Category: CBSE

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Vistas English Memories of Childhood

QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED

READING WITH INSIGHT
Q1.The two accounts that you have read above are based in two distant cultures. What is the commonality of theme found in both of them?
Ans. The two accounts given in the unit ‘Memories of Childhood’ are based in two distant cultures. Two grown up and celebrated writers from marginalised communities look back on their childhood. They reflect on their relationship with the mainstream.
The discrimination, oppression, humiliation, suffering and insults that they faced as young ,members of the marginalised communities are common to both. Zitkala-Sa highlights the severe prejudice that prevailed towards the Native American culture and women. Depriving her of her blanket that covered her shoulders made her look indecent in her own eyes. The cutting of her long hair reduces her to the status of a defeated warrior as in her culture shingled hair are worn only by cowards. The replacing of her moccasins by squeaking shoes and “eating by formula” at breakfast table are other signs of forcible erosion of their own culture and imposition of dogma on them.
Bama highlights the humiliations faced by the untouchables who were never given any honour, dignity or respect as they were bom in lower classes. They were made to live apart, run errands, and bow humbly to the masters. They scrupulously avoided direct contact with the people of higher classes or the things used by them.The sense of rebellion against the existing state of affairs and decision to improve them are also common themes.

Q2. It may take a long time for oppression to be resisted, but the seeds of rebellion are sowed early in life. Do you agree that injustice in any form cannot escape being noticed even by children?
Ans. Children are more sensitive and observant than the adults. They see, hear, feel and experience whatever happens around them. They are quick to note any deviation from the normal or any aberration.
Bama at first, thinks the behaviour of the elder of her community is quite funny. He is holding the packet by string and running with it awkwardly. But when she learns the reason of his behaviour in that particular manner her ire is aroused against the cruel, rich people of upper castes who shamelessly exploit them and heap humiliations on them. She is ready to rebel against the oppression by snatching the packet of vadai from the landlord and eating them herself. Her elder brother channelises her anger. He tells her to study with care and make progress. We see the seeds of rebellion in her.
Zitkala-Sa too shows that she has the seeds of rebellion in her even at an early age. Her friend Judewin tells her that the authorities are going to cut their long, heavy hair. She says that they have to submit, because they (authorities) are strong. But Zitkala-Sa rebels. She declares that she will not submit. She will struggle first. And, she does carry out her resolution. She hides herself to foil their attempt. When she is detected hiding under the bed and dragged out, she resists by kicking and scratching wildly. She is overpowered and tied fast in a chair, but she does not take things lying down. The spark of rebellion in her is not put out by oppression.

Q3. Bama’s experience is that of a victim of the caste system. What kind of discrimination does Zitkala-Sa’s experience depict? What are their responses to their respective situations?
Ans. Bama is a victim of the caste system as she has been bom in a dalit community. Zitkala- Sa is a Native American who finds that the people who have overpowered the natives are out to destroy their culture. She notices the discrimination against Native American culture and women. The cutting of her long hair is a symbolic of subjection to the rulers. In their culture, only unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair shingled by the enemy. She is deprived of her soft moccasins—the shoes worn by Native Americans. Her blanket has been removed from her shoulders and she feels shy and indecent. The rules observed at the breakfast table are alien to her.
Both of them rebel against the existing circumstances. They do not bow down to their situations. They struggle hard to remove the discrimination and other barriers raised by peeple in power. Their struggle is against oppression, prejudice, dogma, superstition and ignorance. The tool with which they carry out their struggle is education. Both Zitkala- Sa and Bama study hard and earn a name for themselves. They take to writing and distinguish themselves in their respective fields. Their works depict their viewpoints and carry on their struggle against the discrimation that constraint and binds the free flow of their spirits.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. What does Zitkala-Sa remember about her ‘first day in the land of apples’?
Ans. It was a bitter-cold day. The snow still covered the ground. The trees were bare. A large bell rang for breakfast. Its loud metallic sound crashed through the belfry overhead and penetrated into their sensitive ears.

Q2. How did Zitkala-Sa react to the various sounds that came when the large bell rang for breakfast?
Ans. The annoying clatter of shoes on bare floors disturbed the peace. There was a constant clash of harsh noises and an undercurrent of many voices murmuring an unknown tongue. All these sounds made a bedlam within which she was securely tied. Her spirit tore itself in struggling for its lost freedom.

Q3. Where were the girls taken and how ?
Ans. The girls were marching into the dining room in a line. The Indian girls were in stiff shoes and tightly sticking dresses. The small girls wore sleeved aprons and shingled hair. They did not seem to care that they were indecently dressed.

Q4. “I felt like sinking to the floor”, says Zitkala-Sa. When did she feel so and why ?
Ans. It was her first day at school. She was marching into the dining room with other girls in a line. She walked noiselessly in her soft moccasins. But she felt that she was immodestly dressed, as her blanket had been removed from her shoulders. So, she felt like sinking to the floor.

Q5. “But this eating by formula was not the hardest trial in that first day”, says Zitkala-Sa. What does she mean by ‘eating by formula’ ?
Ans. The ringing of a large bell summoned the students to the dining room. Then a small bell tapped. Each pupil drew a chair from under the table. Then a second bell was sounded. All were seated. A man’s voice was heard at one end of the hall. They hung their heads over the plates. The man ended his mutterings. Then a third bell tapped. Everyone picked up his/her knife and fork and began eating.

Q6. How did Zitkala-Sa find the ‘eating by formula’ a hard trial?
Ans. She did not know what to do when the various bells were tapped and behaved unlike others. When the first bell rang, she pulled out her chair and sat in it. As she saw others standing, she began to rise. She looked shyly around to see how chairs were used. When the second bell was sounded, she had to crawl back into her chair. She looked around when a man was speaking at the end of the hall. She dropped her eyes when she found the paleface woman looking at her. After the third bell, others started eating, but she began to cry.

Q7. What did Judewin tell Zitkala-Sa? How did she react to it?
Ans. Judewin knew a few words of English. She had overheard the paleface woman. She was talking about cutting their long, heavy hair. Judewin said, “We have to submit, because they are strong.” Zitkala-Sa rebelled. She declared that she would not submit. She would struggle first.

Q8. ‘Why, do you think, was Zitkala-Sa so opposed to cutting of her hair?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa had heard from her mother that only unskilled warriors, who were captured, had their hair shingled by the enemy. Among their people, short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards. Since she was neither, she was dead against cutting of her long hair.

Q9. How did Zitkala-Sa try to avoid the inevitable loss of her long hair ?
Ans. She crept up the stairs and passed along the hall. She did not know where she was going. She turned aside to an open door. She found a large room with three white beds in it. The windows were covered with dark green curtains. She went to the comer farthest from the door and crawled under the bed in the darkest corner.

Q10. How was the search made for Zitkala-Sa?
Ans. First, they called out her name in the hall in loud voices. Then the steps were quickened. The voices became excited. The sounds came nearer. Women and girls entered the room. They opened closet doors. They peeped behind large trunks. Someone threw up the curtains. The room was filled with sudden light. Someone stooped, looked under the bed and found her there.

Q11. How was Zitkala-Sa treated on being traced from her hiding place ?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa was dragged out. She tried to resist by kicking and scratching wildly. But she was overpowered. She was carried downstairs and tied fast in a chair. She cried aloud and kept shaking her head.

Q12. What did Zitkala-Sa feel when her long hair was cut? ‘
Ans. When she heard them remove one of her thick braids, she lost her spirit. She had suffered utmost indignities there. People had stared at her. She had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet and now her long hair was shingled like a coward’s. In her anguish, she moaned for her mother. She felt herself as one of the many little animals driven by a herder.

Q13. Which words of her brother made a deep impression on Bama? [Delhi 2014]
Ans. While returning home, Bama’s elder brother told her that although people do not get to decide the family they are bom into, they can outwit the indignities inflicted upon them. It left a deep impression on her.

Q14. Name some of the novelties and oddities in the streets that attracted Bama?
Ans. These included the performing monkey, the snakecharmer’s snake, the cyclist who had kept on biking for three days, the spinning wheels, the Maariyaata temple and the huge bell hanging there. She also noticed the pongal offerings being cooked in front of the temple.

Q15. What were the articles in flit stalls and shops that fascinated Bama?
Ans. She saw the dried fish stall by the statue of Gandhiji; the sweet stall, and the stall selling fried snacks. There were many other shops next to each other. Then there was the narikkuravan huntergypsy. He had his wild lemur in cages. He sold needles, clay beads and instruments for cleaning out the ears.

Q16. What sort of shows or entertainments attracted the passers-by?
Ans. Sometimes various political parties put up a stage. They addressed people through their mikes. There might be a street play, a puppet show, or a “no magic, no miracle” stunt performance. There was some entertainment or the other happening there from time to time.

Q17. Which actions of the people would Bama watch keenly in the bazaar?
Ans. She watched how each waiter in the various coffee clubs would cool the coffee. He would lift a tumbler high up. Then he would pour its contents into another tumbler held in the other hand. She observed how the people, chopping up onion, would turn their eyes elsewhere to avoid irritation in their eyes.

Q18. Why was Zitkala-Sa in tears on the first day in the land of apples? [All India 2014]
Ans. On the first day in the land of apples, Zitkala-sa was in tears. The main reason of tears was that her hair was mercilessly cut. She had heard from her mother that only unskilled warriors, who were captured, had their hair shingled by the enemy. That is why she shook her head in resistance.

