Issues that Matter

- a Complete Guide

Compiled by the Students of

Model 1 B. Com, Computer
Application (2020-23),
Rajagiri College of Social
Sciences, Kalamassery.

Edited by Prof. Anand K.

Editorial Team:

1. The Unsurrendered People: Keren Thomas

2. The Old Prison: Gayathri
3. War: Mathew P. Joe
4. Persuasions on the power of the word: Yeldho Shem
5. The Burning of the Books: Seby
6. The Censors: Binny
7. The Poisoned Bread: Elina
8. A Trip Westward: Amisha Jyotish
9. The Pot Maker: Sandra S.
10. Does it Matter
11. On Killing a Tree: Irfan
12. Hagar: Christabel
13. Understanding Refugeeism: Rajasree S.
14. Refugee Blues: Anna Elizabeth Biju
15. The Child goes to the Camp: Vignesh
 Preface
Dear all,
The Covid pandemic has brought in a paradigm shift, in fact an
unprecedented radical turnaround over the last 15 months or so in every domain
including the academia. The teaching-learning environment took a seismic shift
from offline to online mode. Both teachers and learners found it difficult
initially to cope with this digital learning environment. Covid lockdowns also
made it nearly impossible for the learners to get hold of the original
textbook/study guides with shops closed. This indeed became a pertinent issue
for learners from socially/economically poor backgrounds.
At this juncture, am glad to bring out ‘Issues that Matter- a Complete
Guide’, Compiled by the Students of Model 1 B. Com, Computer Application
(2020-23), Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kalamassery. The book consists
of short summary of each chapter prescribed, along with the author biography
as well as the model answers for textual questions. Please note that these
answers must be treated only as models for understanding; the learner is advised
to develop a (unique) style and content of his/her own, instead of learning this
byheart. As a teacher/individual, I have always maintained that every text is in
fact a guide- each module has a few selected pieces prescribed for study,
wherein we must also be aware of and discuss the exclusions! For example, in
the module ‘Of Culture, identity and tradition’, Bandhu Madhav’s short story
‘The Poisoned Bread’ is a poignant one. But the learners may find it a bit
lengthy. An awareness about similar stories like, say for instance, ‘Joothan’ by
Omprakash Valmiki, where the son of a sweeper is made to sweep the
playground instead of attending the class, by the school Principal, might be of
further help to draw comparisons and attain a better idea about the caste system
in India.
‘Issues that Matter’ is in fact an eye opener for students. It deals with
important themes that surround us like Refugeeism, War, Caste/Racial
discrimination, Censorship and environmental concerns.
As mentioned above, the pieces prescribed may or may not have done
100% justice to the themes, but a further reading of similar works could help the
learner attain wisdom.
 So, if a text is merely a guide, then a guidebook of that text certainly is
something that limits your rational thinking abilities, if not mis-guide you!
Often, it has been observed that the learners trust the guide book blindly, learn it
byheart with the sole intention of clearing the exams. I would like to caution
you all against such a regressive approach. This guidebook has been designed
with an intention to help you understand the works in-depth, trying to fill-in for
the drawbacks of online classes in general.
I would like to thank the student team from B. Com computer
application, who took the initiative to make this a reality- Keren Thomas,
Gayathri, Mathew P. Joe, Yeldho Shem, Seby, Binny, Elina, Amisha Jyotish,
Sandra S., Irfan, Christabel, Rajasree S., Anna Elizabeth Biju and Vignesh-
Thank you- especially for not indulging in plagiarism; i.e., for writing all these
in your own words, instead of resorting to copying from the web or other
sources! As a teacher, am indeed proud of your efforts.
Needless to say, Rajagiri college has always been at the forefront in
reaching out and help the general public during the pandemic times!
Once again, I wish all the learners the very best.

Love,

Anand K.
Assistant Professor (English)
Rajagiri College of Social Sciences
Kalamassery.
Ph. 7736537252
The Unsurrendered People -Kenzaburo Oe

About the author

Kenzaburo Oe, an essayist, novelist and short story writer was born in
Shikoku, Japan. His writings featured two dominant aspects of his life-
firstly, his incapacitated child, Hikari who was born with brain damage
and his disability became a significant influence on Oe’s work. Secondly,
a world of his own created out of myths, history, literature and cultural
anthropology. He started writing as a student and won the Akutagawa
Award for his short story ‘The Catch’. Oe was awarded the Nobel Prize
in 1994.He is a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature and his
writings engage with issues like nuclear weapons, social non-conformism
and existentialism. Some of his popular works are Letters to My Sweet
Bygone Years, The Flaming Green, Until the Saviour Gets Socked and
Vacillating.

Summary

The lesson the unsurrendered people is from Hiroshima Notes

where he tries to decipher how the bombing survivors faced the
dehumanising cataclysm, with courage and resolve. His tone is both
affirmative of the people’s determination to rebuild their lives and the
city and critical of the minds that inflicted this catastrophe on them. The
event symbolises all human evil. Human goodwill was seen to go into
action as people made moves to recover and restore the injured victims
will to live. The doctors struggled to put in sufficient efforts to cope up
with the demonic aftermath of the atomic disaster. The author
experienced Hiroshima for himself at the age of six. This causes the
author to have nightmares and he finds it difficult to trust in humanism.
The author then speaks about the possibility of different events occurring
if the atomic bomb took place in Leopoldville instead of Hiroshima. The
events that follow would seem to be deadly and reach the point of no sign
of hope to be found. What actually happened in Hiroshima was not quite
horrible as what could have happened if the same took place in
Leopoldville. Even though the city was utterly devastated and had
become a vast, ugly death chamber, the Hiroshima survivors began
struggling to recover and rebuild. The recovery effort has continued for
two decades and continuous even now. The atomic destruction of
Hiroshima was the worst deluge of the twentieth century. The souls
salvaged by the people of Hiroshima are the souls of all human beings
alive today.

The Unsurrendered People (Q and A)

1.
a. Which metaphors does Oe use to represent the atom bomb?

Ans. The author compares the atomic bomb to twilight or the beginning
of night-time, both because the bomb marks the start of an extremely dark
era for the people of Hiroshima as the try to recover and cope with the
results caused by the attack.

b. Did the attempt to accord positive value to A-bombing bring peace?

Ans. The attempt to accord a positive value as a means of ending the

War quickly did not however, bring peace even to the minds of all airmen
who carried out the atomic attack. The atomic bomb embodied the
absolute evil of war, transcending lesser distinctions such as Japanese or
Allies, attacker or attacked.

c. what lessens the A-bomb droppers’ burden of conscience?

Ans. Even though the city was utterly devastated and had become a vast,
ugly death chamber, the Hiroshima survivors first began struggling to
recover and rebuild. They did so for their own sakes, but doing so served
also to lessen the burden on the consciences of those who had dropped
the atomic bomb.

d. What was the calculation, according to Oe, that led to the decision of
dropping an A-bomb?

Ans. The decision was made on the basis of some calculation of a built-in
harmony by virtue of which if the incredibly destructive bomb were
dropped the greatest effort in history would be to counterbalance the
totality of the enormous evil to follow. The inhuman damage caused by
this demonic weapon would be mitigated by the humane efforts of those
struggling to find what hope they could in the desperate situation.
e. What gruesome nightmare does Oe have about humanism?
Ans. Oe has a nightmare about trusting in human strength or in
humanism, it is a nightmare about a particular kind of trust in human
capability.

f. What reduced the emotional burden of the American doctors?

Ans. The patience of the A-bomb victims quietly awaiting their turns in
the waiting room of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission on top of
the Hijiyama hill reduces the emotional burden of the American doctors.

g. Why did God trust Noah?

Ans. God fully trusted Noah would rebuild human society after the great
flood ended. Noah had the needed will and ability, so the deluge played
its part within God’s plan for man, without playing the tyrant beyond
God’s expectations.

h. Why does Oe say that what happened in Hiroshima after the A-

bombing was not horrible?

Ans. Oe describes how the events could have taken a horrible turn if the
atomic bomb had been dropped on Leopoldville instead of Hiroshima. He
then goes on to say what actually happened in Hiroshima was in fact not
quite as horrible since the people who survived in Hiroshima made no
particular effort to impress on those who dropped the bomb what a
dreadful thing they had done.

i. What metaphors does Oe use to illustrate the impact of A-bombing of

Hiroshima?

Ans. Oe uses the metaphors the Great flood of the present age which is a
kind of Universal Deluge. The twentieth century has become afflicted
with a cancer, the possession of nuclear weapons by various nations for
which there is no known cure.
j. How is the ‘flood’ of the present age different from the biblical Great
flood of Noah?

Ans. Present age floods occur during rainy seasons when the rainfall is
more than normal in localised regions especially low laying areas. The
water level rises steadily. Noah’s flood was sudden and unexpected. It
engulfed the entire world.

2.

a. In what ways did human goodwill act?

Ans. The mindset of the people of Hiroshima lead to the rebuilding of the
nation in a faster and stronger pace than before and hence this itself was
their greatest reply to the bombers and the pilots. The goodwill of the
people of Hiroshima to recover from the miserable and disastrous
situation and continue their life in a better way, gave the strongest reply
to the attackers. The dedication of the doctors of Hiroshima was also a
noticeable act of human goodwill. The way they treated the victims
without any hesitation continuously until the situation became stable was
to be appreciated.

b. What was so paradoxical about the humanism of American

intellectuals?

Ans. The paradoxical humanism of American intellectuals was the

balancing out of a bad evil by good humanism. The bomb is considered
as the bad evil and the mindsets of people of Hiroshima and the doctor
population there who were ready to serve through the day and night
without any hesitation is considered as ‘good humanism’.

c. What would have made the ‘toughest minds’ postpone the dropping of
an atomic bomb?

Ans. Dropping the atomic bomb in Leopoldville would have resulted in

the complete destruction of mankind in that place either by the bomb or
its after-effect. The belief that people of Hiroshima could recover from
the aftermath made the toughest minds to postpone the dropping without
any future date to Hiroshima.

d. Describe the scenario of the supposed dropping of A-Bomb on

Leopoldville?

Ans. Instead of Hiroshima, if the bombing was done in Leopoldville the

whole place would have turned into a wasteland forever. There would not
have been even a trace of civilization there. Epidemics would have spread
widely. People would be dying within months without the hope, courage
and support to remover physically and mentally from the aftermath.

e. How does Oe compare the biblical deluge of Noah to the atomic

bombing of Hiroshima?

Ans. Like the way God made to rain continuously for 40 days knowing
that Noah would be there to save the people from the flood, the bombers
too were aware of the ability of Hiroshima to recover from the miseries of
the bombing and to grow back into a leading nation in the world.

f. What is the cancer of the 20th century according to Oe?

Ans. Oe feels that the possession of nuclear weapons by the different

nations is the cancer of 20th century.

3.

a. How does Oe substantiate that the souls salvaged by the people of

Hiroshima are the souls of all human beings alive today?

Ans. The balancing of a bad evil by good humanism is what happened in

Hiroshima. Soon as the bombing happened, attempts of Hiroshima to
salvage their lives began. The people's mentality to recover and grow
back again as well as the dedication of the doctors of Hiroshima to treat
the victims of the aftermath, balanced out the evil of the A-Bomb and the
people behind the dropping. Though the attempts to the recovery of the
aftermath started at the very ending of the bombing, the recovery process
still continues and will keep on continuing. The aftermath of the bombing
in Congo would have had a more devastating effect as it would wipe out
human trace in the initial target without leaving even a trace of anything.
There would not have been even a trace of civilization there. Epidemics
would have spread widely. People would be dying within months without
the hope, courage and support to remover physically and mentally from
the aftermath. Hence dropping the bomb in Hiroshima is considered to be
better than dropping it in Leopoldville though being the evilest act ever
known to the world.

b. Justify the tittle of the essay THE UNSURRENDERD PEOPLE.

Ans. THE UNSURRENDERD PEOPLE visualizes the way Hiroshima

re-emerged after the Bombing. It depicts how the people suffered the
bombing and how, without any provocation, they started to build
Hiroshima back again with full dedication and sincerity towards their
land and country. Though people of Hiroshima still recover from the evil
and nonhuman act the world can ever know of. This act of recovery at a
pace no one can even think of was the greatest nonviolent reply the
people of Hiroshima could give the A-Bomb attackers. The aftermath of
the bombing in Congo would have had a more devastating effect as it
would wipe out human trace in the initial target without leaving even a
trace an anything. Hence it seemed to the bombers that the decision they
took to postpone the bombing in some sense was better though history
considers it one among the evilest act happened in humanity till date. The
article also shows a paradox between Noah rescuing the people from
flood after God made it rain it forty days to the ability of the doctors of
Hiroshima and the mindset of people to recover and emerge back. The
people behind the dropping especially the president will never have a
good sleep thinking this act of them which even now is considered to be
among one of the evilest act seen by humanity though they still believe
that the act was to balance out the good humanism.
c. How does Oe represent the dualism of good and evil through the essay
THE UNSURRENDERD PEOPLE?

Ans. The bomb and is considered as the bad evil and the mindsets of
people of Hiroshima and the doctor population there who were ready to
serve through the day and night without any hesitation is considered as
good humanism. This is what Oe considers to be dualism of good and
evil. If the bombing was done in Leopoldville the whole place would
have turned into a wasteland forever. There would not have been even a
trace of civilization there. Epidemics would have spread widely. The
bomb and is considered as the bad evil and the mindsets of people of
Hiroshima and the doctor population there who were ready to serve
through the day and night without any hesitation is considered as good
humanism and this what Oe convey the dualism of good and evil. This
dualism in the mind of the attackers is just a minute piece of reason to
give them sleep-full nights and peace of mind at moments when they
think about the evil act done by them. Similarly, to the way the goodness
in Noah saved the people from the flood, the goodness in the people of
Hiroshima and the doctors’ dedication saved them from being non-
existent. They fought back with the aftermath of the bombing, they
recovered, they grew, they emerged back which shows the strength of
people of Hiroshima.
THE OLD PRISON- Judith Wright

About the author

Judith Wright (1915-2000) was an Australian poet, environmentalist and

campaigner for upholding the rights of aboriginal Australians. The
Moving Image (1946) was her first published poetry collection. Her
second collection of poems, Women to Man (1949), The Gateway (1953),
Birds (1962), The Other Half (1966), Collected Poems 1942-1970, Fourth
Quarter and Other Poems (1976), and Phantom Dwelling (1985). She was
married to philosopher Jack McKinney and had a daughter Meredith. Her
mission was to connect the human experience with the natural world,
through poetry and other works.

Summary

The poem “The Old Prison” is about the convict-build jail at Trail
Bay, near Kempsey. The jail was abandoned in 1903. Later, over 500
German prisoners of world war I were held there but the building was
closed again in 1922. Time and ravages of war have taken their toll and
today the jail is in ruins. The poet also mentions the incident happened in
the ship ‘Trail’ between the convicts in 1816 which caused the ship’s
destruction near the bay. This poem is sustained by the use of strong
imagery.

The rows of cells in the prison are unroofed, terrible and cold wind
is blowing into the cells. The sound of the wind that blows across the
abandoned prison cells are sad and unhappy. It sounds like a flute is being
played. The wind that comes is from the blue caves of the south and is
cold like ice.

The poet calls the day dark and fierce and the wind is called as
angry bee. Like angry bee hunting for black honey, the wind searches for
any life left in the prison, it also searches in the deep sea. The poet refers
black honey as greed of man and all the incident now being related to
ship’s destruction that happened in bay long ago.
 Shadows move across the empty prison cells. The waves washed
away the remains in the prison leaving bare stones and the waves sings a
bitter song of the bitter past with all the broken emotions of the prisoners.
The poet compares this scene to that of bare bones, like skeleton.

Then the poet asks who build this prison, only the wind and the sea
along witnessed to those events that had taken place. The wind and the
sea reply that the cold nest or the prison is broken and they are blown
away.

The prisoners were neither married and had families nor did they
experience love. All the prisoners were left along to cry in their cells, as
the wind now cries as it passes through the cells of the prison, like a flute
being played.

The theme of the poem is war. The poem says all about the
sufferings and pain of the prisoners. Judith Wright is known for her
strong imagery which is visible in the poem.

FIGURES OF SPEECH:

PERSONIFICATION:
1. ‘a flute for the wind’s mouth’
2. ‘The wind and the sea’

SIMILE:
1. ‘Wind like an angry bee’
2. ‘like a bone it sings’
3. ‘cried as the wind now cries’

METAPHOR:
1. Shell bone-bare
2. Flute of stone
THE OLD PRISON (Q and A)

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN A SENTENCE OR TWO.

Q. What does the flute represent?

Ans. The flute is a musical wind instrument that must be blown with
mouth. As the wind moves over the prison cell, it is as if a flute is being
played. The prison is represented by the flute.

Q. Where does the wind come from?

Ans. The wind is ice cold. It must most likely be coming from the south.

Q. What does the wind do?

Ans. The wind washes across the prison cell. It makes sound as it moves.
It is compared to an angry bee searching for honey, the is also searching
for the prisoners who used to live there.

Q. Why is the wave compared to a bone?

Ans. The wind is compared to an old bone with story to tell. Like a bone
that would tell its tales through song, the wind attempt to tell its bitter tale
by blowing over the empty cells.

Q. Why is the old prison called a ‘cold nest’?

Ans. The old prison once had many prisoners like a nest of birds. But it is
now empty. Like abandoned nest, the prison has also been abandoned and
there are no more prisoners in the cell.

Q. How did the prisoners fare in the old prison?

Ans. The prisoners who stayed in the old prison neither loved nor had

families. They were alone in their cells. Like the wind cries as it blows
across the empty prison, the prisoners too might have cried.
ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN ABOUT 100 WORDS

Q. How does the unroofed cell become a ‘flute’?

Ans. The old prison was written by Judith Wright. The poem is taken
from the volume ‘collected poems’: 1942-1985. She is known for her
strong imagery which is visible in the poem. The theme of this poem is
based on war. The poem is about the convict-build jail which was
abandoned.

The prison cells that the poet come across have been abandoned long ago.
They no longer have roofs. As the wind blows across the abandoned
prison cells, the sounds it makes are eerie and sad. To the poet it sounds
like flute being played. The wind’s sounds made in the unroofed prison
are thus compared to a flute.

