CH- 1 The Last Lesson

By Alphonse Daudet

About the Author

Alphonse Daudet was a French short-story writer and novelist, now remembered chiefly as the
author of sentimental tales of provincial life in the south of France. He was born on May 13, 1840 at
Nimes in France. He was the son of a silk manufacturer. In 1849 his father had to sell his factory and
move to Lyon. Alphonse wrote his first poems and his first novel at age of 14. He died on Dec. 16,
1897 in Paris, France.

Setting

The present story is set during the days of Franco – Prussian War (1870 – 18710) in which France
was defeated by Prussia led by Bismarck. At that time Prussia consisted of Germany, Poland and
some parts of Austria.

Characters & Places

1. Franz: A school student.

2. M Hamel: A teacher of French language
3. Class: Consists of some students and some elderly people of the village.
4. Watcher: a blacksmith
5. Old Hauser: An elderly villager
6. Sister of M Hamel

Brief Introduction

‘The last lesson ‘written by Alphonse Daudet narrates about the year 1870 when the Prussian forces
under Bismarck attacked and captured France. The French districts of Alsace and Lorraine went
into Prussian hands. The new Prussian rulers discontinued the teaching of French in the schools of
these two districts. The French teachers were asked to leave. Now M. Hamel could no longer stay in
his old school. Still he gave the last lesson to his students with utmost devotion and sincerity as
ever. One such student of M. Hamel, Franz who dreaded French class and M. Hamel’s iron rod,
came to the school that day thinking he would be punished as he had not learnt his lesson on
participles.

But on reaching school he found Hamel dressed in his fine Sunday clothes and the old people of the
village sitting quietly on the back benches. It was due to an order from Berlin. That was the first day
when he realized for the first time that how important French was for him, but it was his last lesson
in French. The story depicts the pathos of the whole situation about how people feel when they
don’t learn their own language. It tells us about the significance of one’s language in one’s life for
the very existence of a race and how important it is to safeguard it.
Summary in points

1. Franz is afraid of going to school as he has not learnt participles.

2. He wants to enjoy the beauty of nature – the bright sunshine – the birds chirruping in the woods
– Prussian soldiers’ drilling but resisted.
3. On reaching school Franz notices: unusual silence – Villagers occupying the last benches – teacher
well dressed – everybody looked sad.
4. M. Hamel announces: Today is the last lesson in French.
5. Franz regrets and realizes why he had not taken his lesson seriously.
6. Understands the reason why teacher is well dressed and villagers sitting at the back.
7. M. Hamel realizes that all three, he himself, the children and the parents are to be blamed for
losing respect and regards for the mother tongue.
8. Hamel says: French language – most beautiful, clear and logical language in the world. Always
keep close the mother tongue to your heart as it is a key to the prison of slavery.
9. Hamel becomes emotional and writes on the black board ‚Vive La France‛
10. Franz remembers the last lesson very well.

Important Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
Ans. Franz was expected to be prepared with participles that day for school, as Mr. Hamel had said
that he would question them on participles.

Q2. Why was Franz tempted to play truant from school?

Ans. The French teacher M Hamel was going to ask questions on participles which Franz had not
prepared. To avoid being scolded he was tempted to play truant from school and spend the day out
doors in a pleasurable manner.

Q3. What had been put up on the bulletin-board?

Ans. Franz had a negative view about the bulletin-board as for the last two years only bad news
had come from it. That day was no exception as Germans had put up an order passed from Berlin
on the bulletin-board to teach only German in the school of Alsace and Lorraine.

Q4. What was unusual about the school that Franz noticed when he entered the school?
Ans. On entering the school, Franz noticed that there was unusual silence. There was no noise of
opening and closing of desks. The village elders had occupied the last benches that were always
empty. M Hamel was in his very fine Sunday clothes. Everybody looked sad.
Q5. What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?
Ans. The order from Berlin caused some changes in the school that day. The entire school seemed
strange and solemn. The old villagers were sitting on the back benches of the classroom quietly to
thank M. Hamel for his forty years of faithful service and for showing their respect for the country.
M Hamel also had put on his best dress on that day though it was not an inspection or prize day.
The order from Berlin also brought a sense of repentance for those who in spite of having time
didn’t learn the French properly.
Q6. How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school change?
Ans. Earlier Franz didn’t like M. Hamel much because of his ruler and cranky nature and he would
feel fear from him but now all those feelings were entirely changed for M. Hamel. The message
conveyed by M Hamel about the order from Berlin was a thunderclap for little Franz. He
immediately felt sorry for not being sincere in the school and for not learning the French language
and other lessons properly. His books, which seemed a nuisance and a burden earlier were now
Franz’s old friends.
Q7. What reasons did M Hamel give for their lack of interest in learning French?
Ans. The lack of interest in learning French was:
(a) due to the parents who wanted their children to work on a farm or at the mills to earn,
(b) due to the students who were reluctant to learn and often put off the lesson for the next day
(c) and due to himself as he asked them to water the flowers and gave them off when he had to go for fishing.
Q8. Why doesn’t M Hamel want the people to forget French?
Ans. M Hamel wanted them not to forget French as it is the most beautiful, clear and logical
language in the world and as long as they hold fast to their language it would be as if they had the
key to the prison.
Q9. Franz thinks, ‚Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?‛ What could this
mean?
Ans. The Frenchmen were highly patriotic and took a pride in their language. A strong feeling of
revolt was in the air against the Germans. It shows that Franz did not accept their rule and thought
that they can’t tame pigeons.
Q10. What did M Hamel say about the French language?
Ans. M Hamel said that French language was world’s most beautiful, clearest and logical language
and therefore it should be guarded and should not be forgotten by them. He also added that the
love with one’s own language can be proven as the key to the prison for the people who are enslaved.
Q11. Why did villagers come to school that day?
Ans. The old men of the village came to the school that day to thank M Hamel for his forty years of
faithful service. They also came to show their respect for the country that was theirs no more.
Q12. How did Franz find teaching and learning that day?
Ans. Franz found teaching and learning very interesting that day. He was very attentive and
careful. Franz also realized that M Hamel had never explained everything with so much patience. It
seemed almost as if the poor man wanted to give them all he knew before going away. M Hamel
wanted to put it all into their heads at one stroke as it was their last lesson.
Q13. Describe how M Hamel conducted the last lesson.
Ans. In his last French class though M. Hamel was emotional he fully involved himself in the
teaching learning process. He heard every lesson to the last sitting motionless in the chair. When the
church bell struck twelve he stood up pale and wrote ‘Vive La French’ and with a gesture he
communicated that the school is dismissed.

Important long Answer Type Questions

Q1. How did M. Hamel react when Franz failed to recite the rules for the participles?
Ans. Franz’s name was called to recite the rules for the participles. But he got mixed up on the first
word. He was standing there, holding on to his desk, his heart beating and not daring to look up.
But M. Hamel instead of scolding, he told Franz that he must feel bad enough. He said that every
day we think that we have plenty of time and we will learn it tomorrow. And now you see where
we have come out by putting off learning till tomorrow. Now those fellows out there will have the
right to say to you, ‚How is it; you pretend to be Frenchman, and yet you can neither speak nor
write your own language?‛
Then M Hamel told Franz that only he was not to be blamed. His parents were not anxious enough
to have him learn. They preferred to put Franz to work on a farm or at the mills, so as to
have a little more money. M. Hamel blamed himself for it also. He said that quite often he had been
sending Franz to water his flowers instead of learning his lessons. And when he wanted to go for
fishing, he would just give him a holiday.

Q2. What does M Hamel tell about the significance and safeguarding of French language? How
does he conclude his last lesson?
Ans. M Hamel said that French was the most beautiful, clear and logical language in the world.
They must guard it among them and never forget it because when the people are enslaved, as long
as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison.

Then M. Hamel opened a grammar book and read the students their lesson. All he said seemed so
easy. He had never explained everything with so much patience: After the grammar, they had a
lesson in writing. M Hamel had new copies for the students, written in a beautiful round hand:
France, Alsace, France, Alsace. He had the courage to hear every lesson to the very last. It seemed
almost as if he wanted to give us all he knew before going away and put it all into their heads at
one stroke. He wanted to say something, but he could not go on. Then he turned on the blackboard,
took a piece of chalk and wrote ‚Vive La France!‛ Lastly he said: ‚School is dismissed—you may go.‛

Q3. What impression do you form of M Hamel on the basis of your study of the story ‚The Last
Lesson‛?
Ans. M. Hamel is an experienced teacher who has been teaching in school for forty years. He
imparts primary education in all subjects. He is a hard task master and students like Franz, who are
not good learners, are in great dread of being scolded by him. The latest order of the Prussian rulers
upsets him. He has to leave the place for ever and feels heart- broken. He feels sad but exercises
self-control. He has the courage to hear every lesson to the last.

His performance during the last lesson is exemplary. He is kind even to a late comer like Franz. He
uses a solemn and gentle tone while addressing the students. He has a logical mind and can
analyze problems and deduce the reasons responsible for it. The problem for Alsace is that it puts
off learning till tomorrow.

He knows the emotional hold of a language over its users. He is a good communicator and explains
everything patiently. Partings are painful and being human, M. Hamel too is no exception. He fails
to say good-bye as his throat is choked. On the whole, he is a patriotic gentleman.

Q4. Franz’ attitude towards school as well as towards M. Hamel changes when he comes to know about
the takeover of his village by Prussians. Do you agree? Discuss with reference to the ‘Last Lesson’.
Ans. The orders from Berlin to take over the village where Franz lives have been pasted on the
school notice board. Only German language would be taught in the school and French teacher had
to go. Franz felt sorry for not learning his lessons in French any more. His books that had seemed
such a nuisance a short while ago, which he found so heavy to carry seemed to him old friends. His
feelings about his French teacher M Hamel Were changed. He decided to pay attention to the
lesson. The school became very important for him. The idea that the teacher was going away,
genuinely upset Franz who became too serious for history and grammar. I fully agree with it as one
has to take one’s deeds seriously when he feels the loss of it.
Q5. Give a brief description of M Hamel.
Ans. M Hamel was a very devoted, dedicated and a strict man of discipline. Students were afraid of
his cranky nature and iron ruler. He was a true patriot and a sincere teacher who dedicatedly
served the school for long forty years. The heart of this true Frenchman totally broke when he
received the order from Berlin to vacate his place to make the space for a new German teacher. He
remained upset during his last class. This changed his behavior too and he behaved rather very
politely and patiently. When Franz was not able to say his lesson correctly, he, instead of scolding
him, just made him understand about the importance and relevance of learning the mother tongue.
He preached everyone presented in the class that important things should never be postponed as
time flies very fast.

Q6. What is linguistic chauvinism? Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far?
Ans. Linguistic chauvinism means an aggressive and unreasonable belief that your own language is
better than all others. This shows an excessive or prejudiced support for one’s own language.
Sometimes pride in one’s own language goes too far and the linguistic enthusiasts can be easily
identified by their extreme zeal for the preservation and spread of their language. In their
enthusiasm, love and support for their own language, they tend to forget that other languages too
have their own merits, long history of art, culture and literature behind them. Instead of bringing
unity and winning over others as friends, having excessive pride in one’s own language creates ill-
will and disintegration. The stiff resistance to the acceptance of Hindi as national language by the
southern states of India is a direct outcome of the fear of being dominated by Hindi enthusiasts. The
result is that ‚one India‛ remains only a slogan.
 CH- 2 The Lost Spring
By Anees Jung

About the author

Anees Jung is an author, journalist and a columnist for major newspapers in India and abroad. She
was born in Hyderabad in 1944 in an aristocratic family. Her father, Nawab Hosh Yar Jung, was a
renowned scholar and poet. He was the adviser to the last Nizam of Hyderabad princely state. Her
schooling and graduation were completed from her hometown. Later she went abroad for higher
studies. She did her Masters in Sociology and American Studies from University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, US. She started her career in literal writing with the Youth Times, a Times of India
publication. Later she served as its editor from 1976 to 1979. Prior to it, she worked as journalist.
Jung came into the limelight with the publication of Unveiling India in 1987. Later she published
several books dealing with social issues including abused children and women’s problems. Jung is
noted for her lively and vivid descriptions, though she rarely gives its solutions.

Characters
Saheb-e-Alam: A rag picker
Mukesh: Son of a bangle maker

Introduction
The story, ‚Lost Spring‛ describes the pitiable condition of poor children who have been forced to
miss the joy of childhood due to the socio-economic condition that prevails in this man-made
world. These children are denied the opportunity of schooling and forced into labour early in life.
Anees Jung gives voice to eliminate child labour by educating the children and to enforce the laws
against child labour by the governments strictly. The call is to end child exploitation and let the
children enjoy the days of the spring that bring joy under their feet.

Summary

I – Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage.

The first part tells the writer’s impressions about the life of the poor rag pickers. The rag pickers
have migrated from Dhaka and found a settlement in Seemapuri. Their fields and homes had been
swept away by storms. They had come to the big city to find a living. They are poor. The writer
watches Saheb every morning scrounging for ‚gold‛ in her neighbourhood. Garbage is a means of
survival for the elders and for the children it is something wrapped in wonder. The children come
across a coin or two from it. These people have desires and ambitions, but they do not know the
way to achieve them. There are quite a few things that are unreachable to them, namely shoes,
tennis and the like. Later Saheb joins a tea stall where he could earn 800 Rupees and all the meals.
The job has taken away his freedom.

II – I want to drive a car.

The second part deals with the life of Mukesh, who belongs to the family of Bangle-makers.
Firozabad is best known for its glassblowing industry. Nearly 20,000 children are engaged in this
business and the law that forbids child labour is not known here. The living condition and the
working environment is a woeful tale. Life in dingy cells and working close to hot furnaces make
these children blind when they step into the adulthood. Weighed down by the debt, they can
neither think nor find a way to come of out of this trap.

The politicians, middlemen, policemen and bureaucrats will all obstruct their way of progress. The
women in the household consider it as their fate and just follow the tradition. Mukesh is different
from the rest of the folk there. He dreams to become a motor mechanic. The garage is far away from
his house but he shall walk.

Main points

I – Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage.

1. The writer encounters Saheb every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage.
2. Saheb-e-Alam, a refugee from Dhaka, Bangladesh is a ragpicker.
3. Wants to go to school, but can’t – very poor.
4. Lives in Seemapuri – a locality on the periphery of Delhi without any basic amenities.
5. Most of the rag pickers live here.
6. Food is more important for them than identity.
7. Rag picking is different for children and adult.
8. For adults – a mean of survival
9. For children – wrapped in wonders
10. Sahib gets a job in tea stall, earns Rs. 800/- and all his meal but still unhappy
11. Loses his freedom and carefree look.

II – I want to drive a car.

1. The writer comes across Mukesh in Firozabad.

2. His family is engaged in making bangles but Mukesh insists on being his own master.
3. He desires to become a motor mechanic.
4. They work in dingy cells without air and light and furnaces with high temperatures.
5. As a result, most of them become blind at a very young age.
6. They don’t have money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles.
7. They can’t organize into a co-operative.
8. They are afraid of being hauled up by the Police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something
illegal.
9. There is no leader among them.
10. They talk of poverty, apathy, greed and injustice.
11. So poor that they can’t even dream – to do anything means to dare – and daring is not part of
their growing.
12. The author is cheered when she senses a flash of it in Mukesh who wants to be a motor
mechanic.
Important Short / Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. What does the title ‘Lost Spring’ convey?

Ans. The title ‘Lost Spring’ conveys and picturizes that childhood is like the spring. As everything
blooms in this season, in the same way the childhood should bloom but through the poverty of
Saheb and Mukesh, we come to know about their stolen childhood. It is being destroyed and
dumped in the web of poverty, dirt and dust.

Q2. What does Anees Jung want to reveal in her story ‘Lost Spring’?
Ans. Anees Jung has portrayed two stories in ‘Lost Spring’ and both depict the grinding poverty,
pitiable condition of life and the other traditions that condemn the children to a life of exploitation.
For the rag-pickers of Seemapuri, garbage is gold and means of survival. The bangle-makers of
Firozabad live in dingy cells and stinking lanes. Even after much toil, they do not get full meal.

Part I – Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage.

Q1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Ans. Saheb is scrounging for anything in the garbage dump that he can sell and make money. This
is the only means of survival. He sometimes manages to find a rupee or even ten rupees. He now
lives with his family in Seemapuri, a slum on the outskirts of Delhi. His family has migrated from
Bangladesh in search of a better life.

Q2. What makes the authoress embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant?
Ans. On encountering with Saheb, the writer asks him to go to school. Immediately at the second
thought, she realizes that the advice must sound very hollow. On the other hand, Saheb replies that
there is no school in his neighbourhood. And he will go if the authorities make one. The writer asks
half-jokingly if she starts a school, ‚will he go?‛ Saheb goes on asking her ‚Is your school ready?‛
She feels embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant.

Q3. Does the rag picking mean the same thing for parents and children? Give reasons for your
answer.
Ans. No, rag picking is not the same for parents and children. For children it is wrapped in
wonders where as for parents it is the means of survival.

Q4. Why was not Saheb happy on getting a job?

Ans. Saheb was not happy on getting a job in tea stall for a salary of Rs.800/- per month as he lost
his freedom. He had to carry the stall owner’s steel canister in place of his bag. He had lost his
freedom and carefree look. He was now no longer his own master.

Q5. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Ans. Most people, who have migrated from villages to cities, have done so because of the promise
of a better life. Some of them have not been able to earn any money from farming because of the
unpredictable vagaries of the weather. They have had no jobs and no way of earning a livelihood.
Cities provide a ray of hope as they are a means of escaping from abject poverty and offer hope of
some employment. These people feel that though they may have to live in the most abysmal
conditions in the city, they will get at least some food to eat.
Part II – I want to drive a car.

Q1. What was Mukesh’s dream?