Q19. Which fruit or sweet delicacies did she observe in the bazaar?
Ans. There would be mango, cucumber, sugar-cane, sweet potato, palm-shoots, gram, palm- syrup, palm-fruit, guavas and jack-fruit, according to the season. She would see people selling sweet and savoury fried snacks, payasam, halva, boiled tamarind seeds and iced lollies each day.

Q20. How were the threshing proceedings going on in the corner of the street?
Ans. There was a threshing floor set up in the comer of the street. People were hard at work. They were driving cattle in pairs, round and round, to tread out the grain from the straw. The animals were muzzled so that they couldn’t eat the straw. Bama stood there watching for fun. The landlord was watching the proceedings. He was seated on a piece of sacking spread over a stone ledge.

Q21. What, do you think, made Bama want to double up and shriek with laughter?
Ans. Bama saw an elder of their street coming along from the direction of the bazaar. He was a big man. He was carrying a small packet, holding it out by its string. The manner in which he was walking along made Bama want to double up. She wanted to shriek with laughter at the funny sight.

Q22. How did the elder approach the landlord and offer him the packet?
Ans. The elder went straight up to the landlord. Then he bowed low and extended the packet towards him. He cupped the hand that held the string with his other hand. The landlord opened the parcel and began to eat the vadais.

Q23. What explanation did Bama’s elder brother Annan give her about the elder’s “funny” behaviour?
Ans. Annan told Bama that the man was not being funny when he carried the package by the string for his landlord. The upper caste people believed that others must not touch them. If they did, they would be polluted. That was the reason why he (the elder man) had to carry the package by its string.

Q24. How did Bama react on learning about untouchability?
Ans. Bama became sad on listening how the upper caste people behaved towards low caste persons like them. She felt provoked and angry. She wanted to touch those vadais herself. She wondered why their elders should run errants for the miserly rich upper caste landlords and hand them over things reverently, bowing and shrinking all the while.

Q25. How did the landlord’s man behave with Annan?
Ans. The man thought that Annan looked unfamiliar, and asked his name respectfully. However, his manner changed as soon as Annan told his name. The man immediately asked the name of the street he lived in. The purpose was to identify his caste from the name of the street.

Q26. How, according to Annan, was the caste system discriminatory? How can one overcome the indignities?
Ans. Annan said that the lower caste people were never given any honour or dignity or respect. They were deprived of all that. Thus, the caste system was discriminatory. But, if they studied and made progress, they could throw away those indignities.

Q27. What advice did Annan offer Bama? What was the result?
Ans. Annan advised Bama to study with care and learn all that she could. If she was always ahead in her lessons, people would come to her of their own accord and attach themselves to her. Bama followed her brother’s advice and studied hard. She stood first in her class, and because of that, many people became her friends.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. Why did Zitkala-Sa feel oppressed in new establishment?
Ans. Since the day, the author was taken away from her mother, she had suffered extreme indignities. People had stared at her. She had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. Her blanket had been removed from her shoulders. She felt that she was immodestly dressed. She was so shocked and oppressed that she felt like sinking to the floor. Later, her soft moccasins were taken away. These were the traditional footwear of the local Indian American. They were replaced by squeaking shoes. She saw other Indian girls in stiff shoes and tightly sticking dresses. The small girls wore sleeved aprons and shingled hair. The worst indignity she suffered was the cutting of her long hair. The coward’s shingled hair made her moan with anguish. She felt she was not a human being but one of the little animals driven by a herder. The systematic erosion of their culture and disrespect to women was quite oppressive.

Q2. “But this eating by formula was not the hardest trial in that first day”, says Zitkala-Sa.What do you understand by ‘eating by formula’ and how did she find it a hard trial?
Ans. There was a fixed procedure laid down for breakfast. Zitkala-Sa calls it ‘eating by formula’. The ringing of a large bell summoned the inmates to the dining room. Boys and girls entered the dining room in lines from separate doors. Then a small bell was tapped. Each of the pupil drew a chair from under the table. The writer also did so. She supposed this act meant they were to be seated. So she slipped into the chair. She found others standing. Just when she began to rise, looking shyly, the second bell sounded and all sat down. Then she heard a man’s voice at one end of the hall. She looked around to see him. But all the others hung their heads over their plates. She found the paleface woman watching her. When the man ceased his mutterings, a third bell was tapped. Everyone picked up his knife and fork and began eating. She began to cry. She was so afraid that she could not do anything further. Her discomfiture was caused by her unfamiliarity with the procedure. However, she found it a difficult experience—a sort of trial.

Q3.“I will not submit! I will struggle first!” says Zitkala-Sa. What was she going to resist and why? What efforts did she make and what was the outcome?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa had long, heavy hair. Her Mend Judewin had overheard the paleface woman talk that their hair was to be shingled. Zitkala-Sa decided to resist it. Among their people, short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards. Unskilled warriors captured by the enemy also got their hair shingled. Cutting a woman’s long hair was thus against their tradition and culture.
She tried to avoid it. She crept up the stairs quietly and hid herself under the bed in a room with dark green curtains. She had crawled to the comer farthest from the door and lay close in the darkest comer. Soon she heard her name shouted in the hall. Then the steps were quickened and voices became excited. Women and girls entered the room. They opened closet doors and peeped behind large trunks. Someone threw up the curtains. The room was filled with sudden light. Someone stooped, looked under the bed and saw her there. She was dragged out though she resisted by kicking and scratching wildly. She was carried downstairs and tied fast in a chair. She cried aloud and kept shaking her. head till the scissors cut her long hair.

Q4. What diversions in the streets, shops and the bazaar attracted Bama, tethered her legs and stopped her from going home?
Ans. There were many novelties and oddities that attracted Bama. These included the performing monkey, the snakecharmer’s snake, the narikkuravan huntergypsy’s wild lemur in cages, -the cyclist who had been pedalling for three days, the spinning wheels, the Maariyaata temple and its huge bell. She also noticed the pongal offerings being cooked in front of the temple. There was a dried fish stall near the statue of Gandhiji. There was a sweet stall and a stall selling Med snacks. There were many shops next to each other.
The public meetings of political parties, street plays, puppet shows, and stunts were other entertainments. She would watch how the waiters would pour coffee from a tumbler held high to another low down to cool it. Then she saw people who chopped onion kept their eyes to another side to avoid irritation. She admired the various fruits that came to the bazaar according to the season. She also noticed people selling sweet and savoury fried snacks. These were the usual scenes and sights that tethered her legs and stopped her from going home.

Q5. How did Bama react to the threshing proceedings in a corner of their street and the spectacle of a big man carrying a packet by its string ?
Ans. Bama watched the threshing floor, people working with cattle to tread out the grain and the muzzled animals with a child’s curiosity. She stood there watching the fun. The landlord was also watching the proceedings. He was seated on a piece of sacking spread over a ledge.
Then she saw a big man, an elder of her street, coming along from the direction of the market. The manner in which he was walking along made her want to double up. She wanted to shriek with laughter at the sight of such a big man carrying a small packet by its string, without touching. She thought that the package might come undone and its contents fall out. ‘
Then the elder went straight upto the landlord, bowed low and extended the packet towards him. He cupped the hand that held the string with his other hand. The landlord opened the parcel and began to eat the vadais. She found the whole scene quite funny and amusing. She related it to her brother in all its comic details.

Q6. How did Bama’s brother explain the elder’s behaviour to her? What was her immediate reaction?
Ans. Bama’s elder brother, Annan, told her that the big man was not being funny when he carried the package by the string for his landlord. The upper caste people believed that others must not touch them. If they did so, they (people belonging to upper caste) would be polluted. That was why he did not touch the contents but held the packet by its string. Bama didn’t want to laugh any more now. She felt terribly sad. She could not understand how the vadai, first wrapped in a banana leaf and then parcelled in a paper, would become disgusting if one of them held that package in his hands. She felt so provoked and angry that she wanted to touch those vadais herself straightaway. She wondered why they had to fetch and carry for these people. She was infuriated that an important elder of theirs went meekly to the shops to fetch snacks and then handed them over reverently, bowing and shrinking to the fellow who sat there and stuffed them in his mouth. She felt that they too were human beings. Their people should not do petty jobs for the miserly rich upper castes. They should work in their fields, take home their wages and leave it at that.

Q7. What indignities did the caste system heap on the lower castes? How could they end the discrimination? How did Bama react to her brother’s advice?
Ans. According to Annan, the caste system was highly discriminatory. It put the lower castes in a very disadvantageous position. They were never given any honour, dignity or respect. They were deprived of all that. The only way to end this social discrimination was self¬improvement. They should study hard and make progress. Then they could throw away all those indignities.
He advised Bama to study with care and learn all that she could. If she was always ahead in her lessons, people would come to her of their own accord and attach themselves to her. The words “work hard and learn” became the guiding principles of Bama’s life. She studied hard with all her breath and being. She was almost in a frenzy. She stood first in her class and, because of that, many people became her friends. This was the beginning of her illustrious career.