Q. Why is the wind called ‘an angry bee’?

Ans. The old prison was written by Judith Wright. The poem is taken
from the volume ‘collected poems’: 1942-1985. She is known for her
strong imagery which is visible in the poem. The theme of this poem is
based on war. The poem is about the convict-build jail which was
abandoned.

The movement of the wind is compared to an angry bee. The wind blows
strongly across the prison cells that are unroofed as if in search of
something. Like the angry bee searches for honey, wind searches for any
life in the prison. The prison has been abandoned. There is no living
creature existing between the walls of the prison.

Q. Why is the song of the waves bitter?

Ans. The old prison was written by Judith Wright. The poem is taken
from the volume ‘collected poems’: 1942-1985. She is known for her
strong imagery which is visible in the poem. The theme of this poem is

based on war. The poem is about the convict-build jail which was
abandoned.
Shadows move across the empty prison cells. The cells are empty and
bare as the prison was abandoned long ago and no one resides there now.
The devastation that has happened has left the building bare to its very
bones. The poet compares this scene to that of bare bones. These bones
are old and have many stories to tell as ancient objects often have. The
song is bitter because the stories here are of prison life and that of normal
life.

Q. Describe the existence of the prisoners in the old prison.

Ans. The old prison was written by Judith Wright. The poem is taken
from the volume ‘collected poems’: 1942-1985. She is known for her
strong imagery which is visible in the poem. The theme of this poem is
based on war. The poem is about the convict-build jail which was
abandoned.

The life of the prisoners in the old prison was pretty glum. The prisoners
were all alone in the prison. They neither married nor had families, nor
did they experience love. Each prisoner was left to cry in the cell. There
was no space for happiness and joy. They might have cried themselves to
sleep. They had a very sad life in the prison.

Q. Why does the wind cry through the flute? What has this been
compared to?

Ans. The old prison was written by Judith Wright. The poem is taken
from the volume ‘collected poems’: 1942-1985. She is known for her
strong imagery which is visible in the poem. The theme of this poem is
based on war. The poem is about the convict-build jail which was
abandoned.

The prison has been abandoned long ago. No one is left there anymore.
Only the wind and the sea visit the prison. The prison has no longer roofs,
so when the wind whistles through the walls of the prison, it is almost

like the sound of the flute being played. The wind has been said to cry in
the poem. The movement of the wind causes sounds to be produced, like
a flute. It creates a kind of musical sound like that of a flute.
War by Luigi Pirandello

About the Author:

Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) was born in Sicily, Italy to a wealthy family
of sulphur miners. Over the years, he had to endure some difficulties such
as the depletion of his family’s fortune as well as the worsening of his
wife, Antonietta’s health. To add to their misery, during the World War-I,
both his sons were captured in the military campaign. It was after this that
he started to write stories and books. The majority of his works are about
his sensitivity to the monotony of a disillusioned life in search of a
personality. Some of his most famous works include Amore Senza
Amore(1894), L’esclusa(1901), II Fu Mattia Pascal(1904).

Summary:

The story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello is set during World War – I

(1914-1918). The story is about a husband and wife boarding a train in
Italy. The couple talks with the other passengers in the train about the
suffering and hardship faced by everyone because of the war. The wife
was in such a state of grief that she could hardly speak. The husband
spoke to the other passengers on behalf of the wife saying that their only
son was going to fight for the country.

As the husband was explaining to the fellow passengers about the

situation he and his wife were facing, a passenger who listened carefully
replied back. The passenger said that the husband should be thanking God
that he only has one son. The passenger has two sons and three nephews
who are at the front. After the passenger had said this, the husband said
that he has multiple children out there so it isn’t as bad as having your
only child out at the front. Then the passenger replied saying, even if you
have one child or multiple children, you will love them all equally,
without discrimination. Parental love isn’t split between the various
children but is given to all the children completely. As the discussion
between the passenger and the husband was going on, another fat, red-
faced traveler also gave his opinion on the matter.

The fat, red-faced traveller said that children are born not for the
parents but rather for the country. The children have their own lives to
live and their own interests that they would like to persuade. The love for
the country is also important, perhaps even stronger than the love for our
children. This passenger also said that he doesn’t mourn the loss of his
son, who died during the war because he died young and satisfied.
According to the traveller, when a person dies young and for the country,
he dies being satisfied as he gave his all for the country. The person is
also spared from the ugly sides of life, the boredom, the pettiness and so
on.

While the men were talking and saying that death is inevitable and
we should just accept it, the wife started to speak out of nowhere and
asked the fat, red-faced passenger if his son had actually died. This
question had startled all the other passengers in the carriage and it made
the man break down and cry uncontrollably as after hearing this question,
he stopped and thought about what exactly had happened. He realized
that his son is gone forever and that he will never get the opportunity to
see him and spend time with him again. He came out of his state of
denial.

The story is about the various ways in which people were coping
with personal losses during the time of the war. Everyone had different
ways of coping with the death of their loved ones: some were in a state of
grief, some were in denial with the whole situation. There isn’t one
correct way to deal with personal loss and this story gives us an idea
about different people and their opinion about the prevailing situation and
how they were dealing with their personal losses.

Q and A:

1. A). What is the setting of the story War?

Ans: The story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello was set during the World War I
(1914-1918). The story is about the sufferings of the people because of
the war.

B). Why does the husband feel that the other passengers should pity his
wife?

Ans: The husband felt that the other passengers should pity his wife as
the war was taking away their only son from them. Their son was only
twenty years of age and the parent had devoted their entire lives to him
and now he is being taken away from them so early despite being given
an assurance that he wouldn’t be sent so early to the front.

C). What does the passenger say about paternal love and duty?

Ans: The passenger said that if the parent has only one child or multiple
children, they should love their children equally without any
discrimination and no parent would shower one child with more love and
affection than another child. He said that parental love is not like bread
that you can just break into smaller pieces and split equally but rather the
love is given equally to all children.

D). What was the last message sent by the red-faced man’s son?

Ans: The red-faced man had said that that their children do not belong to
them but their country. The children have a duty towards the country and
it is important to honour that. Children aren’t born for their parents; they
have their own interests and they have to live their own lives. If the
children die for the country, it is a good thing and he died an honourable
death as it was for the country. This is why the red-faced man doesn’t
mourn the death of his son.

E). Why, according to the old traveller, are sons born?

Ans: According to the old traveller, sons are born because they have to be
born and when they come to life, they take our own life with them. The
children don’t belong to the parents. Children have their own interests
and their own lives to live and so they should be free to do whatever they
choose and if the country calls for their help, they have to accept that call

and give their all for the country as the love for the country is stronger
than the love for our children.

F). What is the ‘Country’ compared to?

Ans: The ‘Country’ is said to be a natural necessity and it is compared to
bread, which is also a natural necessity. We eat bread so that we don’t die
of hunger and in that manner, if the country is in need, it is the children
that are there to defend the country from any threats of danger.

G). How do young ones die according to the stoic traveller?

Ans: According to the stoic traveller, the young ones die inflamed and
happy. If one dies young and happy, without having the ugly sides of life,
the boredom, the pettiness, the bitterness, etc. it is a good thing. If one
dies young and for their country, they will be dying with a feeling of
satisfaction as they have ended their lives in the best possible way.

H). How long has the woman been afflicted by sorrow?

Ans: The woman had been afflicted by sorrow for three months and she
had her husband and friends who tried to console her sorrow.

I). Why does the woman’s question cause the old man to lose his
temperament?

Ans: The woman’s question caused the old man to lose his temperament
as it was completely out of the blue. After the old man had told the other
passengers about how he doesn’t mourn the death of his son as his son
had died young and satisfied, the woman asked him if is son had actually
died. This shocked the other passengers and the old man as well. He was
unable to find the right words and then came out of a state of denial and
finally realized that his son was gone from him and his live forever and
this realization made him cry uncontrollably.

2. A). Describe the couple who were hosted in to the second-class

carriage?
Ans: The couple that is being described in the story ‘War’ by Luigi
Pirandello is one that is in a state of grief. The couple, a bulky woman
and a tiny, thin, sickly man had one child and that child was being taken
away from them.

It was the First World War at the time and their only child whom they
devoted their entire lives was being sent in order to fight for the country.
This made the couple extremely sad. Their child was only twenty years of
age and had so much more to do and discover in life, however, he had to
volunteer for the war as the needs of the nation was the most important
thing at that particular point of time. The couple were extremely reluctant
to send their child but didn’t have any other option. Initially, they were
given a guarantee that their child would not be sent to the front for at least
six months but that did not happen.

The couple was going to see off the reason they had been living this long
for. Their only child was the reason they had worked hard for and now
the time has come to send him off and this has obviously made both the
wife and husband extremely sad as they had to bid adieu to their son.
There was no guarantee that he would return.

B). What advice did the husband receive about parental love?

Ans: The advice that the husband received from one of the passengers
about parental love is about how you give it to your children.

The fellow passenger had said that even if you had only one child or if
you had ten children, you would love them all equally, without any
discrimination. A parent wouldn’t divide their love among their children
but rather love them all completely. He then proceeded to tell the

difference between sharing of parental love by giving an example about

bread.
Bread can be broken up into many smaller equal sized pieces but you
cannot do that with parental love. Parental love is given equally to all the
children, no matter how many there is. This is the advice that the husband
got from one passenger.

C). Comment on the physical appearance of the old traveller.

Ans: In the story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello, there were few passengers in
a train carriage and one of the passengers who spoke was an old man.
This particular traveller was fat and had a red complexion. He had
striking gray eyes, which was bulging. Although he was fat, he looked
extremely weak.

From the text, we can understand that the old passenger has some sort of
breathing problem as he was said to be panting while speaking to the
fellow passengers in the carriage. He also had some missing teeth. Even
his shrill laughter could have been a sob. The old traveller was not in the
best mental state and was consoling himself by saying his son was in a
better place and it’s a good thing that he died young but after he realized
that he will never meet his son again, he came out of his state of denial
and broke down in tears.

D). Explain the different opinions shared by the passengers regarding the
war.

Ans: The story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello was about a couple who
boarded a train carriage with few passengers and they were on the way to
send off their son, who was going to be sent to the front in order to fight
for the country. As the husband was telling about his predicament, there
were few people who listened attentively and they all gave their opinions
on the situation.

Everyone had a different opinion about the prevailing situation. Some

were of the opinion that the love for the country is the most important
thing and it is also more important than the love that a parent has for a
child. No matter what, the country will be of the first priority. Another
passenger said that the war was affecting the lives of everyone negatively.
Many people were losing their lives and everyone was in a poor
economic state.

Another thing that the war caused is that the parents got separated from
their sons, who were off to fight for the country. This was not something
that they would have liked as they want to be with their children for as
long as possible. With the war, there is no guarantee that these parents
will be able to see their children again which puts them in a difficult
position. This was the situation of many of the passengers in the carriage.

E). Why was the woman stunned by the remarks of the old man?

Ans: In the story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello, the wife was in a state of
grief as she had just got the news that her only son was going to the front
in order to fight for the country. It was said that she was sitting and
listening for the last three months to her friends and her husband and was
trying to find the words to console her grief.

After hearing what the old man had to say, the woman came to the
realization that it was not others who were wrong and couldn’t
completely sympathize with her, but rather, it was her who was wrong.
She had realized that she had to step up and realize the importance of the
country and that she had to rise to the occasion. When she heard the ways
in which the other passengers were coping with their losses, she was
completely amazed, they were all standing so strong even though on the
inside they were all sad because of the prevailing situation.

The woman realized that she had to get over her grief and just accept the
situation. The words of the passengers were able to bring about a
realization in the woman as they were also going through similar
situations and could understand what the woman was going through.

F). What were the feelings of the old man towards sending young people
to the war?
Ans: The story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello dealt with the story of a
husband and wife who were travelling by train in order to see their son,
who was going to fight in the war. In the story, there is one passenger, an
old man who gave his opinion on the prevailing situation.

He had said that the love for the country is the most important thing.
Young people will definitely consider the love for the country as a major
priority. They will do anything and everything to protect their country.
The old passenger also said that if he were in the position of the young
children, he too would have gone to fight in the war as he cared that much
about the country.

The old man was also of the opinion that it is best that the young ones die
young as they will be spared from the boringness and bitterness of life.
They will die satisfied, which is something that is good. He said that his
own son, who died in the war, had said that he was dying satisfied with
everything as he was ending his life in the best way he could have wished
for. This was the opinion of the old man towards sending young people to
the war.

G). Describe the way in which patriotism is addressed in the story.

Ans: In the story, ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello, there is a part where the
topic of patriotism is being discussed. It was brought up by the old
passenger. Patriotism, the love one has for his/her country is something
that unites people. No matter what all differences between people, they
will all have one thing in common, which is the love they have for their
country. It gives people a reason to live and instils in a person a great
sense of happiness and sheer pleasure.

The old man brings up patriotism when he talks about young ones and
whether they should be sent in order to fight for the country or not. He

says that for a person in his twenties, the love for the country Is greater
than their love for anything else. So, they will be ready to do whatever
required to protect the country during the bad times. He also said that the
love for the country is always greater than the love for the parents.
The patriotism of the children is also separating the children from their
parents. This makes the parents extremely sad as they have devoted their
entire lives for their children and now, they are going to fight in the war
and there is no guarantee they will return.

H). How do you react to the old man’s grief at the end of the story?

Ans: The story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello ends with the old man unable to
control his emotions and cry uncontrollably. He reached this particular
emotional state because of the question the woman asked him.

The old man was talking about how he doesn’t mourn the death of his son
as he knew that his son had died satisfied with life. After listening to the
old man’s story, all the passengers were amazed and were congratulating
him on his bravery. It was at this moment that the woman had a question.
She asked the old man if his son had actually died.

This question was completely unexpected and everyone was taken aback,
especially the old man. At first, he couldn’t speak at all. Then slowly, he
started to realize that his son was dead and gone forever. This realization
made him cry uncontrollably. The reaction of the old man was completely
justified as no matter how strong a person is, the loss of a family member
is bound to hurt a little bit. Initially, he convinced himself that there is no
need to mourn as his son had died happily but then when he realized his
son was really dead, his true emotions came out.

3. A). How does Pirandello portray human nature through the story?

Ans: Through the story ‘War’, the author is telling the story of a husband
and wife who were going to meet their son, possibly for the last time
ever. This was a situation that many people were facing at the time.
During the World War-I, many people were suffering. Many lives were

lost and people were losing their jobs. The author discussed various
themes such as patriotism, fear, and grief.

Initially, the husband and wife were boarding the night carriage in order
to go and meet their son. There were five other passengers in their
carriage. The wife was in a state of grief as her only son was going to the
front in order to fight for the country. The husband decided it was
necessary to tell the other passengers about their situation so they could
empathize with them. The passengers listened carefully to what the
husband had to say and they could all relate to what the couple was
facing. One particular passenger said that his son was sent on the first day
of the war itself and returned back twice after getting injured and went
back. Another passenger said that he has two sons and three nephews out
in the front.

All the passengers could connect with each other as they were in the same
situation. They were all suffering internally because of the war. This is
why they are attempting to console each other as only someone going
through the same thing as you can truly relate with you. There was
another passenger who said that there was no point in being sad about
sending their children away as it was bound to happen at some point. The
children have to live their own lives and make their own choices and
develop their own interests. The thing of importance for the youth is the
love for the country. Everyone is willing to do whatever it takes in order
to protect the country as their love for the country is greater than their
love for anything else.

People deal with personal losses in different ways. Some end up grieving
and others choose to ignore what has happened. This story talks about
people and they ways in which they were dealing with the particular
situation. While some were grieving, one passenger was not mourning the
death of his son as his son had died happily which made him think that
there is no point in being sad.

B). Briefly explain the conflicts and themes raised through War.

Ans: The story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello is set during the time of the

First World War. It’s about the various ways on which people were
dealing with the problems caused because of the war.

The main conflict in the story is between the passengers. During the time
of the war, everyone was suffering in one way or another. There were lots
of people who were losing their jobs and many that have died because of
the war. The passengers in the carriage also had different opinions on the
prevailing situation. The conflict is also about the war and what is meant
and whether it was of any use. All the war was doing is causing lots of
problems for the people and taking the young ones away from their
parents. The passengers were all venting out their frustrations caused by
the circumstances. The passengers were all helpless in this situation as
their sons had to go for military service. For some, it was deliberate but
for others, they were forced to fight for the country. If the parents had a
choice, they would try not to send their children to fight for the country as
to protect them.

The various themes that have been discussed in this story is of patriotism
and losses faced by the people. The old passenger said that for the young
ones, the love for their country will be greater than anything else. It is out
of the love for the country that the young ones go out to fight in the war
despite knowing that there is a chance that they could die. Although, this
is not a concern for them as it is considered a noble death and the ones
that die young will be satisfied and spared from the boringness of life.
Another important theme that is being discussed in this story is the way
the different passengers are dealing with the losses and problems caused
by the war. While most of the people are grieving because of the loss of
dear ones, there are few that choose not to mourn. In this particular story,
the old man does not mourn the death of his son as he says that his son
died satisfied with his life and everything he has done. It is because he
knows this that he feels that there is no need to mourn. In the end, the old
man came to the realization that his son was gone forever and this sent
him into uncontrollable tears. After the woman asked him the question as
to whether his son was actually dead or not did he come to terms with
what had happened.

These are the various conflicts and themes that have been raised by Luigi
Pirandello in the story ‘War’.
C). Death is meaningful if one dies for one’s country. Evaluate the
statement based on the story.

Ans: In the story ‘War’ by Luigi Pirandello, the old, red-faced passenger
talked about the importance of patriotism in our lives. He also brought up
the point that children are not born for the parent, but rather, because they
have to be born.

Children grow up and discover their passions and interests and tries to go
and achieve those goals. Their love for the country is greater than their
love for anything else. This is why they go and volunteer to go and fight
for the country. Fighting for the country is something which instills a
sense of pride in that person. They are doing whatever they can in order
to protect their own country, the country that they love above all other
things.

It is said that death is meaningful if one dies for one’s country as that
person will most likely be happy with what has happened to them as they
know that they have done whatever possible for the country. They gave
their lives for the country. There is nothing which is of more importance
than that. A person who dies for the country can die being satisfied with
the choices he made in his life. Knowing that he will be a part of history
is also something of great importance.

