg-of-mutton sleeves and skirts to the top of her high-
buttoned shoes. The locomotive was a very small Currier & lves locomotive with a
funnel-shaped stack.

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5. What is a first-day cover? How did it assume importance in the story?

A first-day cover is the first day of issue of a stamp or the day on which a postage
stamp, a postal cared or a stamped envelope is put on sale within the country or
territory of the stamp-issuing authority. There is usually a first day of issue
postmark, frequently a pictorial cancellation, indicating the city and date on which
the item was first issue, and the ‘first day of issue’ is often used to refer to this
postmark. A first-day cover is an envelope on which the postage stamps have been
cancelled on their first day of issue.

In the story Charley found one that shouldn’t have been there. It dated back to July
18, 1894. It was authenticated by the government. The stamp was a six-cent, dull
brown one, with a picture of President Garfield. It had been mailed to his
grandfather on the same date by his friend, Sam. The note inside was addressed to
Charley.

Answer the following using the hints provided:

1. What explanation did the psychiatrist give of Charley’s experience when

he told him about the existence of the third level?

Value Points for Q1.

 Believed it was a waking dream, perhaps a wish fulfillment

 Felt that like many men in the modern world Charley too was unhappy
 Modern world is full of trials and tribulations, worries & insecurities
 Felt Charley wanted to escape this world
 People indulge in some sort of hobby to escape the harsh realities
 Even stamp collecting was a kind of temporary escape
 Charley refuted his contention-said people do not wander about due to stress
 Besides his grandfather had also collected stamps in the good old peaceful days
of eighteen-nineties and did not need to escape as life was quite stress free in
those days.

2. What differences did Charley notice when he reached the third level?

Value Points for Q2.

On reaching this level he finds a different set up-

 The room was small and tickets windows were few

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 Man at the ticket counter wore green eyeshade and sleeve protectors
 Lights were dim and open gaslights were being used
 Brass spittoons were on the floor

Charlie also notices-

 A man taking out a pocket watch

 Men with beards, sideburns and handle bar moustaches, dressed in old-
fashioned suits
 Women wearing leg-of-mutton sleeves, skirts, high-buttoned shoes
 An old style locomotive with funnel-shaped stack
 Realizes he has traveled back in time-confirms his suspicions by glancing at the
newspaper – The World, dated June 11, 1894

CHAPTER 2
THE TIGER KING (KALKI)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sri R. Krishnamurthy was born on September 9, 1899 at Puttaman-galam in the old

Thanjavur district in an orthodox, large Brahmin family with limited means. He was
greatly inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and joined National Congress, leaving his studies
incomplete. Two people who played a major role throughout his life were veteran
Congress leader C. Rajagopalachari, and T. Sadasivam, who became life-long friend
and partner in journalistic ventures.

Krishnamurthy’s first attempt at writing fiction also came during that period.
Krishnamurthy’s witty, incisive comments on politics, literature, music and other forms
of art were looked forward to witty unceasing interest by renders. He wrote under the
pen names of “Kalki”, “Ra. Ki”, “Tamil Theni” “Karnatakam”, and so on.

Krishnamurthy was a freedom fighter, social crusader, novelist, short story writer,
journalist, humorist, satirist, travel writer, script-writer, poet, critic and connoisseur of
the arts-all rolled into one. A prolific writer, he wielded his pen with force and
tenderness for three decades (1923-1954). He wrote on varied subjects during an
eventful period in Indian history. His writings include over 120 short stories, novelettes,
five novels, three historical romances, editorial and political writing and hundreds of
film and music reviews. Krishnamurthy specialized in the semi-historic genre, where
he blended ancient tales, legends and historic facts with fictional escapades to produce
epics.

ABOUT THE STORY

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 to save the situation ordered an old tiger from Madras

 left him at strategic point so as to allow the Maharaja to have easy access to the
Tiger
 when the King missed killing the Tiger, the Dewan chose to keep quiet to save
everyone from the bother of waiting for the king to kill hundredth Tiger.

The ironical end

 The prediction was that the King would be killed by the hundredth Tiger.
 the king under the impression that he had fulfilled his vow of killing hundred
tigers became careless
 he thought he was invincible
 spent all his leisure time with his son
 bought a wooden Tiger for his son’s birthday
 hurt himself with a wooden splinter
 the wound became poisonous
 he was operated by best surgeons but didn’t make it through.
 the doctors claimed that the operation was successful but the kind died.
 It is ironical that the king spent a life time trying to kill a hundred tiger but his
death came due to a toy tiger.

Main Character
Maharaja of Pratibandapuram

 Portrayed as a typical Prince, who insisted on things being exclusively for him.
 Was conscious of his status (wanted to buy exclusive or expensive item)
 Didn’t have a balanced approach
 Obsessed with fulfilling his vow (showed persistence)
 Was daring to the extent of staking his Kingdom in order to fulfill his vow.
 Was not a man of ethics and values-
√ Marriage was a business proposition,
√ Killing so many tigers was justified in the name of defense tactics.
√ Expected people to make gifts to him and his family (didn’t pay the
shopkeeper)

Notes

 The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram

- the much hyped and titled Maharaja’s name shortened to the ‘Tiger King’
- the author jocularly informs the readers that the ‘Tiger King’ is mortal
- the newly born prince is destined to be a great warrior and hero of heroes, but
will one day have to meet its death

 Ten-day-old Prince shocks everybody

- the young prince addresses the astrologers clearly in his squeaky voice

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- the lamb-like tiger wakes up

- the hunters present there are dumb-founded
- afraid of revealing the truth to the king, they kill the tiger themselves and take
back the dead tiger to the capital in style
- the tiger is buried and a tomb erected over it

 The birthday present for the three-year-old prince

- relieved after achieving his target, the king turns his attention towards his son
- brings a wooden tiger from a toyshop and presents it to his son
- the poorly carved toy tiger has rough surface and slivers of wood stand up like
quills all over it
- the Maharaja while playing with the prince gets hurt when a tiny sliver pierces
his right hand
- he neglects the injury and pulls the sliver out

 The prediction comes true

- the wound develops pus which soon spreads all over the arm
- three surgeons are summoned from Madras
- Surgeons perform operation but fail to save the king’s life
- thus, the hundredth tiger takes his final revenge upon the ‘Tiger King’

THEME

At the face of it the story seems to revolve round the theme that destiny is all powerful
and inevitable and that one is governed by one’s stars and therefore, ought to take one’s
astrologer seriously. However, to draw this conclusion would be fallacious. I think the
author is more serious about the fallacy or the crime of thoughtless killing of tigers by
the erstwhile royal rulers. They were followed by the commoners and poachers and as
a result, the tiger is on the brink of extinction in our country. Thus, I believe the story
is more about crime and punishment than destiny. It also seems to suggest that one
should not act rashly to prove or disprove astrological predictions. The treatment of the
theme is laced with humour, irony and quick paced narrative.

TITLE

“The Tiger King” is a very appropriate title for the story for several reasons. First of
all, the king is crazy about tiger hunting so much so that he marries a princess whose
father’s kingdom has a sizeable tiger population. He kills one hundred tigers just to
fulfill his vow. Secondly, the king with all his frenzy, anger and ruthlessness is as
ferocious as a tiger. Thirdly, he dies of a sliver prick received from a wooden toy tiger.
Finally, the prediction that a tiger would cause the king’s death also comes true. Since
the story revolves round a king and the hundred tigers that he kills, it could not be better
titled than “The Tiger King”.

MESSAGE

The message Kalki hands out in the story “The Tiger King” is pertinently relevant in
the modern times when the tiger appears to be on the brink of extinction in the land of

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its origin. The story makes a frantic call for the protection of the tiger, indeed all flora
and fauna. The death of the king is a result of the nemesis that follows his thoughtless
killing of one hundred tigers just to disprove an astrological prediction about his own
death. No wonder when the king dies, the surgeons announce, “The operation was
successful, the Maharaja is dead.” Thus, natural justice does take place albeit a little
too late. In his inimitable style, the author seems to suggest to his readers to follow the
dictum, “Live and Let Live”. Killing for one’s whims or pleasure is the gravest of sins.

HUMOUR

“The Tiger King” is replete with humour in a variety of forms. We have instances of
humour resulting out of comical statements, like ‘Stuka can beat a hasty retreat’ or the
‘Tiger King would actually have to die! We also find situations in the story where the
author creates humour by mocking at the king. The title of the king is amusing
particularly when the author brings everything down to an anticlimax by eventually
calling him the ‘Tiger King’. He again makes fun of the king when he tells us that the
king did not attend to anything, not even his three-year-old son, as he was busy
completing the target of killing hundred tigers. The suggestion of “mouse-hunting” or
“mosquito hunting” instead of tiger hunting, to the British officer is amusing. The
dewan trembling with weird fear before the gun-wielding king is comical and funny.
The entire conversation between the king and the dewan about king marrying a tiger
and his ancestors being ‘married to sword’ generates a lot of humour. Then again, the
tiger brought from Madras behaving like a lamb and supplicating before the king is
quite interesting and humorous. By and large, the humour interspersed in the story is
innocent.

CHARACTERS

The Tiger King

The ‘Tiger King’ is a comical figure and has all the frailties and foibles of Indian rulers,
many of whom were paper kings before the British rulers in India. However, in his
own state, the king behaves like an atrocious autocrat, who makes his subjects including
senior officers tremble with mortal fear. He is callous and ruthless in subjecting
innocent animals to his willful hunting. Moody, whimsical and capricious, as he is, he
refuses to see reason. At times he is elated and announces the exemption of all taxes
for the villagers and at others his fury and obstinacy get the better of him and he doubles
their land taxes. He dismisses his ministers and officers waywardly.
The eccentricities and idiosyncrasies of the Tiger King make him a laughing stock for
the reader. For example, he is crazy about killing tigers just to prove a prediction
wrong. However, in spite of all the valorous veneer presented by him, basically he is a
coward and is mortally afraid of the British and does not mind stooping to the extent of
resorting to bribery. In short, he is a funny but despicable figure having nothing in his
behaviour and personality that can endear him to anyone.

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The Dewan

The Dewan can be considered as a crutch of wisdom and reasoning for the ‘Tiger King’
who is childish and irrational. However, in spite of the fact that he holds the senior
most position in the kingdom, he hardly wields any authority. His life is at the mercy
of the king and he lives under the shadow of mortal fear of losing his life. He is an
intelligent and a sagacious person who gives valuable suggestions to the king. When
the king was in danger of losing his kingdom, because he had annoyed a senior British
officer, the dewan held deliberations with the king and gave intelligent suggestion of
wooing the wife of the concerned officer by bribing her with gifts. His advice to the
king not to penalize the villagers, too, stands the latter in good stead. Then again
making advance arrangement of a tiger from People’s Park in Madras, because the king
was becoming restless at not finding the hundredth tiger, speaks volumes about his
practical wisdom and foresight. However, his occasional crouching behaviour before
the king makes him a foolish and comical figure. Thus, he cannot be blamed for the
behaviour as nobody wants to die for no fault of his. He is a true well-wisher of the
king.

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 Tuft Bunch of hair  Crumpled Fell down in an

uncontrolled way;
collapsed
 Incoherent Not clear and hard to  Supplication Humble request or
understand; prayer
unintelligible
 Confiscated Seized; officially  Elation Great happiness
taken away,
especially as a
punishment
 Durai In Tamil means lord  Bafflement Complete
or god, but in the confusion
story it refers to the
British lords
 Duraisani Goddess in Tamil; in  Sliver Thin or narrow
the story it refers to piece of something
the wife of the cut or broken off
British officer from a larger piece
 Quills Spines
 Suppurating Pus oozing wound

READING WITH INSIGHT

Q1. ‘Even the threat of a Stuka bomber will not throw me off track.’ Explain
the writer’s allusion to a Stuka bomber.

The Junkers Ju 87 ‘Stuka’ was the most famous of all planes used by the
Germans as a dive bomber. The Stuka was designed strictly as an army
cooperation dive bomber. It was instantly recognizable with its inverted gull-
wings, and fixed undercarriage. Its accuracy was high when in a full five that
was up to 80 degrees. Once the bomb was released, it used an automatic pull-
up system to ensure that the plane pulled out of the dive.

The Germans fitted the wheel covers with sirens that were used once the planes
went into a dive to shatter the morale of enemy troops and civilians. They also
fitted whistles on to the fins of the bombs to ensure that the recipients knew just
when the bombs were released and could track them on the way down. This
was supposed to generate fear in the people being bombed. Thus it was very
dreadful. The writer using this reference wants to convey that nothing, not even
a horrific thing like stuka bomber, could deter him from telling the story.

Q2. Explain: ‘As Bharata said to Rama about Dasaratha, the Tiger king has
reached that final abode of all living creatures.’

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In the Ramayan, Kaikeyi, the last and youngest of the Dasaratha’s three wives,
on Manthara’s advice forced Dasaratha to have her son, Bharata, placed upon
the throne of Ayodhya and Rama banished from the kingdom for a period of no
less than fourteen years. Rama complied and left. In time, Dasaratha lost the
will to live and died of grief.

Bharata, outraged at his mother’s act and grieved at the loss of his father went
to get back his brother Rama to take over as the next king. Bharata conveyed
the news about Dashratha’s demise to Rama. Similarly, the writer conveyed the
news of Tiger King’s death to the reader.

Q3. The Maharaja’s resolve not to let anyone but him shoot tigers endangered
his position. Justify.