Q8. What oppression and discrimination did Zitkala-Sa and Bama experience during their childhood? How did they respond to their respective situations?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa was a victim of social and cultural oppression by the victors who had overpowered them by their sheer strength. They were prejudiced towards Native American culture and women.
They adopted force and oppression to compel the natives to shed their age-old traditions and customs. The cutting of the long hair of Zitkala-Sa is a symbol of their oppression. She opposed this prejudice and oppression by rebelling against it. She protested with all her strength.
Bama was a victim of caste system. She had seen, felt and experienced the evils of untouchability when she was studying in the third standard. She felt humiliated by what it was. She struggled hard against this social discrimination. She studied hard and topped in her class. Many students became her friends.
Thus, both Zitkala-Sa and Bama fought the existing circumstances with courage and determination and ended the prejudice, discrimination and oppression.
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NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Vistas English The Tiger King

QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED

READ AND FIND OUT
Q1. Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?
Ans. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was called the Tiger King. At the time of his birth the astrologers declared that the prince would have to die one day. The ten-day-old prince asked the astrologers to reveal the manner of his death. The wise men were baffled at this miracle. The chief astrologer said that his death would come from a tiger. The young prince growled and uttered terrifying words: ‘Let tigers beware!’ He decided to kill one hundred tigers. He, thus, got the name ‘Tiger King’.

Q2. What did the royal infant grow up to be?
Ans. Crown prince Jung Jung Bahadur grew taller and stronger day-by-day. He was brought up by an English nanny and tutored in English by an Englishman. He got the control of his state when he came of age at twenty. He decided to kill tigers. For him it was an act of self-defence, as the astrologers had predicted his death by a tiger

Q3. What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?
Ans. Within ten years the Maharaja was able to kill seventy tigers. Then the tiger population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. One day the Maharaja sent for the dewan and asked him if he was aware of the fact that thirty tigers still remained to be shot down by his gun. The dewan shuddered with fear. The Maharaja told him that he had decided to get married. He asked the dewan to draw up statistics of tiger populations in different native states. Then he was to investigate if there was a girl he could marry in the royal family of a state with a large tiger population. This plan was put into practice. The dewan found the right girl from a state which possessed a large number of tigers. The Maharaja killed five or six tigers each time he visited his father-in-law. Thus, he was able to find the required number of tigers to kill. He shot ninety-nine tigers.

Q4. How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate?
Ans. Maharaja’s anxiety reached the highest level of excitement when only one tiger remained to be killed. He thought of the hundredth tiger during the day and dreamt of it at night. But tiger farms ran dry even in his father-in-law’s kingdom. It became impossible to locate tigers anywhere. If he could kill just that one single beast, the Maharaja would have no fear left. As the late chief astrologer had said that Maharaja should beware of the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja was sunk in gloom. Then came a happy news. In his own state sheep began to disappear frequently from a hillside village. Surely, a tiger was at work. The villagers ran to inform the Maharaja. The Maharaja announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village. He set out on the hunt at once. But the tiger was not easily found. The Maharaja continued camping in the forest and waiting for the tiger.

Q5. What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved?
Ans. In order to save his skin, the dewan got an old tiger brought from the People’s Park in Madras. It was kept hidden in his house. One midnight with the help of his aged wife, he dragged the tiger to the car and shoved it into the seat. He himself drove the car straight to the forest where the Maharaja was hunting. The dewan hauled the beast out of the car and pushed it down to the ground. Next day, the same old tiger wandered into the Maharaja’s presence. The Maharaja was overjoyed. He took careful aim at the beast. The tiger fell down in a crumpled heap. The Maharaja was extremely happy that he had killed the hundredth tiger.
The hunters found that the old tiger was not dead. It had only fainted on hearing the sound of the bullet. They did not want the Maharaja to know this fact and lose their jobs. iSo one of them shot at it and killed it. The dead tiger was taken in procession through the town and buried there. A tomb was erected over it.
The prophecy was not disproved as the king met his death with the infection caused by the sliver of a wooden tiger. The astrologer was already dead. He could not be punished or rewarded.

READING WITH INSIGHT
Q1. The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. How does the author employ the literary device of dramatic irony in the story?
Ans. On surface level, ‘The Tiger King’ seems to be a simple story about a royal prince, his growth and exploits as a king. The prophecies at his birth about the manner of his death make the story interesting by introducing the element of surprise and suspense.
On a deeper level, the story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. It is usually seen that those in power have too much pride in themselves and what they do. Two such specimens in the story are the Tiger King and the British officer. The author employs dramatic irony and humour to show their faults and weaknesses. The words of these characters carry an extra meaning. They do not know what is going to happen. The Tiger King resolves to hunt a hundred tigers to disprove the prediction of the astrologer. In his stubbornness, he falls prey to a wooden tiger. The high-ranking British officer is equally vain. He is more interested in photograph with carcass than hunting itself. The Tiger King offers to organise any other hunt except tiger-hunt. It may be a boar-hunt, mouse- hunt or a mosquito-hunt. He has to lose three lakh of rupees for his refusal. The ego of the British officer is satisfied when his wife is pleased to get diamond rings sent by the Maharaja.

Q2. What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the willfulness of human beings?
Ans. For centuries innocent animals have been subjected to the wilfulness of human beings. Man has been killing animals for sport, meat or organs of body. The author does not make any direct comment about it in the story. Man advances strange logic to defend even his unlawful and cruel acts. The Maharaja quotes an old saying, “You may kill even a cow in self-defence”. Hence, he finds no objection to kill tigers in self-defence. It reveals not only the callousness of human beings towards wildlife but their disregard for maintaining ecological balance. The extinction of tiger species in Pratibandapuram state and the state ruled by the Maharaja’s father-in-law amply illustrates the result of man’s cruelty towards wild animals. An old tiger has to be brought from the People’s Park in Madras to satisfy the king’s whim to kill one hundred tigers.

Q3. How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja’s minions towards him? Do you find them truly sincere towards him or are they driven by fear when they obey him? Do we find a similarity in today’s political order?
Ans. A minion is an unimportant person in an organisation who has to obey orders. The Maharaja has many minions or servants. Most of them fear the Maharaja and obey his orders faithfully. They dare not disobey him or contradict him. The Maharaja’s displeasure means loss of job or even loss of life. Only a few of them are truly sincere towards him. One such person is the chief astrologer. He is willing to bum his books of astrology, cut off his tuft and crop his hair short if his prediction proves untrue. The others try to keep the Maharaja in good humour. Even the dewan is no exception. Many officers lose their jobs when the Maharaja’s fury and obstinacy mount higher. The king’s bullet misses the hundredth tiger. It faints from the shock and falls as a crumpled heap. The hunters realise the truth, but they decide not to reveal it to the king. They fear that they might lose their jobs.
In today’s political order, subordinates serve their superior bosses as deaf and dumb creatures who see only what their masters want them to see. Their self-interests and fear of elimination make them faithful servants.

Q4. Gan you relate instances of game-hunting among the rich and the powerful in the present times that illustrate the callousness of human beings towards wildlife?
Ans. In our times, big game-hunting has been banned by law as so many species of wildlife have been declared endangered species. Sanctuaries, national parks and games reserves have been established to preserve wildlife from extinction and maintain ecological balance in nature. Even then sporadic cases of game-hunting are reported in newspapers now and then. It is generally noticed that the erstwhile rulers—kings or nawabs or the rich and powerful persons or famous film stars indulge in game-hunting. The cases against late M.A.K. Pataudi and Salman Khan are still pending in courts. Poachers and smugglers too destroy wildlife for skin, meat or for various organs of body and escape scot-free.

Q5. We need a new system for the age of ecology—a system which is embedded in the care of all people and also in the care of the Earth and all life upon it. Discuss.
Ans. Modem age is the age of ecology. A new consciousness has arisen among human beings. Animals and birds are as much part of nature as human beings. The destruction or haphazard killing of one species may not only lead to its extinction, but it will adversely affect the ecological balance. Those animals which serve as food for the wild animals will increase in large number, if the beasts of prey are wiped out. Each species, howsoever fierce, deadly, ferocious or poisonous has its own role in the scheme of things. We must devise a new system. It must focus on the care of all living beings on the Earth as well as the Earth itself and all life—vegetative or animal living on it. Steps have to be taken to preserve ecological balance in nature and prevent environmental pollution. Unpolluted air, water and food can make all living beings healthy and enable them to enjoy longer fives.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.Who is the hero of the story ‘The Tiger King’ ? How may he be identified?
Ans. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram is the hero of this story. He may be identified as His Highness Jamedar-General, Khiledar-Major, Sata Vyaghra Samhari, Maharajadhiraja Visva Bhuvana Samrat, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, M.A.D., A.C.T.C., or C.R.C.K. This name is often shortened to the Tiger King.

Q2.What does the author consider imperative right at the start?
Ans. Author considers it imperative to disclose a matter of vital importance about the Tiger King. He was a man of indomitable courage. Eveiyone who reads of him will have a natural desire to meet him face-to-face. But there is no chance of its fulfilment as the Tiger King is dead.

Q3. Which matter about the Tiger King is of extraordinary interest?
Ans. The manner of the death of the Tiger King is of extraordinary interest. The most fantastic aspect of his demise was that as soon as he was bom, astrologers had foretold that one day the Tiger King would actually have to die.

Q4. What was the great miracle that took place? What was its result?
Ans. The astrologers said the child bom under that particular star would one day have to meet its death. At that very moment a great miracle took place. An astonishing phrase emerged from the lips of the ten-day-old Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, “O wise prophets!” Everyone stood motionless with astonishment and stupidity.

Q5. What did the infant born just ten days ago tell the wise astrologers?
Ans. The infant said that all those who are bom will one day have to die. So he did not need their predictions to know that. He further said that there would be some sense in it if they could tell him the manner of his death.