Although death itself is something that is sad, when one dies for their
country, it is the ultimate sacrifice. The person has offered themselves for
their country. They put their body on the line for the country and knowing
that, their death becomes meaningful. A person who has died for the
country can die knowing that his efforts will never be considered wasted.
The person’s life was of significant value for the country. The person that
dies for the country is considered a hero. Hence, it can be said that death
is meaningful if one dies for one’s country.
The Consequences of Dissension- Rushdie, Toni Morisson:

Salman Rushdie’s “On Censorship” is a speech delivered by him

during the PEN World Voices Festival. This British-Indian essayist and
novelist is no stranger to censorship – his book Satanic Verses fetched
him a fatwa (death sentence) from religious communities and is still
facing ban. His pen still continues to be the voice against regimes.

This speech deals with the consequences of censorship in a society.

Censorship is a restriction on one’s thought. Censorship dilutes the
artist’s idea. Writers write about what they want and what they think and
say – and not what stops them from thinking.

If a government decides to censor a work if it is deemed to be

unsuitable for the public (that is, if it poses a threat to the government),
the censorship would be synonymous with the work itself, if not more.
The public would look at the work through the eye of censor, missing
what the creator is trying to say.

An attack on media is an attack to ourselves. We cannot survive

without art; even if we can, the world would be boring. So, it is important
that we support the voices that dissent, the voices that speaks against the
powerful leaders and their corruption and their faults.

The speaker talks about the consequences of restricting dissent and

liberty by comparing it with air. Air is a necessity, something which we
take it for granted. However, it is only when we are deprived of it or only
when someone controls who is to get what amount of air that we realize
the price of it. By the time people protest against it, demanding it to be
free for all, we would be dead. Similarly, controls on liberty, would be
equivalent to our moral death; so literature without any restrictions is the
thing that stops us being dead on inside.

Writers who live under the fear of losing their identity, their vision
and freedom, due to government control over them, are not truly free.
And what it does is that it limits one’s talents and prosper it.
 Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize winning writer who was always
vocal about issues we face. She was an American writer who is proud
about her black heritage, something which is visible in her works like
Beloved and Sula.

Like Rushdie, Toni Morrison’s “Peril” also speaks on the same

topic, against the same oppression. This speech was delivered as part of
PEN Conference. Hers is a heartfelt speech on the consequences of
dissension. It talks about the perils of speaking out. The writers who
speaks out would have to face protest, humiliation, censorship or even
slaughter. They are the greatest threat of government. The dictators and
despots (whom she calls fools) would try to silence them. The history of
oppression against writers is as long as the history of literature.
Her greatest fear is a world without art and literature; the world with
censored art, a world with unmade films.

We, as a public, must protect the writers from oppression, as their

voices are important. Without them, the world would be a worse place to
live. Now that is the message “Consequences of Dissension” is trying to
deliver.

Q and A: The Consequences of Dissension

1. Answer the following in two or three sentences.

a) What is censorship according to Rushdie?

According to Salman Rushdie, Censorship is anti-creation, uncreation and

negative energy. It is something that stops writers from expressing things
that they want to talk about. He compares it with Tom Stoppard’s
description of death, “the absence of presence”.

b) How does Rushdie connect Paul Jennings and Shakespeare?

Paul Jennings is a British humourist who argued that there was a never-
ending war between “Thing” and “No-Thing”. This is a play on a famous
line from “King Lear”, written by William Shakespeare. Salman Rushdie,
in his speech against censorship, connects both these personalities to say
that if writing is the “Thing”, then censorship must be “No-Thing” –
latter is something that is in a constant war with the art.

c) What happens when the faucets are turned off?

Salman Rushdie draws a parallel between faucet (of air) and government
control on art. If someone known or unknown (an indirect reference to
God) turns off the faucets, we would be deprived of the plentiful air. By
the time the people protest demanding free flow of air, we would be dead.
Same is the case with liberty and freedom of expression, the speaker tries
to say.

d) Who are unable to breathe freely in Rushdie’s part of the world?

Drawing on his example on faucets, Salman Rushdie quotes examples

about issues faced by certain sections of society. Those who aren’t black
youngsters from Miami doesn’t understand the high racial tension
running there. Women from those conservative states aren’t allowed to
make about their own bodies. These sections could not freely breathe the
air that we breathe for granted.

e) How is ‘censored art’ labelled?

When those in power censors an art, the general public looks at that work
as “Censored Art”. These words would be forever attached to the art so
much that public would always consider these as pornographic or
immoral, forgetting the subject of the work and what the artist is trying to
say.

f) To what does Rushdie compare the labelling of censored works?

Salman Rushdie compares the labelling of censored works to the

albatross around the neck of mariner (a symbol of sin), taken from
Coleridge’s “The Rime Of Ancient Mariner.” These labels will be forever
associated with the works.

g) How is it perilous for an authoritarian regime to give a free hand to

control writers?

If the despots give free hand to the writers to publish or follow the truth,
they would asks questions that could disturb the social oppressions and
the comatose public. Now that is the peril of authoritarian regime.

h) What are the methods adopted by authoritarian regimes to control

writers?

The methods used by regimes to control the writers includes surveillance,

censorship, arrest and/or killing them.

i) What is the role of the writers according to Toni Morrison?

Writers can disturb the silence of those comatose public, something the
dictators call peace, and it is they who stop the wars that some people
seeks to make profit from. Only writers can turn the sorrows and pains we
face into meaningful words. These are the roles of writers, according to
Toni Morrison.

j) What is of equal peril to the ordinary folks, to ‘us’?

The censorship of art and the dangers that writers face are the equal perils
that Toni Morrison talks about. The absence of such voices are bad for
the ordinary folks like us.
k) Name the two human responses to the perception of chaos.

Toni Morrison says that she knows that there are two human responses to
perception of chaos. One is naming the unknown and the other is violence
that happens when chaos resists. The latter is more frequently used.

l) What is the most rational response when chaos resists?

The most rational responses when chaos resists are censorship of work,
imprisoning creators at prisons and sometimes, even killing them. It
could be categorised as Violence.

m) What is the third response to chaos?

The third response to chaos, which the speaker hasn’t heard of, is
stillness. It is the fear and silence of the comatose public and that is
dangerous to the writers.

2. Answer the following questions in about 100 words.

a. What do writers want to talk about?

b.
The chapter titled “On Censorship”, a speech by famous writer Salman
Rushdie, talks about the consequences of censorship. According to him,
writers talk about how much they get paid. These writers also gossip
about how much their fellow writers earn from their works and then
complain about critics, publishers and politicians. As all writers are
inspired by something, they discuss on the writers they adore and the
sentences that they love and about the ideas and stories they write.
They are so selfish that they seldom talk about the truths and rarely stand
for those writers facing censorship.

c. Why don't we make a fuss about the air we breathe?

The chapter “On Censorship” is an extract of the speech delivered by

Salman Rushdie on the consequences of dissension. There is plenty of air
around us. Though not perfectly breathable, it is freely available for our
use. So when there is free supply of air, there exists no need to protest
that the air must be free for each of us in the quantity we desire. You
would take the air for granted and not care about. We breathe it in
without second thoughts about it. This is not something that we would
like to discuss about. That is exactly the reason why we don’t usually
make a fuss about air we breathe.

d. Why is the assumption of freedom essential for the creative artists?

The chapter “On Censorship” is an extract of the speech delivered by

Salman Rushdie on the consequences of dissension. All of us go to bed
thinking that we will be free tomorrow just because we are free today.
But, creative artists requires an assumption of freedom along with this.
They live in constant fear of whether their works would be censored. If
they worry whether they will be free tomorrow, they will not be free
today. This would lead to words written out of fear, instead of talent
within them. They themselves would turn into censors. They would no
longer write about naked truths because their life is under threat.

e. How is the fear of unmonitored writing justified for the autocratic

regimes?

The chapter “Peril” is an extract from the speech delivered by Toni

Morrison at PEN International Festival. The speaker tells us that even
though authoritarian regimes and dictators are fools, they are not foolish
enough to give the truth mongers a free run in the society. The fear of
uncontrolled writing is justified for those in power because the truth is
troublesome for them. Words they write would expose the wrongdoings
of those who profiteer from war, corporate thief, corrupt courts and

politicians. To reduce the trouble, regimes would try to silence them

through imprisonment, or even, death. They are scared of the writers
because of their power to turn public against injustice.

f. Describe how ‘naming’ is accomplished.

The chapter “Peril” is an extract from a speech delivered by Toni

Morrison at PEN International Festival. According to the speaker, there
are three kinds of human responses to chaos: naming, violence and
stillness. Naming is the go-to response when chaos is unknown, like new
animals or formula. There are other ways of naming too. For example,
creating a name and charting the landscape found. When the chaos
continues by rebelling, naming would give way for violence and is the
most frequent response to chaos. There is a third response that the
speaker hasn’t heard of and that is stillness. The most dangerous response
to chaos would lead to paralytic fear that could be only countered by art.

g. What is the nightmare that Rushdie envisages? (Note: It is Toni

Morrison who has the nightmare, not Salman Rushdie.)

The chapter “Peril” is an extract from the speech delivered by Toni

Morrison at PEN International Festival.
Due to censorship, the voices of truthful writers are drowned out. There
would be lots of unwritten novels. Poems would no longer be written or
spoken, because if heard by the wrong people, the poet would be in deep
trouble with the authority. Films being cancelled, no more plays in the
theatre, silencing the voices of essayists asking important questions
would become common with the existence of heavy censorship.
This thought often turns into nightmare for the speaker. This nightmare
would be shared by all us if writers are not protected.

h. Why is a writer’s work necessary to mankind?

The chapter “Peril” is an extract from the speech delivered by Toni

Morrison at PEN International Festival.
Those writers who are informing the public about the misdeeds of the
authority are facing danger to their life. Saving them is equivalent to

saving ourselves. The pain suffered by the society are brought out
through the pens of writers. Nothing else could describe the sorrow as
well as their words, thereby sharpening our morality.
This is why Toni Morrison tells us that a writer’s life and works are not a
gift to the mankind. Instead, their works are a necessity for the
functioning of the society.

3. Answer the following questions in about 300 words.

a. Describe how Rushdie puts forward an effective proposition
against censorship using comparisons and literary references?
The chapter “On Censorship” is an extract of a speech delivered by
famous writer Salman Rushdie, as part of PEN World Voices Festival. He
talks about how censorship affects the life of creative artists. Salman
Rushdie is no stranger to censorship, as his “Satanic Verses” fetched a
fatwa (death sentence) from religious communities and is in exile ever
since.

Throughout the speech, he peppers various comparisons and literary

references to put forward his criticisms against censorship.
He begins his speech by using Tom Stoppard’s description of death for
defining censorship. He further talks about Paul Jennings and his essay on
Resistentialism, a spoof on Existentialism (and in turn, Shakespeare’s
play “King Lear”). He compares censorship to No-Thing, an anti-creation
and death.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his speech would be the example of
faucets controlling the flow of air. Instead of diving straight into the
consequences of censorship in society and its effect on creativity,
Rushdie asks us to think about the plentiful air surrounding us. One need
not protest for free supply of air because it is available freely. We would
take the air for granted. That is, until some entity, known or unknown to
us (a brilliant reference to God) decides to limit our exposure to air. It is
only when that we realize that the air is thinning that we protest or make
fuss about it. Through this example, he’s trying to show the terror
censorship brings. It limits one’s freedom and creativity. If artists worries
that the freedom is thinning, their words would be guided by fear instead
of talent.

He illustrates various examples to show how the label “censored art”

would be more famous than the artwork itself. For every reader of “Lady
Chatterley’s Lover” and viewer of “A Clockwork Orange”, there might
be people who call them filthy and violent. These words would be hung
around like the Albatross around the neck of Ancient Mariner (yet
another reference).
In the full speech, he mentions his fellow artists who were the victims of
censorship to remind us that any harm on the writers is an harm on the
society, disturbing our peaceful life.

b. Why is freedom essential for writers according to Salman Rushdie

and Toni Morrison?

First chapter of Module 2 contains extracts of two speeches delivered by

famous writers Salman Rushdie and Toni Morrison at PEN Festival. They
spoke on the how censorship affects the life of creative artists. Salman
Rushdie is no stranger to censorship, as his “Satanic Verses” fetched a
fatwa (death sentence), while Toni Morrison is a critic of the perils faced
by minority across the world.

Both these personalities are creative artists and they know what it is to be
a dissenter. They argue that the freedom is essential for the writers to
speak out the truth, to use their pen against the foolish regimes.

Writer’s words are a gift to mankind because of their power to give our
sorrows and pain some meaning. The public doesn’t have the voice to
raise their concerns to authorities. The creative artists against the
exploitation of public in the hands of regimes and their wrongdoings.
However, they face danger to their life because of this reason.

These writers are watched, tortured, imprisoned and even killed to silence
their voices that inform the public. They live in constant fear of whether
their works would be censored. If they worry whether they will be free
tomorrow, they will not be free today. This would lead to words written
out of fear, instead of talent within them. They themselves would turn
into censors. They would no longer write about naked truths because their
life is under threat. This would deprive us of the artworks that makes our
lives enjoyable.

The need to save the lives of the writers is urgent. The rescue we extend
to them is a generosity to ourselves. The fellow artists must come
together to protect the writers, it is only then that the freedom available to
us would remain the same. This is the message that both Salman Rushdie
and Toni Morrison is trying to deliver through their speeches.
c. How does Toni Morrison categorise the perils of free speech and
the human response to chaos in her essay?

The chapter “Peril” is an extract from the speech delivered by Toni

Morrison at PEN International Festival. This was later used in her
anthology “Burn This Book”. Morrison is a critic of the perils faced by
minority across the world. She has always stood for the welfare of black
people and human rights.

In her speech, she uses repetition of ideas and words and effective
emphasis on words to describe the effects of censorship on society. Based
on her experiences, she has categorized the perils of free speech and
human response to chaos into three.

First one is naming. When the chaos is unknown to us, we would give
names to it – such as, creating names for new stars and species
discovered. Giving proper nouns and charting new landscapes and
unnamed geographies is another way in which naming is effortlessly
accomplished.

But what happens when the chaos refuses to die out and it resists and
rebels against existing order? That’s where the second category comes in:
Violence. It is often understood as the most frequently used response
against chaos. This is could be a rational response against the wild or the
unknown. The so-called rational responses may include censorship,
imprisonment, or death. This could be done by singling out the dissenters
or through war.

The most terrifying and dangerous category is, perhaps, stillness. This is a
concept that the speaker has not heard about. It could be passivity or
dumbfoundedness. This arises from the fear of going against the order or
the government for the fear of one’s life. Toni Morrison calls these

cowards as comatose public. The only way to counter this stillness is art.
Those writers who hurt the order for the peace of humanity must be
protected. Saving them is equivalent to saving ourselves. Otherwise there
could be erasure of voices, depriving us of entertainment.
Burning of the Books- Bertolt Brecht

About the Author:

Bertolt Brecht was a Bavarian poet/playwright. He was a Jew and his

plays were banned in Germany in 1930s. He went into exile in 1933. His
books were burnt publicly in Berlin by the Nazis.

SUMMARY

The Nazi regime has passed an order to ban books that contain
writings that are against the ideologies of the Nazis. Books that contain
harmful knowledge were taken to a place to burn. The regime has the
power to ban books that because the content questions autocratic rule and
represents ideologies that opposed Nazism.
A banished writer, who is well known, checks the list of books
that are to be burned and found that his books were not in the list.
Enraged, he quickly ran to his table and writes a letter to the rulers of the
native country and asks them to burn him. He again provokes the
authorities by saying that he has only reported the truth and if they don’t
burn his books, they are terming him as ‘liar’. “Burn me” has been used
repeatedly to emphasise his frustration..

Q and A:

ANSWER IN A SENTENCE OR TWO

1. What did the regime order?

Ans;- Usually carried out in a public context , the burning of the books
represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural ,
religious or political opposition .

2. What kind of books where publicly burned?

Ans;-- the books targeted for burning were those viewed as being
subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. These books
include books that are written by Jewish, communist, socialist and
religious leaders .

3. Where is the writer who writes fierce letters to the to morons in

power located?

Ans;- The writer is who writes letter to the morons in power is a banished
writer which means he is a writer who is thrown out of Germany as part
of censorship.
4. Why does the exiled poet want to protest when he finds out that his
books has not been burned?

Ans:- After scanning through the list of books to be burned, a banished

writer finds that his books are not included in the list and gets provoked
and went on a protest.

5. What is the tone of the poem? How is it made evident through the
poem?

Ans:- The poem shows a angry mood of the writer for not burning his
books. It is evident through the line “ he rushed to his desk with
contemptuous wraith to write fierce letters to the morons in power.”
2. Answer each question in 100 words.

a) Why is the poet offended/ angry that his books aren’t on the list?

The poet is angry that his books are not there on the list because the books
which are being burned are actually threatening the ideology of the Nazi regime
so they burn those books and the author is angry because his books actually talk
about the Nazi and Hitler rule in a negative way and he feels offended that his
books are not being burned.

b) Describe the irony in the line ‘haven’t I always reported the truth? …. Burn
me’?

The poet quoting the line means that he has written all the negative facts and
how the Nazi regime is terrorizing people. But his book is still not in the list to
be burned so he feels offended that they are calling him a liar because he always
tell the truth and his books are not being burned for saying the truth so he feels
like the Nazi are indirectly calling him a liar.

Burn me means that the author says that to burn his books. He also means to
burn him because even though they won’t burn his books he will not stop
writing the negative things about Nazi so it’s better to burn the author directly
so you won’t get any literature or books at all.
c) What is meant by ‘unlawful books’?

Unlawful books mean any books that goes against religion or culture or any
inappropriate language or content etc. with reference to the poem unlawful
books are those books which affect Nazi society or Nazi believers in a negative
way or affect or change the people's mind about Nazi ideology or any literature
that can threaten the Nazi. In fear of this literature, they burn all the books or
literature that affects the Nazi regime in a bad way.
3. Answer each question in about 300 words.

a) How does Brecht express his solidarity with the victims of the Nazi
persecution through the poem?

Bertolt Brecht is a German poet. The poem shares Brecht’s opinion about the
Nazi practice of burning books.

The idea of burning the book is one associated with censorship. The writer
believes that it is honorable for a writer to earn tyrant rulers’ criticism because a
genuine and true writer portrays harsh truth which the regime curbs and prevent
it from spreading among common people. This can lead to rebellion against the
regime.

He writes letter to the rulers of his native country and challenges them to
him. He further questions them if his books never reported the truth and by not
putting his books in the list, they are terming the writer as a liar.