Ans. Mukesh belongs to the family of bangle makers. He tells the writer to become a motor
mechanic. He will learn to drive a car and does not hesitate to go to the far off garage. He has no
desire to live and become the victim of poverty.
Q2. Why don’t the bangle makers of Firozabad organize themselves?
Ans. The bangle makers are trapped in the vicious circle of middlemen and police. If they organize
a co-operative, they will be hauled up, beaten and dragged to jail by the police for doing something
illegal. There is no leader to help them out from their misery. They are the victims of greed and injustice.
Q3. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Ans. Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic and drive a car. He wants to break away from the
generations-old family tradition of bangle making. His family is not as optimistic as he is, but he is
determined and exhibits a spark of courage and hope and dares to dream, even though it means
walking miles to get to the garage.
Q4. Why does the author say that the bangle-makers are caught in a vicious web?
Ans. The family of bangle makers was caught in the vicious web of poverty. They are forced to
practise their ancestral profession. They remain ill fed and ill clad throughout life. They have no
money to switch over their profession. Their hard work is mind numbling. The police do not allow
them to form co-operation.
Q5. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?
Ans. Mukesh belongs to the family of bangle- makers who prepare colourful bangles like that of
rainbow. But his attitude to this situation is different from others. He is a daring boy and he
announces, ‚I will be a motor mechanic, I will leam to drive a car. Though the garage is a long way
from his home yet he insists I will go to the garage and learn.‛ The determination and strong will of
becoming a motor mechanic and learning to drive a car, seems to be as firm as a rock in Mukesh.
That is why he says he will walk to the garage which is a long way from his home. Though his
dream appears to be vague, unclear and like a mirage yet he has a different ambition to fulfil. He
can materialize his dream once he walks.
Q6. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Ans. The bangle makers firmly believe that having been born in the caste and community of bangle
makers, they cannot escape their fate and must remain where they are. They believe that bangle
making is the only skill they possess and that they must pass on the legacy to their children. Bangle
making is not a lucrative source of income but they have no alternative and hence remain
entrenched in the same. They have fallen into the vicious clutches of middlemen who had trapped
their fathers and their forefathers. They are afraid to form cooperatives to safeguard themselves
because they feel that they will be beaten up by the police and jailed for doing something illegal.
Steeped in despair and apathy, they no longer have the will to aspire and better their lot. Some of
the industrialists conspire in unison with the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen and the
politicians and then go on exploiting them. They see very little hope of escaping from their
impoverished life of misery and privation.
Q7. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry. / Describe the difficulties the
bangle makers of Firozabad have to face in their lives.
Ans. The glass blowing industry of Firozabad employs local families and these families have spent
generations working around furnaces, welding glass and making bangles of different colours.
Working around the high temperature furnaces is very injurious to our growing bodies. The dark
dingy cells without light and air worsen the working conditions of the children. The dazzling and
sparking of welding light and the high temperature render the situation hellish. About 20,000
children slog their day light hours and often lose the brightness of their eyes before they become adults.

The bangle-makers lead their life in utter miseries and grinding poverty. They could never prosper
working in this industry. They hardly get a belly full of meal in their lifetime. Thus they are not
only underfed but also prone to ailments. The dingy cells and stinking smell of garbage choke their
bodies. There are flames of flickering oil lamps, the blinding polishing and the welding work put a
deep impact on their bodies. Those who work in bangle industries, lose their eyesight before they
become adult.

Q8. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?

Ans. The child labour employed in any form is an offence. It is banned under law. Yet it goes on
unabated at the industrial towns like Firozabad, Shivakasi, Mirzapur and so on. The child labour is
hazardous in nature. It inflicts physical and mental harm to the boys. The work in the glass bangle
industry often ends up them losing their eyesight before they become adults. The mind-numbling
toil of bangle-making kills all their initiatives, drive and ability to dream in life. They are even
deprived of the school education and proper growth. According to the writer about 20,000 children
are working in the glass bangle industry of Firozabad. Some of the industrialists conspire in unison
with the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen and the politicians and then go on stealing their
childhood for some extra coins. The .only possible solution lies with the government and the society
to punish the wrong doers very strictly and keep a careful watch and vigil over them.
 CH- 3 Deep Water
By William Douglas

About the Author

William Orville Douglas was an American jurist and politician. He was born on October 16, 1898, in
Maine, Minnesota. After doing graduation, he taught for two year in a school in Yakima. But soon
he got tired of this job and pursued a legal career. Douglas was appointed to the United States
Supreme Court at the age of 40 and served for more than 36 years, longer than any other justice in
the Court’s history. Both on and off the Court, Douglas was outspoken in his support for individual
rights and for preserving the natural environment. He died on January 19, 1980, in
Washington, D.C.

Introduction
In this story, Douglas talks about his fear of water and how he finally overcomes it with strong will
power, courage, hard work and firm determination. Once he took courage, the fear vanished. That
shows most of our fears are baseless. Fear creates dangers where there is none. The writer’s
experiences further confirm the proverbial truth, ‚Where there is a will, there is a way.‛

Characters & Places

Douglas: Narrator of the story
YMCA Pool: A swimming pool run by Young Men’s Christian Association
Yakima: Yakima is a US city located about 60 miles southeast of Mount Rainier in Washington.

Summary
The story, ‚Deep Waters‛ tells us how the writer overcame his fear of water and learned swimming
with sheer determination and will power. He had developed a terror of water since childhood.
When he was three or four years old, the writer had gone to California with his father. One day on
the beach, the waves knocked the child down and swept over him. The child was terrified but the
father who knew, there was no harm, laughed. The experience bred a permanent fear of water in
the child’s sub-conscious mind. Still another incident, more serious, increased his terror. The writer
was trying to learn swimming in the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool in Yakima. One day while he was
waiting for other boys, a big boy suddenly played a dangerous prank and pushed him into the
water. The writer was terribly frightened. He went down nine feet into the water. When he reached
the bottom, he jumped upward with all his strength. He came up but very slowly. He tried to catch
hold of something like a rope but grasped only at water.

He tried to shout but no sound came out. He went down again. His lungs ached, head throbbed and
he grew dizzy. He felt paralyzed with fear. All his limbs were paralyzed. Only the movement of his
heart told him that he was alive. Again he tried to jump up. But this time his limbs would not move
at all. He looked for ropes, ladders and water wings but all in vain. Then he went down again, the
third time. This time all efforts and fear ceased. He was moving towards peaceful death. The writer
was in peace. When he came to consciousness, he found himself lying on the side of the pool with
the other boys nearby. The terror that he had experienced in the pool never left him. It haunted him
for years and years to come. It spoilt many of his expeditions of canoeing, swimming and fishing. It
spoilt his pleasures in Maine Lakes, New Hampshire, Deschutes, Columbia and Bumping Lake etc.

But the writer was determined to conquer his terror. He took help of a swimming instructor to learn
swimming. The instructor taught him various actions necessary in swimming part by part. He put
his face under water and exhaled and inhaled raising it above water. He practiced it for several
weeks. He had to kick with his legs a few weeks on the side of the pool. At last he combined all
these actions and made the writer swim. He learned swimming but the terror continued. So deep
goes our childhood experiences! So fearful is the fear of fear! Whenever he was in water the terror
returned. Hence forward the writer tried to terrorize terror itself.
He tried to face the new challenge. When terror came, he confronted it by asking it sarcastically as
to what it can really do to him? He plunged into the water as if to defy the fear. Once he took
courage the terror vanquished. He faced the challenge deliberately in various places like the Warm
Lake. He conquered it at last.

Main points
1. Douglas had a desire to learn swimming since childhood.
2. At the age of three or four, he was knocked down and buried by a wave at a beach in California.
3. He developed a great aversion to water.
4. At the age of ten or eleven he decided to learn to swim with water wings at the Y.M.C.A. pool
since it was safe at the shallow end.
5. While sitting alone and waiting for others to come at the
Y.M.C.A. pool, a big boy came and threw Douglas into the deep end of the pool.
6. Douglas swallowed water and went straight down to the bottom of the pool.
7. While going down he planned to make a big jump upwards but came up slowly.
8. Stark terror seized him.
9. Tried to shout but could not.
10. As he went down the pool the second time he tried to jump upwards but it was a waste of
energy.
11. Terror held him deeper and deeper.
12. During the third trial he sucked in water instead of air. So he ceased all efforts and he became
unconscious.
13. When revived he found himself vomiting beside the pool.
14. He was in the grip of fear of water and it deprived him of the joys of canoeing, boating
swimming and fishing.
15. He took help of a swimming instructor to learn swimming.
16. The instructor taught him swimming piece by piece.
17. He went to different lakes to swim and found tiny vestiges of fear still gripped him.
18. Swimming up and down the warm lake he finally overcame his fear of water.
19. He realized that in death there is peace and there is terror only in fear of death.
20. Will to live is stronger than fear of death.
Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What had happened when Douglas was three or four years old?
Ans. When Douglas was three or four years old he was on the California beach with his father.
There the sea waves knocked him down and swept over him. He felt breathless buried in the water
and was frightened; but his father laughed at him.
Q2. What was the misadventure of Douglas?
Ans. One day, an eighteen year old big bruiser picked him up and tossed him into the nine feet
deep end of the swimming pool. He hit the water surface in a sitting position. He swallowed water
and went at once to the bottom. He nearly died in this misadventure but was somehow
miraculously saved from the mouth of death.
Q3. What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was thrown
into the pool? What plans did he make to come to the surface?
Ans. The narrator was frightened but was still able to think. He decided that as his feet hit the
bottom of the pool, he would make a big jump and come to the surface. However, when he could
not manage to come to the surface, he was gripped with panic and this paralyzed his limbs.
Q4. How did Douglas finally overcome his fear of water?
Ans. Douglas overcame his fear of water by challenging the fear itself and going for several round
of swimming in the pool; but finally the residual fear he overcame when he went up to Tieton to
Conrad meadows and swam across the other shore and back of the warm lake as Doug Corpron
used to do.
Q5. What thought of Roosevelt deeply impacted Douglas? How did he apply the thought to his life?
Ans. The thought of Roosevelt that there is terror in the fear of death, had deep impact on Douglas.
He had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror of the fear of death. But later he
brushed aside his fear by challenging it by the strong will power and firm determination. He
applied it and finally succeeded to overcome the fear.
Q6. How did this experience affect him?
Ans. This experience left him fearful of water for a long time. He did not want to go near the pool.
He could not enjoy any waterrelated sport and it robbed him of the joy of canoeing, boating and
swimming.
Q7. Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
Ans. Douglas was determined to get rid of this fear as he could not enjoy any of the sports that he
had enjoyed earlier. His fear of water not only kept him away from the pool, but also from activities
like canoeing, boating and fishing.
Q8. How was the instructor successful in making Douglas a perfect swimmier?
Ans. The instructor made Douglas a perfect swimmer by removing his fear of being drowned and
teaching him swimming piece by piece in a period of three months. During the training he let
Douglas swim back and forth of the pool tying him with a pulley. He taught him to put his face
under the water to exhale and raise above it to inhale.
Q9. How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?
Ans. Douglas swam extensively in all the lakes that he knew, making a concerted effort to rid
himself of his fear of water. He would swim long lengths, put his head under water, till all the
residual fear was gone. It was at Warm Lake that he was at last able to get rid of the fear of water
that had haunted him for so long.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q1. Give an account of the fears and emotions of Douglas as he made efforts to save himself
from being drowned in the YMCA swimming pool.
Ans. When the author was flung into the deep end of the pool, he was overcome with fear. He was
able to think rationally and planned that he would jump up as soon as he hit the bottom of the pool.
He hoped that in this way he would be able to rise to the surface of the water. When this action did
not produce the desired result, he tried it again but in vain. Panic seized him when he realized that
he was engulfed in water that was suffocating him and abject fear immobilized him making his
limbs unresponsive and heavy. His flailing arms failed to find anything to hold on to and he found
himself being pulled down to the bottom. His lungs ached and his silent screams went unheard.
The mass of yellow water that held him captive in its grip produced stark terror over which he had
no control. When three attempts to rise to the surface failed, he fainted. He had experienced the
terror that fear of death can produce.
Q2. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?
Ans. The fear of water haunted Douglas for many years till he decided to hire the services of an
instructor and started practicing five days a week. The instructor devised a method by which
Douglas could learn swimming without fear. Douglas was to wear a belt around his waist and
attached to this was a rope that went through a pulley that ran on an overhead cable. After three
months, he had begun to relax. The instructor also put him through the exercise of moving his legs
in water by the side of the pool and though at first Douglas felt paralyzed and quite unable to
move, with sustained effort, he soon overcame it. The instructor then felt that his job was done and
that he had made a swimmer out of Douglas. He swam in different lakes and rivers and it was after
he had swum in Warm Lake that he knew that he had at last conquered the fear of water.
Q3. Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering
of it? What larger meaning does he draw from this experience?
Ans. Douglas, as an adult, recounts this experience as to him it was larger than just overcoming fear
of water. The childhood experience of almost drowning in the pool had been a brush with death
and this had produced in him a greater desire to live. The terror that he had experienced was so real
to him that only he could understand the full implication of it. It had aroused in him the passion to
destroy the fear that had the ability to incapacitate him to the extent that it numbed his senses and
paralyzed his limbs. This fear continued to haunt him for years and strengthened his resolve to
destroy it for he knew that the only way he could ever live with himself was when he had attained
freedom from it. It was a personal battle that he had to win. The rigorous routine that he put
himself through to overcome his fear bears testimony to his willpower, courage and determination.
Q4. People say that failures are the stepping stones. They are the best teachers. Discuss in about
125 words.
Ans. It is rightly said that failure plays an important role in a man’s life. Failure in one field
becomes the cause of exploring success in other fields. Failures make us familiar with our
weaknesses and flaws. They become the stepping stones and inspire us to fight against odd
circumstances. Man should learn from his mistakes and strive hard to reach at his destination. Most
of the successful peoples failed at any step but could get their target because failures guided them
and encouraged them to try harder. One should never give up one’s target. It is certain that failure
inspires us to work with more strength and vigour. One should never get depressed and dejected.
All leaders, fighters, businessmen, bureaucrats firmly say that failures are the pillars to success.
Q5. Strong will power and firm determination ensure success in your life. Douglas wanted to
learn swimming but he was afraid of water. He did not give up and finally mastered swimming.
He proved that where there is a will, there is a way. Write your views in about 125 words.
Ans. Strong will power plays a vital role in our life. Firm determination and consistent hard work
are the hallmarks of success. A person who has passionate desire to do something achieves his
goals within the stipulated time. Will power of a human being gives him strength, energy, vigour
and enthusiasm. It determines the fate of a human being. Absolute determination has the ability to
face and overcome obstacles. No hindrance can defeat the will power. It is invincible and
insurmountable. There is no problem in this world which has no solution. It has been proved by
great personalities that all obstacles can be overcome by sheer determination. Man has the knack to
achieve anything. Nothing is impossible in this world. He must not be fatalist. He should not
believe in destiny, but on karma. Man can accomplish every assignment if he desires. Strong desire
is the prerequisite to success. There is no scope for disappointment in the life of a person who has
iron will and dogged determination.
 The Rattrap
By Selma Lagerlof

Theme
The story is about an old disheartened peddler who is taken in and shown generosity by a young
woman. Her generosity and kindness change his bitter attitude towards life. The peddler is a man
who has fallen upon misfortune and now resorts to selling rattraps, begging, and thievery. He is
very pessimistic about the world around him and sees the world as merely a ‚rat trap‛. He believes
that society tempts us with riches and fine things, and when we accept, we are caught in the trap
and are left with nothing. The story conveys a universal message that the essential goodness in a
human being can be awakened through love, respect, kindness and understanding. It highlights the
human predicament. Material benefits are the traps that most human beings are prone to fall into.
Human beings do have a tendency to redeem themselves from dishonest ways as does the peddler
at the end of the story.

Setting
This story is set amidst the mines of Sweden, rich in iron ore which figure large in the history of that
country. The story is told somewhat in the manner of a fairy tale.

Characters
1. A peddlar with rattraps.
2. An Oldman: A crofter
3. Master Smith in the Ramsjo Iron Mill in Sweden
4. Helpers in the Mill: blacksmiths
5. Iron mill owner
6. Edla Willmansson – daughter of the Iron Mill owner.

Summary in detail
A rattrap peddler went around selling small rattraps. His clothes were in rags. His cheeks were
hollow. He had the look of a starved man. He made wire traps. He begged the material from stores
and big farms. Sometimes he resorted to begging and a little stealing to survive. The world had
never been kind to him. He had no home, no shelter.

The peddler led a lonely life. One day while he was thinking about his rattraps, an idea struck him.
He thought that the world itself was a rattrap. As soon as anybody touched it, the trap closed on
them. He was amused to think of some people who were already trapped, and some others who
were trying to reach the bait in the trap.

It was a cold evening in December. He reached a cottage on the roadside. He knocked at the door
and asked for a night’s shelter. The owner of the cottage was a lonely old crofter. He wanted
someone to talk to. He welcomed the peddler. He gave the peddler hot porridge to eat, and tobacco
to smoke. Then they played cards. The crofter was generous as well as trustful. He told the peddler
that he had a cow and sold her milk to a creamery. He also told him that he received thirty kronors
as payment the previous month. Then he took down a pouch and showed him the money. Then he
put the money back in the pouch and hung it on a nail in the window frame. Next morning the
peddler left. The crofter locked his cottage, and went away.
The peddler came back to the cottage. He had been tempted to steal the money that hung like a bait
in the window frame. He smashed the pane and stole the money. Now he thought it was not safe to
walk along the public highway. So he went into the woods. There he walked and walked but could
not get out. He moved in circles. He was tired. He looked upon the forest as a rattrap in which he
was caught. He thought his end was near. He lay down to die.

After a while he heard regular thumping of a hammer’s strokes. He knew the sound was coming
from Ramsjo Ironworks. He stood up and walked in the direction of the sound. He opened the gate
of the ironworks and went into the forge. The owner came on his nightly rounds and noticed the
ragged wretch near the furnace. The ironmaster looked intently at the peddler’s face. He felt sure
that the peddler was one of his old regimental comrades, Captain von Stable who had fallen on evil
days. He invited the peddler to go home with him for Christmas. But the peddler was alarmed. He
thought it was risky for him to accept the offer. He firmly declined it. The ironmaster went home.