Q6. Why did the Maharaja order the dewan to double the land tax? [All India 2014]
Ans. Maharaja went out on an expedition to find the hundredth tiger. The tiger could not be found. That is why in anger he ordered the dewan to double the land tax.

Q7. How did the chief astrologer react to the infant prince’s observation ?
Ans. The chief astrologer was surprised. He placed his finger on his nose in wonder. It was incredible that the ten-day-old infant raised intelligent questions. He said that the prince was bom in the hour of the Bull. The Bull and the Tiger are enemies. Therefore, death comes from the Tiger.

Q8. How did the crown prince Jung Jung Bahadur grow up?
Ans. The infant had an uneventful childhood. He grew up just like other royal princes of Indian states during the British rule. The prince grew taller and stronger day by day. The boy drank the milk of an English cow. He was brought up by an English nanny and tutored in English by an Englishman. He saw nothing but English films.

Q9. How does the author satirise the upbringing and education of crown princes of Indian states?
Ans. The author makes us laugh by pointing out the excessive love of the Indian kings and queens for English education and English way of fife. They seemed so enamoured of everything English that the crown princes drank the milk of English cows, were brought up by English nannies and tutored in English by Englishmen. They saw only English films. Thus, they were Indians only in flesh and blood, but aped Englishmen in culture and manners.

Q10. Why did the Maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state? [Delhi 2014]
Ans. Maharaja banned the tiger hunting in the state. Because he wanted to prove the predictions of state astrologer wrong that he would be killed by the hundredth tiger. That is why he put a ban on the hunting of tigers on all the tiger-rich forest of Pratibandapuram.

Q11. Why, do you think, did the Maharaja send for the State astrologer?
Ans. The Maharaja was excited beyond measure when he killed his first tiger. He felt proud of his feat. He wanted to show the dead beast to the State astrologer. So, he sent for him and wanted to know what he said then.

Q12. Sum up in your own words the interview between the Maharaja and the State astrologer.
Ans. On the orders of the Maharaja, the State astrologer said that his majesty might kill ninety- nine tigers in exactly the same manner. But he must be careful with the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja observed that the hundredth tiger might also be killed. What will happen then? The astrologer said that then he would tear up all his books on astrology and set fire to them. Moreover, he would cut off his tuft, crop his hair short and become an insurance agent.

Q13.Point out the irony in the statement: “From that day onwards it was celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram.”
Ans. The state banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja. An official statement was issued. If anyone dared to harm a tiger even by flinging a stone at him, all his wealth and property would be confiscated. The tigers could rejoice that they would not be killed by the riff-raff. The irony is that they were set to die at the hands of the Maharaja. The bullets of his gun awaited them.

Q14.Hew did the Maharaja devote himself to realise his ambition? How far did he succeed?
Ans. The Maharaja pursued his ambition with single minded devotion. He vowed that he would attend to all other matters only after killing the hundred tigers. He bravely faced many dangers to his life from tigers in achieving his mission. Sometimes he had to fight a tiger with his bare hands. But each time the Maharaja proved victorious by killing the beast.

Q15.Why, do you think, was the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne ?
Ans. The Maharaja had annoyed a high-ranking British officer by refusing him permission to hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram. The Maharaja did not relent even when the request was toned down that the durai himself did not have to kill the tiger. The Maharaja could do the actual killing. The durai wanted only a photograph of himself holding the gun and standing over the tiger’s carcass. The Maharaja stood in danger of losing his throne because he prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire.

Q16.What traits of the Maharaja and the British officer are exposed and satirised through the episode of refusal of permission for tiger hunt by the British officer?
Ans. It reveals that the Maharaja was wilful, obstinate and adamant. He had a false sense of honour. If he had permitted one British officers, others would also turn up. He is quite unreasonable and shows lack of understanding. Thus, he lacks practical approach. He would sacrifice diamonds to preserve his throne.
The British officer seems publicity conscious. He is more interested in the photographs with the dead-tiger than in the tiger-hunt. The costly gift of diamonds mollifies his hurt ego.

Q17. Would it be proper to call the Maharaja ‘penny-wise, pound foolish’? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans. The Maharaja insists on restricting tiger-killing in his state to himself. He is unwilling to compromise in this regard. He would not let any other person be even photographed with a dead tiger in his state. He has to send a gift of fifty diamond rings to the British officer’s good lady to placate the injured feelings of the man and to retain his kingdom. It illustrates that he was penny-wise, pound foolish.

Q18. What sort of hunts did the Maharaja offer to organise for the high-ranking British officer ? What trait of the persons in high position does it reveal ?
Ans. The Maharaja offered to organise any other hunt in place of the tiger hunt for the high- ranking British officer. He might go on a boar-hunt. A mouse-hunt might be conducted. They were ready even for a’ mosquito-hunt. This shows the vanity and love of idle pursuits and frivolous pastimes by the persons in high position.

Q19.Comment on the ‘rings episode’ in the story ‘The Tiger King’.
Ans. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram ordered a famous British company of jewellers in Calcutta to send samples of expensive diamond rings of different designs. Some fifty rings arrived. The Maharaja sent the whole lot to the British officer’s good lady. He expected her to choose one or two rings and send the rest back. But she simply sent a letter of thanks.
The episode reveals human weaknesses such as vanity, pride, greed, cunningness, flattery and appeasement.

Q20……. an unforeseen hurdle brought his mission to a standstill”. What was the mission and how did it stop? What do you find amusing in the reasons justifying the ‘hurdle’?
Ans.The Maharaja’s mission was to shoot one hundred tigers. He had killed seventy tigers within ten years. Then the tiger population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. The possible reasons for the absence of tigers are quite amusing and even ludicrous. Either the tigers practised birth control or they committed suicide. They might have run away from the state. Perhaps they desired to be shot by the British hands alone.

Q21.How did the dewan behave when the Maharaja summoned him and brandished his gun?
Ans. The dewan shuddered at the sight of the gun. He cried out, “Your Majesty! I am not a tiger!” The Maharaja enquired which idiot would call him a tiger. The dewan then declared that he was not a gun. The Maharaja became a bit polite. Addressing him as ‘Dewan Saheb’ he assured him that he was neither tiger nor gun. He was summoned there for a different purpose.

Q22. How did the dewan react to the Maharaja’s declaration. “I have decided to get married”?
Ans. The reaction of the dewan is quite funny and amusing. He thinks that the Maharaja wants to marry him. He says that he has already two wives. The Maharaja clarifies that he does not want to marry him. He wants a tiger. The dewan interrupts him saying that his ancestors were married to the sword. He might marry the gun if he liked. He added that a Tiger King was more than enough for that state. It did not need a Tiger Queen as well.

Q23. How did the Maharaja make his intentions clear to the dewan ? What, do you think, is his first priority in marriage ?
Ans. The Maharaja said that he was not thinking of marrying either a tiger or a gun. He wanted to marry a girl from the ranks of human beings. He asked the dewan to collect statistics of tiger population in the different native states. Then he should find out if there was a girl he could marry in the royal family of the state with a large tiger population. Evidently, his first priority is the tiger,

Q24.How did the Maharaja succeed in raising his tiger tally to ninety-nine?
Ans. The Maharaja married a girl from a state which possessed a large number of tigers. Each time he visited his father-in-law, he killed five or six tigers. In this manner he raised the tally of tigers killed by him from seventy to ninety-nine.

Q25.Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger?
Ans. The Maharaja had killed ninety-nine tigers. If he could kill just one more tiger, he would have no fear left. Then he could give up tiger hunting altogether. He thought of the tiger during the day and dreamt of it at night. Moreover, he had to be extremely careful with that last tiger. The late chifef astrologer had already warned him.

Q26.“It seemed easier to find tiger’s milk than a live tiger” Why? What does the contradiction imply?
Ans. As the Maharaja reached near the coveted figure of hundred, his difficulties also multiplied. He had already killed ninety-nine tigers, but then the tiger farms ran dry even in his father-in-law’s kingdom. It became impossible to locate tigers anywhere. The hundredth tiger seemed difficult to find. One can’t get tiger’s milk without finding the tigress. Yet it is thought easier than finding a live tiger. The contradiction implies the difficulty in locating a tiger.

Q27.Why was the Maharaja sunk in gloom? Was he able to overpower it? How /How not?
Ans. Only one tiger remained to be killed by the Maharaja, but it seemed impossible to locate a tiger. So, the Maharaja was sunk in gloom. Then he got the happy news. In his own state sheep began to disappear frequently from a hillside village. It was found out that this was not the work of Khader Mian Saheb or Virasami Naicker. Both of them could swallow sheep whole. It was then deduced that it was the work of a tiger. The villagers ran to inform the Maharaja about the availability of a tiger.

Q28.What aspects of the Maharaja’s nature and conduct does the wait for the hundredth tiger reveal?
Ans. The wait for the hundredth tiger reveals the royal rage, obstinacy and firm determination of the Maharaja. He refused to leave the forest until the tiger was found. Many officers lost their jobs because of his anger. Even the dewan was asked to resign his post. This shows that the Maharaja was insensitive towards his employees.

Q29.How, do you think, did the dewan try to help the Maharaja achieve his mission?
Ans. The aged dewan was very wise. He brought an old tiger from the People’s Park in Madras. He kept it hidden in his house. Judging the impatience of the Maharaja to shoot the tiger, he decided to release it near the Maharaja’s camp. So, at midnight he dragged the tiger to the car with the help of his aged wife and shoved it into the seat. He drove the car himself straight to the forest and hauled the beast out of the car and pushed it down to the ground near the Maharaja’s camp.