In the poem, the regime had earlier passed an order to prohibit the books which
consist of contents which go against religion, caste, culture etc. These kinds of
books are been burned. The poet writes the list of books that have been banned
and at last, when he looks at the list he becomes frustrated as he is not included
in the list. Then he rushes into the desk with his frustrated mood and writes
“savagely” letters to those in power whom he calls “fools”.
The poet is angry that his books are not there on the list because the books
which are being burned are actually threatening the ideology of the Nazi regime
so they burn those books and the author is angry because his books actually talk
about the Nazi and Hitler rule in a negative way and he feels offended that his
books are not being burned. “Burn me” is what he has written. He is asking for
his books as well as to be burnt. The reason he ensures that he has always said
the truth.
THE CENSORS- Luiza Valenzuela

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Luiza Valenzuela was born in Argentina to Pablo Francisco Valenzuela and

Luisa Mercedes Levinson. She graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from
the University of Buenos Avies. In 1966 her first novel Clara was published.
She attended the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop on a Fulbright grant
in 1969 and published The Efficient Cat. She has published six novels and eight
collections of short stories and has won many awards notably the Guggenheim
Fellowship in 1983. The short story “The Censors” was published in 1976. It is
set in the backdrop of the military coup in Argentina following the death of
President Juan Peron.

SUMMARY

The story begins with a young man, Juan living in Argentina under the
control of an authoritarian government. He writes and mails a letter; he is
stricken with fear about what the censors would think about its contents which
would result in the kidnapping and execution of his lover as the dire
consequence.
The letter mailed had to go through the bureaucratic agency, Censor’s
Secret Command that inspected everything for secret messages, poisonous
powders, bombs and like anything and everything could be a potential signal to
the censors notifying them the plotting against the government.
Juan comes up with an utmost clever plan whereby he would get a job
with the censors and intercept his own letter to Mariana and send it through
safely. Since there was a continuous need for new censors, Juan was hired
immediately and he works his way up the ranks at the Censor’s Secret
Command.
 His devotion to his new work was so much that by the end of the first
week he was assigned to Section K where the envelopes are opened with
painstaking care to see if they contain some explosive. Juan is then transferred
to Section J where they unfold the letters with infinite care to see if they contain
poisonous powders. From J he was transferred to E where the work became
more interesting as to it was reading and analysis of the letters. Juan then was
transferred to Section B. He censored every letter one by one, disposing most
that came across him.
Being so keen on becoming the best censor, he mercilessly censored his
own letter and tossed it into the reject pile. This resulting in the execution of
Juan the very next day, ’another victim of his devotion to his job’.

Q and A: THE CENSORS

Answer the following questions in two or three sentences.
a. What was the stroke of luck that happened to Juan?
Juan received Mariana’s new address in Paris from a confidential source and he
let this stroke of luck overwhelm him.
b. What plan did Juan conceive to outsmart the censor mechanism?
Juan tried to outsmart the censor mechanism by applying into the Secret
Commandos of Censorship in order to intercept his own letter thereby
sabotaging the system.
c. Why was Juan hired immediately?
Juan was hired immediately, because more censors were required urgently at the
censorship.
d. What happened on the third day?
On the third day, a fellow-worker’s hand blew off and his face was disfigured
by a letter to which bureau chief stated that it had been the former’s negligence.
This resulted in a strike demanding high pay for hazardous work. In order to be
promoted Juan refrained from the strike and denounced his fellow-worker to the
authorities.
e. What work did Juan do in Section E?
After a long procession through various departments, letters were read and
thoroughly analysed in Section E.
f. How did Juan’s mother try to set things right for him?
Juan’s mother tried to guide him onto the right path by making up that Lola had
called asking for him and that she and her girls were expecting Juan. To no
avail, Juan feared dereliction of his duty and needed astuteness of his senses in
order to be the perfect censor and detect deceit.
g. How did the authorities reward him for his devotion to duty?
Due to the devotion to his work, Juan condemned his own letter to Mariana
without remorse which resulted in his execution by the authorities.

Answer the following questions in about 100 words.

a. What does Juan fear would happen to the letter he sent to Mariana?
Juan writes a letter to his lover Mariana. However, he starts worrying about
what the censors would think about the contents of the letter. This prevents him
from concentrating on his work during the day and doesn’t let him sleep at
night.

b. How was Juan able to join the censorship bureau?

Juan applied to the censorship bureau to become a censor. He did this so that he
could intercept his own letter and send it safely. Juan was hired immediately as
there was a continuous need for censors.

c. How did Juan get his promotions?

A fellow worker tried to organize a strike to demand more pay for hazardous
work but Juan didn't participate. After thinking for over a while Juan denounced
him to the authorities in order to be promoted.
d. Describe Juan’s passion for work, which made him forget his noble
mission.
As Juan started working in the bureau, he slowly forgot the actual reason why
he joined the bureau. He got so much absorbed in his work that he forgot his
real intention of becoming a censor.

e. What was Juan expected to do in Section B?

The number of letters that reached Juan daily was minimal. Very few letters
cleared the previous hurdles to reach this level. The work here was intense. He
had to read the letters often, put them under the magnifying glass, look for
microdots with the electronic microscope and tune his sense of smell. He used
to return home at night exhausted.

f. What is ironical about Juan’s execution by the authorities towards the

end?
Juan’s own letter to Mariana reached his hands. He condemned it without
remorse. Juan was executed at dawn. This is ironical because Juan joined the
Bureau to keep himself and Mariana safe, but he was unsuccessful.

Answer the following questions in about 300 words.

a. Describe the work done in the various sections of the Censorship Bureau
by the censors.
Juan joins the censorship bureau in the hope of intercepting his letter
written to his love Mariana. He was hired immediately as there was a
shortage of censors.
In the first month, he was assigned to Section K where the envelopes are opened
with painstaking care to see if they contain some explosive. On the third day, a
co-worker loses his arms and his face disfigured by a bomb in a letter.
Juan is then transferred to Section J where they unfold the letters with infinite
care to see if they contain poisonous powders, he felt that he had ascended a
step and could therefore return to his healthy habit of not getting involved in
external affairs.
From J he was transferred to E where the work became more interesting as ot it
was reading and analysis of the letters. This is the section in which he hoped to
come across his own letter. He would spend days crossing out letters.
Juan then was transferred to Section B. The number of letters that reached Juan
daily was minimal. Very few letters cleared the previous hurdles to reach this
level. The work here was intense. He had to read the letters often, put them
under the magnifying glass, look for microdots with the electronic microscope
and tune his sense of smell. He used to return home at night exhausted.
Thus, these are the work done in the various sections of the Censorship Bureau
by the censors.

b. Bring out the satire in the story “The Censors” by drawing examples from
the situations in the story.

This story The Censors is written in the form of a satire against the authoritarian
control of people through censorship, which creates profound stresses in the
mental states of the individuals.
Juan the protagonist of the story writes a letter to his lover Mariana. He had
received Mariana's new address from a confidential source and was too excited
to think of his actions before writing and sending the letter. However, he starts
worrying about what the censors would think about the contents of the letter.
This prevents him from concentrating on his work during the day and doesn’t
let him sleep at night. Soon Juan applies to the Censorship Bureau to become a
censor.
Juan joins the censorship bureau in the hope of intercepting his letter written to
his love Mariana. He was hired immediately as there was a shortage of the
censors.
In the first month, he was assigned to Section K where the envelopes are opened
with painstaking care to see if they contain some explosive. On the third day, a
co-worker loses his arms and his face disfigured by a bomb in a letter.
Juan is then transferred to Section J where they unfold the letters with infinite
care to see if they contain poisonous powders, he felt that he had ascended a
step and could, therefore, return to his healthy habit of not getting involved in
external affairs.
From J he was transferred to E where the work became more interesting as it
was reading and analysis of the letters. This is the section in which he hoped to
come across his own letter. He would spend days crossing out letters.
Juan then was transferred to Section B. The number of letters that reached Juan
daily was minimal. Very few letters cleared the previous hurdles to reach this
level. The work here was intense. He had to read the letters often, put them
under the magnifying glass, look for microdots with the electronic microscope
and tune his sense of smell. He used to return home at night exhausted.
As Juan started working in the bureau, he slowly forgot the actual reason why
he joined the bureau. He got so much absorbed in his work that he forgot his
real intention of becoming a censor. Juan’s own letter to Mariana reached his
hands. He condemned it without remorse. Juan was executed at dawn. This is
ironical because Juan joined the Bureau to keep himself and Mariana safe, but
he was unsuccessful. Thus, through this story, Luisa Valenzuela attempts to
bring out the satire.

c. How did Juan change over the course of the story? Write a character
analysis of Juan.
Juan had received from a confidential source the address of Mariana the women
he loved. She was in Paris and he knew she hadn’t forgotten him. In this
excitement, he wrote a letter to her. However, he starts worrying about what the
censors would think about the contents of the letter. This prevents him from
concentrating on his work during the day and doesn’t let him sleep at night.
Soon Juan applies to the Censorship Bureau to become a censor. He did this so
that he could intercept his own letter and send it safely. Juan was hired
immediately as there was a continuous need for censors.
In the first month he was assigned to Section K where the envelopes are
opened with painstaking care to see if they contain some explosive. On the third
day, a co- worker loses his arms and his face disfigured by a bomb in a letter.
Juan is then transferred to Section J where they unfold the letters with infinite
care to see if they contain poisonous powders, he felt that he had ascended a
step and could, therefore, return to his healthy habit of not getting involved in
external affairs.
From J he was transferred to E where the work became more interesting as to it
was reading and analysis of the letters. This is the section in which he hoped to
come across his own letter. He would spend days crossing out letters.
Juan then was transferred to Section B. The number of letters that reached Juan
daily was minimal. Very few letters cleared the previous hurdles to reach this
level. The work here was intense. He had to read the letters often, put them
under the magnifying glass, look for microdots with the electronic microscope
and tune his sense of smell. He used to return home at night exhausted.
As Juan started working in the bureau, he slowly forgot the actual reason why
he joined the bureau. He got so much absorbed in his work that he forgot his
real intention of becoming a censor. Juan’s own letter to Mariana reached his
hands. He condemned it without remorse. Juan was executed at dawn.
The Poisoned Bread- Bandhu Madhav

About the author

Bandhu Madhav (1927-97) was a Dalit short story writer from the Mahar
community in Maharashtra and a Buddhist convert. He was also instrumental in
founding the ‘Little Magazine Movement’ which is blended by modernism and
the Dalit movement. Bandhu Madhav was also a leading writer of Prabuddha
Bharat and Dharmayana.

Summary
"The Poisoned Bread" is a story of an awakened but suppressed Dalit
consciousness and voicing out against the upper caste domination and
exploitation. It shows how education has empowered a new generation of Dalits
to reclaim their legitimate space in a case-ridden society that continues to
diminish them.

Q and A:

Q1. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

a. Why did Yetalya and Mhadeva go to Babu Patil’s house?

Answer: Yetalya and Mhadeva went to Babu Patil’s house to look for a job on
the threshing floor. The two of them went so that they might get a larger share
of corn to feed their family.
b. Why did the Chandrabhaga river dry up, according to Patil?
Answer: According to Patil, the rain God got enraged because the Mahars and
Mangs- have profaned religion and abandoning caste, having defiled Lord
Vithoba of Pandharpur. This is the reasoning he gave to justify his insults.

c. What was the wage that Mhadeva and his grandfather received at the end
of the day?

Answer: At the end of the day because Yetalya wasn’t in the field doing the
work because he went to take the tripod hence Patil deny any wage or grains for
them. Which lead Yetalya to beg not to let them starve, that is when he saw the
stale crumbs. Therefore, the wage they got after the hard work they did was
stale crumbs.

d. Why did grandfather go to Gyanba Patil’s threshing floor?

Answer: Grandfather went to Gyanba Patil’s threshing floor to fetch a tripod to
help them with their work in the field.

e. What was it that prevented a Mahar from being independent, according to

grandfather?
Answer: According to grandfather Yetalya, if Mahars abandon the land right
they will not survive, because of it at least they will get the stale bread crumbs
and that this is the only way they can approach the landlords and beg for bread
as their right or else what will they be left with.

f. Why was grandfather writhing in pain the next morning?

Answer: Grandfather was writhing in pain the next morning because of the stale
breadcrumbs that Mhadeva’s Mother put in the supper which was covered with
urine and dung therefore it was poisonous causing Yetalya vomiting and
Dysentery.

Q2. Answer the following questions in about 100 words

a. What was grandfather’s attitude when Bapu Patil humiliated him?

Answer: When Babu Patil humiliated Grandfather Yetalya he displayed no

reaction but meekly and humbly with utmost respect he spoke to Babu Patil,
When Babu Patil told him I will not give you any job because now your
community wants equality then why do you still beg of grains, when he held
Yetalya’s community accountable for drying up the chandrabhaga river, even
when Babu Patil asked Mhadeva whether if he went to take the tripod or to
whore with Gyanba Patil’s wife, Yetalya listened to all the humiliating things
and did not say anything rather he pleaded to give him some work or to forgive
him.

b. How did Mhadeva react to Babu Patil’s Sarcastic comments?

Answer: Mhadeva’s reaction to Babu Patil was the complete opposite of

Yetalya’s reaction. He couldn’t take it anymore and cut Babu Patil short in the
middle he voiced out the unjust way he blamed his community that they pollute
the Gods with a mere touch and asked him a logical explanation which makes
the upper caste higher than them when there is hardly any difference between
them. This angered Babu Patil because Mhadeva addressed him simply as
‘Patil’ whereas the rest of the clan called him ‘Anna’ or ‘elder bother’ and on
top of that a Mahar was answering back at him.
c. Why did Patil deny their wage or share of corn at the end of the day?

Answer: Midway during their work in the field grandfather Yetalya went to
Gyanba Patil’s farm to fetch a tripod. Even after a long time Yetalya did not
return, that is when Mhadeva started worrying and wondering where his
grandfather was, also what might happen if Babu Patil comes now. Just then
Babu Patil came with Tuka Magdoom and shouted at Mhadeva asking him
where his grandfather. Unknowing Mhadeva back answered Babu Patil to
defend his grandfather which angered Babu Patil. When Yetalya finally came
Babu Patil screamed at Yetalya telling them to stop working, that he would
manage it himself and he denied their wage or share of corn.

d. How does Mhadeva react to getting the stale, rancid crumbs of bread?

Answer: Mhadeva was angry, shocked, and helpless seeing his grandfather
begging for the stale rancid crumbs of bread. He mocked Yetalya saying to him
that after a long day of work this is what they were going to fill their stomachs
with stale bread smeared with dung and urine. Then he tried convincing
grandfather Yetalya that they no longer should agree with the way the upper
caste treats them. Even a lion locked in a cage all his life forgets how to hunt
says Mhadeva metaphorically linking it with the way they are living, that their
community is so used to being treated inhumane that they forget how it feel and
to live like a human being to the point where they are ready to eat stale bread
crumbs.
e. Comment on the reaction of Grandma when grandfather throws the
crumbs?

Answer: When finally, Grandfather Yetalya was convinced by Mhadeva he

throws the crumbs at the dogs. Immediately Mhadeva’s Grandmother came
rushing out of their house and shouted at Yetalya asking him if he had gone
mad, if he gave all the food to the dogs then what will they eat. His
Grandmother takes the crumbs cleans the mud off them and adds them to the
supper she was cooking. This shows how they are so used to being treated
inhumanely that they are ready to eat even crumbs that have turned green, even
the animals refused to eat.

f. What realisation did the grandfather have on his death?

Answer: After eating the supper which was poisoned by the slate breadcrumbs
which were cover with urine and dung, grandfather Yetalya vomited his guts
out the next day. The doctor diagnosed it as dysentery by the toxic bread,
Yetalya lost all hope and everyone became helpless. Grandpa uttered his las few
words to crying Mhadeva saying to him that he is the last hope of his
community and told him to save everyone in this community so that they won’t
be any more instances like his grandpa. Lastly, he said to Mhadeva that the
poisonous bread killed the last bit of humanness in him. That line haunts
Mhadeva even twelve years later which also put fuel to his overwhelming fury
and disgust.
Q3 Answer the following questions in about 300 words.

a. Narrate the experience that Yetalya and his grandson Mhadeva had at
Patil's House and the consequent change of attitude that Yetalya had.

Answer:
"The Poisoned Bread" is a story of an awakened but suppressed Dalit
consciousness and voicing out against the upper caste domination and
exploitation. It shows how education has empowered a new generation of Dalits
to reclaim their legitimate space in a case-ridden society that continues to
diminish them.
The experiences that Yetalya and his grandson Mhadeva (who is the
protagonist) led to the change of attitude in Yetalya, can be better explained by
divided the experiences into 2 parts. The 1st part is when the young boy and the
grandfather went to Babu Patil (who is the antagonist) to get some work, as a
reward they might get few grains that will feed the Yetalya’s family. Babu Patil
on the other hand with no respect to Mhadeva's grandfather humiliates them and
talks absolute foolishness. Bursting out of anger Mhadeva argues with Babu
Patil tells him 'if a religion can't tolerate one human being treating another
simply as a human being, what's the use of this inhuman religion ' and more.
This infuriates Babu Patil and he lashes out, fearing this Yetalya pleads to Babu
Patil not to be angry, telling him that Mhadeva is city-bred and he does not
know how things work in the village.
The 2nd part is when Grandfather Yetalya again appeals to Babu Patil to
forgive his grandson for arguing with him and tells Mhadeva to get to work.
Babu Patil tells them to finish the work by the time he returns after breakfast
otherwise they will not get their share of corn if they don’t work hard. Halfway
through the work grandpa Yetalya said he will come soon after taking few tools
from Gyanba Patil’s threshing floor. Working in the red-hot sun with the
scorching heat, exhausted Mhadeva wondered where his grandfather was and
started worrying what would happen if Babu Patil comes when his grandfather
wasn’t here. Just when that thought was fading away, Babu Patil and Tuka
Magdoom come, when Mhadeva tell that grandpa went to take few tools from
Gyanba Patil’s threshing floor Babu Patil asks furiously to Mhadeva whether if
his grandfather went to whore with his wife along with this Tuka Magdoom
adds in his supportive comments. Mhadeva defends his grandpa which adds fuel
to the fire.
Yetalya comes running like a mad man towards Babu Patil asking for his
forgives for not being in the field but Babu Palit kicks them out of the field
without giving them any grains. Yetalya begs Babu Patil not to do that. Just then
Yetalya sees moldering crumbs where flies are swarming around it and it has
turned green and foul. He begs Babu Patil for at least those crumbs. Like that
Yetalya and Mhadeva leave.
Seeing all this Mhadeva mocked Yetalya that after all the work they did in the
end the only thing they got was humiliation and few crumbs which have turned
green and are smeared with dung and urine. Mhadeva tried to explain to his
grandfather, how much longer will they accept being treated like slaves, how
much longer will they accept not being treated like a human being. Finally,
realising the truth put out by his grandson Yetalya changes his attitude.
 b. “The Poisoned Bread” highlights the Dalit predicament and the emergence
of an empowered Dalit Consciousness. Discuss.
Answer:
What is Humanity? Humanity includes all the humans, but it can also refer to
the kind feelings humans often have for each other. The hierarchy caste system
which origins during ancient times from the history of India which affects all
Indians alive even today, is what this story reminds us. "The Poisoned Bread"
is a story of an awakened but suppressed Dalit consciousness and voicing out
against the upper caste domination and exploitation. It shows how education has
empowered a new generation of Dalits to reclaim their legitimate space in a
case-ridden society that continues to diminish them.