The ironmaster sent his daughter Edla to persuade the peddler to come home. She spoke gently to
him. The peddler felt confidence in her and agreed to go with her. On the way he was sorry to have
stolen the crofter’s money that had put him in a trap.
The ironmaster was happy to have his old regimental comrade under his roof. He planned to feed
him well and give him some respectable work. The servant cut the peddler’s hair, shaved him ad
bathed him. The peddler appeared wearing one of the ironmaster’s fine suits. But when the
ironmaster looked at him in daylight, he felt that he had made a mistake. The peddler was not
captain von Stable. He thought that the man had deceived him. He even thought of handing him to
the sheriff.

The peddler said that he had not pretended to be what he was not. He had not been willing to go to
the ironmaster’s house. Even then he was willing to put on his rags and leave. He also told the
ironmaster that the world was a rattrap, and he himself might one day be tempted by a big bait and
get caught in the trap. The ironmaster told him to leave at once. Edla did not like her father’s asking
the poor peddler to leave. She thought it was unfair to turn away the man whom they had invited.
She wanted to have the joy of entertaining a homeless wanderer on Christmas Eve. She stopped the
peddler and her father agreed to it.

Edla served food to the peddler. He was given Christmas presents which he thankfully received.
Edla told him that her father’s suit that the peddler was wearing was also a Christmas present. She
assured him that he would be welcomed again if he liked to spend the next Christmas Eve with them.

Next morning the ironmaster and his daughter went to church. There they learned that the peddler
was a thief. He had robbed the crofter. The ironmaster was sure that the peddler must have made
away with their silver. Edla was dejected. But when they reached home they learned that the
peddler had left. But he had taken away nothing. On the other hand he had left a Christmas present
for Edla.
Edla opened the present. It was a tiny rattrap. Edla was happy to see that the peddler had left the
crofter’s money behind. There was a letter also. It was addressed to Edla. He thanked her for her
kindness. He wanted to repay her kindness. So he had left the crofter’s money and had requested
her to return it to the crofter. He said he had been raised to captain. That was why he could come
out of the rattrap in which he had been caught. He signed the letter Captain von Stable.
Main points
1. ‘The Rattrap’ is a story that underlies a belief that essential goodness in human beings can be
roused through sympathy, understanding and love.
2. Once a man went around selling small rattraps but he took to begging and thievery to keep his
body and soul together.
3. One day he was struck with the idea – the whole world is a big rattrap and it offers riches as bait.
4. People let themselves be tempted to touch the bait then it closes in on them bringing an end to
everything.
5. One dark evening the rattrap peddler sought shelter in an old crofter’s roadside cottage.
6. The old man gave him food, tobacco they enjoyed the card game too.
7. Next morning the peddler stole away his thirty kroners.
8. The rattrap peddler escaped into a big confusing forest and got lost.
9. While resting on the ground he recollected his idea that the world is a rattrap and thought his
end was near.
10. Hearing a thumping sound he reached Ramsjo ironworks for a night shelter.
11. The owner came on his nightly rounds and noticed the ragged wretch near the furnace.
12. He took him as an old acquaintance ‘Nils Olof.’
13. He invited him to stay with them for Christmas but the stranger declined the offer.
14. His daughter Edla Willmansson persuaded to go home with him.
15. She requested him to stay for Christmas Eve only.
16. On his way to the Manor House the peddler thought that he had thrown himself into the lion’s
den.
17. The next day in broad day light the iron master realized the stranger was not captain and
threatened to call the sheriff.
18. Edla pleaded for him and asked him to stay back.
19. Christmas Eve at Ramsjo was as usual and the stranger slept and slept.
20. She made him understand that if he wanted rest and peace he would be welcome next
Christmas also. This had a miraculous effect on him.
21. Next morning they went for early church service leaving behind the guest who was asleep.
22. They learnt at church that a rattrap peddler had robbed an old crofter.
23. Edla becomes very upset.
24. They reach home immediately and learn that the peddler had already left but had not taken
anything at all with him. Instead, he had left a small packet for the young girl as a Christmas
present.
25. She opens the packet and finds a rattrap, three wrinkled ten- Kronor notes and also a letter with
a request to return the Kroners to the crofter.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?
Ans. The peddler went around selling rattraps that he had made himself from wire he had begged
or stolen. One day the thought occurred to him that the world was very much like a rattrap which
offered men shelter, food, clothing and other comforts for entrapping them.
Q2. What was the peddler’s philosophy about rattrap? Why did it amuse him?
Ans. The peddler’s philosophy was that the whole world is a rattrap with several baits in it. As one
is tempted to bait and touches it, the door is closed and everything comes to an end like in a rattrap.
The thought amused him because he has so far been selling rattrap; but not fallen in this world’s
rattrap.

Q3. What kind of host was the old crofter?

Ans. The old crofter was an affectionate and generous host. He warmly welcomed the peddler as he
got someone to talk to in his loneliness. He served him porridge for his supper and offered a pipe
with tobacco roll to smoke and finally played with him Mjolis till bedtime.
Q4. The reader’s sympathy is with the peddler right from the beginning? Is it justified? Give
reasons.
Ans. The rattrap peddler draws reader’s sympathy because of his poverty. The author’s description
of his clothes and appearance like –‚his clothes are in rags, his cheeks are sunken and hunger
gleams his eyes‛ and his resorting to begging and petty thievery to keep his body and soul together
evoke reader’s sympathy.
Q5. Who do you think was at fault-the ironmaster or the peddler? Give two reasons.
Ans. I think the ironmaster was at fault because it was he who invited the tramp to his house for the
Christmas thinking him to be his old acquaintance; but on knowing he was not his acquaintance, he
could not oppose his daughter’s decision to offer him Christmas cheer.
Q6. Why was the peddler grateful to the ironmaster and his daughter?
Ans. The peddler was grateful to the ironmaster and his daughter as they empowered him to
release himself from the world’s rattrap through their selfless hospitality, love, sympathy,
compassion, and understanding.
Q7. Did the peddler expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the crofter?
Ans. The peddler was surprised that the crofter not only invited him into his cottage but also
shared his porridge with him. He also talked to him, played cards with him and shared confidences
with him.
Q8. Why was the crofter so talkative and friendly with the peddler?
Ans. The crofter was alone, and had no wife or child and was perhaps lonely. Therefore he became
happy to get someone to talk to in his loneliness.
Q9. Why did he show the thirty kroner to the peddler?
Ans. The crofter told the peddler that he was comfortable and had earned a reasonable sum of
money from his extraordinary cow that gave a lot of milk and he had earned thirty kroner last
month. The peddler expressed disbelief and thus the crofter showed him the money.
Q10. Did the peddler respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?
Ans. The peddler abused the trust reposed in him by the crofter because as soon as he could, he
came back, opened the window of the cottage and stole the crofter’s hard-earned money.
Q11. What made the peddler think that he had indeed fallen into a rattrap?
Ans. Having stolen the crofter’s money, the peddler was forced to stay off the road and walk in the
forest. When night fell, he could not see where he was headed to and seemed to be walking round
and round the same spot. He was tired and in his frustration felt that he was caught in the trap.
Q12. Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?
Ans. The ironmaster mistook the peddler to be an old acquaintance, Nils Olof, a comrade from the
regiment. It appeared to the ironmaster that the man had fallen on bad days and so he invited him
to his home, especially as it was Christmas time.
Q13. Why did the peddler decline the invitation?
Ans. The peddler declined his invitation, as he was afraid of being detected as the thief. He felt that
by accepting the invitation to go to the ironmaster’s house, he was voluntarily walking into the
lion’s den.
Q14. What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson’s invitation?
Ans. Edla Willmansson came to invite the peddler. She requested him to come home with such an
apparent and genuine kindness that the peddler could not refuse. She instilled a certain confidence
in him.
Q15. What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?
Ans. Edla noticed that the peddler was afraid and she at once concluded that he was either a thief
or had escaped from jail. She told her father that it was strange that his regimental comrade had
fallen on such bad days and also that he had nothing about him to show that he had once been an
educated man.
Q16. When did the ironmaster realise his mistake?
Ans. The ironmaster had first seen the tramp in the dim glow of the furnace. He had taken him to
be his old regimental comrade, but when the tramp had come down cleanly shaven and dressed in
a borrowed suit of the master, the ironmaster at once realized that it had been a case of mistaken
identity. He had taken the tramp to be his old regimental comrade.
Q17. What did the peddler say in his defence when it was clear that he was not the person the
ironmaster had thought he was?
Ans. The peddler pleaded that it was not his fault. He had never pretended to be anything but only
a poor trader. He only begged that he should be allowed to stay for the night near the forge. Since
he had done them no harm, so he was ready to put on his old rags again and would leave at once.
Q18. Why did Edla still entertain the peddler even after she knew the truth about him?
Ans. Edla was a kind woman at heart and understood how difficult the peddler’s life had been. She
realized how hard it must have been for him to be homeless and to have had to wander from place
to place. She empathised with him and was thus kind to him even though she knew who he was.
Q19. Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler?
Ans. The ironmaster and Edla had expected that the peddler would have made away with all their
silver and were indeed pleasantly surprised to find that he had not stolen anything but had left the
thirty stolen kroners in a rattrap along with a letter. He requested that the stolen money be returned
to its rightful owner and stated in his letter that having been treated with such dignity and having
had his status elevated to that of a captain, he felt that he could not embarrass them.
Q20. Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain von Stahle?
Ans. The pedellar was touched by the kind treatment Edla gave him. Edla, despite knowing his real
identity, treated him like a captain. Now it was his turn to show her that the guest she had
honoured was as honourable as the captain and not merely a petty thief. Latent goodness of his
heart awakened, he behaved in a dignified manner. Signed himself as Captain von Stahle.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. How does the peddler interpret the acts of kindness and hospitality shown by the crofter, the
ironmaster and his daughter?
Ans. The peddler feels absolutely no compunction about accepting the hospitality of the crofter and
then robbing him of his hardearned kroner. He enjoys playing cards with his host all evening and
then makes away with his money the next morning. When the ironmaster having mistaken him for
a regimental comrade invites him to his house to share his Christmas lunch, he feels a sense of
entrapment, having the stolen money on his person, and thus declines the invitation. He feels that
to accept the hospitality of the ironmaster would be like voluntarily throwing himself into the lion’s
den. However, he does not at the outset disclose his true identity because he hopes to profit from
the mistake thinking perhaps a few kroner would come his way but now he only wants to rest near
the forge at night and quietly slip away in the morning. The kindness of the ironmaster’s daughter
touches the tramp’s heart making him feel more worthy. She makes him feel comfortable and raises
his self-esteem. Even after his true identity has been discovered, she feels sympathetic towards him
and convinces her father to let him stay and share Christmas cheer with them. She does not for a
moment doubt his integrity and the tramp repays this faith and kindness by leaving behind the
stolen kroner to be returned to the rightful owner along with one of his rattraps as a present and a
letter addressed to the daughter thanking her for elevating his status to that of a captain and for the
chance to redeem his mistake.

Q2. What are the instances in the story that show that the character of the ironmaster is different
from that of his daughter in many ways?
Ans. The ironmaster is a man of power whose ambition was to ensure that good iron was shipped
out. He believed in closely supervising the work at the ironworks to make sure that all was in order.
When he saw the tramp, he was not overcome with sympathy. His arrogance came to the fore and
he commenced to give him a piece of his mind regarding his unwise decision of not resigning at the
appropriate time. His invitation to the tramp to come to his house stemmed more from a sense of
superiority rather than true philanthropy. He was most indignant to discover that the tramp had
deceived him regarding his true identity. The ironmaster’s daughter sensed something amiss on her
very first meeting with the tramp. She was not convinced that he had ever been in the army and
when she was proved right, her reaction was not one of indignation but one of sympathy,
understanding and kindness. She realised how he must always have to contend with being turned
away and not being made welcome anywhere and decided that she would give him that
opportunity of feeling secure and welcome in their home. She had more faith in him than did her
father and when the tramp did nothing but eat and sleep, she was able to appreciate the fact that he
had probably never felt so secure in his life. She even convinced her father to gift him the suit that
was loaned to the tramp as a Christmas gift.

Q3. The story has many instances of unexpected reactions from the characters to others’
behaviour. Pick out instances of these surprises.
Ans. The peddler, walking along on a winters evening, is able to avail the unconditional warmth
and hospitality of the owner of the cottage. The host shares his food, his home and his confidences,
showing the stranger the money that he had made. The tramp, the next day, feels no remorse for
stealing the money and walking away. When he is seeking shelter from the cold and has the
opportunity to spend the night at the ironmaster’s house, he declines as he has the stolen money
with him and feels that he will be walking into the lion’s den. However, when the same invitation is
extended by the ironmaster through his daughter, the tramp accepts as her kindness filters through.
Left alone in the ironmaster’s house, the tramp has every opportunity to make away with the
valuables. On the contrary, the tramp goes away leaving behind the stolen money to be returned to
the rightful owner along with a rattrap as a present for the ironmaster’s daughter.

Q4. What made the peddler finally change his ways?

Ans. The peddler had lived a life of privation and constant rejection. It had made him cynical and
embittered. Selfpreservation had become his sole objective and he could not sense the difference
between right and wrong. He had lost his sense of self-worth, having lived in penury with no home
to call his own and not even a name to answer to. He had to resort to begging and petty thieving to
survive and life offered no pleasure at all. The sadness and monotony of his life had convinced him
of the fact that life was like a huge rattrap and just as the cheese and pork in the traps that he made
were the bait, so also the riches, joys, shelter and the food that life offered were the bait. As soon as
anyone let himself be tempted, it closed in around him and all came to an end. He took pleasure in
thinking of all the acquaintances who had been caught in this trap. However, the meeting with the
ironmaster’s daughter was the turning point in his life. The kindness, the concern and the
understanding that she showed him touched the core of his heart and transformed his way of
thinking.

Q5. How does the metaphor of the rattrap serve to highlight the human predicament?
Ans. The tramp during his wanderings hit upon the thought that just as the cheese and the pork are
the bait in the rattraps that he makes so also the joys, the warmth, the shelter and the comforts that
life offers are the bait to trap humans in the huge rattrap of the world. It gave him immense
pleasure to ruminate about all his acquaintances who had fallen into the trap. Though these were
the thoughts of an embittered man who envied those whose lot was better than his, yet the
metaphor of the trap holds some truth when one thinks about life. The more one has, the more one
wants and sometimes the reasons for wanting those things become secondary to the wants
themselves. Jealousy and rivalry are the corollary of material acquisitions and the only motivation
to possess things is to outdo another. The rattrap of the world entraps us and we are so occupied
with chasing the state of fulfilment that ever evades us that we are again engulfed in despair and
discontentment.

Q6. The peddler comes out as a person with a subtle sense of humour. How does this serve in
lightening the seriousness of the theme of the story and also endear him to us?
Ans. The peddler, with his subtle sense of humour was able to make an equation between the
rattraps that he made and the world, which he likened to a huge rattrap, offering bait and then
closing in, round those who fell for them. This was his way of consoling himself that no matter
what his lot, he was better off than those who fell for the worldly bait of joy, warmth, shelter and
other such comforts. This makes the sad, the weary and melancholy tramp very human and real. He
manages to arouse the sympathy of the reader despite his thieving ways and his dead conscience
for he makes the reader examine the merits of self preservation. His preoccupation with remaining
undetected as the thief who has made away with the thirty hard-earned kroner of the crofter makes
him refuse the luxury of spending Christmas at the fine house of the ironmaster. The kindness with
which the ironmaster s daughter treats him touches the core of his hitherto hardened heart. The
restoration of his dignity results in his transformation into a responsible human being, sensitive,
courteous, grateful and gracious.

Q7. The reader’s sympathy is with the peddler right from the beginning of the story. Why is this
so? Is the sympathy justified?
Ans. The peddler earns the sympathy of the reader because on every occasion when his woes seem
to be ending, he is assailed by fresh problems, as if caught in a rattrap with no escape. After
receiving hospitality form a crofter, he is assailed by feelings of guilt as he stoops to temptation and
steals the crofter’s earnings. Paradoxically, he loses his way in a forest even though he is a
vagabond who has always found his way through the woods. At the smithy when he is mistaken
for an acquaintance of the iron master he plays along, only to be discovered subsequently and being
threatened with imprisonment. When Edla offers him unconditional love and hospitality, he does
truly reform. He rids himself of the stolen wealth and presents the girl with the kroner in a
symbolic rattrap, and becomes a carefree and satisfied individual.

Q8. The story also focuses on human loneliness and the need to bond with others.
(a) Festivities are not complete without bonding with other human beings. Thus the ironmaster
takes home the peddler mistaking him for his former acquaintance Captain von Stahle because he
cannot bear to leave an acquaintance stranded on Christmas Eve.
(b)The daughter and father welcome the stranger as they like to have company to share their joys
on Christmas.
(c) Even after finding out that the stranger is not the former acquaintance, the daughter insists on
his staying with them because of the need for human company.
(d) The story illustrates that lonely people are willing to take in any human beings because of the
innate need for human company. Thus the crofter welcomed the vagabond under his roof.
(e) The confession of the man to stealing or acquiescing to a false identity did not alter the
generosity of his hosts as they were hungry for company at all costs.

Q9. The story is both entertaining and philosophical.