Q30.How does the tiger behave towards the dewan, the Maharaja and the hunters? What does his behaviour show?
Ans. The tiger behaves like a pet animal with the dewan. The dewan and his aged wife drag the tiger to the car and shove it into the seat. In the forest, the tiger launches its satyagraha and refuses to get out of the car. The Dewan tries hard to haul it out of the car and push it down to the ground.
It stands before the Maharaja as if in humble supplication. It falls down in a crumpled heap as the Maharaja fires the gun. It faints from the shock of the bullet whizzing past. It looks back at the hunters rolling its eyes in bafflement. This shows that it is a very old and weak tiger.

Q31.“The bullet had missed it.” “This time he killed it without missing his mark.” Whose bullet had missed the tiger? How was the beast killed ultimately? Bring out the irony of the situation.
Ans. The Maharaja’s bullet missed the tiger though he had taken careful aim at the beast. The shock of the sound of the bullet made it faint. One hunter took aim from a distance of one foot and shot the tiger dead.
It is ridiculous that the Tiger King who had killed ninety-nine tigers should miss his aim. It is funny that the hunter takes aim from a hand-shaking distance. The whole situation is ironic.

Q32. How does the hundredth tiger take its final revenge upon the Tiger King?
Ans. The Tiger King could not kill the hundredth tiger. It had merely fainted from shock of the sound of the bullet. It is the wooden tiger from the toyshop that becomes the cause of Maharaja’s death. One of the slivers on its body pierces the Maharaja’s right hand. Infection flares up and the prick develops into a suppurating sore. The Maharaja dies during the operation.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. What do you learn about princes and kings of native Indian states during the British rule from the story ‘The Tiger King’?
Ans. The story ‘The Tiger King’ presents a fair glimpse of the young princes and the Maharajas ©f native Indian states. Their long names with descriptive titles and decorative honours was more a rule than an exception. They considered recognition from the British government and its officers a favour. They aped the Britishers in upbringing, education, manners and behaviour. The Maharajas were autocrats and their words were the law. They could be benevolent as well as stubborn. Their minions as well as ministers feared and respected them. Sometimes their whims proved quite costly to the state coffer. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram spends three lakh of rupees on gift of diamond rings to retain his kingdom. Marriages with princesses of other states are based on considerations other than love or virtues of the girl. In short, the Princes and Maharajas are portrayed as whimsical, stubborn and excitable persons proud of their virtues and valour.

Q2. What did the astrologers predict about the infant prince ? What was the miracle that baffled them. ? What did the chief astrologer enlighten the prince about and how ?
Ans. As soon as the prince was bom, astrologers predicted that one day the Tiger King would certainly have to die. It was the influence of the star under which he was bom. At that very moment a great miracle took place. An astonishing phrase emerged from the lips of the ten-day-old Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, “O wise prophets!” Everyone stood motionless with astonishment and stupidity. The infant said that all those who are bom will have to die one day. So he did not need their predictions to know that. However, there would be some sense in it if they could tell him the manner of that death.
The astrologers were baffled that a baby barely ten-day-old has not only opened his lips in speech but had also raised intelligent questions. It was quite incredible. The chief astrolo¬ger fixed his eyes upon the little prince. He said that the prince was bom in the hour of the
Bull. The Bull and the Tiger are enemies. Therefore, death comes from the Tiger.

Q3. How did the Maharaja try to disprove the prediction of the chief astrologer? What did the state astrologer assert when the Maharaja summoned him to show his first kill?
Ans. Since the astrologers had predicted death from Tiger, the Maharaja decided to kill tigers to defend himself. Hence he started out on a tiger hunt campaign. There were enough tigers in the forests of Pratibandapuram state. The Maharaja was thrilled beyond mea¬sure when he killed his first tiger. He sent for the state astrologer and showed him the dead beast.
The Maharaja asked the astrologer what he said then. The astrologer said that his maj-esty might kill ninety-nine tigers in exactly the same manner, but he must be very careful with the hundredth tiger. Maharaja wanted to know what would happen if the hundredth ; tiger was also killed.
The state astrologer said that in that case he would tear up all his books on astrology and ‘ set fire to them. Moreover, he would cut off his tuft, crop his hair short and become an insurance agent.

Q4. What problems did the Maharaja face in pursuit of his mission ? How did he resolve them ?
Ans. The Maharaja started his mission of killing one hundred tigers with single-minded devo¬tion. He focused all his energy and attention to it. He vowed that he would attend to all other matters only after killing one hundred tigers. Initially, the king seemed well set to realise his ambition. Then dangers and difficulties cropped up. There were times when the bullet missed its mark. The tiger would leap upon him and he had to fight the wild beast with his bare hands. Luckily, each time the Maharaja, who had indomitable cour¬age, won.
Once he was in danger of losing his throne because he did not permit a high-ranking British officer to hunt a tiger in the Pratibandapuram forest. The king did not accede to his request for being photographed with a gun on the carcass of a tiger killed by the Maharaja. The Maharaja had to part with a costly gift to placate his injured feelings and save his kingdom.

Q5. How does the author satirise the hunting instincts of the persons in authority ?
Ans. The story tells us that big game hunting was considered a royal sport. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram went to the extent of banning tiger-hunt in his own kingdom by all others except himself.
Tiger-hunt became an obsession for him. He thought of tiger during the day and dreamt of it at night. He postponed all affairs of the state and devoted himself only to tiger-hunt. Thus, a pastime or sport became the only aim of his life. He married for the sake of tiger. He chose a princess in whose kingdom there were plenty of tigers. He could undertake any risks for tiger-hunt.
The British officers had also developed a fondness for this royal sport. Perhaps they considered it a status symbol. They were publicity conscious and wanted to be photographed with a gun in hand and the carcass of a tiger at feet. Various other hunts were also prevalent. These included boar-hunt, mouse-hunt and mosquito-hunt. The descending order of risk and resistance from the victims makes us laugh at the whims and craziness of the hunters. Thus, the story exposes the fondness of persons in authority for hunting wild animals.

Q6. How did the Maharaja devise a new avenue to fulfil his ambition to kill one hundred tigers? How far did he succeed?
Ans. The Tiger King had resolved to kill one hundred tigers. During ten years he killed seventy tigers in his kingdom. Then the tigers became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. The Maharaja devised a plan. He decided to get married. He asked the dewan to collect statistics of tiger population in different native states. Then he was assigned the job to find out if there was any girl in the royal household that he could marry. The main criterion for the selection of the princess was that her father’s kingdom should have a large number of tiger population. The dewan complied with the orders of the Maharaja. Then the Maharaja married a girl from a state which possessed a large tiger population. Each time he visited his father-in-law, he killed five or six tigers. In this way he was successful in killing niqety-nine tigers.

Q7. Give an account of the Maharaja’s impatience for the hundredth tiger and the actual encounter. What, do you think, caused the death of the Tiger King?
Ans. The Maharaja was keen to kill the hundredth tiger. If he did so, he would have no fears left. It became impossible to locate tigers anywhere. When the villagers informed him of the activities of a tiger near hillside, he went to the forest and waited there. The tiger seemed to have deliberately hid himself to defy the Maharaja’s will.
The wise, aged dewan got an old tiger brought from the People’s Park in Madras. He released it at night in the forest near the Maharaja’s camp. In the morning, the same tiger wandered into the Maharaja’s presence and stood their meekly. The Maharaja took careful aim at the beast. The tiger fell down. Actually the bullet had missed it, The old tiger had fainted with the shock of the bullet passing near him.
The Tiger King died due to an infection from a tiny sliver of a wooden tiger. The prick developed into a sore with pus. A surgical operation was performed on his arm, but he died. The writer comments that the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the Tiger King.

Q8. Comment on the ending of the story ‘The Tiger King’. Do you find it convincing? Give reasons. 
Ans. The ending of the story ‘The Tiger King’ seems tame, unconvincing and rather contrived. It seems unnatural and unrealistic. It is beyond comprehension how a king who has over powered ferocious tigers in single combat with bare hands succumbs to a prick from the sliver of a wooden tiger.
It is amazing to find how the infection flares in the Maharaja’s right hand. In four days, the prick develops into a suppurating sore and spreads all over the arm. The three sur¬geons perform a successful operation but fail to save the Maharaja. How is the operation successful then? It seems that the author wants us to believe that the astrologer was right and the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the Tiger King.This ending may satisfy superstitious readers with orthodox beliefs, but for the enlight¬ened minds of the age of computers and rockets it is a bitter pill to swallow.

Q9. Comment on the appropriateness of the title ‘The Tiger King’.
Ans. ‘The Tiger King’ is a quite appropriate and suggestive title. It focuses attention on the hero of the story—The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, who is also nick named the Tiger King. The story spans from his birth to death and covers all the landmarks connected with his passion—tiger-hunt. For him human relations and the affairs of the state are second¬ary. He marries a princess for the sake of a tiger. When he celebrates the third birthday of the crown prince, he brings a wooden tiger for him as a gift. It is ironic that the sliver of the wooden tiger causes his death. The overconfidence and false sense of security of the Tiger King on having killed the hundredth tiger leads to his doom. The story which begins with the prediction of death of the Tiger King right at his birth, ends with his death from a tiger. Thus, the title is quite apt.