The Maharaja’s order that forbade anyone but him to shoot tigers put him in
danger of losing his throne. It happened so when a high-ranking British officer,
who was very fond of hunting tigers, visited Pratibandapuram. He wished to
hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram but the Maharaja declined. Not only did the
Maharaja send a message through the dewan to the durai forbidding him to kill
tigers but he also refused to let the officer be photographed holding the gun and
standing over the tiger’s carcass. The Maharaja felt that if he agreed even to
this proposal, other British officers would turn up for tiger hunts.

Because he prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire, he stood in

danger of losing his kingdom. Hence, after a consultation with the dewan, the
Maharaja sent a telegram to a famous British company of jewelers in Calcutta
to send samples of expensive diamond rings of different designs. About fifty
rings were sent. The Maharaja sent the whole lot to the British officer’s wife
expecting her to choose one or two rings and send the rest back. But she
accepted all of them. The Maharaja had to foot a bill for three lakh rupees from
the British jewelers but was happy that he had managed to retain his kingdom.

Q4. It seemed easier to find tiger’s milk than a live tiger. Elaborate.

After the astrologer’s prediction came to be known to the Maharaja, his very
existence revolved around the killing of tigers. He set out to hunt all the tigers.
He vowed he would attend to all other matters only after killing the hundred
tigers. Within ten years, he was able to kill seventy tigers, but with this the tiger
population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. To kill thirty more
tigers he asked his minister to find a girl from a royal family in a state with a
large tiger population. After the right girl was found from a state which
possessed a large number of tigers, Maharaja Jung Jung Bahadur killed five or
six tigers each time he visited his father-in-law. In this manner, the number rose
to ninety-nine. But when just one tiger was left to achieve his count of a
hundred, and he could not find another tiger, he sank into gloom. Finding a
tiger was next to impossible. Just as tiger’s milk is impossible to find, it became
even more difficult to find a live tiger. The author has used a hyperbole to stress
the scarcity of tigers for a comical effect.

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Q5. Why could the Maharaja not kill the hundredth tiger?

After a great deal of effort, the Maharaja saw the hundredth tiger. Ironically,
this was an old tiger and killing it would have been a cake-walk and yet destiny
had not willed it to be. The Maharaja shot the tiger and thinking it dead left the
forest felling elated. But when the hunters took a closer look at the tiger, it
rolled its eyes in bewilderment. The men realized that the tiger was not dead.
The Maharaja’s bullet had missed it. Nevertheless, it had fainted from the shock
of the bullet speeding past. The hunters decided that the Maharaja must not
come to know that he had missed his target else they would lose their jobs.
Hence, one of the hunters took aim from a distance of one foot and shot the
tiger. This time, the tiger was killed. But the Maharaja was blissful in his
ignorance.

Q7. With the uncanny death of the Maharaja, it seemed that fate had cursed
the Maharaja for his brutality. Justify.

It was as if the Maharaja’s life revolved around the killing of tigers. He vowed
to attend to the matters of the state only after killing a hundred tigers; he married
a lady in whose estate was the largest population of tigers; and hunted out the
hundredth with a great deal of difficulty. Until then, the Maharaja had given his
entire mind over to tiger hunting.

However, destiny had something different in store. When he turned his

attention to the child, he wished to give him some special gift on his birthday.
For this, he bought a wooden tiger from a toyshop. Playing with his son with
the tiny little wooden tiger, carved by an unskilled carpenter, the Maharaja
injured his hand.

The infection flared and the Maharaja had to be operated on. Despite the best
surgeons, the Maharaja died. In this manner destiny took its final revenge upon
the Tiger King through the wooden tiger that cost only two annas and a quarter.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. Who was the Tiger King? Why did he get that name?

His Highness Jamedar-General, Khiledar-Major, Sata Vyaghra Samhari,

Maharajadhiraja Visva Bhuvana Samrat, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, M.A.D.,
A.C.T.C. or C.R.C.K. who is the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was better
known as the ‘Tiger King’ because he was crazy about killing tigers and had
killed one hundred tigers just to disprove an astrological prediction. Moerover,
he was as ferocious as a tiger.

Q2. Why, do you think, the author goes into detailed identification of the Tiger
King through a variety of titles? Does he really mean to honour him?

Kalki, the author of the story, has no intention of praising the king, Infact,
immediately after addressing him with a variety of titles, he brings an anticlimax

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by telling his readers that his name is “shortened to the Tiger King”. Here is a
perfect example of bathos.

Q3. Why does the author introduce the supernatural element in the story and
makes a child of ten days to speak?

The author introduces the supernatural element by making a child of ten days to
speak, to impress upon the reader that the prince is a prodigious child and has
extraordinary power. However, the strange ending of the story tells us that the
divine dictates must prevail.

Q4. Do you think the author of the story “The Tiger King” has faith in
astrology? Give reasons in support of your answer.

The State astrologer believes that “ the hour of the Bull”, Taurus, the sign under
which the prince is born and Tiger (Leo) are inimical towards each other. So
the prince should beware of tigers. The king’s death through a tiger shows that
Kalki believes in astrology.

Q5. What is the underlying idea behind the author’s detailed description of the
bringing up of the Tiger King?

The princes during the pre-partition days almost all over India were brought up
on purely English lines because the British wielded a great deal of influence on
the functioning of the princely states and they wanted to impress upon them that
only things belonging to the English are the best and worth emulating. The
author here satirizes and ridicules the attitude of the Indian royalty.

Q6. Do you agree with the Maharaja’s statement, “You may kill even a cow in
self- defence.” Did the king kill tigers purely in self-defence?

The Maharaja’s arguments, that one may kill even a cow in self-defence is
certainly justified and tenable. But the Maharaja did not kill tigers in self-
defence. He killed them with the express intentions of proving the State
astrologer’s prediction wrong which is unreasonable and illogical.

Q7. What did the State astrologer say he would do ‘if the hundredth tiger were
also killed’?

The State astrologer was so sure of the veracity of his prediction that he
announced that he would cut off his ceremonial tuft, crop his hair short and
become an insurance agent in case the king was able to kill the hundredth tiger,
too. The import of his words was that it was inevitable that the Maharaja’s death
would be caused by the hundredth tiger.

Q8. Do you find any moral lesson in the warning given by the astrologer against
killing the hundredth tiger?

The astrologer’s warning contains the moral lesson that there is a limit to
committing a sin. The Maharaja’s cup of sin was full to the brim with the death

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of the ninety-ninth tiger. So, the death of the hundredth tiger was bound to be
catastrophic.

Q9. Comment briefly on the relations between the king and his subjects citing
instances from the story “The Tiger King”.

There was no love lost between the king and his subject. The king was eccentric
and whimsical and did not care for the welfare of his, subjects. Most of the
officers and minions too were not really loyal to the king and were busy grinding
their own axe. That they were cowards and obeyed him only out of fear can be
proved by the hunters’ decision to hide the truth about the death of hundredth
tiger and the dewan letting loose an old tiger in the forest for the king to hunt,
lest he (the dewan) lost his job.

Q10. Why did the Maharaja and the dewan of the State decide to send gifts of
expensive diamond rings to the duraisani?
Or
How did the Maharaja manage to save his throne?

The Maharaja had annoyed the visiting senior British officer over the issue of
tiger-hunting and ‘stood in danger of losing his kingdom itself.’ So, the
Maharaja and the dewan decided to placate and pacify the officer through bribe
by sending gifts of expensive diamond rings to the ‘duraisani’, the wife of the
British officer. Contrary to the king’s expectation, the lady kept all the rings
and sent him a note of thanks. Thus the Maharaja, though poorer by three lakh
rupees, managed to save his throne.

Q11. Why did the Maharaja’s tiger killing mission come to a sudden standstill?
Or
What happened when the Tiger King had killed seventy tigers?

Within ten years Maharaja’s tiger hunting spree had resulted in the killing of
seventy tigers. However, his tiger killing mission came to a sudden standstill
because the tiger population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram.
Kalki jokingly remarks that the reason for the disappearance of the tigers was
that either they were practicing birth control or committing hara-kiri or had
probably fled from the forests of Pratibandapluram.

Q12. When the Tiger King broaches the topic of marriage, what does the dewan
mean to convey by saying that the king’s “ancestors were married to the
sword”?

Even in the state of mortal fear and bafflement, the dewan does not fail to pay
his compliments to the valour of the king’s ancestors, who were all brave
warriors and skilful swordsmen and advises the king to marry his gun i.e. be as
valorous as his ancestors.

Q13. Why did the Maharaja suddenly decide to marry? Whom did he wish to
marry? Or

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What did the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?

The Maharaja suddenly decided to marry because firstly, he was of

marriageable age and secondly, he wanted to kill thirty more tigers in his father-
in-law’s state in order to complete the tally of hundred tigers. For this reason
he wished to marry a girl in the royal family of a state with a large tiger
population.

Q14. Why was the Maharaja sunk in deep gloom?

In a matter of ten years the king had managed to kill seventy tigers. As a result
there were few tigers left in the forests of his kingdom. Then he took to killing
tigers in his father-in-law’s estate and hunted down twenty-nine more animals.
However, all his efforts to locate the hundredth tiger proved futile. This fact
plunged him in deep gloom because it meant that his vow would remain
unfulfilled and his life was in danger.

Q15. What were the two restricting outside forces that checked the kings in those
days from doing exactly what they wished?

The two outside restricting forces were the British and the Indian National
Congress. The Kings could not afford to annoy the British for fear of losing
their kingdom, and in the event of excessive discontentment among their
subjects they could fall a prey to the Indian National Congress.

Q16. What is the significance of the improbable incident narrated by the author
that, Khader Mian Saheb or Virasami Naicker, every inch human beings,
were “both famed for their ability to swallow sheep whole”?

No human being can swallow a ‘sheep whole’. However, the author introduces
this incident to enhance the atrociousness in the story. After all, the short story
deals with the death of one hundred and one living creatures. Thus, the author
aims at adding to the gruesomeness of the atmosphere of the story by narrating
this incident.

Q17. Why did Maharaja order the dewan to double the land tax? How did the
dewan respond to his order?

The Maharaja called the dewan and ordered him to immediately double the tax
of the villagers who had informed him of a tiger in the forest because despite
his best efforts he was unable to locate the beast. This infuriated and frustrated
the Maharaja.

The dewan was terrified out of his wits and requested the king to review his
orders because the doubling of taxes would result in widespread discontentment
among the people and there was a grave danger of the State falling a prey to the
Indian National Congress.

Q18. Why does the author choose to present a weakling and an apology for a
tiger to act as the king’s hundredth victim?

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The author wants to make the Maharaja the laughing-stock of everyone. Hence
an emaciated and a lamb-like tiger is made to stand before him. The irony of
the whole situation is that the killer of ninety-nine tigers fails to kill it and
becomes an object of ridicule.

Q19. Why and how did the dewan take the tiger into the forest?

The dewan had hidden at his home an old tiger which had been brought from
the People’s Park in Madras. He feared that if the Maharaja did not get a tiger
to hunt, the results would be catastrophic and he would lose his job. Therefore
he and his aged wife dragged the tiger to their car, shoved it into the seat and
took it straight to the forest where the Maharaja was hunting.

Q20. Do you think the prediction made by the State astrologer “was indisputably
disproved” ? Give reasons in support of your answer.

The State astrologer’s predictions came out to be true, without doubt. He had
made two predictions, firstly, the prince is born in the hour of the Bull and
“death comes” to him “from the tiger”. At a later stage he warned the king
against killing the hundredth tiger. Both the predictions came true.

Q21. Why does the king think of giving up tiger hunting after his hundredth
victim?

The capricious and the whimsical king resorted to tiger hunting with the express
intention of proving the State astrologer wrong. Moreover, he was aware of the
dangers involved in tiger-hunting, so he decided to stop tiger-hunting after his
hundredth victim.

Q22. What did the hunters decide to do when they realized that the tiger was not
dead and why?
Or
Who actually killed the hundredth tiger? Why?

On finding out that the aged tiger had not died if the Maharaja’s bullet but had
only fainted from the loud report of gun, the hunters decided that the Maharaja
should not come to know that he had missed the mark. They feared that they
would lose their jobs if the Maharaja came to know of the fact. So, one of the
hunters shot dead the tiger from a point blank range.

Q23. Why did the king go to a shopping centre in Pratibandapuram? What did
he buy there?
Or
What did the Maharaja buy as a birthday gift for his son?

The Tiger King went to the shopping centre to buy a birthday present for his
three-year-old son. He wished to give his son a very special gift on his third
birthday. He bought a wooden toy tiger as a perfect birthday gift for his son.

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Q24. How did the king’s arm become seriously infected?

The king’s arm had got infected from a prick caused by one of the slivers on the
wooden tiger. In one day, the infection got flared in the Maharaja’s right hand
and in four days it developed into a suppurating sore which spread all over the
arm.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. How does the author
employ the literary device of dramatic irony’s in the story?

According to M.H.Abrams, dramatic irony involves a situation in a play or a

narrative in which the audience shares with the author knowledge of which a
character is ignorant. The “character acts in a way grossly inappropriate to the
actual circumstances or expects the opposite of what fate holds in store for him.’