Ans. (a) The story is entertaining because of the many sudden twists in the storyline that is
maintained throughout the content. Each time, the stranger seemed to have overcome his troubles,
he met with fresh hurdles.
(b) It is entertaining because of the differences in the locales where the various incidents occur, and
the dialogue of the characters. The scene of mistaken identities reveals this point.
(c) The story maintains an air of suspense right through and even the concluding part of the story is
a startling one.
(d) The story is philosophical because it poses an open-ended query as to whether our lives are
conditioned by our fate or are a direct follow-through of our own follies, caught as we are in a giant
rattrap.
(e) It also brings to the fore that human love, in the form of hospitality when given unconditionally,
brings about real change as was revealed through the character of the ironmaster’s daughter
towards the peddler.
 CH- 5 Indigo
By Louis Fischer
About the author

Louis Fischer, the son of a fish peddler, was born in Philadelphia on 29 February 1896. After
studying at the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy from 1914 to 1916, he became a school teacher. He
served as a volunteer in the British Army but he made his career as a journalist and worked for
different newspapers. Louis Fischer taught about the Soviet Union at Princeton University until his
death on January 15, 1970.
The famous American journalist Mr. Louis Fischer came to India in May 1942. He was in India for
two months. The world war was in full swing. In the scorching heat of June he spent one week with
Gandhi in his Ashram. Gandhi gave him one hour daily. He could also talk with Gandhi during
other activities such as eating, walking, etc. Fisher wrote a book ‚seven days with the Mahatma‛. In
this famous book he has described the Ashram life and Gandhi’s likes and dislikes in a very
touching way. He wrote that he never felt afraid in Gandhi’s presence. His association with Gandhi
was warm, healthy, full of joy and cordial. He found Gandhi a cultured, able and always refreshing
and sweet person. Louis Fisher has described the wonders of Gandhi’s personality in the book.

Introduction
In this story, Louis describes Gandhi’s struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran who were the
sharecroppers with the British planters. They led a miserable life and were forced to grow indigo
according to an agreement. They suffered a great injustice due to the landlord system in Bihar.
Gandhi waged a war for about a year against their atrocities and brought justice to the poor
peasants.

Characters
Raj Kumar Shukla: A sharecropper
Charles Freer Andrews: A follower of Gandhi
Kasturba: Wife of Gandhi
Devdas: youngest son of Gandhi

Summary
This story describes Gandhi’s struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran. In those days most of
arable land in the Champaran district was divided into large estate owned by Englishmen and
worked by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was Indigo. The landlords compelled all
tenants to plant 15% of their Indigo and surrender the entire Indigo harvest as rent. This was done
by long term contract. The British didn’t need the Indigo crop any more when Germany had
developed synthetic Indigo. Just to release the peasants from the 15% agreement they demanded
compensation. Some illiterate peasants agreed but the others refused. One of the sharecroppers
named Raj Kumar Shukla met Gandhi in this regard and compelled him to visit Champaran
because of the long term injustice of landlords. Then the two of them boarded a train for the city of
Patna in Bihar. From there Shukla led him to the house of a lawyer named Rajendra Prasad.
Mahatma Gandhi’s humble and simple attire made the servants mistook him as another poor
peasant. He surveyed before taking any vital step in order to get those peasants justice. It was the
time when British government punished those who in any condition gave shelter to national leaders
or protesters. Gandhi’s arrival and the nature of his mission spread like a wildfire. Many lawyers
and peasant groups came in large numbers to support him. The lawyers accepted the fact that their
charges were high and for a poor peasant it will be irksome. Gandhi rebuked them for collecting big
fee from the sharecroppers. He stressed on counseling as this would give the peasants enough
confidence to fight their fear. He managed to get justice after a yearlong battle for the peasants. He
also made arrangements for the education, health, and hygiene for the families of the poor peasants.
He gave them the lesson of self-reliance.

Main points
1. Raj Kumar Shukla, a poor sharecropper wished to meet Gandhi to complain about the injustice of
the landlord system in Champaran.
2. Shukla followed Gandhi everywhere and begged him to fix a date to come to his district.
3. Gandhi was much impressed and fixed a schedule.
4. Gandhi and Shukla reached Patna to meet Dr. Rajendra Prasad but he was out of town.
5. Then decided to go to Muzzafarpur first to get detailed information about Champaran
sharecroppers.
6. Sent telegram to J B Kriplani and stayed in Prof. Malkani’s home – a government servant.
7. Indians afraid to show sympathy to the supporters of home rule.
8. The news of Gandhi’s arrival spread- sharecroppers gathered in large number to meet their
champion.
9. Gandhi chided the Muzzafarpur lawyers for taking high fee from poor sharecroppers.
10. Champaran district was divided into estate owned by English people, Indians were only tenant
farmers.
11. Landlords compelled tenants to plant 15% of their land with indigo and surrender their entire
harvest as rent.
12. In the meantime Germany had developed synthetic indigo –British landlords freed the Indian
farmers from the 15% arrangement but asked them to pay compensation.
13. Many signed, some resisted, engaged lawyers, landlords hired thugs.
14. Gandhi reached Champaran- visited the secretary of the British landlord association to get the
facts but denied as he was an outsider.
15. Gandhi went to the British Official Commissioner who asked him to leave Trihut. Gandhi
disobeyed, went to Motihari the capital of Champaran where a vast multitude greeted him,
continued his investigations.
16. Visited maltreated villagers – stopped by the police superintendent but disobeyed the order.
17. Motihari black with peasants – spontaneous demonstrations – Gandhi released without bail –
Civil Disobedience triumphed.
18. Gandhi agreed to 25% refund by the landowners, it symbolized the surrender of the prestige.
19. Gandhi worked hard towards social economic reforms.
20. Gandhi taught a lesson of self-reliance.
Understanding the text
Q1 : Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-point in his life?
Answer : Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life because he
realised that civil disobedience, which had triumphed for the first time, could go a long way in the
freedom struggle. Moreover, he had succeeded in making the peasants aware of their rights and
becoming confident. This success, thus, proved the effectiveness of Gandhi’s method of non-
violence and non-cooperation.
Q2 : How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances. .
Ans : Gandhi was able to influence the lawyers through his conviction, earnestness and pertinent
questioning. Gandhi reproached the lawyers of Muzzafarpur for charging a large sum of money as
fee from the peasants. Later, the lawyers from Bihar opined that they would return to their own
places in the event of his imprisonment. But, Gandhi made them realise that it would be impudent
for them, being lawyers from a neighbouring place, to return when a stranger was ready to get
himself imprisoned for the peasants. So, they agreed to follow him to jail. Gandhi also convinced
the lawyers not to seek support from an Englishman and be self-reliant.
Q3: What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of ‘home
rule’? .
Ans: During those times, the average Indian in smaller localities lived in fear of the British. They
were afraid of the dire consequences of helping the advocates of ‚home-rule‛. Hence, though they
were supportive of people like Gandhi, they were afraid of showing it explicitly and only a few
could actually dare to come out openly. In the story, we find people, like Professor Malkani, who
had the courage to give shelter to Gandhi on the latter’s visit to Muzzafarpur.
Q4: How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
Ans : In the chapter ‘Indigo’ Louis Fischer writes of how a small farmer Rajkumar Shukla from a
small district, Champaran, helps bring about a very prominent change. Likewise, many other
peasants from the villages fought courageously and contributed in their own way to the movement.
Their cumulative effort eventually resulted in their winning the battle of Champaran and to finally
free themselves of the sharecropping arrangement.

Talking about Text

Q2 : Discuss the following.
1. ‚Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice for the poor.‛
Do you think that the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?

2. The qualities of a good leader.

Ans : 1. In the story, Gandhi makes it possible for the sharecroppers of Champaran to shed their
fear of the British landlords. According to Gandhi, freedom from fear is the first step towards self-
reliance. However, it is unfortunate that the poor of the country are not free from fear, even decades
after the independence. Their actions, work, etc. are still under pressure; they are under the mercy
of the bureaucratic system. Furthermore, the poor live in a continual fear of the police, who instead
of taking care, often end up maltreating them. The already poor farmers are becoming poorer,
because of globalisation and the craze for the foreign products. This leaves them in the fear of
further destitution.
2. A leader is someone who leads the minds of others and convinces them into following his set of
ideas and beliefs. As such, there are some qualities inherent in the persona of the leader that sets
him apart from the rest. One of these qualities includes dedication to one’s work. His enthusiasm is
evident in his work and life, and this inspires others to follow him. A good leader is courageous in
the face of adversity and is never a quitter. He motivates and encourages others, bringing out the
best in them. He appreciates the efforts of others and is not biased or impartial.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-point in his
life? .
Ans: Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life because he realized
that civil disobedience, which had triumphed for the first time, could go a long way in the freedom
struggle. Moreover, he had succeeded in making the peasants aware of their rights and becoming
confident. This success, thus, proved the effectiveness of Gandhi’s method of non-violence and non-
cooperation.
Q2. How was Gandhi able to influence the lawyers? Give instances.
Ans. Gandhi’s sincerity of purpose, convincing argumentation and a logical approach deeply
influenced the lawyers. Chiding them for over-charging the peasants, he encouraged them to court
arrest for the poor peasants’ cause, if he himself got imprisoned.
Q3. What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of ‘home
rule’?
Ans. In the smaller localities, Indians were afraid to show sympathy with advocates of ‘Home
Rule’. Thus it was surprising for Gandhi that he received support from Professor J.B. Kripalani of
the Arts College of Muzzafarpur. He met him at the station with a large group of students and also
housed him for a couple of days.
Q4. How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
Ans. Freedom movement is the story of the contribution and sacrifices of countless unknown and
unsung heroes like Raj Kumar Shukla and other Champaran sharecroppers. But for their active
support and show of solidarity, the first victory of Civil Disobedience in India would not have been
possible.
Q5. Why was Gandhiji impressed with Rajkumar Shukla’s tenacity and determination?
Ans. Raj Kumar Shukla, a poor Sharecropper from Champaran requested Gandhi in Congress
Session in Lucknow to fix a date to visit Champaran where the sharecroppers were subjected to
injustice. Till Gandhi fixed a date, he did not leave him rather he accompanied him wherever he
went. Gandhi was impressed by his tenacity and determination and finally agreed to go there from
Calcutta.
Q6. Why did Gandhi chide the lawyers who represented the interests of group of sharecroppers
of Champaran?
Ans. Gandhi chided the lawyers for collecting big fees from the sharecroppers to fight their case in
law courts. He felt taking their case to law courts would do little good when they were so crushed
and fear stricken. So his first priority was to free them from fear.
Q7. What were the conditions of sharecroppers of Champaran?
Ans. The peasants of Champaran were tenants of British landlords. Under long term sharecropping
arrangement, they were growing Indigo on 15 percent of their holding and surrendering the harvest
as rent to the British landlord. But when Indigo price fell due to synthetic Indigo developed in
Germany, the landlords obtained agreement from the peasants to pay them compensation which
some of the peasants resisted and fought their case in court.
Q8. What made the British realize that the Indians could challenge their might hither to
unquestioned?
Ans. The spontaneous demonstration around the court house by the peasants of Motihari on
knowing that Gandhi was in trouble was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British
which made the British realize that now the Indians can challenge their might.
Q9. How did Gandhi make the peasants fearless and self-reliant?
Ans. Gandhi made the peasants fearless by letting them know about their rights, fighting their case
and by obtaining the refund of compensation made to the British landlords who were behaving as
lords above the law.
Q10. Why is Raj Kumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?
Ans. Raj Kumar Shukla was a poor, illiterate sharecropper from Champaran who having heard of
Gandhi came to Lucknow to seek his assistance. He was illiterate but resolute. He wished to bring
the plight of the sharecroppers of Champaran to the notice of Gandhi and followed him everywhere
till he finally agreed to go to Champaran.
Q11. Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?
Ans. Gandhi was committed to accompany Raj Kumar Shukla to Champaran to address the
tribulations of the sharecroppers of that area. En route to Champaran from Calcutta, Raj Kumar
Shukla made Gandhi stop in Patna to meet a lawyer called Rajendra Prasad who later on became
the first President of India. The servants thought that Gandhi was another peasant as he had come
with an illiterate peasant.
Q12. Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers?
Ans. Gandhi agreed to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers just to break the deadlock.
Gandhi felt that the amount was less important than the fact that the landlords had been obliged to
surrender a part of the money and along with it a part of their pride.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Why was the share-cropping arrangement irksome? What was its fate?
Ans. Most of the cultivating land of Chaniparan district was divided into large estates owned by
the Englishmen. It was worked by Indian tenant peasants, for which they paid rent. Indigo was the
chief commercial crop. The English planters compelled all peasants to grow indigo in three-
twentieths or 15 per cent of their land holdings. The entire indigo harvest was to be surrendered as
rent to the British landowners. The landlords came to know that Germany had developed synthetic
indigo. Thereupon they obtained agreement, from the share-croppers to pay them the
compensation. This share-cropping arrangement was irksome to the peasants. Some signed it
willingly and those who opposed engaged lawyers. The landowners hired thugs who forcefully
collected the compensation amount. It was at this point Gandhi reached Champaran. Gandhi’s civil
disobedience and peasants’ spontaneous demonstration compelled the Lieutenant Governor to
appoint a commission of inquiry into the share-croppers situation. The official inquiry concluded
that the landlords had to refund the part of the money to the peasants. After a few years they
abandoned their estates. The indigo share-cropping disappeared completely.
Q2. How did Gandhiji win the battle of Champaran?
Ans. After his arrival at Motihari, Gandhiji used a house as the headquarter so that he can have
complete investigation for the sharecroppers. At that time there came a report about mal-treating a
peasant. Next morning Gandhiji went to see him but he was overtaken by the police
superintendent’s messanger with an order to come back. When he reached home, Gandhiji was
asked to quit Champaran at once. Gandhiji signed the order but wrote to disobey the order. Next
day Gandhi appeared in the court. That night Gandhiji telegraphed Rajendra Prasad to come with
the influential friends. When the peasants knew that Gandhiji was in trouble with the authorities,
the court ground of Motihari became black with peasants. The officials felt powerless and they had
to seek his help. The trial was postponed but Gandhiji protested the delay. In between he was left at
liberty. Now Gandhiji asked the prominent lawyers what they would do in case he was sent to jail.
They told that they would follow Gandhiji and give the court arrest. Gandhiji exclaimed: ‚The
battle of Champaran is won‛.
Q3. How did a visit to Champaran become a turning point in Gandhi’s life? How does this show
Gandhi’s love and concern for the common people of India?
Ans. After having clues from Raj Kumar Shukla, Gandhi reached Champaran to understand the
appalling conditions of sharecroppers. He found that the large estates were owned by the
Englishmen where Indians worked there as their tenant farmers and they paid 15% of their land
yield. After great tussel, Gandhi and the lawyers made the Britishers agree to refund 25 percent of
the money. Thus farmers became bold and got their rights. Within few years, the landlords left
chains over the estates and the farmers became the owners. On finding backwardness of the people
there, he appointed volunteers to teach the villagers. Kasturba taught the ashram rules and personal
hygiene and community sanitation. A doctor helped the villagers in their health problems. The
people realized the value of self-reliance. The countrymen embarked on the task of national
freedom movement. It was a turning point in Gandhi’s life. All his activities were expressing his
love and concern for the Indians.
Q4. What were the steps taken by Gandhiji to solve the problems of social and cultural
backwardness in the villages of Champaran?
Ans. Gandhiji saw the cultural and social backwardness in the Champaran villages. In order to
educate them he made an appeal for teachers. His two new young pupils Mahadev Desai, Narhari
Parikh and their wives offered to work. Several more teachers came from Bombay (Mumbai), Poona
and other distant parts of India. His youngest son Devdas and Mrs. Gandhi (Kasturba) also arrived
from the Ashram. Primary schools were also opened in six villages to teach children. Kasturba
taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation. In order to improve the
miserable health conditions, Gandhiji got a doctor. He volunteered his services for six months.
Kasturba talked to the women to get rid of their filthy state of clothes. During his long stay at
Champaran, Gandhiji taught people self- reliance and freedom from the fear of the British. Thus he
paved the path for the freedom of India.
Q5. ‚Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice for the poor.‛ Do you think that the
poor of India are free from fear after Independence?
Ans: For the motion I think that in the present day, the poor in India have been relatively free of
fear for the following reasons: (a) Ours is a democratic country encouraging the values of individual
freedom. (b) The Constitution of India guarantees freedom to every citizen in India and this makes
a man fearless in his attitude compared to the situation that had prevailed in this country under
British domination. (c) The legal system in the country is impartial and sympathetic towards
people’s rightful privileges and demands. This gives the poor in India a voice and a sense of
fearlessness. (d) The Press in India is ever vigilant and makes it a point to report instances of the
abuse of freedom. It is a widely watched medium among both the urban and rural poor and gives
them the moral courage to resist curbs on their freedom. (e) A sound system of administration
ensures that the poor in India are given legal and personal protection. Against the motion
(a) Despite being the world’s biggest democracy, the poor in India live in denial of
fundamental freedoms because they are afraid to raise their voices against injustices committed
against them. (b) Economic suppression and the lack of social security measures make the poor live
in abject fear of falling a prey to disease and death or of being a victim of state and police atrocities.
(c) Women are in constant fear of their personal safety in both cities and villages irrespective
of their age, their education and other empowering tools. (d) Corrupt practices and male
dominance make their lives oppressive and fearful, for they are denied their basic right to existence
if they raise their voices against acts that are committed by their superiors. (e) The poor are soft
targets for vote bank politics and they dare not oppose the local mafia for fear of the fallout and
flack that will come upon him, his villages and his family members.
Q6. Exploitation is a universal phenomenon. The poor indigo farmers were exploited by the
British landlords to which, Gandhiji objected. Even after our independence we find exploitation
of unorganized labour. What values do we learn from Gandhi’s campaign to counter the present
day problems of exploitation?
Ans. Exploitation is a universal phenomenon. It exists since the origin of the society. The mighty
rules the poor. It makes a strata of society slaves and the other one rule them. Since the British rule,
this phenomenon is on. They exploited Indians in each and every possible way. Most noticeable
was the exploitation of the poor Indigo farmers. They had been getting nothing for their hard work.
Gandhiji taught them to speak against it using the power of truth, education, peace and non-
violence. The condition is even same in today’s scenario. Labourers are still being exploited in
unorganized sectors. They Work for long hours but do not get paid according to labour laws. They
need to remain united, come ahead and fight for their rights. Legal paths should be followed to get
what they deserve. No one should be ready to work in unhygienic and improper working
conditions. Togetherness, strength and self-determination will definitely bring fruitful results to the
labourers in every field.
 CH- 8Going Place
By A. R. Barton
About the author

A. R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in Zurich and Writes in English. He has authored many
stories like ‚Going Places‛ which are mainly concerned with the problems and the stage of
adolescence.