Q10.What devices does the author use to make the story ‘The Tiger King’ humorous and interesting?
Ans. The author uses many literary devices to make this story humorous as well as interest-ing. He introduces the elements of shock and surprise by making the ten-day-old baby open his lips to talk and ask intelligent questions. The predictions of the astrologers convey inevitability of death, but the man of indomitable courage i.e., the Tiger King faces the agent of death i.e., the tiger many times and comes out victorious every time.
The description of the education and upbringing of crown princes of Indian states and their craze for ‘English’ provides lots of fun. The mention of various hunts: tiger-hunt, boar-hunt, mouse-hunt, mosquito-hunt makes us laugh at the pastimes of the people in authority at the cost of innocent animals. The last two hunts seem funny and ridiculous.
The Maharaja’s thought of marrying a girl for the sake of tiger is also amusing. The behaviour of the high-ranking British officer and that of the Maharaja and his dewan at different points in the story provoke laughter and maintain the reader’s interest in the narrative.
More Resources for CBSE Class 12
RD Sharma class 12 Solutions
NCERT Solutions for Class 12th English Flamingo
NCERT Solutions for Class 12th English Vistas
CBSE Class 12 Accountancy
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CBSE Class 12 Chemistry
CBSE Sample Papers For Class 12

NCERT Solutions Class 12 Vistas English Class 12 Flamingo English

Vanka Summary

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Vistas English On the Face of It

QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED

READ AND FIND OUT
Q1. Who is Mr Lamb? How does Derry get into his garden?
Ans. Mr Lamb is an old man with a tin leg. His real leg was blown off years ago during the war. He lives all alone in his house. There is a garden near the house. It has ripe crab apples looking orange and golden in colour.
Mr Lamb is sitting in his garden when Derry climbs over the garden wall to get into his garden. Though the gate is open, the boy does not use it.

Q2. Do you think all this will change Derry’s attitude towards Mr Lamb?
Ans. Mr Lamb learns from Derry that the latter does not like being near people. They stare at his face and feel afraid of him as half of it has been burnt by acid and looks very ugly. Mr Lamb offers him a new way bf thinking. He tells him about a person who was afraid of everything and locked himself in a room. A picture fell off the wall on his head and killed him. Derry finds that the old man says peculiar things. He is further surprised to learn about the old man’s habits. He loves to read book. His house has many books. There aren’t any curtains at the windows. He likes the light and the darkness. He keeps the windows open to hear the wind.
Derry says that he too likes to hear the sound of rain on the roof. But he also hears people talking about him and his future. The old man tells him that he has all the God-given organs. He will get on the way he wants, like the rest. He could even get on better than them, if he made a firm decision. He tells Derry that hatred is worse than acid because it can bum man from inside. He should not worry about his burned face or what people say about it. All this brings a positive change in Derry’s attitude towards Mr Lamb. He promises to come back after informing his mother. He asks Mr Lamb about his life and friends and recognises his loneliness and disappointment. He keeps his promise and returns only to find Mr Lamb lying on the ground.

READING WITH INSIGHT
Q1. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr Lamb in spite of himself?
Ans. Both Derry and Mr Lamb suffer from physical impairment. Derry has one side of his face disfigured and burnt by acid. The old man has a tin leg because his real leg got blown off during the war. Apart from these physical disabilities, Derry finds signs of loneliness and disappointment in Mr Lamb’s life. The old man tries to overcome these feelings but the sense of alienation felt by him is more painful than the pain caused by physical disability.
Derry tries to avoid meeting people because they consider his face frightful and ugly. They avoid him as they are afraid of him. His parents seem worried about him and talk about him and his future.
Mr Lamb provides him a new approach to things. He tells him to see, hear, feel and think about things around him. He should not hate others. Hatred is worse than acid because it bums the inside. He has all the God-given limbs. He must take a firm decision and work towards it. He will succeed. He should not be afraid of people and they will not be afraid of him. All these factors draw Derry towards Mr Lamb.

Q2. In which section of the play does Mr Lamb display signs of loneliness and disappointment? What are the ways in which Mr Lamb tries to overcome these feelings?
Ans. It is in the middle section of the first scene of the play that Mr Lamb displays signs of loneliness and disappointment. He says that when it is a bit cooler, he will get the ladder and a stick, and pull down those crab apples. He makes jelly. Derry could help him. Then he says he is interested in anybody or anything that God made. It may be a person, flower, fruit, grass, weeds or rubbish. There are plenty of things to look at. Some of them are his crab apples or the weeds or a spider climbing up a silken ladder or his tall sun-flowers. He also likes to talk and have a company. He has a hive of bees. He hears them singing. He sits in the sun and reads books. He likes the light and the darkness. He hears the wind coming through open windows. There aren’t any curtains at the windows as they either shut things out or shut things in. These are the ways in which Mr Lamb tries to overcome his loneliness.

Q3. The actual pain or inconvenience caused by a physical impairment is often much less than the sense of alienation felt by the person with disabilities. What is the kind of behaviour that the person expects from others?
Ans. The play ‘On The Face Of It’ focuses our attention on the physical pain and mental anguish of the persons suffering from some physical impairment. The playwright, Susan Hill, presents the two leading‘characters—an old man and a small boy—having different sorts of physical disabilities.
The old man has a tin leg. It did hurt him when it came off. Then he got used to it. He feels pain now and then in wet weather. He finds it inconvenient to run, to climb a tree or a ladder. He lives all alone in a big house with a garden.
The boy has one side of his face badly burnt by acid. He felt the physical pain then. After discharge from hospital, he feels hurt at the attitude of the people. They regard his face as horrible and ugly, show signs of being scared and avoid his presence. In short, he is disliked, if not hated. He is not accepted as an ordinary member of society. So, he does not like people to look at him.
It is clear that the sense of alienation that these disabled persons feel causes them constant pain. Such persons expect kind and considerate behaviour from others. They do not want tears, sympathy or pity. They dislike being pointed at, nicknamed, mocked at or made a fun •: of. They only demand a reasonable bahaviour from others, full of appreciation of their difficulties.

Q4. Will Derry get back to his old seclusion or will Mr Lamb’s brief association effect a change in the kind of life he will lead in the future?
Ans. (Two different answers are possible. One is being given below)
Derry will not get back to his old seclusion. He has been associated with Mr Lamb for a short time only, but even this brief association will effect a change in the kind of life he will lead in future. Instead of being conscious of what people comment about the ugliness of his face, he will use his head and heart to achieve what he decides to do in life. It is also possible that with his firm determination and zeal to achieve his aim, he might do better than the rest, even those who do not suffer from any physical impairment.
By his persuasive manner and skilful use of anecdotes, Mr Lamb convinces Derry that a life of seclusion and withdrawal from the world is dull as well as risky. The world has many beautiful objects to see and admire, sounds to hear and ideas to think. One should have an open mind and positive attitude. Hatred is worse than acid.
Derry’s mother tries her best to keep Derry with her. But Derry resolves to go back to Mr Lamb to look at things and listen to him. He no longer cares about his face. What he thinks and feels, and what he wants to see and find out and hear is more important. He does not want to remain at his home. He has got clear perception of things. If he does not go back there, he will never go anywhere in that world again. In short, Derry’s coming back to Mr Lamb is indicative of the change in the kind of fife he is likely to lead in future.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.“Mind the apples!”, says Mr Lamb. Why do you think, does he issue this instruction, to whom and how many times?
Ans. Mr Lamb issues this instruction to Derry, a boy of fourteen, who climbs over the garden wall and enters the garden. He asks Derry twice to mind the apples which have been blown down by the wind from the trees and strewn in the grass. He (Derry) could put his foot on some apple, fall down and hint himself.

Q2. What is the attitude of Mr Lamb to the small boy who comes to his garden ?
Ans. Mr Lamb’s attitude to the small boy is quite gentle, protective and accommodating. Like an elder in the family offering advice and instructions to the younger members, Mr Lamb advises the young boy to mind the apples lest he should trip. He also advises the boy not to feel afraid.

Q3. What explanation does the small boy offer for coming into the garden? How does Mr Lamb react to it?
Ans. The boy thought that this was an empty place. He did not know there was anybody there. Mr Lamb assures him that it is all right. He asks the boy what he is afraid of. He tells the boy that the house is empty as he is in the garden and is likely to stay there. Such a beautiful day should not be wasted indoors.

Q4. “T ‘m not afraid. People are afraid of me,” says Derry. What do people think on seeing his face? How do they react then?
Ans. On looking at Derry’s face they find it bad and frightful. They think that it is the ugliest thing they have ever seen. They call him a poor boy as one side of his face has been burnt by acid. Some of them are afraid of his ugly and horrible face.

Q5. How does Mr Lamb change the subject from ugly face to ripe apples?
OR
How does Mr Lamb keep himself busy when it is a bit cooler ?
Ans. There is a momentary pause in the conversation. Then Mr Lamb changes the subject. He says that when it is a bit cooler, he will get the ladder and a stick. Then he will pull down those ripe crab apples. He makes jelly. He calls these orange coloured and golden apples magic fruit. September is a good time to make jelly. He tells the boy that he could help him.

Q6. Why, according to Derry, has the old man changed the subject?
Ans. Derry says that people always change the subject. They don’t ask him about his physical impairment. They simply pretend that it is not true and isn’t there. They don’t want the boy to mind and get upset. He thinks that the old man has changed the subject because he is afraid to ask him about his burnt face.