The evils of this system are seen even in the world we live in today. Many
villages are separated by caste and they may not cross the line dividing them
from the higher castes. They also may not use the same wells or drink in the
same tea stalls as higher castes. They often do not have the facility to electricity,
sanitation facilities, or water pumps in lower caste neighborhoods. Access to
better education, housing, and medical facilities than that of the higher castes is
denied. They are restricted to certain occupations like sanitation work,
plantation work, leather works, cleaning streets, etc. Often subjected to
exploitation in the name of debt, tradition, etc., to work as laborers or perform
menial tasks for generations together.

Mhadeva and Grandfather Yetalya are to deny their wages or their meager share
of corn, forced in the end to feed on stale, dung-smeared, and poisoned bread.
While degradation ultimately takes the life of the grandfather. The argument
between Mhadeva and Babu Patil is an example of how education has
empowered a new generation of Dalits.

Mhadeva’s argument statements like calling out to what an inhumane religion it

is if it can’t tolerate one human being treated simply as a human being, that a
touch of a particular community can pollute the God, then why were they even
created? That they are the same as anyone else, there is hardly any difference so
then what is the logical explanation to the facts the upper caste people are
spitting out. Being educated helps a human being to become more open-minded,
it helps us start conversations about issues that actually matter. In this story,
education not only helped Mhadeva but also convinced his grandfather who
though being treated as a slave is the purpose of their life and that no one can
change. He dies with the realization that his true Dalit identity is not one of
slavishness, but of reclaiming his rights as a human being. This struggle is the
legacy he leaves for his grandson Mhadeva, invoking the future of the Dalit
movement.
A Trip Westward- Zitkala-sa
About the author
Zitkala-sa is a Red Indian author who is well known for her writings about her
struggles. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural
identity and the pull between the majority culture in which she was educated
and the Dakota culture into which she was born and raised. Her later books
were among the first works to bring traditional Native American stories to a
widespread white English-speaking readership, and she has been noted as one of
the most influential Native American activists of the 20th century.
Summary
A trip westward is a story in which she tries to portrait the
discriminations the native Americans had to face from the so-called whites. In
the story the author is travelling back to her home town for her holidays.
Zitkala-sa is thinking about all of her favourite memories that she has of her
home town. But once she reaches there everything was changing. The place
which was once filled by hills and trees are now slowly taken over by concrete
structures. Still she was excited to meet her mother. Her visit was a surprise to
her so was it to her brother Dawee. He worked as a government clerk. On her
way to home she was thinking about her mother and how much she has
sacrificed. Her mother was uneducated but a strong woman.
Once she reached home the house was in a very pathetic state the roof
was soaked in rain and Zitkala-sa could recognize that peculiar smell from her
past. When she asked her mother about it, she told her that they were in a very
poor condition and that Dawee had lost his job, he was replaced white man.
The discrimination and suffering that they had to face was too much.
Zitkala-sa was taken away from her mother when she was a small girl and had
to sacrifice a lot to become a voice for the silenced once.
Questions and Answers:

A
1. Where is the author going?
The author is going to visit her home in the yankton Indian reservation. She is
going there to visit her mother and brother.
2. Why was the author thrilled?
The author was thrilled because she was going to visit her family after a long
while. She was eager to meet her mother and brother after a long period.
3. How did the author live in the olden days?
In the olden days the author would roam bareheaded over the hill. This is
probably a reference to her childhood days at the reservation.
4. What caused the driver to jump suddenly in his drowsiness?
As the vehicle neared her home the author’s excitement increased. When she
saw the first cone-shaped wigwam she uttered an exclamation. This made the
drowsy driver jump.
5. Where did the author’s mother live?
The author’s mother lived on the eastern edge of the reservation. She lived
beyond the ravin and a large acre of sunflowers. Just beyond this was her
mother’s log cabin.
6. What does the author mean when she says her mother made only
compromises?
The author’s mother had never gone to school. She had meant to give up her
customs as an American Indian and follow the white man’s ways. But she never
did it and instead made only compromises.
7. Why does mother live in an uncemented house?
The author’s mother has grown old and can no longer work for her living. Her
son has also lost his job to a white man. This means they are left without a
means of survival and hence the house remains uncemented.

8. What happened to the author’s brother dawee?

Dawee was a govt clerk from the reservation. But the govt at Washington dc
sent a white man to take dawee’s job. Since then he has not been able to find
another job.
B
1. Describe the terrain of the ‘homeword trail’ of the author.
The trip home was intensely hot with sticky car smoke. As the train entered the
plains the horizon appeared to gradually expand. The cities with their tall
buildings diminished. Log cabins in the prairie came into view. The cloud
shadows as they drifted about on the yellow, long dried grass thrilled the author.
2. Describe the landscape of the reservation where the author’s mother’s house
is located.
The author’s mother lived on the eastern edge of the reservation. The author
crossed a ravine of low shrubs and plum bushes. Then came a large acre of wild
sunflowers. Just beyond it was the author’s mother’s house.
3. Describe the author’s mother’s cottage.
The author’s mother’s house had two windows directly opposite each other.
They were curtained with a pink-flowered print. The naked logs were unstained
and roughly carved with the axe to fit into one another. The sawed roof had wild
sunflowers growing on it. The rain had soaked the logs leaving a smell of damp
clay.
4. Why was the author inflamed upon listening to her mother’s story?
The reason why the author’s mother’s house was so dilapidated was because
they had no money for cementing it. This happened because the author’s brother
dawee, who worked as a govt clerk on the reservation, was replaced by a white
man as per the orders from Washington DC. Since then dawee had not been
able to get a job. For all these reasons, the author became inflamed.
C
1. Narrate the experience of Zitkala-sa on her trip to her home in the
reservation.
Zitkala-sa was American Indian writer, editor, musician, teacher and political
activist. She was among the first to bring traditional native American stories to
widespread white readership. This story was first published in 1921 and served
as an account of the hardships which she and other native Americans
encountered when they were brought to missionary and manual labour schools
designed to “civilize” them. The story is part of the collection of her childhood
stories ‘American Indian stories’. It is taken from the chapter ‘an Indian teacher
among Indians’. The story recounts her trip home and all that she finds on
arriving at the reservation.
The story documents Zitkala-sa’s road trip to the reservation. She gives a
description of all that she encounters on her journey home to visit her mother
and brother. When she sees a wigwam, she is excited. By noon she has arrived
at the reservation. She gives further descriptions of all that she sees. When she
sees her mother’s dilapidated house, she is crestfallen. Yet she describes it in
endearing terms. She soon finds out that her brother has lost his job to a white
man.
She finds it extremely hot and sticky as she travels home by the train. As the
country side receded, it was replaced by vast plains. The tall buildings were
replaced by grooved and log cabins. The cloud shadows on the yellow, long-
dried grass thrilled the author. She alighted at a small station and took a cab to
her mother’s house.
On the way she recognized familiar skylines. When she saw a cone-shaped
wigwam she uttered a cry of delight that made the driver jump out of his
nodding. At noon she reached the house and wondered wht her mother would
say at the surprise visit.
Seeing the dilapidated house, she enquires why the house is not cemented. That
is when she comes to know that her brother lost his clerical job on the
reservation when he was replaced by a white man, and has since not been able
to find employment. Thus, while the authors return home was full of hope, she
ends up with inflamed feelings.
 2. Elicit the basic theme of the passage “a trip westward” in the light of the
treatment meted out to the native Americans by the white settlers.

Zitkala-Sa was an American Indian writer, editor, musician, teacher and

political activist.She was among the first to bring traditional Native American
stories to a widespread white readership.This story was first published in 1921
and served as an account of the hardships which she and other Native
Americans encountered when they were brought to missionary and manual
labor schools designed to "civilize" them.The story is a part of the collection of
her childhood stories American Indian Stories.It is taken from the chapter "An
Indian Teacher among Indians".The story recounts her trip home and all that she
finds on arriving at the reservation.
The story documents Zitkala-Sa's road trip back to the reservation.She gives a
description of all that she encounters on her journey home to visit her mother
and brother.When she sees a wigwam she is excited.By noon she has arrived at
the reservation.She gives further descriptions of all that she sees.When she sees
her mother's dilapidated house she is crestfallen.Yet she describes it in
endearing terms.She soon finds out that her brother has lost his job to a white
man.This is probably why the house remains in a dilapidated state.
Through this story Zitkala-Sa tries to show some of the problems that American
Indians face in USA.Not only are they losing out by being restricted to living on
reservations,but they also face losing jobs.Dawee,Zitkala-Sa's brother,loses his
job as a government clerk when he is replaced by a white man as per the orders
from washington DC,the seat of the government.He is unable to find a proper
job.In addition,she finds out that white settlers are occupying the land alloted to
American Indians under the Dawes Act of 1977.It is when the author finds all
this out that she is filled with inflamed feelings.Thus,through this story,we come
to know some of the hardships faced by American Indians.

‘The Pot maker’ by Temsula Ao

Summary
"The Pot Maker" is a brilliant story that touches the reader's heart through
its mesmerizing story.
It is about a mother and her ambitious daughter. Even though she is very
young she is very keen and hardworking. A mother who is a pot maker inspires
her daughter unknowingly. The daughter, Sentila, now wants to be a pot maker
just like her mother.
As soon she gets to know about her daughter's wish, the mother strictly
says no to her pleadings. She goes on to demonstrate why it is not a good option
for her young daughter to learn pot making. She thinks it a dying art that needs
not to be learned by her daughter.
Instead, she pursues Sentila to learn weaving. But Sentila goes against her
own mother and learned the beautiful art of pot making. Thus, she became a
famous pot maker just like her mother used to be.

Questions and Answers of ‘The Pot Maker’

1) Describe Sentila’s visit to the old pot maker’s shed.

A. When Sentila visited the old woman, she would strap the baby, who was
ten months old to her back with a cloth and labor up the steep hill to reach their
work shed. She would carry some cooked rice in a leaf packet with her on these
trips. After she put her brother to sleep, she would watch the woman work
intently. Sentila enjoyed being there but by late afternoon, she had to leave
them. So, she would gently pick her brother up from where he slept and
swinging him on the back, would walk home quickly so that when her mother
returned from the fields they would be at home.
2) What was the response of the elders of the village council to Mesoba’s
explanation?

A. After listening to Mesoba’s explanation, the elders decided that there was
no cost to take any drastic action against him yet and they let him go, cautioning
him to remind his wife that it was her duty to train her daughter in the skills that
were handed down from generation to generation for the good of the entire
village. They also told him that skills such was pottery did not belong to one
individual. That experts were obliged to pass on their skills not only to their
own children but also to anyone who wished to learn and ominously they added,
“Anyone refusing to do so will be considered an enemy of the village.”

3) How did Onula help Sentila with pot making on the night of the music
band’s visit?

A. After everyone left for the music night Sentila quietly took out the play
and the tools from her basket and sat down in a dark corner to try to make a pot
quietly for fear of waking Onula but on the contrary the older woman was
watching the young girl’s clumsy efforts with sympathy after noticing that
Sentila was failing the older woman went over and gently asked the frightened
girl what she was doing with the clay. Onula put her arms around Sentila.
“Don’t worry little one.” She said, “I shall teach you to make a perfect pot.
Come, watch how I sit on the stool holding my thigh muscles taut and make
sure to use sacking to cover the thigh so that the lump does not slip. When you
dip your hand in water before slipping it into the clay make sure its not too wet.
Hold the spatula toward your body and tap gently like this. But most important
of all make sure that the tapping is in rhythm with your left-hand rotating inside
the clay. Sentila tried making another pot just like how Onula did and followed
her instructions and was exhilarated beyond words because she was finally
making a real pot. Later Onula told her this was enough for one evening and
others will be back soon and we should keep this to ourselves. Next time watch
how your mother carefully shapes the mouth of the pot. You’re a quick learner
and will do work well but it is your mother who should teach you this.
Remember what the village council has ruled.
4) What was Onula’s impression about the two batches of moist pots in the
shed?

A. Onula tried to distinguish one batch from the other to determine if it was
the handiwork of just one or if a second pair of hands rotated the clay dough and
swayed the spatula to create the two separate batches. She could not find
anything to tell them apart. She knew it was not one’s hard work but if both
mother and daughter were involved in turning out these pots was it possible to
differentiate between the two batches. Onula came out of the shed with a dazed
look on her face and seemed to falter in her gate. She believed she just
witnessed a profound revelation in the two batched of still moist pots, standing
side by side in perfect symmetry inside the shed.

5) Describe how Sentila becomes a pot maker, against the expectations of

her mother.

A. Sentila's mom objected to the idea of she becoming a pot maker. Her mom
wanted Sentila to learn weaving as it is a less tiresome job and this would not let
her work hard as she does. But for Sentila, it is always pot making and her
mother had always been a source of inspiration in her life. She loved the
connect for the art form in her and this further motivated her to become what
she loved to be. Thus, the persistence for her dream and her love for art are the
two main driving forces in Sentila becoming a pot maker.

6) Critically analyze and respond to 'The Pot Maker' as a story about tribal
value systems that place collective good over individual interests.
A. The Pot maker written by Tensula Ao is a vivid story about a mother and
her determined daughter to wants to be a pot maker just like her mom and their
community. The mother inspires her daughter unknowingly to become a pot
maker just like her mother and from then despite being young the daughter
decided to learn pot making but when the mother gasps about her daughter’s
wish, the mother strictly says no to her pleadings and turns down her wish and
 demonstrates why pot making isn’t very profitable for her daughter and instead
wants her to learn weaving. However, the daughter’s passion was stronger than
anything and she went against her mother’s words and learned the beautiful art
of pot making. This shows how tribal value systems place collective good over
individual interests. The mother wants her daughter to leave her desires and
dreams just because they are risky and may turn out be not cost-effective.
Rather she'd see her daughter pursue something which brings financial gain to
the family and herself. even if she doesn't find the work appropriate according
to her interests and capabilities and even if it means she isn’t happy doing
according to her mother’s will. In the end we learn that she becomes a famous
pot maker just like her mother. The story shows the simplicity of the cultural
people who all make pottery and live content but place collective good over
individual interest.
Does It Matter?- Richard Leakey
Summary
Scientific evidence points to the fact that life on earth as we know it is
currently undergoing a process of mass extinction – the sixth in the history of
the planet. This impending disaster is the result of man’s reckless exploitation
of nature.
Leakey begins with a reference to the Simon-Ehrlich wager and the two
opposing views on the need to preserve biodiversity:
“The recognition that we are rooted in life itself and its wellbeing
demands that we respect other species, not trample them in a blind pursuit of
our own ends.”
But surely, say the sceptics, it is unwise to base expensive decisions to
protect biodiversity on “unscientific” estimates of extinction rates based on
“guesswork” and “anecdote”
He elaborates on the three important areas of the value of biodiversity –
economic, ecosystem services and aesthetic pleasure, and agrees with Les
Kaufman that the loss of any species erodes the human soul.

There have been five great mass extinctions in the long history of life on
earth, the most recent 65 million years ago, when all dinosaur species perished
in an astonishingly brief period of time. Each of these great extinctions was
unimaginably catastrophic - at least 65 percent of all species living vanished in
a geological instant; in the Permian-Triassic extinction, nearly 95 percent of all
species were obliterated. The agency for these extinctions and the why, are
hotly debated - sudden climate change, asteroids, evolutionary inadequacy - but
the patterns are remarkably consistent.

Now, as Leakey and Lewin show with inarguable logic based on

irrefutable scientific evidence, the sixth great extinction is underway. And this
time the cause is beyond dispute: by the lowest estimate, thirty thousand species
are wiped out by human agency every year - a rate that matches the patterns of
the other five great extinctions with frightening exactitude.
 As the authors show, such dramatic and overwhelming extinction
threatens the entire complex fabric of life on earth, including the species at fault
- Homo sapiens. Unless man comes to realize the devastating consequence of
his rapacious behavior, he will follow the ‘plains buffalo’, the ‘American
chestnut’, the ‘carrier pigeon’, and other victims into the oblivion of extinction.

He concludes that for each of the previous mass extinctions there are
theories of what caused them, some of them compelling, but none proven. But
for the sixth, however, the culprit and a sure victim is man.

Points to remember:

a. Richard Leakey in his book ‘The Sixth Extinction’ has identified three
important areas of values of biodiversity. They are: economic, ecosystem
services and aesthetic pleasure.

b. Simon’s contention is that our continued appropriation of nature is

compatible with sustaining an equable natural world. He says that it is hard to
even imagine that we would be better off with the persistence of any imagined
species.

c. Mass extinctions may have been precipitated by earth’s impact with

extra-terrestrial objects and by global changes of various kinds.

d. The first and most obvious message given by fossil records is that major
catastrophic collapses of biological diversity can and do occur. They can be
rapid, irreversible and unpredictable. They also show that life has not been a
static phenomenon through the history of the earth.

e. The second message of the fossil record is that evolution is a wondrously

and powerfully creative process, one that rapidly fills the void left after each
mass extinction.
f. A holistic understanding of the earth’s biota would be to see it as
operating as an interactive whole that produces a healthy and stable living world
– seeing man as part of that whole, but not as a privileged species that can
exploit it without impunity.

g. The sixth extinction will be different from the previous five in that there
are theories regarding what may have caused them, some of them compelling,
though none proven, whereas, we know for certain the culprit of the sixth
extinction – man himself as agent and victim.