Kalki has made a very dexterous use of dramatic irony in the story. After killing
the first tiger the king flaunts its dead body before the astrologer to show that
he is more powerful than the tiger. However, the astrologer warns the king that
he should be “careful with the hundredth tiger.” The king chooses to prove the
astrologer wrong once again and makes frantic efforts to kill hundred tigers.
Thus, having shot at the old tiger, the Tiger King believes he has killed the
hundredth tiger. But the reader as well as the king’s officers and minions soon
come to know that the emaciated tiger does not get killed, but only faints.
However, basking in his glory of having disproved the prediction, the king is
ignorant of what lies in his future. A mere sliver on the wooden tiger’s body
causes his dramatic death. Quite ironically the hundredth tiger ‘kills’ the king
instead and the astrologer’s predictions stand vindicated. Both the reader and
the author leave a sigh of relief at the death of a cruel king.

Thus, through the powerful use of dramatic irony, Kalki satirizes the powers
that be who refuse to take ‘no’ for anything and whose whims and fancies are
law unto their subjects. That the people in power are conceited and insincere is
more than proved by the eccentric behaviour of the Tiger King who goes out on
a hunting spree and kills one hundred tigers just to disprove an astrologer’s
prediction about his death and to prove his bravery and fearlessness.

Q2. How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja’s minions towards
him? Do you them sincere towards him or are they driven by fear when
they obey him? Do we find a similarity in today’s political order?

Since the Maharaja’s existence revolved around killing hundred tigers, his
minions, driven out of fear, obeyed him. Even the astrologer was afraid of
predicting his death till the Maharaja told him to ‘speak without fear’.
Determined to fulfill his mission, he threatened to confiscate the wealth and
property of a person who dared to even fling a stone at the tiger. When the
killing of seventy tigers brought with it an unforeseen hurdle of the tiger
population becoming extinct, the Maharaja brandished his gun and insulted the

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dewan and ordered him to find the ‘right girl’ from a state which possessed a
large number of tigers. After the tiger farms had run dry even in his father-in-
law’s kingdom, he became sad. On getting the news of a tiger in a village he
announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village and set out on
the hunt at once. When the tiger was not found, many officers lost their jobs
and the land tax was doubled. The dewan knew that if the Maharaja did not find
the tiger soon, the results could be catastrophic’. So he got a tiger from the
People’s Park. But the Maharaja ‘missed his target with the hundredth one. The
people killed it lest they lose their jobs.

The minions were not sincere but feared him. They did not offer genuine
advice. In today’s political order, too, might is right or the ‘Survival of the
Fittest’. We have examples of autocratic rulers and dynastic monopolies
throughout the world. The people of India know well how to oust tainted
candidates; what stops them from doing so is their own self-interest. In many
countries we see that the role of money, crime, electoral manipulation and
muscles power greatly influences political decisions.

Q3. What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to

the willfulness of human beings?

Through the story ‘The Tiger King’ the writer puts across his view that there is
no excuse or justification for stalking and killing an animal. The Maharaja, the
protagonist of the story, because of his blind faith, kills tigers mercilessly.
Ironically, as a child he acknowledges that ‘All those who are born will one day
have to die’ but later sets out to try and become immortal by killing tigers
indiscriminately.

Hunting by humans operates perversely. Even more so in this case when the
Maharaja’s only need is to prove his masculinity and his dominance by killing
hapless animals.

The author also reaffirms a very valid reason against hunting- the extinction of
species due to human activities. Asserting the ‘right’ to kill animals is like
asserting the right to steal from future generations. That’s what the Maharaja
does-he steals from the future. The tiger population had become extinct in the
territories where he had an access to kill. Hence the next generation would not
have the ‘right’ to see and learn from the bountiful Earth that they inherited,
because it would have been have left barren.

Q4. Can you relate instances of game hunting among the rich and the powerful
in the present times that illustrate the callousness of human beings towards
wildlife?

While not every medieval noble ever went off to war, they all, if physically able,
went off to hunt on horseback, and not just the men, but the women-who rode
astride-as well. Hunting was the favourite pastime of the warrior class.

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However, in the recent past, even when poaching is illegal, most hunters get
away with murder in India. When Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was apprehended
for hunting of an endangered black buck, what was really on trial was the
ruthless, arrogant lifestyle of some Indians with inherited fortunes. What was
on trial is not only what Pataudi did, but also what people like him do and how
far they go to hide their lawlessness. For years, animals-especially tigers and
elephants-have been killed for their skins and organs precisely in those areas
that were formed to protect them. National parks, sanctuaries and reserves have
been virtually turned into killing fields by poachers. Armed with sophisticated
weapons and vehicles, supported by corrupt officials and politicians, and
glamourised by movie stars like Mr. Salman Khan(killing the blackbuck in
Rajasthan), the poachers have rules the jungles with little fear.

All this has led to certain species becoming extinct due to encroachment and
hunting by human beings. One such example is the Tibetan Antelope, which is
being hunted down by poachers for its skin, which is sued to make the
Shahtoosh shawl. This antelope yields one of the finest and most expensive
wools in the world which is a prized possession of the rich. In the recent past,
the silvery stuff found in fish scales is used in some lipsticks, nail polishes,
ceramic glazes, etc., to make them shimmery. Pearl essence is obtained
primarily from herring and is one of many by-products of large-scale
commercial fish processing. Constant and indiscriminate persecution by man
has sadly endangered many species. However, the silver lining is in the form
of activists who champion animal rights and the people like the Bishnois, who
for centuries they have carried on sublime romance with nature. The Kathi and
the Bishnois communities in Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab, have violently
protected the black with vigour and zeal as it is associated with their past history
of valor and religious practices. But it is not for a few but for all to realize that
killing defenseless animals is not hunting, it’s criminal.

Q5. We need a new system of the age of ecology-a system that is embedded in
care of all people and of the earth and all life upon it. Discuss.

In our diverse and increasingly interdependent world, it is crucial that we, the
people of Earth, declare our responsibility to the greater community of life. The
survival of our Earth depends upon earth consciousness that demands that we
move beyond nationalism to more global concerns, for examples, to a sense of
bio-regionalism. The well-being of people and the biosphere depends upon
preserving clean air, pure waters, fertile soils, and rich variety of plants, animals
and ecosystems. The global environment with its finite resources is a primary
concern of all humanity.

The Earth community stands at defining moment. With science and technology
have come great benefits and also great harm. The dominant patter54ns of
production and consumption are altering climate, degrading the environment,
depleting resources, and causing massive extinction of species. A dramatic rise
in population has increased the pressures on ecological systems and has
overburdened social systems. The challenges humanity faces can only be met
if people everywhere acquire an awareness of global inter-dependence, identify

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themselves with the awareness of global inter-dependence, identify themselves

with the larger world and decide to live with a sense of universal responsibility.

Q6. How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his death?

The wooden toy tiger the king had got as a birthday present for his son had been
carved by an unskilled carpenter. It had a rough surface with tiny slivers of
wood standing up like quills all over it. One of those slivers pierced the
Maharaja’s right hand and although the king pulled it, his arm got infected. In
four days, it developed into a suppurating sore and spread all over the arm. The
king died while being operated upon.

The king’s death is ironical but not surprising for the reader who is, in fact,
looking forward to it. Having ‘killed’ the hundredth tiger, the king is jubilant
for he has fulfilled his vow and disproved the prediction of the royal astrologer.
He is now at ease for he thinks he cannot die of a tiger’s attack. No wonder, he
orders the ‘dead’ tiger to be taken in a procession through the town and gets a
tomb erected over it. All this while he does not know that the hundredth victim
was not killed by him but by other hunters. That is indeed quite ironical. Death
is lurking around him and the king is unaware of it. Again, it is ironical that a
king who has killed one hundred tigers and is bold and fearless dies of a mere
‘sliver’ on the body of a wooden tiger. Thus, nemesis overtakes the king
ultimately and ironically death does come to him from a tiger.

Q7. What idea do you form about the ruling Indian class during the pre-
partition days from the king’s encounter with shopkeeper?

The ruling Indian class during the pre-partition days behaved in an erratic and
unpredictable manner. Most of them felt that they were law unto themselves’,
The Tiger King wants to buy a birthday present for his three-year-old son.
Untried and untutored in the art of shopping, the ki9ng selects a useless, cheap
and crudely made wooden tiger costing only two annas.

However, knowing that the king is capricious, the shopkeeper does not dare to
quote its actual price for fear of being punished. He quotes an exorbitant price
of three hundred rupees for it. The supreme ruler does not care to make any
payment. Instead he says to the shopkeeper, “Let this be your offering to the
crown prince on his birthday.” Hence most of the kings in those days, like the
Tiger King were ignorant buyers having no idea of the quality of objects. What
is more, they were very bad paymasters.

Answer the following using the hints provided:

1. The Dewan of Pratibandapuram proved to be very resourceful. Elaborate

in the light of the story ‘Tiger King’.

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Value Points for Q1.

 The Tiger King is a legendary story about the King of Pratibandapuram

and how he came to be known as the Tiger King
 His Dewan played a very important role when the Crown Prince came of age
 The Dewan looked after the State when Maharaja was busy meeting the target
of killing hundred tigers.
 The Maharaja was in danger of being dethroned due to his refusal to permit
Tiger hunting to a British officer
 The Dewan came to his rescue by suggesting that he should present some unique
jewelry to the Officer’s good Lady
 Then when the Maharaja wanted to get married, it was he who found the right
estate with the right population of tigers and the right girl.
 Another time when the hunt for the hundredth tiger had frustrated the Maharaja
to an extent that he wanted to double the tax, it was the Dewan who advised him
against it as it would jeopardize the state’s interest.
 Finally when his job was at stake he ordered a tiger from Madras to save
everyone from the Maharaja’s wrath.
 All the incidents reflect the resourcefulness of the Dewan.

2. “The operation is successful. The Maharaja is dead” Comment on the irony

of the situation.

Value Points for Q2.

 Three famous surgeons were called from Madras to treat the Maharaja
 The whole incident is a satire on the life of rich and people in power.
 Everything in their life should be grand be it disease, purchase or treatment
 So when the Maharaja got hurt by a wooden splinter, a specialist from Madras
were called
 The surgeons discussed and debated for some time and decided to operate
 At the end of the operation they said the operation was successful but the
Maharaja was dead!
 As if the procedure was important to them but life had no meaning for them
 The job of Doctors is to save people and not highlight the technicalities of the
treatment
 But here it was just that, poor Maharaja was relegated to nonentity whose life
was not much consequence to them.

CHAPTER 3
JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE EARTH
(TISHANI DOSHI)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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READING WITH INSIGHT

Q 1 How does the writer, Tishani Doshi, create a sense of distance between the
rest of the world and Antarctica?

The writer set out on a Russian research vessel, the Akademik Shokalskiy, for the
coldest, driest, windiest continent in the world: Antarctica. She says that her journey
involved crossing nine time zones, six checkpoints, three bodies of water, and at least
as many ecospheres.

To travel to the Antarctic continent she had to travel over 100 hours in a combination
of car, aeroplane and ship. The vast white landscape and endless blue horizon was
unlike what the writer had ever seen. The emotion was that of profound wonder. The
enormity of the difference and the isolation made her doubt if there could ever have
been a time when India and Antarctica were part of the same landmass. She also
wondered at the geological changes that conspired to create a cold circumpolar current,
keeping Antarctica frigid, desolate and at the bottom of the world.

Q 2. To visit Antarctica now is… to get a grasp of where we’ve come from and
where we could possibly by heading.’ Justify.

Visiting Antarctica forces one to think about all that can happen in a million years. The
complex changes force one to think about the future of the world. Only six hundred
and fifty million years ago, Antarctica was the centre of a ‘supercontinent’ called
Gondwana that included most of the landmasses in today’s southern hemisphere. Then,
the climate was much warmer, and a variety of flora and fauna thrived. It was around
the time when the dinosaurs were wiped out and the age of the mammals set in that the
landmass separated into countries. The breakup of Gondwana started the episode of a
continental drift that separated Africa from south America, and formed the South
Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, the Indian subcontinent started moving north,
heading for Asia and the eventual uplift of the Himalayas while Antarctica moved
southward, and became frigid, desolate, and at the bottom of the world.

From an area flourihing with life, Antarctica turned into a freezing, deserted place at
the bottom of the world – warning the people of what could be in store for the world in
future.

Q 3. How is Antarctica untouched as compared to the rest of the world?

The rest of the world is battling with an ever-increasing population which in turn has
led to excessive burning of fossil fuels that has created a blanket of carbon dioxide
around the world and is increasing the average global temperature. To add to this
depletion of resources, is the concretization of land.

However, Antarctica is the only place in the world that has never supported human
population and is therefore relatively untouched in this respect.

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Q 4. How does the visit to the South Pole help in driving home the need to
preserve Mother Nature?

A visit to the South Pole proves to be very successful because it’s not possible to go
there and not be affected by it. You can be indifferent about the polar icecaps melting
while sitting in the comfort of your homes but while looking at glaciers receding and
ice melting, the truth of global warming hits you very hard.

Moreover, Antarctica’s simple ecosystem and lack of biodiversity makes it a perfect

place to study the effect of a changing environment. Scientists warn that a further
depletion in the ozone layer will affect the activities of the tiny phytoplankton, which
in turn will affect the lives of all the marine animals and birds of the region and the
global carbon cycle.

Q 5. To the writer, the Antarctic experience very poignantly underlined the fact
that everything in this creation is interlinked. Elaborate.

During their journey, the writer recalls, how just before the Antarctic Circle, the
Shokalskiy got stuck in a thick stretch of ice between the peninsula and Tadpole Island.
The Captain decided to turn back north, but before that, all of them had to climb down
and walk on the ocean. Walking on the metre-thick ice, they were aware of the 180
metres of living, breathing, salt water beneath it. They also noticed the Crab-eater seals
stretching and sunning themselves on ice floes like stray dogs under the shade of a
banyan tree. All this underlined the fact that the entire creation is knitted together
despite geographical distances.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. How did the author reach Antarctica? What hurdles did she have to cross?