Q7. “You got burned in a fire,” says Mr Lamb. What do you think, had happened to Derry’s face?
Ans. Derry’s face did not get burned in a fire. He got acid all down that side of his face and it burned it all away. Derry says that this acid not only ate his face up, it also ate him up. One side of his face is ugly and it won’t ever be any different.

Q8. How does Mr Lamb react to Derry’s query: ‘Aren’t you interested’?
Ans. Mr Lamb tells Derry that he is interested in anybody and anything. There’s nothing God made that does not interest him. Fruit and flowers, trees and herbs, grass and weeds all interest him. Even stuff or rubbish is interesting. He finds no essential difference between a “weed’ and another ‘flower’ as both represent life—developing or growing.

Q9. “We’re not the same”, says Derry. How does Mr Lamb try to convince him that there is no essential difference between them?
Ans. Derry and Mr Lamb are both of the same species. They represent various stages of growth. Derry is young, Mr Lamb is old. Both suffer from the same physical impairment. Derry has a burnt face. The old man has got a tin leg. But this physical disability is not important. What is important is that both are alive. Derry is standing there whereas Mr Lamb is sitting.

Q10. How, according to Derry, does the tin leg not trouble Mr Lamb? What explanation does the old man offer?
Ans. Derry thinks that the old man can put on trousers and cover up his tin leg. Then no one sees it. So, people don’t have to notice and stare at, as they do at his face. Mr Lamb replies that some people do notice and stare at his disability. Some don’t. In the end, they get tired of it. Moreover, there are plenty of things to stare at.

Q11.“There’s plenty of other things to stare at.” Which ‘things’ are worth staring at and why?
Ans. According to the old man there are plenty of things to stare at. These include crab apples or the weeds or a spider climbing up a silken ladder, or his tall sun-flowers. All of them are beautiful and ‘growing’. Derry is surprised at the mention of ‘things’. Mr Lamb tries to convince him that it is all relative. Then he mentions ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

Q12. How does Derry interpret the fairy stoiy ‘Beauty and the Beast’? What does he feel about himself?
Ans. Derry says that he has been told that story before. It teaches us that outward appearance does not matter. It is what one is inside that is important. Handsome is that handsome does. Beauty loved the monstrous beast for himself. When she kissed him, he changed into a handsome prince. No one except Derry’s mother kisses him. She too kisses him on the other side of the face. He has developed a negative attitude and says he does not care ’ “if nobody ever kissed” him.

Q13. How, according to Derry, do people try to console those suffering from some physical impairment?
Ans. They ask the person to look at all those people who are in pain and brave. They never cry or complain. They don’t feel sorry for themselves. Then the person is asked to think of all
those persons worse off than him. One might have been blinded or bom deaf, or confined to a wheelchair, or be crazy and dribble. Since Derry has none of these disabilities he is far better placed.

Q14. Why do these arguments fail to console Derry ?
Ans. Derry has developed negative attitude. He says that the arguments to console him will not make his face change. He feels more hurt and pained by the comments of persons or what he overhears. Once he heard a woman in the street whispering to another, “Look at that, that’s a terrible thing. That’s a face only a mother could love.” Derry calls it cruel of them.

Q15. How does Mr Lamb try to remove the baseless fears of Derry’?
Ans. Derry has developed withdrawal symptoms. He doesn’t like being near people. Mr Lamb tells him the story of a person who was afraid of everything in the world. So he went into his room and locked the door. He got into his bed and stayed there for a while. Then a picture fell off the wall on to his head and killed him.

Q16. Which fears did the man suffer from? What is the common factor in all of them?
Ans. The man feared that a bus might run him over, or a man might breathe deadly germs onto him, or a donkey might kick him to death or lightning might strike him down, or he might love a girl and the girl would leave him, and he might slip on a banana skin and fall and people who saw him would laugh their heads off. Most of these fears are imaginary.

Q17. What peculiar things does Derry notice about the old man?
Ans. Derry thinks that the old man is peculiar. He says peculiar things. He asks questions which Derry does not understand. There are no curtains at the windows in his house. He likes the light and darkness and hears the wind with the windows open.

Q18. What does Derry listen about himself? How does he react to it?
Ans. Derry listens to what his parents talk about him downstairs when he is not there. They seem to be anxious about him and his future. What he will ever do and how will he ever get on in that world. What is going to happen to him with that bum mark on his face. They say what is going to happen to him when they have died.

Q19. In what ways does Mr Lamb inspire Derry to overcome his physical disability?
Ans. Mr Lamb tells Derry that he ‘has got two arms, two legs and eyes and ears. He has got a tongue and a brain. He will get on the way he wants, like all the rest. And if he chooses and sets his mind to it, he could get on even better than all the rest.

Q20. “People are never just nothing. Never.” Why does Mr Lamb say so? Why does he advise Derry not to hate anyone?
Ans. Mr Lamb says that he has friends every where. Derry says that the people passing us in the street are not our friends. Mr Lamb tells him that they are not enemies either. When Derry says they are “Just nothing”, Mr Lamb makes this remark. He tells Derrry that hatred does more harm than any bottle of acid. Acid only bums the face, but hatred may bum a person away inside.

Q21. How should people be judged?
Ans. People should not be judged by what they look like. They must be judged by their actions. Appearances may be deceptive. On the other hand, people with physical impairments overcome their disabilities and perform wonderful feats in different spheres.

Q22. How, according to Mr Lamb, can one overcome of sense of hurt or humiliation caused by remarks at one’s physical disability?
Ans. Mr Lamb does not provide a straight forward solution. He says that in the street kids shout “Lamey-Lamb” at him. Still they come to his garden. They are not afraid of him because he is not afraid of them. He simply ignores their comments. He concentrates on other things which are encouraging and positive.

Q23. What possibility does Derry indicate in the old man’s act of getting the crab apples down? What is its dramatic importance?
Ans. Derry says that if the old man fell down the ladder and broke his neck, he might lie on the grass and die, in case he was alone in the garden. This observation proves prophetic. The last scene shows the ladder falling back with Mr Lamb. The playwright uses the device of foreshadowing to prepare us for the eventual end.

Q24. What does Deny want to know? How, according to the old man, can he know that?
Ans. Derry wants to know what he could do. The old man tells him that he does not know everything. He can’t tell the boy what to do. He has to find it out himself by waiting, watching, listening sitting here or going there. Derry says that he wants something no one else has got or ever will be. Something just his own.

Q25. What makes Derry think that the old man is always alone and miserable? What does he tell the old man? 
Ans. Derry asks Mr Lamb whether the persons who come there talk to him and ask him things. As usual, Mr Lamb says that some do, some don’t. He asks them as he likes to learn. This makes Derry think that nobody ever comes there.
He tells the old man that he is there all alone by himself and miserable. He says no one would know if he were alive or dead and nobody cares.

Q26. Why does Derry’s mother oppose his going back to the old man’s garden?
Ans. Derry’s mother tells him that she has heard things about the old man. In fact, she has been warned. Though they have lived there for three months, she knows what is worth knowing and Derry is not to go back there.

Q27. What argument does Derry give to convince his mother why he wants to go to the old man’s garden?
Ans. Derry says that the old m^n has a tin leg. He lives in a huge house without curtains. He has a garden. Derry wants to be there and listen to things that matter. Things nobody else has ever said. Things he wants to think about. They are not about his face and how he looks.

Q28.What makes Derry resolve to go to the old man?
Ans.He no longer cares about his face and looks. He is more concerned with what he thinks and feels, what he wants to see and find out and hear. He knows that if he does not go back there, he will never go anywhere in that world again. He wants the world. He no longer shuns it or avoids the people.

Q29. Comment on the ending of the play ‘On The Face Of If.
Ans.The play has a pathetic but dramatic ending. Mr Lamb who works actively in spite of his physical disability loses balance and falls down along with the ladder. Derry enters and tries to converse with Mr Lamb, who does not respond. Mr Lamb’s “exit” is exactly the same as envisaged by Derry earlier in the play.

Q30.What other ending would you suggest to the above story ?
Ans.I would like the play to end on a happy note. Derry’s efforts will revive the old man. After regaining his consciousness, Mr Lamb will grant permission to Derry to live with him and see, hear and learn things.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. How does Derry behave on entering Mr Lamb’s garden?
Ans. Derry does not use the gate to enter the garden. He climbs over the garden wall. His footsteps are heard as he walks slowly and hesitantly through the long grass. He is startled when Mr Lamb asks him to mind the apples and warns that he might trip. Deny shows signs of fear and nervousness. He explains that he took it for an empty place. Mr Lamb, the old man, tells him that the house is empty till he goes inside. That beautiful day is not to be spent inside. Derry panics and says he has got to go. He becomes angry to learn that the old man was watching him. He explains his intentions. He has not come there to steal anything. When Mr Lamb again asks him not to be afraid, Derry remarks that people are afraid of him because his face is ugly and frightful.

Q2. What efforts does Mr Lamb make to strike up a friendship with Derry, the small boy, who enters his garden ?
Ans. Mr Lamb is quite gentle, accommodating and protective. He asks Derry to mind the apples as he might trip. Instead of feeling angry over the way of his entry, he points out that the gate is always open and he is welcome. His cordial manner and conciliatory tone touch the inner most chords of a defiant boy like Derry who does not want to mix up with others. On learning about his burnt face, he does not react like others. Instead of exhibit¬ing fear and revulsion, he shows understanding and affection. He admits that he is the same as the boy. If the boy has a burnt face, he has got a tin leg. Gradually, he tries to win over the confidence of Derry by reminding him of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. He then tells him the story of a man who feared everything and shut himself in a room. His positive attitude towards life inspires the boy to talk to him like a friend.