Introduction

The theme of this story is adolescent fantasizing and hero-worship. It is quite natural for teenagers
to have unrealistic dreams especially when their families are not well off. It is because of the fact
that the socio-economic background plays a leading role in the lives of the youths for choosing a
particular profession. The act of fantasizing may lead to miseries in case it is beyond our approach.
It is useless to build castles in the air.

Characters
1. Sophie: a school going teenager
2. Jansie: a friend and classmate of Sophie
3. Geoff: an elder brother of Sophie
4. Derek: a younger brother of Sophie
5. Danny Casey: A young Irish football player
6. Tom Finney: A great football player
7. United: name of the football team
8. Father & mother of Sophie

SUMMARY
Sophie, a teenager is filled with fantasies and desires. She comes from a poor financial background.
She dreams of owning a boutique one day or being an actress or fashion designer but her friend
Jansie believes that they are from a poor financial background and have to work in a biscuit factory.
Jansie, who is more realistic, tries to pull Sophie to reality, but in vain. Sophie lives in a small house
with her parents and brothers, Geoff and little Derek. Though she voices her feelings and desires,
her parents don’t believe her because they, unlike her, are more mature and know the harsh
realities of life. Sophie finds a sort of fascination for her elder brother Geoff, who is tall, strong,
handsome and reserved. She envies his silence and often wonders about his thoughts and areas of
his life that she doesn’t know about. Sophie fantasizes about Danny Casey, an Irish football player
whom she had seen playing in innumerable matches. She makes up a story about how she met him
in the streets and tells this to Geoff. Geoff, who is more sensible than Sophie, does not really believe
her, even if she wants to. It seems an unlikely incident for Sophie to meet the prodigy in their street,
but when Sophie describes the meeting in all her details, he begins to hope that it could be true. She
tells him that Danny has promised to meet her somewhere again. Sophie gets so pulled into the
story she made that she herself begins to believe that it’s true. She waits for the Irish player, but
obviously, he never arrives. Then, she makes her way home, wondering how her brother would be
disappointed on knowing that Danny Casey never showed up. However, Sophie still fantasizes
about her hero, Danny Casey and believes he would definitely come to meet her.
Main points
1. The lesson explores the theme of adolescent fantasies and hero worship.
2. Sophie, a young girl always dreams of big and beautiful things.
3. Her ambitions have no relation with the harsh realities of life.
4. Jansie, Sophie’s friend is a realistic and practical girl.
5. Both Sophie and Jansie belong to the lower middle class families.
6. Sophie adores an Irish Footballer Danny Casey and makes imaginary flights to meet him.

Understanding the Text

Que1. Sophie and Jansie were class-mates and friends. What were the differences between them
that show up in the story?
Answer: Sophie and Jansie were different from each other. Sophie was a dreamer who enjoyed
creating her own fantasy world using her imagination. She showed an urge to transcend her
working-class status and attain sophistication by pursuing the ambition of a fashion designer or an
actress. Jansie, on the other hand, was more practical and realistic than Sophie. She tried to pull
Sophie back to reality, but all in vain. Jansie's sensibility and maturity are evident in her attempt to
remind her friend that they were earmarked for the biscuit factory, and expensive dreams were
inappropriate to their financial status.
Que2. How would you describe the character and temperament of Sophie’s father?
Ans: Sophie’s father has a plumpy face looking grimy and sweaty. He doesn't seem to be a soft or
sophisticated man. Sophie fears his aggressive manliness. He is a realist and does not
believe in his daughter's wild stories. He loves watching football. He hopes young Casey will be as
good as Tom Finney. He wishes that the young footballer keeps away from all distractions. He
shouts instructions to Casey at the playground. When the Irish genius, beats the hesitant goal
keeper, Sophie's father screams with joy and pride. He goes to a pub to celebrate the victory.
Que3. Why did Sophie like her brother Geoff more than any other person? From her perspective,
what did he symbolise?
Ans: Sophie liked her brother, Geoff, more than anybody else because he was not in the habit of
talking much and remained lost in his own thoughts. She envied his silence and thought that he
had access to an unknown world. She wanted to be a part of that world where she fancied herself
wearing glamorous clothes and being welcomed by everyone. For Sophie, Geoff symbolised liberty
from the monotonous and colourless life they had been living.
Que4. What socio-economic background did Sophie belong to? What are the indicators of her
family’s financial status?
Ans: Sophie belongs to a lower middle class socio-economic background. She lives in a small house
with her parents and two brothers, Derek and Geoff. When she returns home after school, she feels
choked with the steam of the stove and is disgusted with the dirty dishes piled in a corner. Her
mother's back has become stooped and bent by handling all the household chores and
responsibilities on her own. Her father is a hard labourer and her elder brother, Geoff, works as an
apprentice mechanic in a garage situated far away from his house. Her family wants Sophie to join
work immediately after her school. These are some of the indicators of Sophie's family's financial
status.
Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. What does Sophie dream of doing after she passes out of school? Why do you call it a
‘dream’ and not a ‘plan?
Ans. Sophie dreams to have a boutique of her own. It will be the most amazing shop the city has
ever seen. She says that she will buy a boutique if ever she comes into money. She does not mind
becoming an actress to run a boutique as a side business. Since she has no money or experience, it is
called a ‘dream’ and not a ‘plan’.
Q2. What are the other dreams of Sophie in addition to having a boutique?
Ans. The greatest dream of Sophie is to have a boutique. She wants to be a bit sophisticated and rise
above her lower-middle class status. Her other dream is of being an actress as ‚there’s real money
in that‛. Moreover, actresses don’t work full time. She can look after her first love i.e. boutique as a
side business. She has another option. She can be a fashion designer, and do something
sophisticated.
Q3. Why does Jansie say: ‚Soaf you really should be sensible‛?
Ans. Jansie knows Sophie’s family background and financial position. She knows that both of them
are earmarked for that biscuit factory. Sophie dreams of big and beautiful things like having a
boutique or becoming an actress or a fashion designer. All these things need a lot of money and
experience. Sophie has neither of them. So Jansie advises her to be sensible and stop having wild
dreams.
Q4. Compare and contrast Sophie and Jansie?
Ans. Sophie and Jansie are classmates and friends but they are poles apart in thinking and
temperament. Sophie is an incurable dreamer and escapist. She dreams of big and beautiful things,
which are beyond her reach. On the other hand, Jansie is realistic and practical. She knows that they
are poor and have to work in the biscuit factory after leaving school. She is well aware that big
things require big money and experience, which they don’t have.
Q5. What job is Geoff engaged in? How does he differ from his sister, Sophie?
Ans. Geoff is grown up boy. He left school three years ago. Now he is an apprentice mechanic. He
has to travel to his work each day to the far side of the city. He speaks little but listens to his sister’s
‘wild stories’. But he is not a day dreamer like her. He knows the financial limitations of the family.
He cautions Sophie against entertaining dreams for a celebrity like Danny Casey.
Q6. Why was Sophie jealous of Geoff’s silence?
Ans. Geoff was almost grown up now. He spoke little. Sophie was jealous of his silence. She knew
that when he was not speaking, he was away somewhere. He was out in the surrounding country—
in those places she had never been. She wanted to share her brother’s affection.
Q7. What does Sophie tell Geoff about her meeting with Danny Casey? How does Geoff react to
it? Ans. Sophie tells Geoff that she met Danny Casey. Geoff is surprised. He looks round abruptly
and asks ‘where?’ Sophie replies that she met him in the arcade. Geoff can’t believe her. He says,
‚It’s never true.‛ He asks her, ‚What does he look like?‛ She replies that he has green eyes and is
not very tall. Geoff is still not convinced.
Q8. How does Sophie’s father react when Geoff tells him about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans. Geoff informs his father that Sophie had a meeting with Danny Casey. He turns his head on
his thick neck to look at her in disbelief. His expression is one of disdain. He ignores the news and
goes on to talk about Tom Finney. He hopes that Danny will be like Tom Finney one day. When
Sophie says that Casey is going to buy a shop, he reacts sharply. ‚This is another of your wild
stories.‛
Q9. Who was Danny Casey? How did the members of Sophie’s family react towards him?
Ans. Danny Casey was a young Irish football player. He played for the United. The Irish prodigy
could easily dodge the defenders and score goals. Sophie’s father was a football fan. He admired
old heroes like Tom Finney and young wonder boy Casey. Geoff had a large poster of United first
team squad on his bed room wall. There were three colored photographs of Casey in the row below
it. Every Saturday they went to watch United.
Q10. Where did Sophie meet Casey and what transpired between them?
Ans. Sophie met Danny Casey in the arcade. It was she who spoke first and asked if he was Ceasey.
He looked surprised. He was certainly Danny Casey as he had the Irish accent. She had already
heard him on television. She asked him for an autograph for little Derek. But neither of them had
any paper or pen. Before going he promised to give his autograph if she cared to meet him next
week.
Q11. How did Jansie react at Sophie’s story of her meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans. Jansie was a classmate and friend of Sophie. She lived in the same neighbourhood. She knew
Sophie quite well. She was also aware of Sophie’s habit of dreaming. On learning of her meeting
with Danny Casey, her first reaction was of disbelief. ‚You never did‛, exclaimed Jansie. But when
Sophie told her about her request for autograph, Jansie softened a little and said, ‚Jesus, I wish I’d
have been there.‛
Q12. Why did Sophie choose to walk by the canal? ‘What did she do there?
Ans. Sophie walked by the canal along a sheltered path. It was far away from the noise and crowd
of the city. It was a place where she had often played when she was a child. There was a wooden
bench beneath a solitary elm tree. Lovers sometimes came there. That was the most suitable place
where she could dream of her hero Danny Casey.
Q13. What did Sophie feel while sitting for hours and waiting for Danny Casey by the canal?
Ans. At first Sophie was optimistic. She imagined him coming out of the shadows. When time had
elapsed, pangs of doubt stirred inside her. She became sad and despondent. Danny would not come
there at all. She feared that people would laugh at the story of her meeting with Casey.
Q14. ‚Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind.‛ Do you agree? Give reasons in
support of your answer.
Ans. I fully agree with the observation. Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind,
she is a hero-worshipper. The Irish prodigy is her hero. She imagines her meeting with him. Her
day-dreaming makes her sad and despondent. The idea that Casey will not come at all is quite
painful to her. Thus her dreams and disappointments are products of her mind only. They have
nothing to do with reality.

Long Answer Type Questions

Ql. What impression do you form of Sophie on reading the story ‘Going Places’?
Ans. Sophie is a young school girl. She dreams of big and beautiful things. Some of these are
beyond her reach. Her ambitions have no relation with the harsh realities of life. She thinks of
having a boutique. She wants to have the most amazing shop this city has ever seen. Then she
entertains the idea of being an actress ‘There’s real money in that.’ Actresses do now work full time.
So she would run the boutique as a side business. If need be, she can be a fashion designer. She
doesn’t realize that her family is not rich enough and her dreams can’t be fulfilled. Sophie develops
a romantic fascination for Danny Casey. He is a young Irish football player and the hero of her
dreams. She indulges in hero worship. She tells a story that she met Casey. Her father calls it
another of her ‚wild stories‛. Even Geoff does not believe her. She has seen Casey only once, but all
the time she thinks of him. She sits alone and waits for his arrival. She becomes sad and despondent
when Casey does not come. She suffers because of her dreams. These dreams and disappointments
are all the creations of her mind.
Q2. Compare and contrast Sophie and Jansie highlighting their temperament and aspirations.
Ans. Sophie and Jansie are classmates and friends. They belong to lower middle class families. Both
of them are earmarked for biscuit factory. Jansie is down to earth. She is practical and realist. But
Sophie is totally blind to the harsh realities of life. She dreams of big and beautiful things. She wants
to have a boutique. She thinks of becoming an actress as there is lot of money in this profession. If
need be, she can also be a fashion designer. In short, she loves to be grand and sophisticated. All her
dreams are beyond her reach and resources. Jansie advises her to be sensible, but she remains a
romantic dreamer. Sophie and Jansie differ in thinking and temperament. Sophie is lost in her
dream world, she shares her secret with only one person. It is her elder brother Geoff. Jansie is
‘nosey’. She takes interests in learning new things about others. She can spread the story in the
whole neighbourhood. So Sophie doesn’t want to share secrets with her.
Q3. Describe the bond between Geoff and Sophie in spite of differences in their temperament
and thinking.
Ans. Geoff was Sophie’s elder brother. He was three years out of school. He was an apprentice
mechanic. He travelled to his work each day to the far side of the city. He was almost grown up
now. He spoke very little. Sophie was jealous of Geoff’s silence. He was quiet and didn’t make new
friends easily. He thought that Sophie was too young and immature. Geoff was mature enough to
understand his limitations and those of his family. He never dreamt of big and beautiful things. In
spite of difference in their temperaments, there was a close bond between the two. Geoff was
always the first to share Sophie’s secrets. He knew that Sophie’s story of meeting with Danny Casey
was not true. Still he listened to her. Sophie confided in him. Her secret was something special just
between them. It was not meant for nosey Jansie who would spread it in the whole neighbourhood.
Geoff tried to persuade Sophie. He warned her that Danny Casey was a celebrity. He must have
many girls like her running after him. Sophie told him that Casey would give her an autograph if
she cared to meet him next week. Geoff did not believe ‚he’d ever show up.‛ Thus he acted like an
elder brother.
Q4. Who was Danny Casey? How was he adored by the family of Sophie, and especially by
Sophie and her father?
Ans. Danny Casey was an Irish Prodigy. He was a wonder boy of football. He had won the hearts
of his countless fans. He played for United. Sophie’s family was obsessed with the Irish genius.
Sophie’s father compared young Danny Casey to another great football player Tom Finney. He
wished that Casey might be that good someday. Geoff remarked that he was with the best team in
the country. He hoped that Casey would prove even a better player than Tom Finney. Geoff
considered him the best. His father thought that he was too young for the first team. The fact was
that with his exceptional ability he was playing for the first eleven. On Saturday, Sophie’s family
made their weekly pilgrimage to the stadium to watch match. They watched their hero Danny
Casey in action. Sophie adored Danny Casey. She had a romantic fascination for the Irish prodigy.
Her young heart throbbed for her hero. She imagined Casey coming to her. She would sit under an
elm tree, waiting for Casey and dreaming of him. She realized that he would not come. This made
her sad and dejected. Sophie became a victim of her own dreams and disappointments.
POETRY
 Poem- 1 My Mother at Sixty-six
By Kamala Das
About the poet
Kamala Das was born in Punnayurkulam, Thrissur District in Kerala, on March 31, 1934, to V. M.
Nair, a former managing editor of the widely circulat ed Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi, and
Nalappatt Balamani Amma, a renowned Malayali poetess.

She spent her childhood between Calcutta, where her father was employed as a senior officer in the
Walford Transport Company that sold Bentley and Rolls Royce.

Like her mother, Kamala Das also excelled in writing. Her love of poetry began at an early age
through the influence of her great uncle, Nalappatt Narayana Menon, a prominent writer.
At the age of 15, she got married to bank officer Madhava Das, who encouraged her writing
interests, and she started writing and publishing both in English and in Malayalam.

She was born in a conservative Hindu Nair (Nallappattu) family having royal ancestry, after being
asked by her lover Sadiq Ali, an Islamic scholar and a Muslim League MP, she embraced Islam in
1999 at the age of 65 and assumed the name Kamala Surayya. After converting, she wrote:

‚Life has changed for me since Nov. 14 when a young man named Sadiq Ali walked in to meet me.
He is 38 and has a beautiful smile. Afterwards he began to woo me on the phone from Abu Dhabi
and Dubai, reciting Urdu couplets and telling me of what he would do to me after our marriage. I
took my nurse Mini and went to his place in my car. I stayed with him for three days. There was a
sunlit river, some trees, and a lot of laughter. He asked me to become a Muslim which I did on my
return home.‛

Her conversion was rather controversial, among social and literary circles. Later, she felt it was not
worth it to change one’s religion and said ‚I fell in love with a Muslim after my husband’s death.
He was kind and generous in the beginning. But I now feel one shouldn’t change one’s religion. It is
not worth it.‛

Kamala Das had three sons – M D Nalapat, Chinnen Das and Jayasurya Das. Madhav Das Nalapat,
the eldest, is married to Princess Lakshmi Bayi (daughter of M.R.Ry. Sri Chembrol Raja Raja Varma
Avargal) from the Travancore Royal House. He holds the UNESCO Peace Chair and Professor of
geopolitics at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. He was formerly a resident editor of the
Times of India.

On 31 May 2009, aged 75, she died at a hospital in Pune. Her body was flown to her home state of
Kerala. She was buried at the Palayam Juma Masjid at Thiruvanathapuram with full state honour.

Summary
One last Friday morning, the poetess was driving from her parents’ home to the Cochin airport. Her
mother was sitting beside her in the car. She suddenly had a look at her mother. She found that her
mother was dozing with her open mouth. Her face was as pale as that of a corpse. The poet
painfully realized that her mother is not going to live long. This painful thought haunted her. But
soon she tried to put it off by looking out of the car window. She saw the young trees running past
them. She looked at the merry children coming out of their homes. As she saw life and vitality in
the outside world, the painful thought passed away from her mind.

After reaching the airport, she went through the security check. Her mother was standing outside a
few yards away. After the security check, she looked at her mother again. Her face was pale white
like a late winter’s moon. She felt the old familiar ache of childhood in her heart which is usually
felt by a child due to the fear of separation from his/ her mother. But she contained herself and kept
on smiling in order to conceal her emotions. She spoke no word to her mother. All that she said
was, ‚See you soon, Amma‛ and bade good bye to her mother with a hope to see her again.

Main points
1. Poetess travelling to Cochin airport with her mother in a car.
2. Looks at the wan, pale face of her dozing mother.
3. Old fear of losing her mother returns.
4. Sprinting trees and merry children provide the contrast and relief.
5. After the security check the old familiar ache returns.
6. Tries to hide her emotions by smiling.
7. Bids good bye to her mother with a hope to see her again.