Theme-wise summary:

a. Leakey says that the loss of diversity of species represents the loss of
associated values. If animals and plants are a potential source of new materials,
new foods and new medicines, then the loss of species reduces that potential. If
an interacting network of plants and animals is important in sustaining the
chemistry of the atmosphere and the soil, the loss of any species reduces the
efficacy of these services. If a rich diversity of species succours the human
psyche in important ways, then the loss of species reduces us in indescribable
ways.

b. Simon says that it is hard to even imagine that we would be better off
with the persistence of any imagined species. The value he attaches to species is
economic and practicality. He argues that scientific and technical advancement,
especially in seed banking and genetic engineering have diminished the
importance of maintaining species in their natural habitat. This view is in
contrast with Kaufman’s view. Kaufman says that a piece of the American soul
died along with the ‘passenger pigeon’, the ‘plains buffalo’ and the ‘American
chestnut’. He means that the loss of any species erodes the human soul.

c. The inputs and outputs of the natural economy of the earth are the
interactions among species at all scales of life, from filaments of fungi nurturing
the health of plant rootlets to the global chemical cycles of water, oxygen and
carbon dioxide. They are the ecosystem services and they represent the tangible
elements of the stability and health that emerge from the entire biota of the earth
operating as a complex dynamic system. As our knowledge of the complexity of
these systems we cannot for certain say which all species may be removed
without detriment to the system.

d. Anti-alarmists looking at the fossil records say that lives of various

species are limited, lasting between one and ten million years on an average.
Some of them end their tenure in the steady grind of background extinction,
others in the cataclysmic mass dying. They argue that efforts to save species
may be a waste of time, effort and money, because they will disappear
regardless of our efforts. Alarmists retort that this view is as nonsensical as
arguing that one should not treat an easily curable childhood disease because all
humans are ultimately mortal.

e. According to Leakey, Homo sapiens has been on earth for around

150,000 years and may survive for another million years if his destructive
activities do not accelerate his end. He is of the opinion that at some future time
an asteroid or comet might slam into the earth and wipe out the majority of
species including Homo sapiens. If by chance man still survives on earth, the
aftermath of the impact would extirpate most, if not all, of their populations.
Even if some survive the initial impact, civilization would certainly be
shattered, perhaps never to recover.

f. Leakey says that we should be concerned with the preservation of

diversity because like every species with which we share this earth, we are a
product of many chance events, leading back to that amazing explosion of life
forms and to the origin of life itself. When we understand this intimate
connection with the rest of nature in terms of our origins, it becomes imperative
that we should protect the diversity. It is our duty not because in a fundamental
sense Homo-sapiens is on an equal footing with all other species on earth.
- ‘Does it Matter’ notes prepared by Prof. Thomas Thiruthanathy, Head,
Department of Languages, RCSS.
ON KILLING A TREE- Gieve Patel

About the Author:

Gieve Patel is a Mumbai based Physician, painter, playwright and poet. His
poetic works include Poems and How do you withstand, Body and Mirrored
Mirroring.

Summary:
This poem describes the process of cutting a tree completely. The poet shows
criticism of human cruelty and heartless nature in chopping down trees by axe
or other material equipment. He begged the people not to cut the trees that gives
us necessities of life. Hence, one must not cut trees but must plant more and
more trees.

STANZA 1: It takes too much time to kill a tree………. Sprouting Leaves

The poem starts by saying that it takes a lot of time to cut a tree. A simple cut
does not destroy a tree. A tree grows naturally by absorbing sunlight, air and
water as it is rooted in the soil. A plant takes nutrition from the soil to grow into
a big tree for a long time.

STANZA 2: So hack and chop……. To former size

Humans cut and chop the bark of trees into many pieces but that is not enough
to destroy the tree. This would only injure a tree. The injured bark of a tree will
heal itself and starts growing again. Some parts of trees, like branches and
leaves, starts growing itself too. Hence, the trees can start expanding at a full
size when they (humans) cut the trees.

STANZA 3: No, The root is to be pulled out……... For years inside the earth
This stanza implies that to kill/ destroy a tree completely, it has to be taken out
the roots of the soil which is hidden inside the Earth/ below the ground. The
roots are the strength of the tree and it is white in color and soaked. The root is
supportive to the tree and is essential for nutrition when tree starts growing. The
roots have been there for a very long time buried inside the Earth.

STANZA 4: Then the matter…… And then it is done

Once the tree has been taken out by humans, it weakens and dries up with the
effort of air and wind. The roots become brownish and it is hard and crisped.
Therefore, the tree will die in this way.

Q and A: ON KILLING A TREE

1. Answer the following questions in two or three sentences.

a. Is the poet really trying to teach us to kill a tree?
Answer: No, the poet uses a sarcastic tone to explain how a tree has to be
uprooted from its source for it to be killed. The poem also means that to kill a
tree or anything else, it must be destroyed at the heart.

b. How has the tree grown to its present status?

Answer: The tree has grown by consuming nutrients from the Earth, absorbing
sunlight, air and water. It slowly grows out of the earth and sprouts leaves.The
words suggestive of its life and activity are – “grown slowly consuming the
earth”,” Rising out of it”,” feeding Upon its crust”,” absorbing years of sunlight,
air, water” and “sprouting leaves”

c. How will the tree overcome the hacking and chopping?

Answer: The mere act of hacking and chopping is not enough to kill a tree.The
tree endures all the pain but continues to live as it heals over time.The bark
which has been chopped will heal itself and the trunk of the tree near the ground
will give rise to new green twigs and small branches which may then grow to
their former size again.
d. What does the poet mean by “No” at the beginning of the third stanza?
Answer: The poet has said “No” to lay emphasis on the fact that mere chopping
or hacking would not kill the tree. The Tree would grow again and retain its
original size.

e. What is the meaning of “anchoring earth and “earth cave?

Answer: “Anchoring earth” refers to the roots of the tree that lie inside the earth
and play the role of an anchor for the tree to grow. They ensure the security of
the tree as they nourish it with water and nutrients.” Earth Cave” refers to the
ground on which the foundation of the tree is laid as it holds the roots and keeps
the tree standing tall and protects it from adversities such as heavy rainfall or
storm.

f. Why does the poet call the roots ‘the strength of the tree’?
Answer: The Strength of the tree lies in its roots, which the poet asks to snap
out in order to kill the tree. ie. the source of a tree’s existence has to be
destroyed by taking it out of its place of security and stability.
2. Answer the following questions in about 100 words.

a. Why does the poet say that it takes ‘much time’ to kill a tree?
Answer: It takes much time to kill a tree because it has grown slowly,
consuming the earth and absorbing water, air and sunlight for years. The mere
act of hacking and chopping is not sufficient to kill a tree. The tree overcomes
man’s onslaught by branching off small stems close to the ground and resumes
life to rise again to it’s former size. The poet speaks about the life of a tree by
implying that just like humans go through various stages in life from childhood
to adulthood, the tree also takes years of nourishment to grow.
b. What needs to be done to kill a tree permanently?
Answer: The tree is permanently killed by pulling out of the mother earth.
When its roots are exposed to sunlight and air, the tree begins to get scorched
and choked. The roots are the most sensitive parts of a tree. They remain hidden
inside the earth for years. First root is to be pulled out of the anchoring earth. It
is roped tied and pulled out entirely. The strength of the tree is totally exposed.
Then starts the process of scorching and choking. The rootless tree is scorched
in the sunlight. It is choked as it doesn’t get necessary oxygen for its survival
from the air. Then the colour fades and hardens. It loses its proper shape. It
twists and withers. Finally, it dies down

c. How does the poet show the regenerative power of nature?

Answer: The tree has fed upon the earth and grown from its crust by absorbing
water from the soil for many years. It has also taken years of sunlight and
oxygen to grow. the discoloured bark of the tree which resembles a leper’s skin,
gives rise to new leaves. Hacking and chopping is not enough for killing it as
the bark heals itself and the part of the trunk which is close to the ground may
give rise to new twigs which may grow to their former size. Even humans
continue to live despite injuries or amputation of their limbs. They go through a
lot of pain and suffering but heal as time passes and continue to live.

d. What is the symbolic significance of roots?

Answer: The poet says, to kill a tree, one has to attack its roots by pulling it out
of the earth. That is the source of its existence has to be destroyed by taking it
out of its place security and stability. It is also the most sensitive part as it is
hidden inside the earth for years and it must be exposed. The poet wants to
convey the idea that to kill anyone or anything, it must be killed at the heart or
at the source of existence. A person may have to go through a lot of suffering
before the heart finally comes to a stop and the person dies. He may not be hurt
due to the loss of materialistic things but of their loved ones or social status are
snatched away, their soul is deeply hurt and they feel their life is shattered.

e. What relationship between the earth and trees is presented in the poem?
Answer: A tree has a deep relationship with earth. It owes its very existence to
the earth. The seed germinates in the womb of the earth and the baby plant
sprouts out over the surface of the earth. The tree draws nutrients for it from the
soil. It is the earth that gives support to stand erect and protects it from. Giving a
firm grip to its roots, the earth gives it ground to grow and assume a massive
size. The earth keeps roots of the tree concealed, protecting it from exposure to
sunlight and the air which can prove to be very injurious for its. Thus, the earth
helps the tree right from its birth to its survival. Even a chopped tree grows
again out of the stump and gains the original big size because the earth supports
it.

3. Answer the following questions in about 300 words.

a. Critically evaluate the poem “On Killing a Tree” considering the tree
represents every living being with deep connection with nature.
Answer: The poem “On Killing a Tree” written by Gieve Patel denotes the tree
as a living being. The poet also notes that every tree are human beings and if it
was destroyed, it means that they have killed a person. The trees absorb air,
water and sunlight to grow big and strong as it is rooted in soil. It takes nutrition
from the soil to grow big for many years. Even if those people cut the trees as
they’re injuring it, it can also heal itself and can grow rapidly. The people
uprooted the trees by removing the roots of the tree hidden in the ground. This
made the tree a living death and caused poet heart-brokered. A tree signifies as
a living being caring the nature and environment and even if it destroys, there is
no home. It will occur pollution and consequences in nature if destroyed. Gieve
Patel actually warns the human beings not to harm nature with the symbolic
deforestation by telling us not to destroy nature. It can be read as a record of his
protest against the violence and ecological terrorism exacted by man in nature.
Gieve Patel as a doctor and an environmentalist gives an alarming signal to
preserve the living creatures in the world and also for the stimulation of our
future degeneration through his poem titled “On Killing a Tree”.
b. How does the poem reinforce the regenerative power of nature, in the context
of the dangers to biodiversity due to human actions?
Answer: Earth itself is like a great organism suffering from the impact of man’s
technological civilization. Awareness of an impending global environment
crisis suggests that the earth’s natural, self-regulating systems have reached the
limits of their capacity to absorb manmade pollutants and are being seriously
degraded by the deluge of toxic environmental pollutants. With the loss of the
health of the natural environment, humans will be forced to manage the entire
planet as an artificial environment like a convalescing monitored. Gieve Patel
actually warns the human beings not to harm nature with the symbolic
uncontrolled deforestation by telling us not to destroy nature through his poem
"On Killing a Tree". It can be read as a record of his protest against the violence
and ecological terrorism exacted by man on nature.
In the poem Patel describes the murderous rage with which a tree is killed. Here
the tree symbolises nature. The tree grows out of the earth's crust. It matures
slowly into a big tree taking water from the soil, sunlight and air. It is very
difficult to kill such a tree.
A simple cut with a knife will not make it dead. It has to be cut and chopped
with the axe to death. But nature has great regenerative power as the following
lines show :
It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth
Rising out of it, feeding
Upon ita crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water
And out of its leprous hide
Sprouting leaves.
Thus, the author tries to trace the eco-consciousness in the reader's presence of
mind and indirectly guides to behave rightly as a corrective mirror in which
members of the society work for positive change in order to save nature.
So hack and chop
But this alone won't do it
Not so much pain will do it.
Soon the bleeding bark will heal, new leaves will come out from below and
small boughs wilk regenerate into big branches. But man in his greed for more
does not want it to come to life again. He makes a deep cavity in the earth and
hounds up the roots, the source of life and soul of the tree which were kept in
safety inside Mother Earth for years. After pulling down the tree man subjects it
to various processes to fill it for his commercial purposes. He cuts it to pieces
and scorches and chokes it.
Finally, after much browning, hardening, twisting and withering the killing of
the tree is complete and the living tree is converted to dead timber. The strength
of the tree will be exposed from the very source where the white and wet, which
is the most receptive part which has been concealed for many years inside the
earth. Gieve Patel as a doctor and environmentalist gives an alarming signal to
preserve the living creatures in the world and also for the stimulation of our
future degeneration through his poem titled "On Killing a Tree", a realistic
portrayal of nature
Hagar: A Story of Woman and Water: Sarah Joseph

Translated by Dr. Valsan Thampu (Former Principal, St. Stephen’s

College, New Delhi)

About the Author:

Sarah Joseph is a leading feminist writer in Malayalam. She is a noted poet,

short story writer, who shot to fame through her novels. Papathara, Kadinte
Sangeetham, and Nanmathinmakalude Vriksham are her most noted short story
collections. The novel trilogy Aalahayude Penmakkal, Mattathi and Othappu
shot her to fame. Her novel Aathi (Gift in Green) was applauded for its
ecological stance. She has bagged both Kerala and Kendra Sahitya Akademi
Awards.
Summary:

Hagar: the story of Woman and Water is the second chapter of “Gift
in Green”, translated by Valson Thampu. “Gift in Green” is the translation of
Sara Joseph’s malayalam novel “Aathi.”

As the story opens, we can see Hagar and her son Ishmael abandoned by
her husband in the wilderness under the scorching sun and the hot sand. It came
to a point where she had to face death moreover, she was terrified of the thought
of digging a pit for her own son’s dead body. The days which she had spent
with her son in the wilderness were a nightmare for her in her life.
Hagar faces a wide range of tribulations but still determines to live for her
son and protect her son through the harsh weather in the desert. During her days
in the wilderness, she realizes the value of water and for her, it was of the value
of the life of her firstborn. When she and her son were almost about to meet
death, the voice of a mysterious bird calling her by her name was the greatest
miracle in her life as that bird showed her the spring of water in the midst of the
wilderness. By the end of the story, we see that Hagar meets few nomads and
tribes in who were in search of water and they asked Hagar who was seen
sitting on the banks of the lake with her son if they could have water. Later,
both Hagar and the nomads enter into a covenant where Hagar insists that she
will be the protector and the caretaker of the lake as she knows the value of
water and wanted to protect that lake as the value of the first drop of water was
equivalent to the value of the life of her firstborn. The nomads acknowledged
her as the protector and caretaker of water and they, in turn, agreed to gather
food for Hagar and her son. The nomads fed her and the child and they in turn
bathed and drank water to their hearts' content. Eventually, they worked
together and reaped a joyous harvest. The harvests hatched festivals and in due
course, a people came into being.
From this story, we learn that by facing the toughest circumstances in her life
and having the near to death experience Hagar turns out to be a powerful
woman ready to meet all the challenges to protect and conserve water.
We can see that, Thampu has made changes to Sara Joseph’s chapter, and
made it more poetic by adding a few verses.

Short answer questions

1. Comment on the indifference of Abraham as he abandons Hagar and Ishmael
in the wilderness.
Ans: In Sarah Joseph’s novel, Hagar: A Story of Woman and Water, we can see
that Abraham was totally indifferent towards Hagar and her son. Hagar, who
was Abraham’s second wife was abandoned with her son because his first wife
Sarah had given birth. So, Abraham decides to abandon Hagar and her son
Ishmael. When Hagar asks Abraham why he was abandoning them he did not
have an answer for her and when she asks if it was the order of God, he replies
that it was God’s command.

2. Briefly narrate how Hagar and her child managed to survive until the
mysterious bird revealed the water spring.
Ans: Hagar and her son Ishmael survived the desert with great difficulty. Both
of them were left abandoned in the vast desert under the scorching sun with just
some loaves of bread, a small number of dates and a goatskin of water. Ishmael
kept on crying because of hunger as the milk in her breasts had dried up. Even
the nights were deadly there. The thought of death kept on scaring her and she
even reached a point where Ishamel became unusually still and she thought he
was dead.
3. Describe the anxiety of Hagar in the face of imminent death.
Ans: Hagar was faced with two frightening thoughts of death: whether it was
her or herself who would die first. She shuddered at the thought of having to dig
a pit with her bare hands to bury her son’s corpse and then wandering about in
the wilderness all alone. The second thought was if she were to die first. This
terrified her even more as she trembled at the thought of her son crying in terror
as he helplessly watched the vultures feasting on her dead body, or crawling in
the burning sand in search of her.

4. What was the water covenant that was born in the desert?
Ans: Nomads and desert tribes had come in search after hearing of the water
source. When they came they saw Hagar and her son sitting on its bank. They
asked if they could drink from it and settle down near the water bank. Hagar
nodded and told they could have the water only if they agreed to a covenant.
She knew the value of water and to her, the value of the first drop of water is the
value of the life of her firstborn. She would be the caretaker of the water and
guard it for the sake of her child and the children yet to be born. The nomads
agreed to this and also said that they would gather food for her and they just
needed water.