The author reached Antarctica after traveling over hundred hours. She had to travel by
a car, an aeroplane and a ship, ‘Akademik Shokalskiy’. In the process she had to cross
nine time zones, six checkpoints, three bodies of water and at least as many ecospheres.

Q2. According to you, what is the significance of the author’s giving details
about the various hurdles crossed by the “Akademik Shokalskiy” before reaching
Antarctica?

The details of the hurdles like time zones, checkpoints, water bodies etc. highlight the
arduousness of the journey, which in turn raise the curiosity of the reader to know more
and more about the Antarctic region.

Q3.What were the first emotions of Doshi on reaching Antarctica? Why?

On reaching Antarctica, Doshi’s first emotion was relief to see its expansive white
landscape and uninterrupted blue horizon. The feeling of relief was followed by
profound wonder at Antarctica’s immensity, its isolation and its strange relationship
with India.

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Q4.In you opinion, what could be the reason for the disintegration of Gondwana?

Gondwana flourished for millions of years, but change as we know is the law of nature.
The entire planet must have suffered sudden cataclysm (violent disaster) resulting in
Gondwana’s disintegration and information of present day India, the Himalayas and the
South America.

Q5. In what respect, Tishani Doshi’s encounter with Antarctica is a chilling

prospect?

For a sun-baked South Indian like Tishani, being face to face with ninety percent of
earth’s total ice volume was a mind-boggling and chilling prospect. It had a chilling
effect not only on the blood circulation and her metabolic functions, but also for her
imagination.

Q6.What are the indications for the future of mankind?

Ever increasing villages, towns, cities and megacities, depleting ozone and increasing
carbon dioxide and global warming, melting ice caps and shields – these and scores of
other similar indicators point to a grim future for mankind, indeed all life on earth. If
drastic steps are not taken immediately at the global level, the world may be staring in
the face of its inevitable end, too soon.

Q7.Why do you think Tishani Doshi considered her programme “Students on Ice’
a success?

It was on reaching Antarctica that Doshi felt really alarmed about the threat of global
warming when she saw with her own eyes the polar ice-caps melting, the glaciers
retreating and the ice shelves collapsing. Hence the programme has been really
educative for all, and thus was a success.

Q8.How would you describe the process of photosynthesis?

Energy is an essential constituent of flora as well as fauna. The term photosynthesis is

related to plants and it is the process with the help of which they convert water and
carbon into food by using energy from the sunlight.

Q9.What will be the ill-effects of further depletion of ozone layer? Or

What are phytoplanktons? In what way are they useful?

Depletion of ozone layer, which protects us from the sun’s harmful rays will adversely
affect the activities of the phytoplankton. These single-celled plants nourish and sustain
the food chain of entire Southern Ocean and use the sun’s energy to assimilate carbon
and synthesis compounds. Any further depletion in the ozone layer will hamper their
activity, which in turn is going to stand in the way of the growth of marine animals and
birds, and the global carbon cycle.

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Q10. At 65.55 degrees South, the ‘Shokalskiy’ could go no further. What

prevented the ship to go any further? What did the Captain instruct all the
passengers to do?

At 65.55 degrees South, the ‘Akademik Shokalskiy’ could go no further because it had
got wedged into a thick white stretch of ice between the peninsula and Tadpole Island.
The Captain decided to turn around and head back north but before that he instructed
all abroad to climb down the gangplank and walk on the ocean. Everyone enjoyed this
unique experience.

Q11.Why is it necessary to remain fully equipped while walking on ice? Base your
answer on the details of the kit given by the author?

While walking on ice the troupe was fully kitted out with Gore-Tex (type of spiked
boots that help in walking on ice) and glares (sun glasses). The spiked boots protect us
from falling down on ice which might result in injury and the glares protect the eyes
because the sun glare can injure our eyes particularly the retina.

Q12. Does your study of the article give you a feeling that man is his own great
enemy?

In his 12,000 year long stint on the Earth so far Man has caused untold harm to the
planet, its environment and bio-diversity. His activities and the so called progress of
his civilization has spelt doom for the flora and fauna so much so that his own existence
is endangered. If the ozone layer is depleting, global warming is increasing, polar ice
is melting, glaciers are receding, floods and droughts are recurrent, Man is to blame for
all this. Thus, it is not unfair to say that man is his own great enemy – an impression
we form from Doshi’s article “Journey to the End of the World”.

Q13. “It was nothing short of a revelation : everything does indeed connect.”
What revelation is Doshi talking about?

The scene of Crabeater seals stretching and sunning on ice floes where Doshi and her
school students landed on the Antarctica was a revelation for her. Human beings and
seals were as close to each other as stray dogs are close to us in our towns and villages.
Human existence and the survival of all other species, is interrelated and
interdependent. The sooner Man learns this, the better.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. Why did Tishani Doshi feel a sense of relief as well as wonder, when she
actually set foot on the Antarctic continent?

In Doshi’s own words, her first emotion on reaching Antarctic region was that of relief.
The crossing of nine time zones, six checkpoints, three water bodies and many
ecospheres had made her 100 hour tedious journey very exhausting. Antarctica’s
endless white expanse and the uninterrupted blue horizon gave assurance of her having
reached her destination safety and she felt relieved. At another level, she was carrying
on her shoulders the responsibility of the safety of high school students and the

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successful landing of all on Antarctica gave her a great deal of emotional relief. The
sense of relief was immediately followed by a sense of “profound wonder”. She was
wonder-struck by the immensity and isolation of the region. However, her main cause
of wonder was because she was aware of the fact that there was “a time when India and
Antarctica were part of the same landmass”.

Q2.How would you compare Tishani Doshi’s first reaction on reaching Antarctic
region and the ending of the article?

Tishani Doshi’s journey to Antarctica from the Southern India was a revealing
transportation from the scorching sun to the ice floes and glaciers and ninety percent of
the earth’s ice mass. The crossing of nine time zones, six checkpoints, three water
bodies and many ecospheres made the hundred hour tedious journey exhausting and all
abroad the ship felt a sense of relief and wonder. However, her two week’s Antarctic
encounter left an epiphanic effect on Doshi and she carried back indelible memories of
it. The entire experience was nothing short of a revelation. Her stay at Antarctica made
her wonder at the “beauty of balance in play on our planet”. She also reposes full faith
in the idealism exhibited by the youngsters and she hopes that the new generation will
understand their planet better and save it from annihilation. The planet’s eco-systems
and their fine balance took millions of years to form and can be destroyed in a day now.
But the school students’ day long experience at the Antarctica might as well cause a U-
turn in the way human beings view and handle their planet. Thus, even one day can
make as much as or more impact than a million years.

Q3.“The world’s geological history is trapped in Antarctica.” How is the study of

this region useful to us?

Antarctic landmass, which was an amalgamated southern supercontinent called

Gondwana – dates back to six hundred and fifty million (10,00,000 x 650) years. This
landmass centred around present day Antarctica. Human beings were non-existent then
for their civilization is merely 12,000 years old. The climate then was quite warm and
the landmass flourished with a large variety of flora and fauna. However, at a later
stage when the dinosaurs got wiped out and mammals began to appear, the landmass
disintegrated into countries and India, the Himalayas and the South America were
formed and got fixed in their present position. This left Antarctica frigid and desolate
at the bottom of the earth. Today, it holds key to the significance of Cordilleran folds
and pre-Cambrian granite shields, ozone and carbon layers as well as evolution and
extinction. It can help us understand better the formation of continents and mountains
like the Himalayas as we find them in the modern world.

Its ice-cores hold over half-million-year-old carbon records which are so crucial for the
study of the Earth’s past, present and future. Thus Antarctica is indeed a capsule of the
planet’s past, present and future.

Q 4. Why is Antarctica the place to go, to understand the earth’s past, present,
and future?

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Although the human civilizations have been around on this earth for 12,000 years, it is
hardly a few seconds on the geological clock. In our brief stay here, we have exploited
nature and depleted our resources. concretization of our earth, population explosion
and the burning of fossil/fuels, has created a blanket of carbon dioxide around the
world, which in turn is increasing the average global temperature.

The changing climate threatens to melt the West Antarctic ice sheet entirely and the
Gulf Stream ocean current can be disrupted. It could also lead to the end of the world.
Antarctica is the only place in the world that has never sustained a human population
and therefore remains relatively untouched. In addition, it holds in its ice-cores half-
million-year-old carbon records, trapped in its layers of ice. Hence, if we want to study
and examine the Earth’s past, present and future, Antarctica is the place to go.

Answer the following question using the hints provided:

1. What is the future of mankind and the planet as a whole with reference to
‘Journey to the end of the Earth’.

Value points for Q1.

 Future of mankind appears dismal.

 Increase in population has led to a ‘population boom’.
 Greatly depleted our resources of nature-destroyed forests and extinction of
certain species of wildlife.
 Excessive burning of fossil fuels has created a blanket of carbon dioxide around
the earth.
 Antarctic environment has been affected by global warming – this is clear from
receding glaciers and collapsing ice shelves.
 These grave indications do not anger will for the future of mankind.
 Prognosis not good and may lead to total annihilation.

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 Sadao explained his plan. He put his boat with clothes, water and food and
asked the soldier to row to an uninhabited island nearby.
 Suggested that he could catch fish but eat it raw.
 Asked him to wait for a Korean fishing boat before he sailed to freedom.
 Gave him his flashlight. Asked the soldier to flash incase of any need.
 Sadao gave him Japanese clothes and covered his hair with a black cloth.

True patriots and human beings

 Both Sadao & Hana – full of fellow, feeling, kindness for people in distress.
 Saved the American Soldier, took care of his health, sent him out of Japan,
risked their own life by sheltering an enemy.
 Truly patriotic – Both wanted to give the soldier to the police
 Had no objection if assassins killed the soldier.
 Revealed the secret to the general.
 Wanted to get rid of the enemy after saving his life.
 Dedicated Surgeon and citizen.

Character Sketch Hana

 Balance of qualities of head and heart-near perfect woman

 Capable of switching over to any role with effortlessness –when servants decide
to leave, immediately takes on their responsibilities and is dignified and graceful
about it.
 enthusiasm for patriotism doesn’t make her blind to the need for showing fellow
feeling towards the POW
 maintains her calm in times of conflict though she is extremely tense and fearful
 Becomes an anesthetist when the need arises-cooperative and understanding
 In spite of her dislike for the POW she washes him and treats him respectfully
 Is a true human being first before being a Japanese

Notes

 Dr. Sadao Hoki’s early life

- lived in a house on a Japanese coast
- often played there as a small boy
- house set upon rocks above a narrow beach
- climbed pine trees on the beach as a child
- supported himself on bare feet
- often visited South Sea Island with father
- father believed islands to be stepping stones for Japan’s future
- father was a quiet man; never joked and played with him
- Sadao was a dutiful son; did everything his father told him
- father was stern but cared a lot for Sadao’s future

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true patriot, he informs his superior, a Japanese Army General, about the prisoner’s
presence at his house and agrees to have him killed by the General’s assassins, he
spends three restless nights waiting for the assassins to carry out their job. At the same
time, however, he wishes that the American sailor escaped to safety. In the end, he
gives the prisoner his boat and tells him how he can safely escape. He heaves a sigh of
relief when he is sure that the prisoner has escaped safely and keeps wondering, as does
the reader, why he couldn’t bring himself to killing a prisoner of war belonging to an
enemy country. Thus, the story underscores’ the illogicality of war.

Another theme that runs parallel is that peoples of the world are inherently the same
despite the superficial differences of skin colour, cultures and nationalities etc. and that
we should consider people of other countries as our friends and not enemies. The best
way to ‘kill’ an enemy is to befriend him.

TITLE

“The Enemy” is an apt title for the story that has the Second World War as the
background that eventually culminates in dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki by America. Under these circumstances an American P.O.W. sailor, by no
chance, could be treated as a friend by the Japanese. The servants tin Dr Sadao’s house
vehemently protest against his presence and treat him as their sworn enemy; so much
so that they severe their long standing relationship with the Sadaos over this issue. They
want the enemy to be immediately handed over to the police. For the masses that
constitute majority of the population all the world over, all individuals belonging to the
country, their nation is at war with, are their enemies. The Sadao couple too consider
Tom to be their enemy; but being educated, they have a broader and more generous
view of life, and in spite of reservations, mental conflicts and various other odds they
are confronted with, they take a humanistic view. The doctor’s professional ethics also
urge him to treat the American sailor as a patient. Neither Dr Sadao, nor Hana, at any
stage consider him to be their friend in spite of the fact that they have spent a number
of years in the States. Hence “The Enemy” is a befitting title for the story.

MESSAGE

Brevity is the essence of every artistically presented creative writing and no sensitive
creative writer would ever spend pages after pages to convey just one single message;
least of all a writer of Pearl S. Buck’s caliber and sensitivity. “The Enemy” is a long
short story unfolding a variety of meanings and messages. A few salient messages
conveyed by the story are as follows:

(a) An Anti-War Story

Having the backdrop of Second World War, it is an anti-war story which aims at
deglorification of war and highlights the endeavours of the author to awaken the
feelings of the reader against the horrors of war. She does it, by presenting the helpless
and pitiable state of a young American sailor, who has to weather the atrocity of nature
and the hostility of average Japanese. In an artistic manner, and without sounding
didactic, Pearl S. Buck warns the people of the world against waging wars.