Poem: My Mother at Sixty-six

Driving from my parent’s home to Cochin last Friday

Morning, I saw my mother, beside me,
Doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that
Of a corpse and realised with pain
That she thought away, and looked but soon
Put that thought away, and looked out at young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
Out of their homes, but after the airport’s

Security check, standing a few yards

Away, I looked again at her, wan, pale
As a late winter’s moon and felt that old
Familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
But all I said was, see you soon, Amma,
All I did was smile and smile and smile…

Summary of My Mother at Sixty Six by Kamala Das:

The poem consists of 20 lines in total. These lines are not divided into stanzas. Here they are
divided into meaningful segments in order to make the poem easy to follow and understand.
Lines 1 – 4:
Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
In these lines, the poet recalls a trip back to Cochin from her holiday in her parents’ house the
previous week. It was a Friday, and that morning, she was driving with her mother next to her on
the front seat.

Lines 5 – 10:
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with pain
that she was as old as she
looked but soon
put that thought away, and

In these lines, the poet says that she was observing her mother who had fallen asleep on the front
seat with her mouth slightly open. Her mother’s face was pale, and it reminded her of the nearly
white faces of dead bodies. It is then that she comes to realize that her mother was not young any
longer, and that her appearance had caught up with her age. This was very hard for the poet to
accept, and so she was determined to focus her attention on something else.

Lines 11 – 15:
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan, pale

Kamala Das (also known as Kamala Suraiyya after her conversion to Islam in 1999) was on
born 31st March 1934 in Thrissur, Kerala. She spent most of her childhood in Calcutta in a family of
artists, where she felt ignored and unloved. In her teenage she married an older relative, and the
emotional and sexual problems arising from that unsatisfying relationship and her young
motherhood provided material for much of her poetry. Mothers are God’s greatest gift to humanity.
Each one of us has the fear of losing our mother, don’t we? So has the poet Kamala Das and through
her poem ‚My Mother at Sixty Six‛, she portrays her sudden realization that her mother has grown
old and may pass away any time.
Lines 16 – 20:
as a late winter’s moon and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon, Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
smile……
In these lines, the poet compares her mother’s face with the sight of the moon on a night towards
the end of winter. This made her recall the thing she had been most afraid of during her childhood
– the fear that her mother would die one day. This was a fear that had plagued her many times
before, and it was plaguing her again now. However, she did not let that fear show itself on her
face. Instead she put up a brave face and waved goodbye to her mother. She assured her mother
that they would be seeing each other again soon, and all the while, even though she was in great
agony, the smile never left her face.
Central Idea
Aging is an important phase of human life. A person enters his childhood, experiences youth when
he is full of energy and dreams to have luxury of life. Finally, he approaches his old age and
encounters death. Relationship between people becomes stronger at every aspect of life and they
can’t bear separation due to aging.

In this poem, the poet relates a personal experience. She brings out a common paradox of human
relationships and portrays a sensational separation of a mother and a daughter. She has been able to
capture almost all the emotions which a daughter is filled with, on bidding farewell to her beloved
mother. Sometimes we do feel deep sympathy for someone but we fail to express it in a proper
manner.

Questions for Comprehension

Q1. Where was the poet driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
Ans. The poet was driving to Cochin. The poet’s mother was sitting beside her.
Q2. What did the poet notice about the mother?
Ans. She noticed that her mother was weak, pale and unconscious like a dead body.
Q3. How does the poet describe her mother in the poem?
Ans. The poet describes her mother as an old lady who has become pale, weak and worn out. She
often dozes and remains unconscious about herself like a dead body.
Q4. Why does the poet look outside? What activities does the poet see outside the car window?
Ans. The poet feels very sad thinking that her mother is nearing death. This painfull thought makes
her worried and anxious. So in order to divert her attention from her mother, she looks outside. The
poet sees young trees running past them. She also sees little children coming out of their homes in a
merry mood. She sees life and vitality in the outside world.
Q5. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
Ans. The young trees are described as sprinting’ as the movement of the racing car makes the trees
appear as if they are running along.
Q6. Why is the mother compared to the late winter’s moon?
Ans. The mother is compared to the late winter’s moon because like the moon of winter season, the
poet’s mother also looks pale, dull and grayish.
Q6. What childhood fears do you think the poet is referring to in the poem?
Ans. The poet feels uneasy and unprotected with the thought of losing her mother. She does not
expect to see her mother again on her return. So she shows a childish unwillingness to leave her
mother.
Q7. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
Ans. The poet, Kamala Das, has used the image of merry children spilling out of their homes to
bring a contrast between the old age and childhood. Her mother’s pale, colourless face stands for
old and fading age. Merry children symbolise the spring of life, vigour and happiness. They also
symbolize spontaneity of life in contrast to the passive and inactive life of her aged mother.
Q8. What does Kamala Das do after the security check up? What does she notice?
Ans. After the security check up, the poet stands a few yards away from her mother and gazes at
her mother. She notices the declining age and
Q9. The poet compares her mother to many things. Pick out two similes which reinforce this
comparison.
Ans. The two similes are: ‚Her face ashen like that of a corpse.‛
‚I looked again at her wan, pale as a late winter’s moon‛
Q10. What image does the poet use to describe death in the poem?
Ans. The poet uses the image ‚corpse‛ to describe death in the poem.
Q11. Cite an example of one device of contrast that the poet uses in the poem.
Ans. The device of contrast that the poet uses in the poem is old age of her mother and the young
trees and children playing merrily. The poet compares youth, energy, vitality and jubilance of
childhood.
Q12. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans. The poets parting words, ‘see you soon, Amma’ are expressive of the dilemma and confusion
in her mind. They not only hide her anxiety and fear about her mother’s rather frail health but
reflect also a faint hope that the old woman would survive long enough for the two to meet again.
Q13. Why did the poet say ‚see you soon Amma‛? What does the poet actually mean by „smile
and smile and smile<.‟? What kind of smile is it?
Ans. The poet said, ‚See you soon Amma‛ in order to give her mother moral support and
encouragement. She said so to give her mother hope that she would see her again. By ‚smile and
smile and smile<‛ she means to make herself and her mother hopeful to see each other again. It is
actually a painful smile. The poet tries to conceal the swelling emotions by smiling. By using this
poetic device of repetition, the poet has made the poetic language rich by depicting many hidden
emotions through ‚smile‛.
Q14. Discuss mother- daughter relationship as described in the poem.
Ans. Mother- daughter relationship as described in the poem is very sensitive and full of love, care
and emotions. Mother has a deep emotional link to her children and does not want them to be
away. In particular, when the mother reaches her old age, she becomes more concerned and
worried about her children. Daughter also tends to bear a specific kind of emotional link to her
mother. She tries to remain close to her mother and feels very bad and worried when separated
from her. In this poem, the mother does not want her daughter to leave her; similarly the daughter
gives a mysterious and indefinable smile which is to show unwillingness and anxiety of leaving her
mother.
Q15. ‚My Mother at sixty six‛ is an emotional account of the poet about her old mother. Discuss.
Ans. ‚My Mother at sixty six‛ is an emotional account of the poet about her old mother. She feels
very sad and depressed on seeing her pale, weak and worn out. She tries her best to divert her
thought but remains unsuccessful and this thought haunts her mind every now and then. Till the
end of the poem, she feels very sad and disappointed about the declining age of her mother. She is
unable to express her fears and emotions to her mother with the thought of disheartening her. She
bids goodbye to her mother by just smiling in order to hide her hurt feelings and encourage her
mother.

Important Extracts
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
…..I looked again at her, wan, pale
as a late winter’s moon and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon, Amma,
All I did was smile and smile and smile …….
Questions:
Q1. Who looked wan and pale? Why?
Ans. The poet’s mother looked wan and pale due to her old age.
Q2. What is the comparison in the stanza?
Ans. The mother’s wan and pale face has been compared to the late winter’s moon.
Q3. What is her childhood’s fear?
Ans. It is the fear of ageing and approaching death of her mother.
Q4. Which figure of speech is used in the second line?
Ans. Simile – as a late winter’s moon.
Q5. How does she comfort/ console her mother?
Ans. She smiled and promised to see her mother soon.
Q6. What is the significance of the parting words?
Ans. These words signify hope and expectation to see her again.
Q7. What kind of pain/ ache does the poetess feel?
Ans. She feels pain on seeing wan and pale face of her mother. It appears she will not live long.

Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
………..I saw my mother, beside me,
Doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that
Of a corpse and realised with pain
That she thought away, and looked but soon
Put that thought away, and looked out at young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
Out of their homes, ………………

Q1. Where was the poet driving to? Who was sitting beside her?
Ans. The poet was driving from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. Her mother was sitting
beside her.
Q2. What did the mother look like?
Ans. Her old mother look sick, drowsy and lifeless like a dead body.
Q3. What thought did she put away?
Ans. She put away her fear that she would not live long.
Q4. What do the sprinting trees signify?
Ans. The ‚sprinting tress‛ signify the vitality of youth.
Q5. What are ‚the merry children spilling out of their homes‛ symbolic of?
Ans. The ‚merry children spilling out of their homes‛ are symbolic of carefree childhood when all
time is playtime.
 Poem- 2 An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
By Stephen Spender
About the author

Sir Stephen Harold Spender was born on February 28, 1909, in London. He attended Oxford
University and fought in the Spanish Civil War. In the 1920s and 1930s he associated with other
poets and socialists, such as W.H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood, Louis MacNeice, and C. Day
Lewis, and his early poetry was often inspired by social protest. During World War II Spender was
a member of the National Fire Service (1941–44). After the war he made several visits to the United
States, teaching and lecturing at universities, and in 1965 he became the first non-American to serve
as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (now laureate consultant in poetry) a position he
held for one year. In 1970 he was appointed professor
of English at University College, London; he became professor emeritus in 1977. He was knighted
in 1983. Spender died on July 16, 1995.

Poem: An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn around their pallor.
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-seeming
boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in the tree room, other than this.

On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s head,

Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this world, are world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky,
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, and the map a bad example

With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal–
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.

Unless, governor, teacher, inspector, visitor,

This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open ’till they break the town
And show the children green fields and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books, the white and green leaves open
History is theirs whose language is the sun.

Theme

In this poem, Stephen Spender deals with the theme of social injustice and class inequalities. He
presents the theme by talking of two different and incompatible worlds. The world of the rich and
the civilized has nothing to do with the world of narrow lanes and cramped holes. The gap between
these two worlds highlights social disparities and class inequalities.

Central Idea

Stephen Spender has presented a true picture of the life of the school children living in the slum of
Tyrolese Valley of Austrian Alpine Province. The children are in a very miserable condition due to
their poverty and illiteracy. They are depressed. Their pale faces express sadness. They look lean,
skinny and bonny. They are like rootless weeds which can’t resist anything for their existence. They
are physically very weak and under nourished. Spender voices his concern for these children who
live all their life in slums and have no opportunity to enjoy the real blessings of life. He makes a
frantic appeal to the educated and affluent sections of the society to better the lot of the slum
children through education. It will remove social injustice and class inequality.

Detailed Analysis of the Poem

Stanza – 1
The poem describes an elementary school class room in a slum. These slum children look very
pathetic. Their faces are pale and reflect sadness. They are ‘like rootless weeds’ as they lack proper
nutrition. Moreover, they are unwanted plants which grow on their own without being cared for,
totally neglected. The tall girl has a ‘weighed – down head’ as she is burdened with the load of
poverty. In fact she is so subdued and suppressed that her head had bowed down with the burden
of her misfortunes. The ‘paper thin’ – extremely thin boy has ‘rat’s eyes’ because the poor
undernourished boy is deprived of all the basic amenities of life. He is timid like a rat and full of
anxiety, he searches for food and security. This unfortunate boy suffers from malnutrition and his
growth is also ‘stunted’ – not properly developed. He has also inherited from his father ‘twisted
bones’ – bent and distorted bones. He has inherited the poverty, disease and despair from his
parents. His body is also deformed because of the twisted bones which he has inherited. He appears
to be as sick as his parents. There is a sweet tender looking student who sits at the back of the class.
This boy is different from the others as ‘his eyes live’ in a dream – he is dreaming and probably
thinking about a better future. He is lost in his own world, therefore, not sad like the others. This
boy thinks of the ‘squirrel’s game’ (metaphor). He wants to enjoy and play freely like the squirrel in
the garden outside. The squirrel climbs trees and hides in their holes. The boy also dreams to be free
but he cannot as he must sit in the dull and dreary classroom. In the boys imagination ‘tree room’ –
the hollow in a tree, is full of fun, curiosity and mystery. This is in contrast to the gloomy classroom.
Stanza – 2
The classroom is not well maintained. The pale cream walls which were painted long ago with the
help of donations make the place look more miserable and sad. Probably there is a portrait of
Shakespeare on the wall. This is ironical as it is put up in a place where there is no serious teaching.
‘Cloudless dawn’ and ‘civilized dome’ suggest the monotonous life in the slum. These slums are
surrounded by the civilized city and the children cannot experience the beauty of the sky at dawn
and are unaware of it. All around them are concrete structures of the cities. The life in the slum
contrasts with the cloudless sky at dawn and concrete structures which override the cities. There is
also a picture of a beautiful valley full of sweet fragrant flowers and these children of the slum will
never be able to experience this beauty. They are deprived of this beauty as they are condemned to
live in the slums amidst garbage. The ‘open-handed map’ in the classroom contrasts with their
world. The world given to us by god is full of all the bounties whereas the world of these slum
children is full of poverty and hunger. The world which they see is not the real world. Their world
is confined to the narrow, dusty streets of the slum. The map in the classroom gives them hopes and
aspirations and motivates them to explore the world but they will never be able to see that world.
These children can get the glimpse of the outside world from the windows and it is far beyond their
reach. They are far away from nature. These slum children have a bleak and foggy future in store
for them. ‘Their future is painted with a fog’ – it is blurred by hopelessness. There is no hope for the
slum children. Instead of the normal blue sky they live under the ‘lead sky’ – dark and dull,
polluted – shows there is no hope for them. The atmosphere hints at their monotonous life and the
slum children remain confined throughout their lives confined to the filth and dirt of the narrow
slum streets. They are away from the glory of natural beauty of the rivers, mountains, stars.

Stanza – 3
The children of the slum are fighting the battle of life unarmed. They are troubled by disease and
despair. For them Shakespeare is ‘wicked’ and ‘map’ a bad example’. The literary excellence of
Shakespeare and the scenic beauty portrayed in the map cannot relieve them from their despair. For
these slum children, literary excellence is a far-fetched thing and hence seems wicked. The map on
the wall gives them false aspirations as it makes them aware of the beautiful world given by god.
The world of these children is confined to the narrow streets of the slums. Therefore, map is ‘a bad
example’. They feel cheated in being deprived of the thrilling sensations of the sun, the ships, and
the emotions of love. The ‘ship’, ‘sun’ and ‘love’
symbolize joy and happiness which these children are deprived of. Their only experience is that of
hunger and poverty. To reach out to the world beyond, these children are sometimes tempted to
adopt wrong means even stealing to fulfill their dreams.

These slum children live in cramped holes, striving and struggling for survival in the small, dirty
rooms from ‘fog to endless night’ – from foggy mornings till long endless nights, trying to meet
both ends. The slum children live on ‘slag heaps’ – piles of waste material. Their world is full of dirt
and garbage. These children are very weak and undernourished. They look like skeletons as their
bones peep through their thin skin.

They wear ‘spectacles of steel with mended glass’ – discarded spectacles by the rich, mended
(repaired) and worn.

Their life is like ‘bottle bits on stones – shattered and broken like bits of bottle on a stone. They are
deprived of even the basic amenities of life. Their world is comprised of the foggy slums where they
live nightmares. Slums are the reality for these children, their home, where they spend their life.
The maps displayed in their classroom are no reality for them. They cannot locate their slum in that
map. It is urgently required to give these slum inhabitants means and opportunities to lead a
dignified and civilized life.

Stanza – 4

The elementary school in the slum exists for name sake. The infrastructure is poor with hardly any
serious teaching. The school springs in activity only when a governor, a school inspector or a visitor
comes on a round of the school. The administrative machinery of the school also gears up at that
time. Then the map becomes their window from where they can see the world beyond their slums.
Since they are confined to the slums, these sights and glimpses are shut upon them as they are
deprived of all opportunities and means. Their lives are shut up in the cemeteries of these slums
where they slither and slog to make both ends meet. The poet hopes that these children will break
free from their morbid life, from the chains of the slums. He appeals to those in power to liberate
these children from the miserable slums and enable them to breathe in the fresh, beautiful and
healthy environment away from the foggy slums. They should be able to bask in the open green
fields and let them run free on the golden sands. Their world should not be confined to the
horrendous and gory slums. The poet visualizes freedom for these children. He wants a carefree life
where they get economic and social justice, where they have the right to be happy. These slum
children should be able to enjoy the fundamental right of education otherwise their lives will be
miserable. They should be able to learn not from the books alone but also from the world, the
nature around them.

The poet ends on a note of positivity and wants opportunities to be available to these children. The
people who strive for knowledge are the ones who create history. The ones who are let free are the
ones who will create history. People who outshine others, who glow like the sun, who break free
from the constraints of their restricted life are the ones who create history.
Main points

Important Extracts

The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones, reciting a father’s

Gnarled disease, His lessons from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of Squirrel’s game, in the tree room, other than this.

Questions:
Q1. Who is the unlucky heir? Why is he called unlucky?
Ans. The thin slum boy is the unlucky heir. He is so called because he has inherited poverty,
despair and disease from his parents.
Q2. Who sits back unnoted? Why?
Ans. A young boy sits at the back. This boy is different from the others as ‘his eyes live’ in a dream
– he is dreaming and probably thinking about a better future. He is lost in his own world, therefore,
not sad like the others. This boy thinks of the ‘squirrel’s game’. He wants to enjoy and play freely
like the squirrel in the garden outside.
Q3. Pick two images each of despair and disease from these lines.
Ans. The images of despair are – ‘unlucky heir’, ‘dim class’, and that of diseases are – ‘twisted
bones, gnarled disease’.

Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes and stars of words.