5. How was the water spring instrumental in building a new community and a
civilization in the desert?
Ans: In the story, water is considered as an elixir of life. It became an
instrument to build up a community and a civilization in the wilderness of the
desert. The nomads had acknowledged Hagar to be the caretaker of the water
and were filled with gratitude for letting them drink from the lake and they in
turn agreed to gather food for Hagar and Ishmael and they bathed and drank
water to their hearts' content.
Long answer questions
1. Describe how Hagar rose to be the protector and caretaker of the waters in the
desert and of a tribe, in spite of being abandoned in the wilderness be her
husband.
Ans: Hagar: the story of Woman and Water is the second chapter of “Gift in
Green”, translated by Valson Thampu. “Gift in Green” is the translation of Sara
Joseph’s malayalam novel “Aathi.”
As the story opens, we can see Hagar and her son Ishmael abandoned by her
husband in the wilderness under the scorching sun and the hot sand. It came to a
point where she had to face death moreover, she was terrified of the thought of
digging a pit for her own son’s dead body. The days which she had spent with
her son in the wilderness were a nightmare for her in her life.
Hagar faces a wide range of tribulations but still determines to live for her son
and protect her son through the harsh weather in the desert. During her days in
the wilderness, she realizes the value of water and for her, it was of the value of
the life of her firstborn. When she and her son were almost about to meet death,
the voice of a mysterious bird calling her by her name was the greatest miracle
in her life as that bird showed her the spring of water in the midst of the
wilderness. By the end of the story, we see that Hagar meets few nomads and
tribes in who were in search of water and they asked Hagar who was seen
sitting on the banks of the lake with her son if they could have water. Later,
both Hagar and the nomads enter into a covenant where Hagar insists that she
will be the protector and the caretaker of the lake as she knows the value of
water and wanted to protect that lake as the value of the first drop of water was
equivalent to the value of the life of her firstborn. The nomads acknowledged
her as the protector and caretaker of water and they, in turn, agreed to gather
food for Hagar and her son. The nomads fed her and the child and they in turn
bathed and drank water to their hearts' content. Eventually, they worked
together and reaped a joyous harvest. The harvests hatched festivals and in due
course, a people came into being.
We can see that, Thampu has made changes to Sara Joseph’s chapter, and made
it more poetic by adding a few verses.
2. Hagar is a powerful woman, empowered by her determination and sensitivity
to the power and bounty of nature. Discuss.
Ans: In the story, Hagar: A Story of a Woman and Water written by Sarah
Joseph portrays Hagar as a woman with great determination and sensitivity to
the power and bounty of nature. This story is based on water which has the
value of life.
Hagar, who is abandoned by her husband in the of the desert with her firstborn
is seen determined to keep her son and herself alive till the last bit of her
strength and we see that she was not ready to give up whatever maybe the
circumstances or the obstacles that came in her way. We see that the value of
water was the most precious thing in her life as the value of the first drop of
water had the value of the life of her son. When the nomads ask if they could
have water, she obliged as she could understand the thirst of people, the infinite
value of water and the secret of life scripted into it. A covenant was made Hagar
insists that she be the caretaker of the water, guard it and mother it for the sake
of her child and for the sake of children yet to be born. She thinks that they may
waste the water upon being excited but knew nothing about its value but she
very well knew it's valued and did not allow even a drop of water to be wasted.
Seeing her earnestness, the nomads were willing to accept her as the caretaker
of the lake. We can see that Hagar has realized that the water can also be used
for planting vegetables near the lake. They worked together and reaped a joyous
harvest. This harvest brought in new festivals and a new bunch of people came
into being.
Hence from this story, we learn that by facing the toughest circumstances in her
life and having the near to death experience Hagar turns out to be a powerful
woman ready to meet all the challenges to protect and conserve water.
UNDERSTANDING REFUGEEISM: AN INTRODUCTION TO
TIBETAN REFUGEES IN INDIA
WRITTEN BY: MALLICA MISHRA
SUMMARY –
This extract is written by Mallica Mishra, a research scholar and
sociologist specializing in the area of education in India. She also has a PhD
from Jawaharlal Nehru, New Delhi. Currently she is a development consultant
with the National Council of Rural Institutes (NCRI). “Understanding
Refugeeism” is taken from the introduction to her book, ‘Tibetan Refugees in
India’ (2014). This essay provides a fundamental understanding of the notion of
refugeeism. There are four parts/sections to the essay. The first part introduces
the concept of refugeeism by listing a short poem by Tenzin Tsundue. He
conveys that his mother told him he was a refugee when he was born and
because of that, he is categorized into a different community where they are
given no place in the world. The second part deals with the meaning of the word
‘refugeeism’, how they came into existence and how they are different from
other immigrants and ethnicities. Even though they are different from them,
there are some similarities which in a way shows that all human beings are
equal and alike. The third part shows the different problems related to being a
refugee and it also talks about different laws and guidelines put up by different
organizations to resolve the problem of refugees. It mainly talks about the
refugee movement ,1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1951
Convention on the Status of Refugees. The final part of the essay deals with the
refugee’s culture and traditions and how difficult it is to maintain their natural
roots in an alien country/place where the host country’s values are completely
different. The attempt to balance tradition and modernity for survival produces
several dilemmas and tensions in the identities of the refugees. Her essay
examines the international dimensions of the refugee problem, and the two
major theoretical approaches on ethnic identity, that is, ‘The Primordialist’, one
which is more rooted in cultural or linguistic similarities, whereas ‘The
Optional-Situational’, one which is more adaptive, relational, and dynamic.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS:
I. IN A SENTENCE OR TWO –

1. How does the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees define a

refugee?
Ans. The 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as a
person who ‘owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political
opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such
fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country’.
2. What is the difference between refugees and other immigrants and ethnic
minorities?
Ans. There is a minute difference between refugees and other immigrants and
ethnic minorities, that is, refugees cannot be categorized into either ‘voluntary’
or ‘involuntary’ migrants as they are affected by unique factors specific to their
situation. Other immigrants and ethnic minorities in a country voluntarily move
to another country in search of greener pastures, to improve their economic
position.
3. What according to W. N. Xenos, is the problem of refugees in our time?
Ans. According to W. N. Xenos, the problem of refugees in our time is that the
space constraints are not because of geographical problems, but as a result of
political demography and this creates homelessness and minority groups. He
quotes it as ‘a symptom of the uprootedness or homelessness of the modern age,
where space is not really geographical but rather political’.
4. When and to refer to whom was the term ‘refugee’ coined?
Ans. The term ‘refugee’ was originally coined in the west to specify French
Protestants who fled from the forced conversion policy of the French state in the
late seventeenth century.
5. How did the Universal Declaration of Human Rights address the
problems of the refugees?
Ans. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed basic rights
for all human beings irrespective of their nationality or citizenship and
recognized that refugees are not simply ‘victims of human rights violations’.
They conveyed that refugees represent a distinct group of individuals who are
‘without the protection of a national state’ and the international system of
refugee law was adopted.
6. What do we mean by ‘the social construction of reality’?
Ans. According to Burger and Luckman, the concept of ‘social construction of
reality’ describes the process by which people create their own version of what
is real via interaction with each other.

II. IN ABOUT 100 WORDS –

1. Who is a refugee? Is ‘refugee’ a homogeneous categorization?

Ans. According to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, a
‘refugee’ is a person who ‘owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for
reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
political group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and
is unable or, owing to such fear is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of
that country’.
In simple terms, they are a group of people who flee from their
home country in times of enormous distress and political instability. Refugees
are usually homogenous as they are similar when categorized as ‘stereotypical’
or ‘monolithic’. The only difference between refugees themselves is regarding
their nationality, race, religion, education, etc. Also, all of them flee their
country in fear of getting persecuted, which ties them together as they share the
same feeling of loosing their identity and life.
3. What were some of the measures taken in the 20th century to protect the
rights of the refugees?

Ans. The term of ‘refugee’ was coined in the west to specify French Protestants
who fled from the forced conversion policy of the French state in the late
seventeenth century. Later, the term was broadened to refer to people who
 ‘leave their country in times of distress’. The real movement to protect the
rights of the refugees started only with proclamation of basic human rights
irrespective of their nationality or citizenship, by the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. The international system of refugee law was
adopted to replace the protection, which is normally provided by the national
governments for their citizens, and it is one of their responsibilities too.
The 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees
lays down general guidelines for the protection of refugees. The interpretation
of these guidelines remains as a perquisite of individual states as there is no
authoritative body that can impose any particular interpretation of the language
of the Convention.
3. How did Simone Weil address refugeeism?
Ans. Simone Weil is a French philosopher, mystic and political activist. To
understand the problem of refugeeism, we need to realize the notion of
rootedness, that is, how one is connected/rooted to his soul or his social and
spiritual surroundings. The refugees constantly face ‘identity challenges’, and
studies show that they regard the issue of preservation of their native culture
and identity in the host country as an important component of their adaptation.
Simone Weil addresses refugeeism as ‘to be rooted to
one’s virtue of his real, active, and natural participation in the life of a
community’. It is the most important and least recognized need of the human
soul. Every human being needs to have multiple roots. It is necessary for one to
draw out the whole of his moral, intellectual, and spiritual life by the way of the
environment of which he forms a natural part, as cited by Simone.
4. What are the challenges to the re-rooting process, according to Liisa
Malkki?
Ans. Liisa Malkki is a Professor of Anthropology at Stanford University and an
author. Her research on migrant and refugee populations is important as she
regards as erroneous/flawed, work on immigrant cultures that conceptualize the
process of relocation and reconstruction as a ‘smooth journey’, where they
easily pack up and get ‘transplanted’ into an alien country.
This representation, as Liisa observes, is very
wrong and flawed. She says this is problematic as it rationalizes over the fact
that immigration constitutes those crises of great magnitude that involve
changes in legal and political status, ruptures in families, struggles for economic
mobility, etc. Therefore, these are the challenges that are faced in the re-rooting
process of the refugees.
5. Differentiate between the Primordialist and Optional-Situational
approaches to ethnic identity.
Ans. Studies on ethnic groups, culture, and identity are also useful in studying
the aspects of refugeeism. There are two major theoretical concepts based on
the ethnic identity – the ‘Primordialist Approach’ and the ‘Optional-Situational
Approach’. The Primordialist Approach relates to those ethnic groups that are
rooted in similarities in physical appearance as well as a common
culture/tradition. They also share a language, religion, and a sense of common
origin and history.
In contrast, the Optional-Situational Approach relates to the
ethnic groups as an ‘on-going process’, wherein which the individuals or groups
see and define themselves with respect to others, in different ways. That is,
while they try to fix/confirm their identity, there are a lot of factors and
collective definitions that influence him/her. This approach is best for studying
and examining refugee groups as they are similar to this group than the former
one.