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(b) Humaneness in War

At another level Pearl S. Buck wants to convey the message that if at all war becomes
inevitable, how should a helpless P.O.W. like Tom be treated. The soldier at the front,
suffering the bullets should be treated as a human being first and an enemy afterwards.
After all, it is not the fault of the particular warring individual if he belongs to the enemy
camp. If he is pricked, he feels the same pinch that you feel. Kindness is the key word
that Pearl S. Buck showers on Tom through her mouthpiece-the Dr Sadao family. In
her story, the author advocates the lesson of universal brotherhood. Who knows, if
every individual, high or low, in this world starts thinking on these lines, man may be
able to bring the kingdom of heaven on this earth.

(c ) Patriotism and the Medical Profession

Service of the wounded and ailing is the best example of patriotism that a doctor can
exhibit. The novelist here wants to impress upon the doctors of the world that they
have no nationality, religion, cast or creed. They are simply human beings and residents
of the world. The entire globe is their home. And they have been trained in their
specialized fields to serve mankind. They should behave in a moral manner and should
shed all biased emotions. Like the doctor, when confronted with reservations, a sense
of nationalism, they are expected to rise above all this and make frantic efforts to save
human life. The author also wants all wives of doctors to be like Hana.

GLOSSARY

 creeping up : (here) slowly moving up

 Wreathing : Encircling

 Haori : A loose outer garment resembling a coat and

extending to the knees worn over the kimono

 Kimono : Wide sleeved Japanese dress

 Voluble : Talkative

 Heedlessly : (here) carelessly; recklessly

 Breaker : Heavy wave

 Staggered : Walked unsteadily

 Surf : Foam of sea

 Tended : Nursed

 Solemn : Earnest; serious

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 assassins : Killers, especially political or religious

 timid : Coward, fearful

 gaily : Cheerfully

 gaunt : Grim, desolate, lean

 stubbly beard : Unshaven beard

 blond : Golden yellow

 comprehending : Understanding

 shaggy : Rough

 boughs : Branches

 eaves : Overhanging edges of roofs

 fathoms : Measure of six feet in terms of depth

 dereliction : Neglect

 prejudice : Bias, preconceived opinion

 slatternly : Untidy

 despised : Hated, disliked, looked down upon

 repulsive : Causing aversion

 haggard : Worn out, exhausted, run-down, unhealthy

READING WITH INSIGHT

Q1. Dr Sadao was compelled by his duty as a doctor to help the enemy soldier.
What made Hana, his wife, sympathetic to him in the face of open defiance from
the domestic staff?

When Sadao and Hana saw the prisoner of war, they were confronted with a dilemma
for a moment but the doctor in Sadao surfaced spontaneously. Hana, too, knew that if
they left the American there, he would certainly die. She could not put him back into
the sea. When Sadao asked if she could put him into the sea, she said, ‘But if you can

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do it alone…’ clearly indicating her unwillingness. In the bedroom Hana covered him
with a flowered silk quilt and also washed him when Yumi refused. She helped Sadao
operate. She was afraid lest the servants report on them yet her ‘anger’ at Yumi gave
her courage. When the soldier regained consciousness, he was terrified. Hana
apologized, served him and reassured him.

Her pride and self respect held her back from the servants as they decided to leave them
or giving in to their pressure. Perhaps, as the servants felt, their stay in America had
changed their attitude and they were not as parochial as the rest. It could also be that
they were educated and sensitive human beings unlike the servants, who viewed the
situation as either good or bad.

Q2. How would you explain the reluctance of the solder to leave the shelter of
the doctor’s home even when he couldn’t stay there without risk to the doctor and
to himself?

When the American, Tom, awoke, he was weak and terrified so Hana reassured him.
When he asked her how she could speak English she told him that she had been in
America for a long time. She fed him gently and comforted him, while Sadao tended
to him as a doctor although he could not explain why he was doing so.

Soon the soldier began trusting them. He felt if he hadn’t met a Japanese like Sadao he
wouldn’t have been alive. He said, ‘I guess if all the Japs were like you there wouldn’t
have been a war.’ When the General tells Sadao that he would send assassins to his
house, Sadao slept badly expecting assassins. When he told the soldier of his plan to
escape, the answer he got was, ‘So I have to?’ Again when Sadao reveals his plan he
says, ‘I realize you are saving my life again.’ Sadao also told him how to safeguard
himself.

Human beings are complicated because of their inherent ability to reason. Logic and
reason do not always determine actions. Often decisions and actions are governed by
irrational emotions, which one may not be able to explain or justify even to oneself. In
this story, Tom bonds with the Japanese as humans who have looked after him. The
human in him surfaces over the soldier in him.

Q3. What explains the attitude of the ruthless General in the matter of the
enemy soldier? Was it human consideration, lack of national loyalty, dereliction
of duty or simply self-absorption?

The General was a highly self-absorbed man. He had kept the doctor in the country
primarily because he needed medical attention. For the doctor he decided to get rid of
the soldier. When Sadao told him about the successful operation of the American, the
General happy because that was a reassured of Sadao’s professional skill and that was
what made Sadao ‘even more important’ as he would be requiring his help. His self
absorption comes to the forefront again when he asked what would happen if Sadao
were condemned to death and the next day, he had to be operated upon. He was
scheming and decided to get the soldier killed by his private assassins.

Later, when Sadao informed the General about Tom’s escape, a week after his
emergency operation, the General admitted that he had promised to get him killed but

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during his suffering he ‘thought of nothing but myself (himself), and forgot my (his)
promise’. He was worried that if the matter should come out, the doctor would swear
to his loyalty. For this he promised to reward Sadao.

Q4. ‘Dr Sadao Hoki’s father had dreamt of a bright future for his son and he
hadn’t been disappointed.’ Justify.

When Dr Sadao Hoki was a little boy, his father often took him to the islands not far
from the shore and would tell him that those islands were the ‘stepping-stones’ to the
future of Japan. He felt that stepping from them, their future would be the sky and it
would depend on what they made of it. Sadao listened attentively to all his father said.
Hence, Sadao realized that his education was the most important thing in the world to
his father. So at twenty-two he was sent to America to study surgery and medicine. He
returned at thirty as not only a famous surgeon but as an accomplished scientist.
Because he was working on an important medical discovery, he was not sent abroad
with the troops. The old General, too, trusted Sadao with his skill more than any other
doctor. This was another reason why Sadao was kept in Japan.

Q5. The entry as well as the exit of the American soldier from the lives of the
Japanese couple was very dramatic. Discuss.

The American soldier came into the lives of the Japanese couple one day when the
weather had been surprisingly warm and the nights were very foggy. Sadao and Hana
were leaning over the railing one day, when they saw this man crawling on his hands
and knees and then they saw him fall on his face and lie there. They rushed out thinking
it was a fisherman and coming closer they saw that he was badly hurt. He had a gunshot
wound and his clothes were wet rags. They turned his head and saw he was a white
man whose gunshot wound which had reopened. Looking at the ‘U.S. Navy’ insignia
on his tattered uniform they realized that he was a prisoner of war.

Equally dramatic was his exit. When Sadao confined in the General about the American
in his house, the General said that he would send his private assassins to his house to
kill the white man while he slept. Sadao waited for three nights and nothing happened.
Sadao could not live in such tension. So he suggested that he put Tom in a boat at night,
with food and extra clothes in it, and Tom could row it to the little island not far from
the coast. This plan was executed and it was the last they saw of him.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. Who was Dr Sadao? Where was his house situated?

Dr Sadao was a renowned Japanese surgeon trained in America and an equally
noted scientist who was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds
entirely clean. His ‘square stone house’ was situated on rocks above a narrow
beach that was outlined with bent pines.

Q2. Give two reasons why Dr Sadao was not sent abroad with the Japanese
troops?
Dr Sadao was not sent abroad with the Japanese troops firstly because the
General was ailing and might need an operation any time and secondly because

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Sadao was perfecting a discovery which was likely to “render wounds entirely
clean.” So his presence in Japan was indispensable.

Q3. Sometimes little things in life become very vital. How would you justify it
from the chance first meeting of Sadao and Hana?
Sadao met Hana by chance in the American Professor Harley’s house from
where, a little while ago, he had wanted to run away as he was sick of the small
size of the rooms, the voluble lady of the house and the food that she served.
But that was not to be. This chance and casual meeting became vital and later
culminated in the lifelong union of Sadao and Hana as husband and wife.

Q4. Who was the ‘misty Figure’ that had been washed ashore in front of Dr
Sadao’s beach house? How did the doctor and his wife establish his
identify?
The ‘misty figure’ who had been washed ashore in front of Dr Sadao’s house
was an American prisoner of war who was fatally wounded. It appeared that he
had been badly tortured and shot and his flesh had been scraped by the
dangerous spiky rocks near the shore. Dr Sadao and his wife were able to
establish his identity as a U.S. sailor from the faint lettering on his battered cap
that spelled ‘U.S. Navy’.

Q5. Why did blood start flowing out of the wounded man as soon as Sadao
touched the wound with his fingers?
The blood started flowing freshly from the wound as soon as the doctor touched
it because it was a gun shot wound which had not been tended for quite
sometime and had reopened as the rocks on the shore had torn it further apart.

Q6. How and why did Dr Sadao stop the bleeding of the injured man on the
beach? What dilemma did Dr Sadao and his wife have to face soon after?
Medical instinct and ethics made Dr Sadao stanch the bleeding of the American
prisoner of war. He immediately packed the wound with the help of wild sea
moss to stop the bleeding momentarily. But soon he and his wife found
themselves in a dilemma – should they save the mortally wounded man or hand
him over as a prisoner, for the belonged to an enemy country.

Q7. How did the old gardener react when Sadao told him about the wounded
American sailor?
The old gardener was really upset and frightened on hearing about the wounded
American sailor. In his anxiety he pulled the few hairs on the upper lip. He
was of the opinion that his master should not treat the white man. He felt that
it was destined that the man should die because first he was shot, then the rocks
wounded him and if the master went against the dictates of destiny, the gun and
sea would avenge their master’s disobedience.

Q8. “Could it ever be well to help an enemy?” What does your reading of the
story “The Enemy” tell you?
All the servants in the Sadao household are critical of the American’s presence
in the house which sets Hana thinking about the wisdom of their decision to
save and shelter Tom, the American prisoner of war. But viewed from

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humanitarian grounds, the decision to shelter the enemy, treat and nurse him
was justified.

Q9. How did Hana wash the wounded man? Why did she have to do it herself?
After laying the wounded man’s breast bare by untying the knotted rugs, Hana
soaked the small clean ‘towel’ with hot water and washed the wounded man’s
face and body carefully. She kept on washing him until his upper body was
quite clean.
Hana had to do all this herself because Yumi, the children’s nurse had
categorically refused to wash a ‘dirty white man’.

Q10. “This man….., there is no reason under heaven, why he should live.” Why
does Dr Sadao make this statement about the American prisoner of war?
The American prisoner of war, a badly wounded man is a source of much worry
and vexation for Dr Sadao. Saving him is a challenge for his skills as a doctor,
harboring him in house could lead to his arrest and his treatment was an ultimate
test of his practice. Thus, Dr Sadao was going through so much mental conflict
all because of an enemy country’s sailor. So when his wife Hana nauseates
during the operation and he is unable to attend to her, Dr Sadao loses all control
and makes the statement in question.

Q11. What reason would you ascribe to the General beating his wife?
A psychological analysis of the General’s personality would reveal that he is a
cowardly person suffering from inferiority complex and believes in
overprotecting himself. Such a person tends to exercise his authority on the
weak and helpless. Probably that is why he beats his wife.

Q12. What did Hana think when she saw the scars on the American? Why did
she think so?
When Hana noticed that there were deep red scars on the American’s neck, she
anxiously and very sincerely hoped that he had not been tortured. She thought
so because she is a kind-hearted lady and shuddered at the thought of any
physical violence. She knew that it was a common practice to torture prisoners
of war in a brutal manner.

Q13. Do you agree with the observation of the American professor, “Ignorance
of the human body is the surgeon’s cardinal sin”?
I do agree with this observation. A surgeon’s main field of activity is the human
body and if he does not have its thorough knowledge, he has no right to operate
on it and if he does so, he is committing a “cardinal sin.” It is nothing short of
committing a virtual murder.

Q14. How do the servants react to the decision of Sadaos to keep the American
prisoner of war in their house?
The servants informed Hana that if they (Sadaos) insisted on keeping the
American prisoner hidden in the house any more, it wouldn’t be possible for
them to stay there. They were of the view that since both of them had stayed in
America they had developed a liking for Americans. The gardener felt that the
man should have been allowed to bleed to death while the cook contemptuously

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remarked that their master was so proud of his skill to save life that he would
save any life without making a distinction between a friend and a foe.

Q15. Give details of the two things that happened on the seventh day after the
wounded American was brought into the house by the Sadaos.
On the seventh day two important things happened as far as the Sadaos were
concerned. Firstly, all the servants gathered their belongings and departed in
the morning without having discharged their duties. Secondly, in the afternoon,
Hana saw a uniformed messenger enter the house with the General’s message.

Q16. Why does the General not want to be treated by a doctor trained in
Germany?
According to the General, the Germans are ruthless and don’t care much about
human life whereas the Americans are sentimental and value life. So he does
not want to be treated by the doctors trained in Germany and prefers Dr Sadao
because of his dexterity as a surgeon and his humanness.