Questions
Q1. Who are these children?
Ans. These are the slum children of Tyrol Valley.
Q2. What is their world like?
Ans. The school windows are their world because they cannot move beyond them.
Q3. What kind of future does the poet foresee for them?
Ans. The future of these children is quite dim. As we can’t see things in the fog, in the same way the
future of these children is looming under
darkness. Their future is bleak.
Q4. Why does the poet say that the narrow street is sealed?
Ans. The narrow street is sealed as these provide no opportunity to make an access to the outer
world of wisdom.

Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books, the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

Questions:
Q1. What should they break?
Ans. They should break all barriers and obstructions that hinder the school children’s growth.
Q2. What kind of a world does the poet imagine for these children?
Ans. The poet imagines a world where these children run around in the fields or on sea beaches in a
carefree manner. They should also enjoy
freedom of knowledge and expression.
Q3. What does the word ‘sun’ symbolize?
Ans. ‘Sun’ symbolizes light and brightness which, comes from education. Proper education alone
can improve the lives of these slum children.

Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books, the white and white green leaves open
History is theirs whose language is the son.

Questions:
Q1. Who can improve the lot of the poor slum children?
Ans. The rulers, the educationists, the teachers and the general public can pool their efforts to give a
better life to the poor slum children.
Q2. What kind of life do they live?
Ans. They are shut up in their dim classrooms and small hovels like dead bodies in the grave.
Q3. What is the poet’s appeal to the upper class people?
Ans. The poet urges them to bring some light into the lives of the slum children. They may be
imparted education in a healthy atmosphere.
Q4. What is the poet’s advice?
Ans. The poet suggests that the slum children should not only be educated properly but also
removed from their dirty surroundings to sunny and green fields.
Q5. Explain: ‚History is theirs whose language is the sun.‛
Ans. The language that has warmth and power of the sun only can mould and write history.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to
change?
Ans. The poet wants an improvement in the quality of the lives of the slum children. He feels that
the government has a moral obligation to provide a meaningful education to these children and to
break down the barriers that stand in the way of improving their lives.
 Poem- 3 Keeping Quiet
By Pablo Neruda
About the poet

Pablo Neruda’s real name is Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He was born on 12 July, 1904, in the
town of Parral in Chile. His father was a railway employee and his mother, who died shortly after
his birth, a teacher. Some years later his father, who had then moved to the town of Temuco,
remarried Doña Trinidad Candia Malverde. The poet spent his childhood and youth in Temuco. At
age 13, he began his literary career as a contributor to the daily La Mañana, where he published his
first articles and poems. In 1920, he contributed to the literary journal Selva Austral under the pen
name Pablo Neruda, which he assumed in honor of Czech poet Jan Neruda.
Neruda died just two years after receiving his Nobel Prize on September 23, 1973, in Santiago,
Chile. Though his death was officially attributed to prostate cancer, there have been allegations that
the poet was poisoned.
In 2011, Neruda’s chauffeur alleged that the writer said he’d been given an injection at a clinic by a
physician that worsened his health. Chilean judge Mario Carroza later authorized an official
investigation into cause of death. Neruda’s body was exhumed in 2013 and examined, but a
forensics team found no initial evidence of foul play.

And now we will count to twelve In the shade, doing nothing.

and we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines.
We would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about,
I want no truck with death.
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

Fisherman in the cold sea Perhaps the earth can teach us

would not harm whales as when everything seems dead
and the man gathering salt and later proves to be alive.
would not look at his hurt hands.
Now I’ll count up to twelve,
Those who prepare green wars, and you keep quiet and I will go.
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers

Poem: Keeping Quiet

Introduction
The poet talks about the necessity of quiet introspection as it can develop a feeling of mutual
understanding among human beings.

Theme

It is basically an anti-war poem. The poet is deeply concerned about violence, cruelty to animals
and plight of manual workers. The poet offers a very simple solution to many of our social, political
and religious problems. The solution is self-introspection. If it is acted upon, it will be the first major
step towards uniting people. The second step is that everyone should look within and analyze what
is wrong and who is the wrong doer. This will cleanse every heart and ennoble all people.

Summary

This poem advocates the importance of silence and self- introspection. It can transform not only the
life of an individual but also the face of the earth. The poet says that it does not need much time to
look within and examine oneself. It will take only as long as it will take to count to twelve. During
this time of introspection (self-examination), one should keep quiet and say nothing at all. It will
give him a strange feeling of togetherness with all others. Although it may seem a little strange in
the beginning, it will eventually bring us all together. This silence will be free from ‘the disturbing
sounds of engines and people rushing to get their work done’ for some time. He feels contended
imagining the change that will be brought about in those moments. The men who hurt their hands
while collecting salt will get a little rest. Even the people who seek fresh wars, using fatal gas and
weapons, will put on clean clothes and get a chance to walk among their brothers. They will lead a
hatred-free and calm life, giving a halt to their destructive activities.

The poet clarifies that his wish should not be considered as a case for ‚total inactivity‛. He only
wants to interrupt the sad, cruel and baleful activities of the world for a few moments and make the
people introspect their actions. In fact what he says is connected with life, not with death. Activity is
very essence of life. Inactivity is death but for a fresh, better and useful activity, a little stillness is
essential.

The poet uses the image of the earth to show how life exists in seemingly dormant things. In winter,
the earth becomes so still and silent that it seems to be dead. But later in spring, it seems to be lively
again. It has new beauties and colours added to it. Similarly, after a little quietness and silence, man
can resume his activities in a fresh and better manner.

Main points

1. The poem talks about the necessity of quiet introspection.

2. It will help people to understand themselves & will create the feeling of mutual love &
relationship.
3. By quiet introspection, the poet doesn’t mean total inactivity, instead he wants full involvement
with life.
4. The reason for the discard & war is the imbalance between man & nature.
5. Quiet introspection will establish a spiritual & physical union that is most desirable for the
survival of the earth & of human beings.

KEEPING QUIET – Themes

A piece of introspection and retrospection

with a sole message to keep ourselves quiet for a moment Pablo Neruda hints at a state of
equilibrium where without any movement without any activity we shall get a chance to introspect
within ourselves about our views, and activities whether we are right or wrong, true or false. The
poet here hints at to introspect to work for unity, peace, and universal brother hood. He even asks
us to retrospect i.e. to look back at our past events and thus evaluate for good. We only get an
opportunity to introspect or retrospect when we find ourselves in the state of being quiet.

KEEPING QUIET
- A message for unity, peace, universal brotherhood
The poet has solicited here that we must cease all our activities and be quiet for a moment and come
under one umbrella of silence breaking the differences we possess. He gives us a call to break the
barriers of enmity, every creed, caste, religion and country and get united to introspect ourselves
and despise all negativities and empty for a better world.

KEEPINT QUIET
- Not inactivity but ‘super activity’
Pablo Neruda urges us to not consider keeping quiet to be total inactivity but keeping quiet is a
state we do the most precious act i.e. introspection retrospection and take a right decision. He even
urges inactivity not to be confused with death. He rather gives us a call to think above our single
mindedness. We should stop a while and put aside our possessiveness and narrow minded
thoughts.

KEEPING QUIET.
A message of peace and a scorn to tyrants and war mongers.

Pablo Neruda with his symbolical implications urged us to unite for good and he even made
sarcastic indirect comments to those war mongers, and oppressors and invited them to abscond
their negative acts and introspect for better values. He symbolically presented the fishermen to be
the oppressors and whales as the innocuous people. Then he presented the salt gatherers
representing the lower section of the society who are the victims of several works that damage
themselves. The poet gave a call to those war mongers, the people who do green wars, wars with
gas and wars with fire to cease their brutal work and think positive.

ANALYSIS – LINE BY LINE

‚Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still.‛
The poet begins with counting twelve urging everyone to be still. He chose ‘twelve` for several
reasons. ‘Twelve’ hints at the twelve hours of a day which rules our life. ‘Twelve` refers to twelve
zodiac signs believed to be the controlling forces of our lives. ‘Twelve` refers to twelve months of a
year. ‘Twelve` even may be aimed for a preparation for all to be ready to plunge into the state of
silence.

Poetic devices in use

1) We will = Alliteration (line 1 and 2) 2) Count ........still – Antithesis
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‚For once on the face of the earth,
let's not speak in any language;‛

The poet here urges everyone to break the barriers of language and unite with one invisible tune i.e.
silence. With the word ‘earth` the poet hints at all the humans living devoid the identity of country
creed and caste. Though language is the identity of a country or race, he affirms that humans are
more important and the identity of being a human of earth is broader realization.
Poetic devices in use
1) Once on – Alliteration
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‚let's stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.‛

The poet here urges to stop for one second. Here ‘second’ presents the tiniest part of time
calculation. He ushers us to keep ourselves off for at least one second from the negative aspects.
Here ‘arms’ is with dual meaning. He apparently indicates ‘arms’ as our hands engaged in several
activities and at the same time refers to the weapons we use for destruction.

Poetic device in use

1) Arms – Pun 1) Meaning one – hands
2) Meaning two – Arms (weapons )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‚It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.‛

We are always on move. We are all busy in accomplishing our work and go on rushing in our
lives. The poet even urged to stop engines (referring industrial works causing harms to
environment) . The poet urges us to stop our personal activities and stop engines and unite in one
tune i.e. silence. The poet declares silence as exotic because this silence will make us blissful,
strange and will bring complete equilibrium.
Poetic devices in use
1) Without .................without – Repetition
2) We would – Alliteration.
3) Sudden strangeness – Alliteration
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‚Fisherman in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.‛

`If we be still, we shall be able to introspect the mistakes and wrongs done. Here fishermen are
the representatives of all kinds of tyrants and killers. The poet wants, them to cease their work and
realise their mistakes. The salt gatherer is explained as the representative of poor and lower section
of the society. They go up to any level to earn their livelihood and often hurt themselves
irreparably.

Poetic Devices in use

1) Cold sea – symbolised as polar region
2) His hurt hands – Alliteration

‚Those who prepare green wars,

wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.‛

The poet here condemns the people with green wars (biological weapon or creators of pollution)
and wars with fire (Atomic war) . They become victorious but with no survivors left. The poet
mocks at the victory of those people who get victory over destruction. The poet asks them to leave
the path of destruction and join the group of silence. He urges them to put on white (symbolising –
purity and serenity) clothes. And walk with others doing nothing (meaning anything negative and
doing self introspection)

Poetic devices in use

1) Wars with – Alliteration
2) Wars with – Repetition
3) Clean clothes – Alliteration
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‚What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.‛

The poet here warns us that his message of silence should not be confused with total inactivity or
inertia. He further clears that his message does not have any affinity with death even. His message
is aimed at the way of living. He wants us to stop a while and feel the tranquility so that a positive
introspection is done.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
‚If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.‛

We human beings are single minded. We are always busy in achieving our goals, completing
personal responsibilities. And we never stop a while to evaluate ourselves and understand
ourselves. We never understand that we shall never be able to come out of these desires and
achievements. If we could stop a while from these using we would have understood the real
purpose of our lives and ourselves. Rather we go on with the fear of death calculation how much of
our dreams and wishes will be achieved.

1) We were – Alliteration
‚Now I'll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.‛

In conclusion the poet taught us through the example of earth which at one season may look as if
dead but comes back with life in another season. Likewise our life will also bear certain meaning
when we walk on the right path i.e. introspecting in silence. In the last two lines the poet leaves us
to introspect as if he himself has gone through the same.

Poetic device in use – dead <<alive – Antitheses.

Important Extracts
1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines
we would be all together
in a sudden strangeness.

Questions
Q1. Which moment is referred to here and how will it be?
Ans. it will be a moment of peace and introspection. It will be a strange and attractive moment that
will bring us closer.
Q2. How would we feel at that moment?
Ans. We will realize a feeling of oneness.
Q3. How will it bring all of us together?
Ans. By keeping quiet and still, we all will feel alike as if we are together.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

Questions
Q1. What is it that should not be confused with total inactivity?
Ans. It is the moment of silence that should not be confused with total inactivity.
Q2. What is the life about?
Ans. Life is about actions and dynamism. It must go on. The efforts to keep the race alive cannot be
suspended even for a day. Action is essence of life.
Q3. Explain: ‚no truck with death‛.
Ans. Total inactivity is a synonym of death and he has no association with death. This short silence
is very much alive and a preparation for renewed hectic activity.

3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
Questions
Q1. In which wars are there no survivors?
Ans. There are no survivors in the wars of poisonous gases and the war of firearms.
Q2. Who would put on clean clothes?
Ans. The war-wagers would put on clean clothes.
Q3. What does ‘put on clean clothes’ signify?
Ans. ‘Put on clean clothes’ signifies the feelings of their mutual understanding.

4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving
and for once could do nothing
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

Questions
Q1. What will happen if we go on thinking single-minded?
Ans. In case we go on thinking single minded, we will remain busy in worldly activities, thereby we
won’t find time for self-introspection. It will be a sad situation.
Q2. How can we understand ourselves?
Ans. We can understand ourselves through self-introspection.
Q3. In what way can huge silence dispel sadness?
Ans. Huge silence will remove all our tension, violence and warfare. It will do away with all our
sadness.
Q4. What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem?
Ans. The poet Pablo Neruda refers to ‘sadness’ which we form out of our own thinking and actions.
We understand a lot of things but fail to
understand ourselves and our actions and this becomes the creator of all disasters. This is the
‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem
Q5. Why does the poet want us to ‘do nothing’ for once?
Ans. The poet wants to do nothing for once, here he specifies that we should cease all our activities
in order to have introspection within ourselves
so that we can realize the exotic moment.
Q7. How we can know ourselves?
Ans. We can know ourselves through introspection.
Q8. Identify ‘we’.
Ans. ‘We’ here refers to all human beings.

5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Perhaps the Earth can teach us a
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.

Questions
Q1. What does the earth teach us?
Ans. The earth teaches us how life springs from dead things. It further teaches us to realize life
under stillness.
Q2. What does the poet mean to achieve by counting upto twelve?
Ans. He wants us to achieve peace by counting upto twelve.
Q3. What is the significance of ‘Keeping Quiet’?
Ans. ‘Keeping quiet’ means that we should avoid all those activities which hurt the nature.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. Why does the poet want us to keep quiet?
Ans. Keeping quiet will develop a better understanding among human beings and allow us to
establish communion with our fellow beings at spiritual level.
Q2. Does the poet advocate total inactivity and death by suggesting being quiet?
Ans. No, the poet does not advocate it. He wants no truck with death. In fact he wants to live life
full bloodedly. But by advocating quietness he wants mixing of physical and spiritual aspect of life.
Q3. Why does not the poet want us to speak in any language?
Ans. The poet wants us not to speak in any language to introspect and know what we are about-
know the meaning of our existence. He wants everybody to know his spirit and have spiritual
contact with others for sometimes for which no language is required.
Q4. What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
Ans. Counting up to twelve and keeping quiet will assist us in attaining a state of peace in which
we will be able to introspect and thus, see and appreciate the benefits of the symbiotic relationship
that would exist between humans and between man and nature.
Q5. Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?
Ans. The poet does not advocate total inactivity and death, but he does advise that we introspect
deeply and not indulge in activity that is mindless and thus potentially destructive for human
beings and for the balance that should exist between man and nature.
Q6. What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem?
Ans. Man fails to understand themselves. They are always threatening themselves with death.
When they do not understand themselves, they become sad. Only silence might interrupt this
sadness and make them happy.
Q7. What symbol from Nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life under apparent
stillness?
Ans. Life under apparent stillness can be seen in nature. During the winter season, the earth under
the snow looks dead, with no activity and no growth. But when the spring comes, the snow melts
away, the seeds sprout and the grass grows. All activities of life start again.
Q8. According to the poet, what is that human beings can learn from nature?
Ans. Nature teaches us a lot of things. We must learn that all things are bound together and depend
on each other for their survival. We should introspect ourselves by remaining calm and composed.
So it teaches us to be quiet and still. It is no use to hinder others. We should grow and develop at
our own Place. We must be contended with what we possess. There is no need for greed. The
nature always remains alive.
 Poem- 4 A Thing of Beauty
By John Keats
About the poet

John Keats was a British Romantic poet. He was born on October 31, 1795, in London. He lost both
his parents at a young age. His father, a livery stable keeper, died when Keats was eight; his mother
died of tuberculosis six years later. After his mother’s death, Keats’s maternal grandmother
appointed two London merchants, Richard Abbey and John Rowland Sandell, as guardians. Abbey,
a prosperous tea broker, assumed the bulk of this responsibility, while Sandell played only a minor
role. When Keats was fifteen, Abbey withdrew him from the Clarke School, Enfield, to apprentice
with an apothecary-surgeon and study medicine in a London hospital. In 1816 Keats became a
licensed apothecary, but he never practiced his profession, deciding instead to write poetry.

Keats spent the summer of 1818 on a walking tour in Northern England and Scotland, returning
home to care for his brother, Tom, who suffered from tuberculosis. While nursing his brother, Keats
met and fell in love with a woman named Fanny Brawne. That same autumn Keats contracted by
tuberculosis, and by the following February he felt that death was already upon him.

In July 1820, he published his third and best volume of poetry, Lamia, Isabella but by that time he
had reached an advanced stage of his disease. He continued a correspondence with Fanny Brawne
and when he could no longer bear to write to her directly because of his failing health, her mother
prevented their getting married. Under his doctor’s orders to seek a warm climate for the winter,
Keats went to Rome with his friend, the painter Joseph Severn. He died there on February 23, 1821,
at the age of twenty-five, and was buried in the Protestant cemetery.

Background
The poem is based on a Greek legend in which Endymion a handsome young shepherd and poet
who lived on Mount Latmos, had a vision of Cynthia, the moon goddess. The enchanted youth
resolved to seek her out and so wandered away through the forest and down under the sea.

Central Idea

Beauty is a heavenly tonic/drink – an endless fountain of nectar. This beauty comes in different
forms – a tale, a poem, a play, a lovely object of nature or the heavenly bodies. It soothes our spirits
and gives us good health, sound sleep and mental peace. It removes sadness from our lives and
gives an everlasting joy.