III. IN ABOUT 300 WORDS –

1. Comment on the efforts made by the international community towards

understanding and resolving the problems of refugees.
Ans. This essay is written by Mallica Mishra, who is a research scholar and a
sociologist specializing in the area of education in India. ‘Understanding
Refugeeism’ is an extract from the introduction of her book, ‘Tibetan Refugees
in India’. This essay provides a fundamental understanding of the notion of
refugeeism. The essay starts by defining the term ‘refugee’ and then goes on to
talk about the different efforts made by the international community towards
understanding refugeeism, and their culture and identity in the world.
 Firstly, the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of
Refugees defined a refugee as a person, who ‘owing to a well-founded fear of
persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular
social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is
unable or, owing to such fear is unwilling to avail himself to the protection of
that country’. The refugee category is defined by ‘trauma and stress, persecution
and danger, losses and isolation, uprooting and change of the refugee
experience, as said by Barry Stein in his book, ‘The Experience of Being a
Refugee: Insights from Refugee Literature’.
The refugee problems and issues were acknowledged as
having international dimensions and requiring global cooperation in 1921-22 in
the aftermath of the World War I, the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
and the Russian Revolution. The real movement, however, started by the 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They proclaimed basis rights for all
human beings irrespective of their nationality or citizenship. They also adopted
the international system of refugee law to replace the protection, which is
normally given by the national governments to their citizens.
Also, the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of
Refugees lays down the general guidelines for the protection of refugees. The
interpretation of these guidelines remains as an entitlement of individual states
because there is no exact authoritative body to impose any such interpretations
from the language of the Convention.
More than 189 states have adhered to or ratified at least
one of the international human rights treaties and there are many countries,
including India, which despite hosting many refugee groups, has not been
granted entry into the 1951 Convention. This shows that the host government’s
protection as well as grant of welfare measures, including education is
dependent upon the individual state’s policies. Therefore, these are some of the
efforts taken by the international community to understand and resolve the
problems of the refugees.
2. Describe the role of culture and identity in understanding refugeeism.
Ans. This essay is written by Mallica Mishra, who is a research scholar and a
sociologist specializing in the area of education in India. ‘Understanding
Refugeeism’ is an extract from the introduction of her book, ‘Tibetan Refugees
in India’. This essay provides a fundamental understanding of the notion of
refugeeism. The essay starts by defining the term ‘refugee’ and then goes on to
talk about the different efforts made by the international community towards
understanding refugeeism, and their culture and identity in the world.
The education, economic opportunities, and
perceptions of the ethnic identity of refugees in the host country are closely
related with the experience of refugeeism. Recent studies on refugee groups
have shown that they regard the issue of preservation of their native culture and
identity in the host country as an important component of their adaptation. The
need for socialization and integration is considered as important. They are
uprooted form their homeland and are transported to an alien country, so they
often experience a ‘constantly challenged identity’. They need to be kept in
touch with their natural roots and they should be given a chance to flourish with
the culture and identity they have in the host country. Simone Weil says that
being rooted to your natural virtue is the most important and least recognized
need of the human soul. Every human being must have multiple roots, that is his
social connections, professional connections, his spiritual, mental, and physical
environment.
But re-rooting their lives along with preserving their
culture and identity in an alien country emerges to be a difficult task. Liisa
Malkki has researched a lot of issues on the migrant and refugee populations,
and she says that people tend to conceptualize the process of relocation and
reconstruction as a ‘smooth journey’ by neatly packing their roots and get
‘transplanted’ to a new society, with different values. She also says that this
observation is problematic as it neglects the important factors that require
immediate attention regarding the refugees and only the crises that are of greater
magnitude to the country rather than the refugees are taken into consideration.
Roberta Julian, the author of ‘Hmong Transnational Identity: The Gendering of
Contested Discourses’, refers to it as tensions between ‘unity’ and ‘tradition’ on
one hand, and ‘diversity’ and ‘translation’ on the other.
 The refugee groups are torn between nostalgia for the past and the present
realities of acculturation in their life, because of the changes in surroundings
and society. The studies on different ethnic groups are useful in understanding
the refugee problems too. There are two major approaches on the ethnic society.
They are the ‘Primordialist Approach’ and the ‘Optional-Situational Approach’.
The former approach relates to the ethnic identity as ‘rooted in similarities in
physical appearance as well as common culture that may include a shared
religion, language, and a sense of common origin and history’. The latter
approach is in complete contrast to the former. This approach conceives of
ethnic groups as ‘an ongoing process’ in which individuals or groups see
themselves and define themselves with respect to others, in different ways. The
latter approach is best and useful for studying and understanding the refugee
problems.
The ethnic identity, although subject to constraints, is regarded as
fluid, situational, changeable, and self-interested. The ‘Optional-Situational
Approach’ can also be used to connect with the Burger and Luckman’s concept
of ‘social construction of reality’. It describes the process by which people tend
to create their own version of what is real through social interaction with others.
This essay, in overall, takes a well-researched and comprehensive look at the
special challenges that refugees face regarding cultural assimilation and
repatriation. The humanitarian approaches to refugees and immigrants consider
not just the rights and material welfare of the refugees but also the protection of
their cultural assets and identities. Only by including the aspects of culture,
identity, and tradition, the problems of different refugee groups can be
understood, which will help provide the platform to uplift the refugees.
REFUGEE BLUES- W.H AUDEN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
W.H AUDEN was born Wysten Auden in York, England. His first book poems
as published in 1930 with the help of T S Eliot. He immigrated to America in
1939 and became a citizen. His first book written in America was Another
Time. His other notable publications include The Double Man, for the time
Being, ‘The Sea and The Mirror’ and several poetry collections. He won the
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1948 for The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue.
His final poetry collections were ‘City without Walls and Many Other Poems’,
‘Epistle to a Godson and Other Poems’ and ‘Thank You Fog: Last Poems’
(published posthumously). Auden’s work remains an iconoclastic contribution
to modern poetry through his idiomatic and original use of language that came
to be known as ‘Audenesque’.
SUMMARY
The poem refugee blues basically deals with how a refugee is treated in
his own country and in the country where he went to take refuge in. The poet
through this poem actually talks about the situation and the mental and physical
and emotional state of the refugees who had escaped the anti-Jewish German
and had sought refuge in other countries.
In this poem the narrator is talking to his companion which is why he
keeps on referring to my dear throughout his poem and by reading it we can
clearly see that they are not in their home country but rather is in a foreign
country. So, the narrator feels because he has lost his home it somewhat seems
to him that he has also lost his identity. Another point to be noted throughout
this poem is that it is sort of like a lament song of a persecuted and disposed
refugee (in this case a Jewish person who was unfortunate enough to live in
Germany at the time of holocaust) which in turn scars them emotionally and
also makes them suspect able to discrimination and distrust.
So, the poem is very straight forward and if we look at it from a poetic
aspect, we can see that it follows an “end stopped lines” pattern that is at the
end of which line you can find a type of punctuation mark. It could be a comma
or a colon or a full stop.
 In the first stanza the writer is describing the country in which he is living
as a refugee he is seen to be talking to his companion and telling him that in that
particular country there is a pace for both rich (people who stay in mansions)
and for the poor (people who stay in holes) but there is no place for refugees
like them anywhere in the country.
In the second stanza he is talking about the country from which he came
(in this case it is Germany) the country once they thought was fair and just and
which still exists but if they go back there, they could die.
Later on, the narrator says that their passports cannot be renewed like an
old yew which after its yearly seasonal shed in autumn renews itself ever year.
Even the authorities of the country in which they are currently residing is
refusing to help them. They also further go to say that since you don’t have a
renewed passport you are officially dead in the system. The narrator does not
give up and persists but he overhears them talking to themselves and telling that
if they allow people like him to their country they could lose their jobs to them
(“steal our daily bread”) and is then asked” ‘politely’ even though they have no
place to go and sad part here is that they treat their pets with even more respect
and dignity than these people (“saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin saw
a door open and let a cat in”).
Then the narrator notices the fish swimming in the harbour and the birds
in the trees and also notices how free they are and compares them to him and his
companion’s plight and comments how lucky they are that they are not humans
“or worse” German Jews.
He also later on goes out to say that he dreamed of a land where there was
enough and more space to accommodate all the refugees but sadly that land
does not belong to them as a result of which they cannot reside in them.
He ends this poem on a grim note. He pictures himself and his companion
and the several other refuges in a white expansive snow-covered openness were
the German Nazi soldiers and hunting for them in order to finish them off.
You could say that writer is trying to say even though the fault is with
Adolf Hitler and Germany at that time and there is equal blame on the countries
that refusing to take in refugees as both results in the eventual death of the
people that is the refugees and hence the title REFUGEE BLUES.
QUESTION AND ANSWER
1. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN A SENTENCE OR
TWO:
a. The speaker in the poem is a Jewish refugee from Germany and the speaker is
talking to his companion.
b. The poem is set during the Second World War as is very evident because the
speaker says ‘…it was Hitler over Europe saying, “They must die…’ and
through this particular poem the poet is trying to portray the emotional, physical
and mental state of refugees.
c. What the poet by this statement is that even though their country is there in
the atlas or in the world they can’t physically be there because they could get
killed. The poet is trying to show the helplessness of the refugee.
d. The poet says that their passports cannot be renewed yearly (just like a tree
renews itself during autumn and then comes to life during spring hence the old
yew reference) as officially they are not out of their country and since they have
outdated passports in the system they are as good as dead.
e. The irony in this statement could be Hitler was elected as because he vowed
the people of Germany that if he got elected, he could save the Germans but in
reality, what he wanted was to save only those people who weren’t German
Jews.
f. Even a poodle or a cat had food, water, shelter and even clothing for
themselves but where on the other hand the refugees (German Jews) were not
allowed in their own country and also in the country they took refuge in.
g. Being a human means you automatically become a citizen of a particular
country and then belong to a particular community but later it could be these
things that identify you as a human being the very reason for your death and it is
then when being a human hinder one’s freedom.
h. The German soldiers were looking for the German Jews in order to drag them
back to their own country (i.e.,) Germany and kill them there and kill them in
the country where they are taking refuge in.
2. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION IN ABOUT 100 WORDS.
a. The title ‘Refugee blues’ does indeed actually encapsulate the theme of the
poem. The colour blue is often associated with felling depressed or sad and
through this poem the poet is trying to bring out the emotional psychological
and physical turmoil which the refugees face. Throughout the poem the poet has
tried to picture bleak images such as “Thought I heard the thunder rumbling in
the sky; It was Hitler over Europe, saying, ’they must die’ …….They weren’t
the human race, my dear, they weren’t the human race” which usually resonated
with the situation in which refugees find themselves in along with emotional
state they are in. Hence, we can safely say that the title is justified.
b. Throughout the poem the poet has tried to picture the mental state through
which the Jewish refugees are going through with the help of various images,
ironies and metaphors. Imageries include when the narrator of the poem was
refused to enter the country because his passport was not renewed but at the
same time saw a cat enter through a door. Thunder is typically used in poems to
describe threatening so in this poem Hitler being referred to as thunder could
mean that Hitler was trying to threaten The Jewish refugees. The irony used in
the poem is that the refugee was actually seeking his home in the United States
of America (although we cannot be sure) which also houses the Statue of
Liberty under which the words ‘Mother of Exiles’ are inscribed but at the same
time was not allowed in the country because his passport was not renewed.
c. The author along with his companion was forced out of their home which
housed over 10 million people because of Hitler who had actually come into
power as their leader with the slogan ‘Freedom and Bread’. The poet further
goes on to say that since Hitler had captured over 85% of Europe and had also
‘changed’ his slogan into ‘They must die’ it felt as if this thought was echoed
through the minds of the European people which later lead to the unfair and
inhumane treatment of the refugee Jews by not just the fellow Europeans but
also by the people to whom these refugees turned to refuge.
d. There are numerous challenges faced by the refugees throughout of the poem.
Some of them include they cannot reside in their own country and they are also
not allowed in the country where they are trying to take refuge in. Since they do
not have a place to reside in and they are constantly in move they do not have a
permanent place to reside through which we can incur that they do not have
access to three meals a day and as a result are malnourished and constantly
tired. The same also affects the refugees both physically and emotionally.
e. The references to the birds and animals made in the poem is used as an irony
by the poet as the person narrating in the poem is not allowed in the country
where he is seeking refuge in because his passport was expired but at the same
time the narrator saw a poodle, a cat, fishes and birds having a shelter to reside
in, moving around freely and even having clothes of their own. The poet
through this is trying to show the inhumane, unfair, and unjust way the refugees
are treated by drawing a parallel to the way the animals in the same country are
treated.
3. Answer the following questions in about 300 words
a. The poem ‘Refugee blues’ is dealing with the psychological, emotional and
physical trauma which the refugees face from their own country and the country
in which they take refuge in. The poem is set in the foreign country where the
poet and his companion have sought refuge. The poet of the poem is W.H
Auden who is an emigrant to America and had also won the prestigious Pulitzer
Prize for the poem ‘The age of Anxiety: A baroque Eclogue’. His other works
include ‘Another time’ ‘The Double Man, For the Time being’ ‘Thank
Fog :Last Poems’ etc.
In this particular poem the speaker is unable to feel a sense a belonging or shake
the feeling of persecution and insecurity, in the light of a series of disappointing
bureaucratic delays, dismissals and prejudice. The narrator finds as a refugee
and a new immigrant he has lost not just his home but more importantly his
freedom and his identity. He is unable to renew an expired passport that
signifies that he has ceased to exist for all official purposes although he is still
alive.
Even though this poem is set during the Second World War era the above-
mentioned words can be used to describe the plight of refugees at any given
point of time in the World history and in today’s time it can be used to describe
the plight of the Palestinian refugees because of the ongoing Israeli and
Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians just like Jewish refugees is not able to
reside in their own country and are thrown out. They are not able to go and
reside in any other country as the countries surrounding their own nation are
more or less prone to war at any given time. As they are fleeing from their own
country with nothing but their lives, they do not have time to pack all the
necessary legal documents required in order to become an immigrant in some
other country.
So in a way we can say that even though 75 years have passed since the World
War two even now there is no difference in the way the refugees are treated and
there is certainly no difference in the emotional, psychological and physical
trauma experienced by the refugees.
b. The poem ‘Refugee blues’ is dealing with the psychological, emotional and
physical trauma which the refugees face from their own country and the country
in which they take refuge in. The poem is set in the foreign country where the
poet and his companion have sought refuge. The poet of the poem is W.H
Auden who is an emigrant to America and had also won the prestigious Pulitzer
Prize for the poem ‘the age of Anxiety: A baroque Eclogue’. His other works
include ‘another time’ ‘The Double Man, For the Time being’ ‘Thank Fog: Last
Poems’ etc.
This particular poem can be considered as the lament song of a persecuted and
disposed Jewish immigrant and poet makes use of various ironies of life in
order to throw light at the various issues faced by the refugees. For example
‘This city has ten million souls…..yet there’s no place for us, my dear, yet
there’s no place for us’ ‘Look at the atlas and you’ll find it there: WE cannot go
there now, my dear ,we cannot go there now:’ these lines tells us that even
though there are places of residences for all the people rich and poor in their
country just because of the fact that they are Jews they are not allowed to reside
in their own country .
The lines ‘If you’ve got no passport, you’re officially dead: But we are still
alive, my dear, but we are still alive.’ ‘Came to a public meeting; the speaker
got up and said; “If we let them in, they will steal our daily bread’ indicates that
even though they are physically alive due to the lack of official documents they
are not allowed in the country in which they are trying take a refuge in and are
also not provided with the basic amenities that a person is supposed to receive.
The lines which talk about the poodle, the cat , the fishes and birds all shows us
that even animals live freely without anyone’s control and that they were also
provided with food, shelter and water by the people who refused to give refuge
to the Jewish refugees who are their fellow human brethren.
All in all, we can say that through the above-mentioned lines the poet is trying
to evoke the experiences of discrimination that the Refugees face by drawing
various parallels to the baffling experiences and ironies faced by the refugees in
the country they decided to take refuge in and we can safely say that poet has
also succeeded in doing so.
The Child Goes to the Camp- Ghassan Kanafani
About the Author
Ghassan Kanafani is a Palestine author. He was born in middle class family. In
the year 1948 the Israeli war made him and his family exile. He had lived as a
refugee when he was 12 years old. His literary style has been described as
‘lucid’ and ‘straight forward’. The Child Goes to the Camp is taken from the
book Palestine’s Children. An anthology of his translated stories is published
under this title.
Summary
The story is set in a refugee camp. It’s a time of hostility and hunger.
Here moral and social values have no relevance. The main thing here is
‘Survival’. “Its was a War time”. There were 18 members in the camp. They
had an obligation to fight a war against hunger. None of the 18 had any work.
The Narrator’s cousin, Issam who is 10 years old is introduced.
Narrator’s father and his uncle found a daily task for the Narrator and
Issam. The task was to collect the leftover fruits and vegetables in the market.
They had the work to find the stuff from the top of the tables, behind the cars or
front of the shops. Things were going like this all days. One day the Narrator
say a money bill under a policeman’s heels while walking in the market with
Issam. It was note of 5 pounds. After giving the basket to Issam the Narrator
dived on it and took it. He ran away after taking it and reached home after
sunset.
17 people in his house were waiting for him impatiently since the family
members were waiting to get 5 pounds from the narrator. The narrator had many
assumptions after reaching the house. He thought that Issam must have already
narrated the incident in his own style. Probably he may have told them about the
5 pounds. Also, he might have told them that he was made to carry the heavy
basket of the narrator.
In the time of hostility there is no relevance for truth and honesty. The
narrator expresses this as a real time hostility since he had to guard the 5 pounds
day and night from his family members. His mother attempted to bribe him by
saying this money can be used to pay for the books and some dress could be
bought for the narrator.
 But it was not possible to get the 5 pounds from the narrator. 10 days
passed, everyone believed that the narrator might have spent it. His grandfather
tried to steal as he wanted to buy newspaper but it failed. Issam and the narrator
continued their daily routine of carrying heavy baskets to the market. The
narrator saw a vegetable under a truck and tried to take it. Suddenly the truck
moved back and the narrator met with an accident and fell unconscious. When
he regained consciousness in the hospital, he found that the 5 pounds were
missing. The narrator was sure the Issam would have stolen it. It’s a hostile
time, so he could not be blamed for the theft. The narrator and Issam looked at
each other and it was understood that Issam had taken the 5 pounds. The
narrator didn’t ask Issam regarding the 5 pounds. He was sad as he lost it. This
story highlights the fact that there is no place for human values during the times
of war and hostility. “Survival alone matters”.

“The Child goes to the camp”, Questions and Answers:

1.
a. The grandfather had only one work that is to read newspaper. Whenever he
finds a newspaper on the table, he runs and takes it. When he finds money in the
pocket of anyone’s pant, he takes it and buys newspaper.
b. After thinking for so much time the narrator’s father and his uncle came to an
idea. The task for the narrator and Isam was carry basket from the house and go
to the market and collect the leftover fruits and vegetables from the market.
c. There was an agreement between the narrator and Isam. I was that the best
fruits and vegetables collected by them will be eaten or used by the narrator and
Isam. This agreement was not known to their family members.
d. The narrator’s mother was bribing the narrator to get the 5 pounds from him.
She said that 5 pounds would buy two rotls of meat, new shirt for the narrator,
medicine if needed or books for school since they were planning to send
narrator to school next summer.
e. Once in the market, the narrator met with an accident. He fell unconscious
and he was admitted in the hospital. After regaining conscious, he found that he
did not have 5 pounds. So, this is how he lost his 5 pounds.
2.
a. ‘The Child goes to the camp’ is a short story written by Ghassan Kanafani.
This chapter is taken from the book “Palestine’s Children”. The theme of the
story is that the sufferings the narrator and his family faces. The narrator says
that it was a war time in his house but then he expresses that it is not really war,
but hostility. The narrator says that in war the winds of peace gather the
combatants to repose, truce, tranquillity, the holiday of retreat. But this is not so
with hostility that is always never more than a gunshot away, where you are
always walking miraculously between the shots. That’s why the narrator said it
was a hostile time.

b. The condition of narrator’s family was all eighteen people from different
generations lived in one house, which would have been more than enough at
any time. None of them managed to find work and hunger which is known and
it was their daily worry. That’s why the narrator calls it a hostile time. They
fought for food and then fought with each other over how it would be
distributed among them. If there exist silence then the grandfather would roll up
the newspaper and see everyone with his alert eyes. This meant five piastres had
been pilfered from some pocket. So overall they were suffering from hunger
and not having work which was a main reason for them to have a fight.

c. Isam and the narrator were assigned a task of collecting vegetables in a big
basket which was an idea of narrator’s aunt’s husband. Together they had to
carry a big basket and walk for about an hour and quarter until they came to
vegetable market in the afternoon. The shops in the vegetable market were
beginning to close their doors and the last trucks were loaded with vegetables.
Their job was easy and at same time it was difficult also. They had to find stuff
to fill their basket. From in front of the shops or behind the cars. Even from top
of the tables if the owner happened to be taking a nap or was inside his store.
d. In the chapter, “The Child Goes to the Camp” by Ghassan Kanafani, the
author is in a hostile situation. He was living with seventeen other people and
no one had any money or work. They were hungry most of the time. One day,
when the author and his cousin, Isam went out to get food for the rest of the
family, he spotted a five pounds note near to where a policeman was standing.
At the time, they were in such a bad situation that it was almost necessary to be
selfish at times because you don’t have access to anything. He saw the five
pounds note and forgot everything else and went after it. So, this is how the
narrator got his five pounds.
e. One day, when the author and his cousin, Isam went out to get food for the
rest of the family, he spotted a five pounds note near to where a policeman was
standing. At the time, they were in such a bad situation that it was almost
necessary to be selfish at times because you don’t have access to anything. He
saw the five pounds note and forgot everything else and went after it. So, this is
how the narrator got his five pounds. After getting this Isam and the narrator
retuned back to home. When they reached the narrator saw everyone waiting for
him and Isam. The narrator knew that they were waiting for the five pound
which was with the narrator. The family members wanted the narrator to give
them five pounds but he denied when each and every one was asking. So, the
family members were waiting for the five pound which was with the narrator
since it was a situation of hostile to all the family members.
f. In the chapter, “The Child Goes to the Camp” by Ghassan Kanafani, the
author is in a hostile situation. He was living with seventeen other people and
no one had any money or work. They were hungry most of the time. One day,
when the author and his cousin, Isam went out to get food for the rest of the
family, he spotted a five pounds note near to where a policeman was standing.
At the time, they were in such a bad situation that it was almost necessary to be
selfish at times because you don’t have access to anything. He saw the five
pounds note and forgot everything else and went after it. The author decided
that he won’t share the money with anyone else. His cousin, Isam, asked for the
money. His father and uncle asked him to split the money between the two
families but he decided not to give them the money as that won’t be beneficial
for him. His grandfather also asked for the five pounds as that would help him
get the newspapers he wanted very badly. The author’s mother was also trying
to get the money from him to buy books or a shirt for him. He decided to keep
the money and safeguarded it from everyone else for the next few weeks. One
day when he went out, he met with an accident and when he woke up in the
hospital, he noticed that the money was gone from his pocket. Although he was
sad that the money was gone, he didn’t ask Isam if he took it or not. He didn’t
ask because it was a hostile time. He understood that even if his cousin did take
it from him, it was out of sheer desperation. They were living in such dire
circumstances that one would have to resort to stealing and there was no care
given to human values.

g. The chapter, “The Child Goes to the Camp” by Ghassan Kanafani is about
the tough circumstances at the time. He was living in a small house with
seventeen other people. One particular person who was living in the house with
him was his cousin, Isam. He and Isam were very close and they had many
tasks to do every day and they did them together. They were the ones who used
to go and get the food for everyone else. The author and Isam used to argue
quite a bit about matters such as who gets to eat what. In those hostile times, it
was tough to get any food so they used to split the good food between
themselves. One day, the author found five pounds on the streets and decided to
keep it with himself. He didn’t even share it with Isam, who he was close with.
Although Isam was upset, they never talked about it. They had a strong bond
and due to the prevailing situation, Isam could understand why the author did
what he did. They did care about each other but in the hostile times, human
values don’t have the top priority.

3.
a. The short story “The Child Goes to The Camp” is written by Palestinian
writer, artist, journalist and politician Ghassan Kanafani. This story, taken from
the anthology “Palestine’s Children”, is largely drawn from his own childhood
experience as a refugee. The story is about a ten-year old refugee whose life
turns upside down after he is in possession of a five-pound note – a big sum for
the 18 membered family during a hostile time. The story highlights the
struggles faced refugees during the time of hostilities and wars and the
devastating after-effects of it on childhood. During wars, basic human rights
take a back seat. People are denied rights to education, proper housing and
decent life. The children are forced to resort to rag picking and petty crimes to
fill the family’s stomach. They even have to eat the leftovers collected from the
market. In a camp, the fight to live takes over human values. All it matters to
survive the day and not dying because of the bullets. When the narrator finds
the note, the family fight to use it for their own personal purposes. Even though
five pounds may seem meagre, it is a big sum for those who cannot afford to
wear good clothes or even a proper shelter for them. Their vulnerable life is
further threatened by greed. Even though he almost escaped death, the titular
child is disappointed by the fact that he lost it to his cousin Isam. This story
shows the harsh realities of war and the terrible life that the refugees have to
live. Module 1 “War and Its Aftermath” has connections to Module 5 “Being A
Refugee” in the sense that wars are the main reason why people are forced to
seek refuge. We realise that virtue has got no value when one is faced with
hunger.

b. The short story “The Child Goes to The Camp” is written by Palestinian
writer, artist, journalist and politician Ghassan Kanafani. This story, taken from
the anthology “Palestine’s Children”, is largely drawn from his own childhood
experience as a refugee. The story is about a ten-year old refugee whose life
turns upside down after finds a five-pound note – a big sum for the 18
membered family during a hostile time. The story highlights the struggles faced
by refugees during wars and the devastating after-effects of it on childhood. The
author repeatedly uses “a hostile time” multiple times throughout the text to
emphasise the fact. It is mainly because the general public doesn’t know how it
is to live during a troubled time. During a hostile time, human goodness is
replaced by fight for survival and to fill one’s stomach. People are unemployed.
Basic human rights are denied even to children. Instead of studying, they have
to resort to rag picking and petty crimes. The narrator puts off the spending,
hoping that hostility would end soon. However, what he didn’t know was that
life is one continued hostility. In a war, there would be efforts to call an end of
it, which is absent in a hostility. Everything becomes important during troubled
times. The family could be described as a microcosm of the outside world.
There are continuous fights and growing mistrust between the members.
Everyone has their own idea on how to run things. After the narrator finds the
note, whole family fights for their share in it. The child’s refusal brings up an
emotional wall between the members, especially Isam. Even when he loses the
five pounds to Isam, he lets it go because everyone is trying to survive during
hostility and they no longer care about right and wrong.