Q17. How did the General offer to help Sadao get rid of the American?
The General offered to send his own private assassins to Sadao’s house to help
him get rid of the American. He further informed the doctor that they were
capable assassins, and without much aid and noise would kill the man by
causing internal bleeding. They would also dispose of the body, he assured
Sadao.

Q18. What is an absolute state? Why was it necessary for the rulers to keep
assassins?
An absolute state is an autocratic dictatorial state ruled by a despot (a ruler with
absolute power) where opposition of any kind is not tolerated. Japan, during
the days of the Second World War was an absolute state and it was necessary
for the rulers to keep assassins to silence any type of discontent or opposition
against their dictates.

Q19. After recovering when the American prisoner asks the doctor, “What are
you going to do with me?” ; do you think the doctor’s answer was any
consolation for him?
After recovery, the American prisoner was justifiable concerned about his fate,
but the doctor’s non-committal answer, “I don’t know” was no consolation for
him. The vague reply was far from satisfactory and must have kept the young
man on tenterhooks.

Q20. After the General’s assurance of getting the American prisoner slain, the
doctor should have felt relieved, but he spends sleepless nights. How do
you account for his behaviour?
Afraid of being implicated by the authorities for harboring an enemy and not
wanting to be called a traitor, Dr Sadao does inform the General of the American
sailor’s presence at his home and agrees to the General’s offer of having the
man assassinated. However, having done that, Dr Sadao’s conscience pricks
him and his heart reproaches him for ‘betraying’ his guest and wishing for his
death. So, during the three nights, instead of experiencing relief, Dr Sadao
remains perturbed and sleepless on account of his fear of the assassins killing

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the American. Subconsciously, he wishes that the white man survived and
escaped to safety.

Q21. Why was Sadao not able to talk to the General about the assassins for quite
some time?
Dr Sadao was not able to speak to the General about the assassins as he had
been operated upon and the doctor was not sure whether the patient would
survive or not as his gall bladder was much involved. However, when the
General recovered after a week, there was no need to talk about them as the
American prisoner had been made to escape by him

Q22. Gazing out to the sea from where the young man had come, Sadao was
reminded of some other white men he had known. Who were they and
what did Sadao remember about them?
As Dr Sadao stood gazing at the sea, after the wounded American’s escape he
is remembered of a few persons he had met during his stay in America. He is
reminded of the dull professor and his silly talkative wife where he had met
Hana; his anatomy professor who insisted on “mercy with the knife” and his fat
and slatternly landlady.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. Discuss medical ethics and the problem in Pearl S. Buck’s ‘The Enemy’.

Or
What is more important-loyalty to your country or saving a person’s life
no matter who is? Explain your answer by giving examples from ‘The
Enemy’.
Two of the principles of medical ethics state that ‘A physician shall, while
caring for a patient, regard responsibility to the patient as paramount’ and ‘A
physician shall support access to medical care for all people’. In light of this,
Sadao was true to his profession as it was his primary duty as a doctor to help
his patient without caring for his identity. He had to struggle between loyalty
to his country and his training as a doctor to save life. He instinctively chose
the latter. Through rationality told him to hand over the prisoner to the police
but humanitarian feelings and professional ethics told him to save his life.

In this story, Sadao had grown up believing that the Japanese were a superior
race. In fact, he had not married Hana till his father had approved of her. His
father had consented because of her faith in traditional Japanese values.
Moreover, his own experience in America had not been pleasant. He had found
it difficult to find a place to live in America because he was a Japanese. The
Americans were full of prejudice. He had found it tough to live among such
feelings. Also, his socio-cultural values made it even more difficult for him to
accept Americans. So much so that he could not even show his gratitude to his
landlady for taking care of him when he was sick. He thought she was
disgusting, even though she was kind to him. But he couldn’t let the young
American soldier bleed to death. He himself wondered why he could not kill

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him. While operating on him, he had called him ‘my friend,’ and had for the
moment forgotten that he was his enemy.

Q2. What is the theme of Pearl S. Buck’s ‘The Enemy’?

Human beings are complicated as proven by their ability to reason. Thoughtful

consideration is often, but not always, used in determining actions. Those
actions are driven by motivation. What complicates the decision is that a human
may be experiencing internal conflicts, which in turn, may lead to contradicting
motives.
Sadao was a Japanese surgeon who lived in Japan during World War II.
Together with his wife Hana and the servants, Sadao had a comfortable life.
Earlier, he had spent several years in the United States during medical school.
While in the United States, Sadao experienced cultural prejudice and bias first
hand. He did have a few positive experiences including that of a teacher and
landlady, but most Americans had not welcomed him. Despite this, he puts his
life in jeopardy to save an American – a prisoner of war. The author deals with
how humanitarian considerations override man-made barriers of rationality and
culture. Our affinity, despite cultural, prejudices is instinctive.

Q3. “The kindest thing would be to put him (the P.O.W) back into the sea,”
says Hana. What are your comments regarding Hana’s statement?
Hana’s sound reasoning tells her that the fatally wounded American sailor is
going to create problems for them, if he is taken home. If he dies, the authorities
are going to view them with suspicion and Sadao might be put behind the bars,
which would bring shame to the respected family’s name and a great deal of
humiliation for her husband. If the prisoner of war gives a positive response to
the doctor’s treatment and survives, he is bound to be taken by the authorities,
tortured and executed. The doctor, too, would be questioned about the whole
case. However, if the prisoner of war is pushed.

Q4. How did Dr Sadao help the American prisoner to escape? What
precautions did he want the man to take?
On the evening of the American prisoner’s escape, after it got dark, Sadao
dragged out his stout boat down to the shore, put food, bottled water and two
quilts in it and tied it to a post in the water. He gave the American his personal
flashlight to be used at night. He advised him to signal two flashes at the same
instant the sun dropped over the horizon in case his food ran out and warned
him not to signal in darkness for it would be seen. He also instructed him to eat
raw fish only, for a fire would be seen. He then told him to row to a particular
island and wait for a Korean fishing boat. Finally, he wrapped a black cloth
about his blond hair and dressed him in Japanese clothes. Thus the American
was able to make good his escape with the help of the doctor.

Q5. Describe the mental state of Dr Sadao during the three nights when he was
waiting for the private assassins of the General. Do you approve of his
restlessness during the period?
Burdened with his sense of guilt at having shielded and harboured an enemy
sailor, together with the agony caused to him by his wife’s worries and desertion
of his servants, Dr Sadao told the General everything about the American

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prisoner. He wanted to get rid of the prisoner but dare not kill him or hand him
over to the police. So when the General offered to send his private assassins to
kill the American, Dr Sadao happily accepted the proposal.

For three nights he waited anxiously for the assassins to appear at night but in
vain. On the first night Dr Sadao slept badly. He woke up time and again,
thinking he had heard rustling footsteps or the sound of a twig breaking or a
stone getting displaced in the garden. He felt that the assassins were at work
but was surprised to see the American prisoner still alive in the morning.

The second night was very windy. Dr Sadao felt it was the night the assassins
would come but he was wrong. All he could hear were the sounds of bending
boughs and whistling partitions. The non-appearance of the assassins and the
American sailor’s continued survival must have added to Dr Sadao’s anger and
patience but he decided to wait for another night.

On the third night, the wind changed to quiet rain and the garden was full of the
sounds of dripping eaves and running springs. Dr Sadao felt a little better and
had some sleep but the sudden sound of a crash woke him up and he could not
get back to sleep that night.

Thus, Dr Sadao spent three nights in torturing suspense and restlessness waiting
for the assassins to come and kill his ‘enemy’. However, it was natural for him
to be so. How could he remain at peace with himself when he was waiting for
someone to be killed? He was a nervous wreck and a bundle of anxiety and
worry. Neither his body nor his mind was at rest. There was constant turmoil
going on inside him. In my opinion, such a state of being was natural and
unavoidable for Dr Sadao

Answer the following using the hints provided:

1. Why did the messenger’s visit frighten Hana?

Value Points Q1.

 The messenger had come because the General was in pain and needed the
services of Mr. Sadao
 However, Hana thought that the servants had given them away before the police
and he had come with summons to arrest them
 So she was mortally scared

2. What is an ‘absolute state’? Why are assassins necessary in such a state?

Value Points Q2.

 An absolute state is one that is dictatorial and tyrannical and is ruled by an

autocratic ruler

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So saying, Derry ran out to Mr Lamb's garden. In Mr Lamb's garden a branch was heard
shifting and apples thumping down. Suddenly, Mr Lamb fell. Soon Derry entered
shouting in glee at having returned. He noticed Mr Lamb fallen on the ground. He ran
to him and tried to wake him. There was no answer. Derry began to weep.

Useful Websites
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/? P=auth 192#genres
http:/ / www.susan-hill.com
http:/ / www.thewomaninblack.com
http://www.booksandcompany.co.uk

CHARACTERS

Mr. Lamb

Mr Lamb is a philanthropist to the core and is a compulsive do-gooder. He is always

prepared to overlook the shortcomings and mischief of others. Believing that Derry has
entered his garden stealthily with the intention of pinching apples, Mr Lamb overlooks
it. He is more concerned that the boy should not trip over windfall crab apples and hurt
himself.

In spite of the fact that one of his legs had got blown off during the war and children
sometimes make fun of him by calling him "Lamey-Lamb", he always maintains a
positive attitude towards life and accepts life as it comes, without grumbling. He simply
ignores the children's teasing comments.

He is gregarious by nature and a downright extrovert who believes in universal

brotherhood. He keeps the gates and windows of his house always
open. In his own words, "All welcome, you're welcome". He loves all the creatures of
God and asserts that, "There's nothing God made that doesn't interest me."

He believes in the oneness of all the creations of God. His remarks about weeds are
worth paying attention to. "I grow weeds there. Why is one green growing plant called
a weed and another a flower? Where's the difference? It's all life... growing. Same as
you and me." He believes in turning a deaf ear to unpalatable comments of others and
very pertinently asks Derek, "So you believe everything you hear, then?" He suggests
to Derek to hear only those things that one wants to hear. He is of the opinion that one's
auditory sense should function like a sieve which filters out the unwanted.

Mr Lamb is a strong advocate of the inevitability of the role played by destiny in our
life. The story narrated by him about the man who shut himself in a room because he
was afraid of everything in the outside world and how a picture fell off the wall and
killed him is very suggestive.

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 VISTAS XII

He has the rare quality of convincing others with his sound arguments. A die-hard and
an almost incorrigible Derek has a turn around after his encounter with Mr Lamb. In
the face of strong opposition from his mother the fourteen-year-old boy rushes back to
him, which is something very bold and courageous. In short, Mr Lamb, despite his
handicap has all the qualities of head and heart that every wise man should emulate.

Derek (Derry) '

Derek is a complex torn lad of fourteen who is a victim of an inferiority complex owing
to accidental spilling of acid on one side of his face. He always remains conscious of
this handicap and is full of bitterness, and had he not met Mr Lamb, he would have
become a total psychological wreck.

In the beginning of the play, Derek gives the impression of being a spoilt brat as he tries
to intimidate Mr Lamb whose garden he has trespassed.
However, slowly and gradually Derek's personality traits get unfolded. We learn that
the most tortuous psychological block for Derek results from the excessive importance
he gives to the comments of others. He bears a grudge against the members of his family
also who, instead of encouraging him always keep on pitying him.

However, Derek is a three dimensional character capable of giving a surprise to others

by shedding his negative attitude towards life. Mr Lamb's cryptic words of wisdom
inspire him and he rushes back to his garden to adopt the attitude and path shown by
him.

THEME
"On The Face Of It" deals with the theme that appearances are deceptive and most often
we go on dealing with our impressions and prejudices about others without caring to
know them actually. Mr Lamb, for example, is considered to be a lonely eccentric lame
old man who lives in a neighbourhood house. As is clear from Derek's mother's
conversation, parents don't want their children to go to him or to his garden. Mr Lamb,
in reality is a very kind, loving and generous man who longs for company and loves his
fellow human beings and all the other creations of God.

Similarly, on the face of it Derek appears to be an abominable and ugly boy with a huge
and deep scar on one side efface. Nobody likes him, loves him or befriends him. He is
the object of other people's hateful stares, ridicule and neglect. Everyone dreads his
ugliness and avoids him, including his mother who dare not kiss the scarry side of his
face. Yet this boy has a very tender and sensitive heart, and has a deep longing to love
and be loved. Although he suffers from an acute inferiority complex and a deep lack of
self-regard, he is strong enough to take
things in his stride. All he needs is a healing touch and a loving care in order to turn
around and live his life fully. Fortunately he meets Mr Lamb and finds himself
transformed.

A sub-theme of the play is that the pain of actual physical impairment is often much
less than the sense of alienation felt by the person with disabilities. Thus, Derek suffers

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more on account of the pain caused by his own notions of how much others hate and
ignore him because of his ugliness than from the pain actually caused by the acid and
the burn scars caused by it.

Yet another theme woven dexterously into the play is that scars do not change a person
and that handicaps must be accepted in life and society. Instead of fussing over Derek's
scars or Mr Lamb's eccentricity and artificial legs, people around them need to realize
that the two are as much human as they themselves are and that if they are given time
and space they will do well in life.

But it is unfortunate to see that people fail to realize the uniqueness of every human
being, nay every little creation of God and thoughtlessly wound, scar and divide the
world with war, hatred, prejudice and indifference. On the face of it, all of us seem to
be different, yet underneath we are the same. The play raises a pertinent question "When
will we understand this, accept it and conduct our lives accordingly?"