Summary

A beautiful thing is a source of eternal joy, its loveliness grows with the passage of time and its
impact never fades away. It is as soothing as a cool shade. It never passes into nothingness. It gives
us good health, sound sleep and mental peace. It provides the beholder with a haven of tranquility
and solace.
Man and nature are inseparable. It is the beauty of nature that keeps us attached to this earth. Every
morning we collect fresh lovely flowers and prepare garlands. They refresh our moods and we
forget our worries for a while.

Every person gets a bitter taste of sorrow, suffering and grief. Disease, disappointments and
misfortunes give us mental and physical suffering. It is the beautiful things that remove the pall of
sadness from our lives and make us happy and hopeful.

All beautiful things of nature are a boon for human beings. The sun, the moon, the trees, daffodils,
simple sheep, clear streams, forests ferns, musk rose etc. provide us peace and happiness.

In addition to these lovely objects of nature, there are plays and poems to lift our spirits. The
glorious achievements of mighty heroes and magnificent rewards by God on the day of judgement
for those mighty men, lovely tales of olden days are endless source of everlasting joy. The poet feels
that nothing can surpass the beauty of nature. They are an elixir of life. They are like an endless
fountain that pours immortal drink from the heaven into our hearts. So beauty is a gift of God and
it gives us joy forever.

Main points

1. The beautiful things of nature are permanent source of joy and make our lives sweet.
2. A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
3. It does not pass into nothingness but its beauty keeps on increasing.
4. It gives us sound sleep and good health;
5. This world is full of frustrations, disappointments and dearth of noble people.
6. These make our life gloomy and sad.
7. But things of beauty remove the pall and sadness from our spirits.
8. Nature is a constant source of happiness for human beings.
9. The beautiful things are – sheep, daffodils, clear streams, musk roses and forest thickets.
10. These things soothe and make us happy.
11. Stories of heroes who have died in peace of war are also things of beauty and have a stimulating
effect.
12. But the beauties of nature are lovelier than all the lovely tales and are like the immortal drink
from heaven.

The Thing of Beauty A Text

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Explanation: Very simply put, yet poetic, Keats describes a thing of beauty as emanating joy
forever. Its beauty only increases and it will never cease. The benefits proffered by a thing of beauty
are listed as giving sound rest with good dreams and well-being.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits.

Explanation: The earth minus the beautiful things is a despondent, spiteful place thriving in callous
insensitive dearth and is harsh toward human beings. Every day human beings face gloomy days
packed with unhealthy spite and darkness. However, in spite of all, a thing of beauty helps remove
the dark cloud that burdens our souls. Hence, the poet says that we – human beings – each day
create an ornate band, made of all the lovely things we see. This band keeps us bound to the
despondent earth – as we would otherwise be hopeless.

Such the sun, the moon,

Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink

Explanation: This closing paragraph simply tells us some of the beautiful things on Earth. After all,
beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder – Everyone can highlight something beautiful in anything.
The examples cited by the poet are as such: the sun, the moon, trees, flowers, streams, musk-rose
blooms, architectural sepulchers, even fairy tales or heroic legends. The ‘simple sheep’ are human
beings – the poet sympathizes with the innocence of human beings. Keats sees the beauty in
innocent humans seeking solace in nature, and Mother Nature in its own way sprouts a shady
abode of relief and consolation. The expression ‘Lily of the valley’ is quite well known and rouses
images of a delicate lone white flower holding up its head amidst a setting of thorns and barbs and
everything contrary in nature to delicateness – so too are the daffodils mentioned in the poem.
The poet also sees beauty in the death of martyrs and legends. ‘The mighty dead’ are those martyrs
who have died bravely for a cause. We honor them by erecting magnificent, grand sepulchers in
which beauty is seen. If one looks around, there are innumerable beautiful things to notice – they
seem to flow immortally as a fountain, from the gods above to help the pitiable human beings to
cope with the harshness of life.

Word meanings
 Bower- a pleasant shady place under trees or climbing plants.
 Morrow – the following day
 Wreathing – covering or to encircle.
 Spite - desire to offend or annoy someone.
 Despondence – disheartened, hopeless.
 Noble – of superior quality, having high moral principles
 Pall – a cloud, here, a dark cloud of gloom and sadness.
 Spirits – the soul where lie our emotions and character.
 Sprouting – to develop suddenly in large numbers.
 Shady boon – a shade which is helpful to someone.
 Rills – streams of running water.
 Covert – not openly known or displayed.
 Grandeur – so as to impress.
 Dooms – last day of existence.
 Immortal – living forever.
 Heaven’s brink – the door of God’s home.

List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.

 The Sun
 The Moon
 Shady trees
 Beautiful daffodil flowers
 Streams of water
 Dense green bushes of forest ferns where fragrant musk roses grow
 Tales of heroic men who sacrifice their lives

List the things that cause suffering and pain.

 Desire to offend others
 Hopelessness
 Lack of noble men
 Bad health
 Unhappiness
 Gloom
 Darkness

Questions
Q1. What is being said to be a joy forever?
Ans. A thing of beauty is said to be a joy forever.
Q2. What is peculiar about a beautiful thing?
Ans. A beautiful thing leaves a permanent impression on our minds. Its loveliness goes on
increasing. It stays in our imagination and becomes a source of joy forever.
Q3. What can a beautiful thing do for the human beings?
Ans. A beautiful thing gives us a sound sleep full of sweet dreams, good health and a peaceful
breathing. It also helps us in achieving the peace of mind. It removes sadness and brings happiness
to our depressed spirits.
Q4. How does a thing of beauty keep a bower quiet for us?
Ans. It reserves a quiet place in our heart. When we are tired, tensed, troubled or disappointed, it
heals our sorrows and restores happiness for us again.
Q5. Explain: ‚It will never pass into nothingness‛.
Ans. A thing of beauty is a perennial thing. Its beauty goes on increasing. It will never be reduced
into nothingness.

2. Read the extract carefully and answer the questions that follow:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or red;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.

Questions

Q1. Who are the mighty dead?

Ans. The mighty dead are those who sacrificed their lives for a noble cause and made great
achievements in their lifetime.
Q2. How is grandeur associated with the mighty dead?
Ans. The mighty dead are honored and worshiped for their remarkable achievements. Now they
are lying buried under their graves. On the day of judgement, God also will reward them for their
noble deeds. It is this dignity that is associated with them.
Q3. What lovely tales does the poet talk of?
Ans. He talks of the great myths and the tales of the olden days.
Q4. What does the poet call ‚an endless fountain of immortal drink‛?
Ans. Beautiful things.
Q5. What image does the poet draw in the last two lines?
Ans. Beautiful things are like an endless fountain which goes on pouring the immortal drink unto
us from the heaven. They are a source of immense joy and happiness.
Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. How is a thing of beauty a joy forever?

Ans. A thing of beauty is a joy forever as its loveliness increases through recollection and
contemplation. It is a perennial source of pleasure that ensures good health and quiet breathing. It
brings relief in our painful existence.
Q2. What makes human beings love life in spite of troubles and sufferings?
Ans. In spite of troubles and sufferings, human beings love life because there are some beautiful
things that move away the gloom from the depressed minds. The beautiful things in nature like the
moon, the sun, the trees, the ferns and the daffodils bring happiness and reduce men’s sufferings.
Q3. List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.
Ans. All beautiful things of nature are a boon for human beings. The sun, the moon, the trees,
daffodils, simple sheep, clear streams, forests ferns, musk rose etc. provide us peace and happiness.
Q4. List the things that cause suffering and pain.
Ans. Disease, disappointments, jealousy, lack of human qualities, gloomy days, unhealthy and evil
ways cause pains and sufferings in our lives.
Q5. What does the line, ‘Therefore are we wreathing a flowery band to bind us to earth’ suggest
to you?
Ans. When we pluck fresh flowers to make a garland, it shows our love for life, for nature and for
beauty. The flowers attract us and bind us to the nature and the earth.
Q6. What makes human beings love life in spite of troubles and sufferings?
Ans. There are many things that depress our spirits but our nature has blessed us with beauty that
alone makes our life happy. It removes the pall of sadness. It offers us loveliness and pleasures. So
human beings love life.
Q7. Do we experience things of beauty only for short moments or do they make a lasting
impression on us?
Ans. Things of beauty make a lasting impression on us and continue to delight us and give us joy.
Beauty can never fade away or lose its value.
Q8. What image does the poet use to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth?
Ans. Human beings love life in spite of troubles and sufferings because nature is the best healer and
it brings beauty and joy to our life. The memory of the beautiful experiences helps us to bear our
sorrows and provide a peaceful retreat.
Q9. Why is grandeur associated with mighty dead?
Ans. Great men have great fall. The exploits of the mighty rulers and generals fill us with awe and
wonder. We admire and even worship our heroes. We remember them gratefully because they
sacrificed their lives for a noble cause.
Q10. What becomes of all lovely tales we have heard or read?
Ans. All lovely tales that we have heard or read become a source of pleasure. They become an
endless fountain of nectar and give us heavenly pleasure.
 Poem- 6 Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
By Adrienne Rich
About the Poet

Adrienne Rich was an American poet and essayist. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May
16, 1929. She was brought up in a well-off family. She was the elder of two daughters. Her father
was a doctor and her mother was a music composer. In 1953, she married Harvard University
economist Alfred H. Conrad.

She attended Radcliffe College, graduating in 1951, and was selected by W.H. Auden for the Yale
Series of Younger Poets prize. Two years later, she published her second volume of poetry, The
Diamond Cutters. After having three sons before the age of thirty, Rich gradually changed both her
life and her poetry. Throughout the 1960s, she wrote several collections. The content of her work
became increasingly confrontational—exploring such themes as women’s role in society, racism,
and the Vietnam War.

In 1997, she refused the National Medal of Arts, stating that ‚I could not accept such an award from
White House because the very meaning of art, as I understand it, is incompatible with the cynical
politics of this administration.‛ The same year, Rich was awarded the Academy’s Wallace Stevens
Award for outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry. She died on March 27, 2012, at the
age of eighty-two.

Poem: Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers

Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,

Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.
Aunt Jennifer’s finger fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.
When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

Introduction
Adrienne Rich was brought up in a well-off family. Rich felt dominated by her father’s strong
personality while growing up. It was he who most guided her as a young poet. This wasn’t always
to her liking as he expected her to write her poems his way. When Rich was growing up men
dominated and women were expected to become dutiful wives in their adult lives. All these
elements may have in influenced the picture of marriage Rich drew in this poem. At the heart of the
poem is an image of a husband who controls and frightens his wife. Rich wrote a lot of poems
based on everyday experience. One topic she often featured was the tension, women felt due to
being dominated by their husbands. In ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’ rich is mocking the weakness of
Aunt Jennifer and the cloth and authority of Jennifer’s husband in their marriage.

Summary
In the poem ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’ a woman expresses her suppressed feelings through her art.
Aunt Jennifer is the victim of the male-dominated society. She has no one to tell her mental and
physical pain. She makes a picture to convey her deep feelings. The speaker describes the tigers
which her aunt produced on the panel. They are set in motion. They are moving quickly by raising
the front legs and jumping forwards on the back legs. In the green jungle they look free, bright,
brave, fearless and magnificent.
There are men sitting under the tree, but the tigers do not care for them. They move on to their goal
boldly and smoothly. Jennifer finds it difficult to make pictures by using the ivory needle. She is
tired of doing the household work after she got married. She can’t get herself involved in her
artistic work. She has to do it in her leisure time. Even then she has to be sure whether her husband
is watching her or not. So her hands are terrified. She will not be free from fear until she dies. She
will be dominated by her husband. She will die, but her art will express her desire to move proudly
and fearlessly like the tigers she has made.

Main points

1. In this poem, the poet addresses the constraints of married life, experienced by a woman.
2. Aunt Jennifer weaves tigers into the panel. These tigers are brave & have no fear of men.
3. Aunt Jennifer is terrified by her dominating husband. Her finger flutters due to the mental
suppression. She is not happy with her married life.
4. She will die but her art will express her desire to move proudly and fearlessly like the tigers she
has made.

Stanza Wise Explanation

FIRST STANZA
Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

EXPLANATION
 The poet is talking about a lady whom she addresses as aunt, Jennifer.
 She is embroidering a piece of cloth. It could be a table cloth or a wall hanging.
 The pattern shows tigers who are moving and jumping around all over the fabric.
 They are bright yellow in colour like the colour of the topaz stone (use of metaphor).
 The dense green forest background is their home.
 They are the proud and fearless citizens of the forest.
 Here is a contrast between Aunt Jennifer and her tigers. The tigers are fearless but this lady,
who is embroidering them is not so.
 The tigers look elegant, shining and full of the gentleman’s grace.
SECOND STANZA
Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.

EXPLANATION
 The lady’s fingers are trembling with the fear of her husband.
 She is pursuing her hobby in her free time but probably, she is still afraid of her husband
who could scold her.
 Her fingers are so tired of working endlessly all her life
 The needle is also heavy for her to pull out of the cloth.
 The words ‘uncle’s wedding band’ as the band was bought by her husband, it is his till
today.
 The lady is dependent on her husband .
 She is still burdened by the weight of the ring. ‘weight’ means the encirclement or trapping
that has fallen upon her by getting married to him, she has been burdened by the obligations of
married life, has become the man’s property.
 She has been living a demanding life due to which she has worn out in her old age.

THIRD STANZA
When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

EXPLANATION
 Her wish to live a free, fearless life is indicated by her choice of design – tigers.
 It shows her innermost desire of being strong, fearless which has been overpowered by her
husband.
 Probably, her ordeal will end upon her death.
 Her frightened, shaking fingers will be put to rest.
 But still, even after death, the ring shall remain on her hand, i.e. her husband’s rule over her
is not yet over!
 After her death, her desire of freedom and fearlessness shall remain alive in these tigers
which she has embroidered.

New words
Prance : walk or move around with high springy steps.
Topaz : a bright yellow coloured stone.
Denizens : here, an animal that lives or is found in a particular place.
Sleek : elegant.
Chivalric : being courteous esp. to women, an act of a gentleman.
Ordeals: extremely severe tests or experiences.
Prancing : to move around proudly.
Fluttering : to move in quick, irregular motions as if being agitated.
Important Extracts

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

Q1. What does prancing tigers symbolize?

Ans. Prancing tigers are a symbol of the spirit of freedom within Aunt Jennifer which remains
subdued.
Q2. Why are they referred to as ‘denizens of a world of green’?
Ans. The tigers are the dwellers of the green forest so they are referred to as denizens.
Q3. What qualities of the ‘tigers’ are highlighted here?
Ans. Fearlessness and ferocity of the tigers are highlighted here. Aunt Jennifer’s nervousness and
timidity are in sharp contrast to wild ferocity of the tigers who are not afraid of hunting men.
Unlike Aunt Jennifer, the tigers fear nothing.
Q4. Explain; ‚They pace in sleek chivalric certainty‛.
Ans. The movement of the tigers are sleek, stealthy, sure, majestic and elegant. They are sure of
their purpose. Gallant and confident, they move ahead fearlessly undeterred by any obstacles or
hindrances.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.”

Q1. Why do Aunt Jennifer’s fingers flutter through her wool?

Ans. Aunt Jennifer lives in constant fear of her husband. She feels so nervous and terrified that her
hands shake and flutter when she sits down to knit.
Q2. Why does she find it hard to pull the ivory needle?
Ans. She finds it hard to pull the ivory needle more because of mental suppression than because of
physical weakness. Due to constant fear that she confronts has become a nervous wreck.
Q3. Explain: ‘massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band’.
Ans. The expression is symbolic of male authority and power. Matrimony binds the woman
physically as well as mentally. Likewise Aunt Jennifer is trapped in gender oppression and feels
herself burdened by the authority of her husband.
Q4. How is Aunt Jennifer affected by the ‘weight of matrimony’?
Ans. Aunt Jennifer cannot do things freely. She tries to come up to the expectation of her husband.
She seems to have lost her identity. The freedom that she dreams of through her art, is itself
symbolic of her oppressed self.

3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.”

Q1. What is Aunt Jennifer’s death symbolic of?

Ans. Aunt Jennifer’s death is symbolic of her complete submission to her suppression.
Q2. Explain: ‚terrified hands‛.
Ans. Aunt Jennifer is terrified by her dominating husband and hence her hands are shivering.
Q3. What does ‘ringed with ordeals’ imply?
Ans. Aunt Jennifer has been so victimized in her life that even after death she remains trapped. We
find her a victim of gender injustice and oppression.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. How do the tigers made by Aunt Jennifer look like?

Ans. The tigers, made by Aunt Jennifer on the screen, are jumping and playing about without any
fear of the men beneath the tree. They walk in elegance and style displaying the spirit of courage,
fearlessness, strength and confidence.
Q2. What do the tigers made by the Aunt symbolize?
Ans. The tigers made by Aunt Jennifer symbolize the spirit of courage, strength and fearlessness
Aunt Jennifer, a victim of male oppression, expresses her crushed feelings in the form of art. So, the
tigers are symbolic of the fear of male domination with which Aunt Jennifer suffers.
Q3. Why do you think Aunt Jennifer’s hands are fluttering through her wool? Why is she
finding the needle so hard to pull?
Ans. Aunt Jennifer is victimized by the overbearing and dominant nature of her husband. Her life
has become a torture due to her suppression by her atrocious husband. The fear of her authoritative
husband has gone so deep into her being that she seems to have lost all strength and energy. Thus
her hands shake and flutter so much that she is not even able to pull the needle through the
tapestry.
Q4. What do you understand by ‚massive weight of uncle’s wedding band‛?
Ans. Generally ‘wedding band’ is a symbol of joy and happiness. But in case of Aunt Jennifer, it has
become a symbol of torture and oppression. Her relationship with her authoritative husband has
become a painful burden to carry. Her ‘wedding band’ has brought her a world of pain, misery and
torture. She has lost her freedom and entered a world of humiliation and oppression.
Q5. Explain ’her terrified hands will lie, still ringed with the ordeals she was mastered by’.
Ans. These lines convey Aunt’s complete submission to the oppressive authority of her husband.
The fear of her husband has gone so deep into her being that even death cannot liberate her from
the chains of her mental suppression. Memories of her husband’s tortures and atrocities which bent
her into a humiliating slavery, will continue to haunt her even after her death.