Unit 6 – Feathered Friend

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke

About the Author:

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke was a British science fiction writer, science writer, inventor, undersea explorer
and television series host. He is famous for being co-writer of the screenplay for the 1968 film 2001; A
Space Odyssey. He was both an avid popularizer of space travel and a futurist of uncanny ability. On
these subjects, he wrote over a dozen books and many essays, which appeared in various magazines. He
was rightly called the ‘Prophet of the Space Age’.

Summary:

Feathered friend by Sir Arthur Charles Clarke is a scientific fiction short story about a small canary and
how her existence on the space station helped save lives. The narrator says that he is unaware of a
regulation that prevents pets from being on a space station and that Sven would ignore it anyway. Sven
was the best construction worker on the space station at the time and was a very “wiry little fellow”
which got him a bonus for being under 150 pounds unlike his counterparts Sven was smart to have
Claribel as a pet because it took close to nothing to support her.

One day the narrator woke up with a headache and was slow to do morning activities. Sven was missing
from breakfast because he was looking for Claribel. Claribel was found in a stunned state and Jack
Duncan could not hear her heartbeat. Someone said to give her oxygen from oxygen mask which served
as an oxygen test for Claribel. The oxygen revived Claribel and she called everyone to breakfast and
passed out again. The narrator notices that Claribel was passing out because of the air being bad. An air
purifier had frozen and the single 500 thousand dollars alarm failed to go off. Claribel had saved
everyone’s life.

Understanding the Text

A. Answer these questions.

1. What were the two things that made Sven’s construction job more difficult? Does the text
say whether the hard work was worth the trouble? (Para 3)

Answer: The two things that made Sven’s construction job difficult were:

a. They were in space away from the earth’s gravity, so the objects were floating.

b. His space suit was not comfortable for doing his kind of work.

2. Which lines in para 4 and para 6 tell us that Claribel had adjusted well to space?

Answer: The lines are:

a. “she was not worried, as most animals would have been, by the absence of gravity.”

b. “it was quite obvious that she had already learned how to operate in the absense of
gravity.”
 3. Read para 7 again

a. Does the paragraph imply that Claribel was the first bird in space?

Answer: Yes, as it mentioned that Sven wanted to see how a bird would respond when
it had no weight but could still use its wings.

b. Why did Sven not get into any trouble for sneaking a bird on board the space station?

Answer: As a space station has more hiding places than you can count on, so it was not
so much of a trouble in sneaking the bird in a space station.

c. ‘Sheer scientific curiosity’ was part of the reason why Sven got Claribel onto the space
station. Based on your knowledge of life on space station, can you guess what the other
reason was?

Answer: The other reason was that Sven might want to have a good companion in space
station as everyone in the space station occupy with their works.

4. a. What was wrong with the air in the space station?

Answer: The air of the space station had become foul and poisonous.

b. How did Claribel’s unconscious state help the speaker understand what the problem
was?

Answer: Claribel’s unconscious state helped as even after receiving oxygen she passed
out again; so the speaker doubted the quality of air a problem.

c. Other than Claribel’s condition, what were the other clues the speaker put together to
solve the mystery? (Paras 9, 10 and 20)

Answer: The other clues were that speaker found it difficult to wake up in the morning
as he had a headache, it was unusually quite during the breakfast time and Sven was
missing. The speaker felt there was something incorrect in the air because of which
Claribel passed out and recalled that miners used to carry canary down with them to
warn them of quality of gas whether it was toxic or not.

5. It was one of those accidents that couldn’t possibly happen. (Para 23) What accident is the
speaker referring to? Was the accident someone’s fault? Who saved everyone from the
accident?

Answer: Due to earth’s shadow part of the air purifier had frozen up and the single alarm in
the circuit had failed to go off. No, it was a rare error which can happen in a space station.
Claribel the canary saved everyone from the accident.

Appreciating the Text

The text is set in a space station. The natural laws that govern outer space are very different those on
Earth – life in space can literally be upside down! This is the perfect background for the writer to flip
around ideas that we consider normal or obvious.

Answer these questions to understand what notions the writer has reversed in the story.

1. The writer mentions two features of life in space that differ from life on Earth. Read the story
again and say what they are.
 Answer: The two features of a life in space, which are different from earth, are oxygen and
sunlight.

2. a. What accident does the writer use to turn the value of money and technology upside
down? Explain.

Answer: The accident that occurred due to which he air purifier had frozen and the alarm went
off proved to the speaker that money and technology can go upside down. As above mentioned
instruments were off half a million dollars.

b. Which two examples does the writer give to show us that what is considered ‘weak’ on Earth
is strong and valuable in space? Explain.

Answer: The two examples he speaker shows us are:

1. Sven had little chances of getting the job on earth according to his built however he was
perfect and did a very difficult job perfectly in space.

2. When Claribel passed out even after giving a dose of oxygen and later when I was found
that the instruments failed, proves that a bird might be considered weak on the earth in
comparison to technology however it was not so in space.

3. Answer these questions on the basis of the examples you gave for the previous question.

a. What does strength mean here? Is it physical strength or something more?

Answer: They are not talking about physical strength; they are talking about mental
strength and the ability to make appropriate decision when required.

b. Is something valuable always obvious? Or do we have to look for it? Explain.

Answer: No, something valuable may not be obvious always one need to recognize it
during difficult times, as it usually surfaces that time.