TITLE

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, "On The Face Of It" is an
informal expression used to say that something seems to be good, true etc. but this
opinion may need to be changed when you know more about it.

This definition of the expression should leave us in no doubt about the appropriateness
of the title. An individual may be quite different from what we think of him or what he
or she may. Apparently appear to be at first glance. There is the imperative need for us
to view others by removing our glasses of prejudice, hatred, hearsay and dislike.

On the face of it, Mr Lamb appears to be mysterious, lonely, lame old fellow who lives
in a neighbourhood house with a huge garden, but in reality he is very kind, generous,
loving and altruistic. Similarly, although Derek has an ugly looking and scarry face, he
is a fine lad of fourteen with a deep longing for love. There is nothing wrong with Mr
Lamb and Derek. What is wrong is the way people in their lives and around them view
and treat them.

On the face of it, there is so much of diversity, so many differences and divides between
the peoples and other-species of the world but underneath is a oneness, a sameness - all
of them are created by God and all of them need to live and grow together with love
and-mutual acceptance. As the play progresses the characters' views about each other
and our impression of them changes for the better.

Thus, Susan Hill has quite appropriately entitled her play "On the Face of it".

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Reading with Insight

Q1. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr Lamb in spite of himself?

Derry met Mr Lamb in a chance meeting. Mr Lamb succeeded in putting his

apprehensions to rest, Derry was a young boy, with a burnt face and scarred soul as
he had faced a great deal of rejection early in life. People felt that his face was 'a
terrible thing' and shunned him.

But Mr Lamb said that beauty was relative and he enjoyed everything God made-
even the weeds in the garden and the bees singing. He respected each creation's
individuality. Derry found him to be saying the strangest things. Mr Lamb
explained that the world is as one looks at it. He told Derry of a man who was afraid
of everything and shut himself in a room, till a Picture fell off the wall onto his head
and killed him. Derry laughed about Mr Lamb's ability to say 'peculiar things'.

For the first time, Derry admitted that he liked to hear the rain on the roof. Mr Lamb
was happy to know that Derry could listen. Mr Lamb said that Derry had arms, legs,
eyes, ears, tongue and a brain. He could get on the way he wanted like everyone or
even better. He also said that hating people would do him more harm than any bottle
of acid. It would burn away his inside. He clarified to Derry that people with the
same deformity were also different. It was incorrect to judge people by what they
looked like. One had to watch, listen and think to notice the difference.

Later, Derry was determined to go back but his mother tried to dissuade him. Derry
defended Mr Lamb saying that he wanted to go there, sit and listen to the bees
singing and him talking about things that mattered; about things nobody else had
ever said; about things he wanted to think about-they were Mr Lamb's ideas. He
told his mother that Mr Lamb didn't care what he looked like. He didn't care about
his face and it wasn't important. He felt if he didn't go back there, he would never
go anywhere in the world again. Mr Lamb attracted Derry because he taught him
the valuable lesson of not indulging in self-pity and looking at the brighter side of
things. He taught Derry not to be afraid to face the world and to retreat from it.

Q2. The actual pain or the inconvenience caused by a physical impairment is often
less than the sense of alienation felt by the person with a disability. What is the
kind of behaviour that the person expects from others?

The right word for 'physical impairment' is 'differently-abled' -a word framed to

view them in a more positive light. But it is cruel that over 90 million physically-
challenged children worldwide, of whom 36 million are in India, are being
 VISTAS XII

systemically excluded from mainstream education. Many of them are stereotyped

frequently also face alienation even within their own families.

The least they would expect is more acceptance of and no ostracism of the disabled.
They would expect us to understand that they can be highly productive, contributing
citizens. Issues of physical accessibility are just the tip of the iceberg. Instead of
questioning the need for civil rights for people with disabilities we must question a
society in which these rights are not the norm. We must question whether the people
who can now are confronted with metaphors in which blindness and deafness are
equated with imperfection. The most important thing we can do is value the voices
of the people with disabilities themselves. History is fraught with well-meaning
individuals who truly desired to assist people with disabilities, but in their haste to
help they neglected to empower these people to be their own advocates. We must
allow people with disabilities to become the subjects rather than the objects of their
own history.

Each of us must continually question our own presumptions and attitudes. We must
be willing to give people with disabilities their rightful place at the conversation
table and be willing to listen to their truth.

Q3. Will Derry get back to his seclusion or will Mr Lamb's brief association effect
a change in the kind of life he will lead in future?

When Derry met Mr Lamb in a chance meeting, he was apprehensive, shy and bitter
as he had faced a great deal of rejection early in life. People felt that his face was 'a
terrible thing' and shunned him. They pretended to be sympathetic but were actually
afraid of him. Derry was acutely aware that he had 'the ugliest face'.

Mr Lamb exposed him to a new world where one's physical attributes did not
matter. He was interested in everything God made-the weeds to him were a weed
garden. He respected each creation's individuality. Each creation was different. Just
as Mr Lamb was old and Derry young, burnt face while Mr Lamb a tin leg. He felt
that beauty was relative. He advised Derry to keep his ears shut to adverse
comments. He told Derry that he had arms; legs, eyes, ears, tongue and a brain and
if he chose, and set his mind to it, he could get on better than all the rest. Mr Lamb
said that hating people would do him more harm than any bottle of acid. Acid only
burnt his face like the bomb that only blew up his leg. Worse things could happen
and one could burn oneself away inside if one hated people. He said that people
with the same deformity would also be different. It was incorrect to judge people
by how they looked. One had to watch, listen and think to notice the difference.

This brief meeting left an indelible imprint for a lifetime on Derry's young mind.
For the first time Derry felt comfortable with himself. At the end, Derry finally
learns to face his disability with courage.

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SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. Why does Derek want to go back home as soon as he comes face to face with
Mr Lamb?

Derek climbs over the wall to enter Mr Lamb's garden hoping that it is empty.
However, when Mr Lamb startles him with his presence, Derek feels embarrassed
at entering the garden without its owner's permission. Moreover, he is afraid that
like most other people, Mr Lamb will also find his scarry face repulsive. So he
wants to go back as soon as he has come.

Q2. Why, according to Mr Lamb does Derek want to go back? How does he put
the boy at ease?

Mr Lamb believes that Derek wants to turn back because he is afraid of him,
particularly because he has entered the garden stealthily. So he tries to talk the boy
out of his fear. He assures the boy that he is only partially ugly and frightful, not
wholly and suggests that Derek could stay back and help him in picking the apples
and making jelly.

Q3. What terrible complex does Derek suffer from?

One side of Derek's face was severely burnt away by acid. As a result he looked
very ugly. Nobody liked to look at him, love him, befriend him and play with him.
This made Derek suffer from an acute lack of self-regard and rejection.

Q4 . Why does Derek feel that Mr Lamb has changed the subject? Do you agree
with Derek? Give reason in support of your answer.

Derek feels that Mr Lamb has changed the subject because instead of responding
to Derek's conversation about being ugly and unwanted, Mr Lamb starts talking
about apple picking and jelly making and asks for his help. Yes, I think Mr Lamb
does change the subject deliberately to prevent Derek from receding further into
self-hatred.

Q5. Why does Derek not like being with people?

Derek is full of self-reproach and rejection on account of an acid-burnt side of his

face. He doesn't like being with people because they constantly remind him of his
ugliness and stay away from him. He does not like to see people being afraid of
him because he is ugly. Instead of feeling loved and wanted like the other children,
he feels rejected and unwanted.

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Q6. How would you explain Mr. Lamb’s expression, “I’m old, you’re young.
You’ve got a burned face. I’ve got a tin leg. Not important”?

What Mr. Lamb wants to make Derek understand is that everyone has one or the
other reason to hate and dislike oneself and feel inferior to others but such a feeling
is disastrous. It does not really matter how one looks. What is important for one is
to accept who or what one is and live life fully. One must have a positive attitude
and not allow any complexes to block one’s way to a life of happiness and
fulfilment.

Q7. Why do kids call Mr. Lamb ‘Lamey-Lamb’? How does he feel about it?

Mr. Lamb has an artificial leg of tin. His real leg had been blown off in a bomb
explosion. Since he walks with a limp, children of the neighbourhood call him
Lamey-Lamb i.e. lame Lamb. Initially he must have felt bad but now he feels the
name suits him and does not trouble him. He has got over with the upset.

Q8. Why is one green growing plant called a ‘weed’ and another ‘flower’? what
does Mr. Lamb mean by this statement?

Mr. Lamb is a staunch believer in the inherent oneness and equality of all the
species created by God and repudiates (rejects) man-made differences and
distinctions. All living beings he feel are the same – they all grow. Whatever
differences there seem to be are superficial and unimportant.

Q9. “It’s all relative. Beauty and the best”. What does Mr. Lamb mean by this
statement?

Mr. Lamb means to say that different people have different view-points to look at
the same thing. Some find one thing beautiful, others find it ugly. It all depends
on one’s outlook and attitude. It is, therefore, important to adopt a positive attitude
to everything in life just like the Princess Beauty who loved the monstrous Beast in
the fairy tale but the beast, although he was a prince, failed to discover his reality.
The point is that you are not what you look like, but what you are inside.

Q10. Why does Derek say he doesn't care if no one kisses him?

Derek suffers from an acute sense of self-hatred and rejection on account of his
burnt face. He feels he is too ugly to be liked and loved by anyone. So out of
frustration he says, 'I don't care if no one kisses me.' He feels really bad when his
mother, too kisses him on the good side of his face because she has to as a mother
and not because she really loves him and accepts him as he is.

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Q11. "So you will. But the world won't. The world's got a whole face, and the
world's there to be looked at." Explain.

When Derek says that no one will ever love him because he is going to continue to
remain ugly on account of his scarry face, Mr Lamb tries to comfort him by saying
that it does not matter if Derek's looks won't change for the better as it is quite
possible that people's attitude towards him will change and they may accept and
love him. Moreover, it is no use for Derek to go on complaining of his being ugly
when there is so much beauty in the world to be explored and appreciated.

Q12. What concept of the world does Mr Lamb propound when Derek asks him if
his old garden is a world?

On Derek's asking if his old garden is a world unto Mr Lamb, the latter replies in
the affirmative , saying it is his world when he is in it. He then goes on to explain
that his garden is not the only 'world', the world is where one is. That is a unique
concept of the world.

Q13. How have people been sermonising to Derek about his burnt face? How does
Derek feel about this sermonising?

Since Derek has a particularly low self-regard due to his burnt face, people have
been advising him to brave his handicap and change his outlook. They have been
advising him to take inspiration from those who are in pain but never cry and
complain or feel sorry for themselves. He is also advised to look at those people
who are more severely handicapped than he is - the blind, the born deaf, the
mentally retarded and those confined to wheelchairs and think that he is more
fortunate than them. Derek does not like this sermonising for he feels that it, or for
that matter anything else, cannot make his face change from an ugly one to a
handsome one.

Ql4. What conversation did the two women at the bus-stop have? How did Derek
feel about it? How does Mr Lamb interpret the conversation?

Once Derek had overheard two women at the bus-stop talking about him. One
woman looked at him and whispered to the other "Look at that, that's a terrible
thing. That's a face only a mother could love." Derek happened to overhear this
conversation and felt it was cruel. When he recounted it before Mr Lamb, the latter
tried to remove Derek's upset by saying that the women's conversation might not
have been as cruel as he thinks. He dismisses it as a casual conversation which
Derek ought not to have taken so seriously or sensitively.

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Q15. Do you think that through the incident of buzzing / humming of bees the
author wants to tell us that life treats us the way we treat it. Do you agree? If
so, why?

The author brings about the incident of buzzing / humming to bring home the point
that life treats us the way we take it. Music and noise coexist and if we choose
music in life we lead a life full of cheer and if we pay heed to the noise alone our
life is a bundle of frustrations.
I
Q16. Why does Mr. Lamb narrate the story of a man who locked himself in a room
because he was afraid?

Mr. Lamb tells the story of a man who had locked himself in a room because he
was terribly afraid of everything in order that Derek could realize that recoiling into
oneself and building a shell around does not help. What Derek needed to do was to
shed his fear, complex, and self-hatred and live life

Q17. What is Mr Lamb's daily routine?

Mr Lamb lives alone in a large house with a huge garden. During the day he has
neighbourhood children visiting him for crab apples, pears, toffee and jelly. So he
is busy picking apples and pears, tending his bees, making jelly and toffee. Apart
from this, he likes to talk to the children who visit him. He also likes to read books
and reflect.

Q18. Why doesn't Mr Lamb have any curtains at the windows?

Unlike most people Mr Lamb does not have any curtains at the windows of his
house because he is not fond of them. He believes that curtains shut things out.
Instead he likes to experience the alternating phases of light and darkness and he
likes to hear the wind.

Q19. Why does Mr Lamb feel Derek is not lost altogether?

Mr Lamb has heard Derek only complain, bemoan and spitting hatred for himself.
He does not seem to like anybody or anything. So, when Derek says that he likes
when it is raining and hearing it pitter-patter on the roof, Mr Lamb discovers that
the boy does have some interest in life and remarks, "So you're not lost, are you?
Not altogether?"

Q20. Why does Derek ask Mr Lamb if he has any friends? What answer does Mr
Lamb give him?

Derek has noticed that Mr Lamb lives alone in a big house. He also knows that the
neighbourhood people are not very kind and friendly to him and the children call

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him Lamey-Lamb. So, out of curiosity he asks Mr Lamb if the latter has any friends.
In reply Mr Lamb says that he has got lots of friends and that everybody knows
him. People come to him and sit in the garden in summer and in front of the fire in
winter. Kids come to him for toffee, apples and pears.

Q21. Why does Derek say that he is not a friend of Mr Lamb? What does Mr Lamb
say in response?

Derek believes he is not a friend of Mr Lamb because Mr Lamb does not know him
well. For example, he does not know Derek's name and where he has come from.
Mr Lamb very gently replies that as far as he is concerned, Derek is his friend. It
does not matter what his name is and where he has come from.

Q22. What condition does Derek put on his friendship with Mr Lamb? What doubt
does he have about this friendship? How does Mr Lamb dispel this doubt?

Derek tells Mr. Lamb that he could call him Derry and accepts to be Mr. Lamb's
friend but says that Mr Lamb does not have to be his friend in return, if he so
chooses. He wonders if he could continue to be Mr Lamb's friend if he never came
back. Mr Lamb assures him that their friendship would continue even then also.

Q23. 'There are some people I hate." How does Mr Lamb react to this statement of
Derek?

Mr. Lamb believes that hatred is Man's worst enemy. So when he hears Derek say,
'There are some people I hate,' Mr Lamb remarks that hatred would do Derek more
harm than any bottle of acid for acid had burnt only his face but hatred can burn
him away inside. Indirectly he tells Derek that hatred is unnatural and hence
injurious to mankind. The natural instinct is love which is a panacea for all
maladies.

Q24. "What kind of a world would that be. "Which world is Mr Lamb referring to
here? Why does he disapprove of it?

Here Mr Derek is questioning the rationale of a world as proposed by one of Derek's

neighbours when the boy had come home from hospital. The neighbour, a woman,
had said that Derek ought to have stayed back in the hospital because he would
have been better off with others like himself. She believed that blind people only
ought to be with other blind people and idiot boys with idiot boys. Mr Lamb
strongly disapproves of such a world as it would do more harm than good.
According to him, it would make people with handicaps more miserable and more
hurt. They need a world of compassion where those without handicaps accept them
as their own and love them and help them overcome and forget their handicaps for
a fulfilling and wholesome life.

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Q25. What is the underlying idea behind Mr Lamb's observation, "Everything's the
same, but everything is different itself?

Lamb makes this observation in answer to Derek's opinion that if people with
similar handicaps stay together, "at least there would be nobody to stare at you...."
What he means to suggest is that underneath the scars and handicaps, people have
same feelings, desires, aspirations and longings as the normal people do. Under the
superficial differences of colour, class and creed lies the universal sameness,
oneness of all human beings.' However, this sameness does not prevent people from
being unique individuals, for God creates them so - different from all others in
several ways yet basically similar to them.

Q26. Why does Derek feel Mr Lamb might lose all his friends because of him?

Derek feels that if he continued coming to Mr Lamb's house, the other friends of
his would be scared to see his scarred and ugly face and would run away never to
return. Thus, Derek feels, his frequent visits to Mr Lamb would result in the latter
losing all his friends.

Q27. What is Mr Lamb's fear about Derek's going back home? What light does this
throw on Mr Lamb's life and character?

Mr Lamb feels Derek would never come back to him. This is what has been
happening to all his little friends in the past. This apprehension brings out the
terrible loneliness Mr Lamb suffers from and his desperate longing for company.

Q28. Why does Derek suspect that Mr Lamb has no friends?

Derek has only seen Mr Lamb talk about his friends but hasn't seen any visiting
him. He feels that nobody ever comes to Mr Lamb and cares for him and that he
lives alone - all by himself and miserable. Further, when he asks Mr Lamb to name
his friends, he fails to name any. All this makes Derek doubt that Mr Lamb has any
friends.

Q29. Why does Derek, at one point of the story, think that Mr Lamb is crazy?

Derek feels that Mr Lamb has no friends and lives a lonely and miserable life but
Mr Lamb vehemently denies it. However, when Derek asks the old man to name
his friends, the latter says "What are names? Tom, Dick or Harry" and goes off to
tend the bees. At this point Derek calls Mr Lamb crazy because he refuses to admit
his loneliness and skirts the whole issue of his friends.

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Q30. How does Mr Lamb's conversation transform Derek?

Derek is indeed a very sensitive but brave and courageous boy. His long
conversation with Mr Lamb helps him overcome his inferiority complex and poor
self-regard. He no longer hates himself for his ugly face or others for disliking and
avoiding him for his ugliness. Now he feels what he thinks is important and wants
to explore and experience the world around him.

Q31. What significance would you attach to Derek’s statement, "You shouldn't
believe all you hear"?

Derek has already started speaking the language of Mr Lamb and he tries to impress
upon his mother that there is always a vast gap between what really is and what
people say, and that one should not believe in hearsay.

Q32. What idea do you form about Derek's mother from your brief encounter with
her in the second part of the play?

Derek's mother is an unintelligent lady who has failed to understand her son's
tragedy. Derek clearly speaks a different language having different nuances but she
is not able to comprehend them and fails to read between the lines. Like others, she
is also repelled by the burnt side of Derek's face and kisses only the good side.

Q33. What makes Derek observe that,"... if I don't go back there, I'll never go
anywhere in this world again"?

Derek has rediscovered the joy of life thanks to Mr Lamb. He strongly feels that he
must do something for the lonely old man. He makes the statement in question to
tell his mom how important it is for

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1. What is the significance of Derek’s words, “I thought it was empty……. an

empty house” in the play?

Derek says these words to Mr Lamb when the latter sees him entering his garden
by climbing over the boundary wall. Mr Lamb is not surprised at this because he
is quite used to children coming to his garden to steel and eat apples, pear etc. but
it was not. So when Mr. Lamb accosts him, Derek is embarrassed and wants to go
back but not before explaining that he has not come there to steel apples, an
explanation Mr. Lamb very readily accepts.

Derek’s words are significant in that they point out to his terrible sense of
frustration, loneliness and ‘isolation, on account of his severely burnt face. These

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words also prompt Mr. Lamb to spill out his loneliness, too, towards the end of the
first scene. They go back a long way in Mr. Lamb’s, (and the reader’s)
understanding of Derek’s character and Mr. Lamb subsequent efforts in helping
Derek come out his inferiority complex, poor self-regard and self-rejection. These
words are a bitter reminder of the bitterness that has crept into Derek’s mind due to
other people’ dislike and hatred for his ugly face. They are a desperate cry of a
fourteen-year-old boy for love and acceptance.

Q2. Why do you think Mr Lamb keeps the gates of the house and garden open?

Mr. Lamb's keeping the gates of the house and garden open is a reflection on the
whole philosophy of Mr. Lamb’s life and speaks volumes about his nature. He
keeps the windows and gates open to announce to the world that everybody is
welcome in his house. It also suggests that whatever belongs to him belongs to
everybody. It is like the kingdom of heaven that showers blessings on all. Mr.
Lamb’s action is also a critical comment on the people who are over-possessive
about their belongings. It is also a way of life where one dispels all darkness of
life. This practice of Mr. Lamb also conveys the message that we should keep the
gates and windows of our minds open in order to succeed in life.

Q3. Why do you think Mr. Lamb attaches no importance to the deformity to
Derek? Why do you think he changes the topic when he talks about his
ugliness?

Mr. Lamb does not attach any importance to the outburst of Derek about his
handicap because he knows that he is drowned in self-pity and self-rejection and is
paying undue attention to his deformity. Mr. Lamb does not want Derek to dwell
unduly on the issue of his ugly looks, so he changes the topic. He also wants to
impress upon Derek that in order to lead a healthful life one must accept one’s lot.
Life affords us so many bounties which merit appreciation. Mr. Lamb’s special
mention of healthy and ripe apples and jelly he is going to make out of them is an
indirect reflection on the sweetness that life is full of and that is available for the
asking. His indifference to Derek’s outburst indirectly aims at helping him learn
the lesson of positivity in life.

Q4. Self-condemnation can often be reflected as hostility towards the outside

world. How?

From childhood all of us learn to control some of our natural aggression that is
directed back at ourselves as self-aggression. In milder forms, it is experienced as
self-doubt and self-criticism. In more self-defeating forms, it intensifies to self-
negation, self-condemnation, self-rejection, and self-hatred.

A violent gunman who randomly kills others isn't likely to be aware of the
antagonistic relationship he has with himself. He convinces himself that somehow

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his targets are deserving of his hatred. But he is projecting his own self-rejection
and self-hatred on to others and he imagines others reject and hate him to cover up
his own self-hatred.

Few people understand the psychology of this. Most of us don't understand basic
tenets of psychology such as projection, transference, resistance, and narcissism.
Often, even in high-school, students who have personality disorders can have a
particularly difficult time regulating or moderating their negative reactions to
feelings of being rejected or bullied by others. The negativity they feel coming at
them from others fuels their own self-hatred, causing a more intense projection of
that hatred outward to others.

In rejecting others, a person reveals the rejection he feels for himself, if an

individual looks inward with this awareness, he is in a position to recognize the
ways in which he doesn't like himself, to understand that this dislike is irrational
and emotional, and to begin to appreciate and love his true being. In this process,
we see the fallacy of blaming others for our emotional reactions and we are less
likely to act out antagonistically or violently toward others.

The dark side of our nature was previously kept more in check by influences such
as religion, kinship, and a slower pace of life. Modern influences such as the
availability and lethal power of firearms are thrusting upon us a need for greater
self-understanding.

Q5. How were Derry's and Mr Lamb's views different?

Derry and Mr Lamb Both had a physical handicap. Derry had a face that was half
burnt with acid while Mr Lamb's leg had been blown off and he replaced it with a
tin leg. That was where the similarity ended.

Derry's burnt face had scarred his soul. He was withdrawn and felt that people were
afraid of him because he had the ugliest face. He felt that people pretended to be
sympathetic when actually they were repulsed. He felt that his face was 'terrible'
and 'only a mother could love a face like that'. He did not like his mother to kiss
him because she kissed the other side of his face and he felt she did so as she had
to. Derry believed that people are better off with others like themselves as in. that
situation people wouldn't stare because all were alike.

On the other hand, Mr Lamb said that beauty was relative and he enjoyed
everything God had made-even the weeds in the garden and the bees singing. He

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respected each creation's individuality. He said that the world was as one looked at
it. He didn't care about physical attributes and said they weren't important. He felt
that Derry had arms, legs, eyes, ears, tongue and a brain. He could get on the way
he wanted like everyone or even better. He also said hating people would do him
more harm than any bottle of acid. It would burn away his inside. He clarified to
Derry that people with the same deformity were also different. It was incorrect to
judge people by what they looked like. One had to watch, listen and think to notice
the differences.

Though Mr Lamb led a lonely life, he liked to think that the people who entered his
garden were his friends. He avoided thinking of his isolation and tried to invite
people by keeping the gate open.

Q6. 'Things that matter. Things nobody else has ever said. Things I want to think
about.' What are the 'things' that Derry is referring to?

Derry meets Mr Lamb in a chance meeting. Mr Lamb succeeds in putting his

apprehensions to rest. Derry is a young boy with a burnt face and scarred soul as he
has faced a great deal of rejection early in life. People felt that his face was 'a terrible
thing' and shunned him.

But Mr Lamb says that beauty was relative and he enjoyed everything God made-
even the weeds in the garden and the 'bees singing'. He respected each creation's
individuality. Derry finds him to be saying the strangest things. Mr Lamb explained
that the world was as one looks at it. He tells Derry of a man who was afraid of
everything and shut himself in a room, till a picture fell off the wall onto his head
and killed him. Derry laughed about his ability to say 'peculiar things'.

For the first time, Derry admitted that he liked to hear the rain on the roof. Mr Lamb
was happy to know that Derry could listen. Mr Lamb said that Derry had arms, legs,
eyes, ears, tongue and a brain. He could get on the way he wanted like everyone or
even better. He also said hating people would do him more harm than any bottle of
acid. It would burn away his inside. He clarified to Derry that people with the same
deformity would also be different. It was incorrect to judge people by what they
looked like. One had to watch, listen and think to notice the difference.

Derry was determined to go back but his mother tried to dissuade him. Derry
defended Mr Lamb saying that he wanted to go there, sit and listen to the bees
singing and him talking about things that mattered; about things nobody else had
ever said; about things he wanted to think about-they were Mr Lamb's ideas. He
told his mother that Mr Lamb didn't care what he looked like. He didn't care about

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his face and it wasn't important. He felt if he didn't go back there, he would never
go anywhere in the world again.

Answer the following using the hints provided:

1. “It’s not what you look like, it’s what you are inside” Derry has no faith in the
maxim. Comment

Value points for Q1.

 Derry has had bitter experience with people

 He is conscious of his ugly face
 Realises that nobody will agree to kiss him
 Knows that in real life even if somebody kissed him his face won’t change
 Only his mother dares to give him a peck that also on the other cheek

2. Why does Mr. Lamb say, “So you’re not lost, are you? Not altogether?

Value Points for Q2.

 Derry is bitter about life and people

 has no faith in the goodness of people
 keeping aloof has made him a monster in the eye of all
 so when he says that he likes the sound of rain drops on roof
 Mr. Lamb comments that some humanness is still left
 Life has not coloured/ distorted his vision totally

CHAPTER 7

EVANS TRIES AN O-LEVEL

(COLIN DEXTER)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Colin Dexter (Full name Normal Colin Dexter) was born on September 29,
1930, in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. He is a well-Known writer and is an officer of
the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) for services rendered in the field of Literature. He

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