Q3. What is the bond that unites the two—old Mr Lamb and Derry, the small boy ? How does the old man inspire the small boy?
Ans. It is the bond of physical impairment that unites old Mr Lamb and the small boy, Derry. He got his leg blown off during the war and since then he has a tin leg. Derry got one side of his face burnt by acid. Their respective disabilities have not only caused pain and suffer¬ing to the body but to their mind and soul as well. They have to live with their physical impairment. Mr Lamb has adjusted himself to the ways of the world and stopped bother¬ing about what people call him. He keeps himself busy in meaningful activities like pick¬ing apples, making jelly, bee-keeping and preparing toffee from honey. He loves reading books, hearing music, observing beautiful things and thinking about them. He inspires the small boy by saying that he has all the God-given organs intact. He has to decide what to do. He must work for it and then he can outshine even the others. Derry admits that ‘Handsome is he who handsome does.’ For him his face or how he looks does not matter now. He has become positive and has started thinking differently.

Q4. What is the theme of the play ‘On The Face Of It’? How has it been worked out?
Ans. The theme of the play is the consequences of physical impairment on the affected person’s body, mind and soul. The actual pain and inconvenience caused by the disabilities is often much less than the sense of alienation felt by the disabled person. People think that a person who has lost an organ or suffered some deformity such as a disfigured face should either be confined to the hospital or allowed to move in the company of people having the same disability. The playwright does not approve of this idea as it will create a strange sort of world. The attitude of persons towards the victims of accidents or disasters needs complete change. They must be considerate and thoughtful. They must appreciate the efforts of the physically challenged persons to overcome their disability and compete with others. The theme has been worked out through the interaction of two characters—old Mr Lamb and a young boy, Derry. Through his peculiar way of looking at things and asking ques¬tions, Mr Lamb persuades Derry to have a positive approach to fife. Only positive attitude towards life will give one true happiness.

Q5. Compare and contrast the characters of Mr. Lamb and Derry.
Ans. Both Mr. Lamb and the young boy Derry have one thing in common—their physical im¬pairment. Both are victims of these disabilities after birth. The leg of Mr. Lamb was blown off during the war. Derry’s face was burnt by acid. One side of his face looked very ugly and frightful.
Apart from this, they have nothing in common. Mr. Lamb is old, Derry is a young boy of fourteen. Mr. Lamb enjoys company and wants to talk. Derry is very withdrawn and defiant. He does not want to come in contact with people.
Mr Lamb does not bother about his lameness. He has developed love for reading books, hearing music, seeing beautiful things and thinking about them. He is calm and patient. He asks peculiar questions. He forces Derry to see that actions are more important than mere looks. In spite of his lameness he picks apples, makes jelly, maintains a beehive and makes toffees from honey. The gate of his garden is always open. Derry develops a new vision of life under his guidance. He becomes positive and looks happy.

Q6. What impression do you form of Derry, the small boy, in the play ‘On The Face Of It’ ?
Ans. Derry is a fourteen year old boy who is very withdrawn and defiant. One side of his face has been burnt by acid and it looks very ugly and frightful. This incident has made him a victim of inferiority complex.
Derry is highly sensitive to what others—his parents, family friends, well-wishers or even total strangerssay about him. Their anxiety, concern, fear and revulsion pains him more than the bum did.
Derry is quite intelligent. When Mr Lamb mentions the story ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Derry at once comes out with its moral: ‘Handsome is as handsome does.’ He, however, evokes self-pity by saying, “I won’t change… and no one’ll kiss me ever.”
Derry is sensitive to the sufferings of others. He arouses sympathy for himself by making enquiries about the old man’s leg, pain and how he passes his life alone. Derry has the capacity to learn. He is impressed by the old man’s way of life in spite of physical handicap. In the end, he does not bother about his face or looks and wants to see, hear, learn and think and do what no one else has done. In short, Derry is a developing character.

Q7. Which qualities of Mr Lamb have impressed you most?
OR
Draw a character sketch of old Mr Lamb.
Ans. Mr Lamb is the protagonist in the play. He dominates the play from beginning to end. He impresses us as a sensitive, watchful, kind, considerate and sympathetic person. He is quite gentle, accommodating and protective. He is more concerned about the boy’s well-being than the apples.
He is a victim of alienation due to his physical impairment. Though he keeps his gates open and says he has many friends, actually he lives alone and is quite miserable. He loves company and wants to talk. He shares his thoughts even with the young boy.
Mr Lamb is like a modem communicator and a psychologist who believes in drawing out the best of an individual. His tactful handling and peculiar questions make Derry shed some of his firmly fixed notions and respond to the things of the world around him. Thus he is a source of inspiration to the depressed and gloomy.
Mr Lamb is pragmatic. His way of life is an object lesson for all who suffer some physical handicap or the other. One can always undertake some meaningful activities which give life some purpose and aim and save it from boredom. Even in his fall with the ladder, he exhibits Christ-like grace.

Q8. Comment on the ending of the play ‘On The Face Of It’. How far do you find it effective ?
Ans. The ending of the play is quite suggestive. Mr Lamb, who has been picking apples, falls down along with the ladder. As Derry enters the garden, he finds total silence pervading there. He is surprised and shocked to see Mr Lamb on the ground. He hopes it is all right. He kneels near Mr Lamb and announces that he has come back and he is there. He implores the old man to get up and talk. As the old man does not respond to Derry’s repeated requests, he begins to weep.
The ending is quite dramatic and stageworthy. The old man with the ladder under him is a Christ-like figure. It is a pathetic ending, no doubt, but it does not spread gloom. Rather, it acts like a beacon light. The old generation has handed over the charge to the younger one. It is like a soldier making an exit with the satisfaction of mission accomplished. The old man has handed over his philosophy of life to Derry and inspired him to find out what he wants to be. Thus, though the old man expires physically, his ideas inspire Derry to pursue higher goals and Achieve them. In this sense, the ending is quite effective and meaningful.

Q9. What do you understand by ‘On The Face Of If ? Do you think the title ‘On the Face of If is appropriate? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Ans. ‘On The Face Of It’ is used to say that something seems to be good, true, etc. but that this opinion may need to be changed when you know more about it.
Apparently, the play seems to be an interaction between two persons suffering from physi¬cal impairment. Being a drama of ideas, it has minimum physical action. The old man’s efforts to strike up a friendship with a young boy of fourteen, who is very withdrawn and defiant, seems to be the main issue. The old man’s effort is worth appreciation.
However, as we go on reading further, more is in store for us. We learn the mental anguish, emotional starvation and physical distress of the physically challenged who are unable to lead normal life among normal persons. The play is not didactic but it inspires people like Derry, who have some physical blemish, to ignore it as well as comments of people about it. They should set goals for themselves and strive to outshine even the other normal persons. Thus, the title is quite appropriate and highly suggestive.

Q10. Both Derry and Lamb are physically impaired and lonely. It is the responsibility of society to understand and support people with infirmities so that they do not suffer from a sense of alienation. As a responsible citizen, write, in about 100 words what you would do to bring about a change in the lives of such people. [All India 2014]
Ans. Both Mr. Lamb and the young boy Derry have one thing in common—they are physically impaired. Both are victims of these disabilities after birth. Such type of people should not be reprimanded but they must be honoured with. They must be given respect and honour in the society. If somebody looks upon them with pessimistic approach, they may never be able to come out of their sorrow. But they will go into the world of alienation. As a responsible citizen, it must be our duty to provide them a respectable place in the society. Then only they can come into the mainstream of the society and live like a normal people. They must not be reminded of their disabilities. Only then we can play the role of a responsible citizen.
More Resources for CBSE Class 12
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NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Vistas English Should Wizard Hit Mommy?

QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED

READ AND FIND OUT
Q1.Who is Jo? How does she respond to her father’s story-telling?
Ans. Jo is the shortened form of Joanne. She is the four year old daughter of Jack and Clare. For the last two years, her father, Jack, has been telling her bed-time stories. Since these stories are woven around the same basic tale and have the same characters and turn of events, Jo takes so many things for granted and takes active interest in the story-telling session. The protagonist (main character) is always named Roger. It may be Roger Fish, Roger Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk or Roger Skunk. The other characters are the huge, wise, old owl and the thin small wizard. The creatures of the forest—small animals—also take part in playing with Roger and liking/disliking him.

Q2. What possible plot line could the story continue with?
Ans. Jack told the story of Roger Skunk—an animal which emitted a foul smell and how the wizard changed his smell to that of roses at his request. The other little creatures, who earlier hated Roger Skunk, now gathered around him because he smelled so good. They played various games of children till dark and then went to their homes happily.
Jo thought that the story was all over. Jack continued the story. When Roger Skunk returned home, his mother felt angry at the unusual smell he had acquired. She called it an awful smell and asked who had made him smell like that. She took her umbrella and went to the wizard with Roger Skunk. She hit the wizard right ‘wer the head. The wizard agreed to change his smell back. She wanted that a skunk should smell the way a little skunk should have. It should behave naturally and normally and not roaxn ahout in acquired smell or artificial manners. After a while the other small creatures got used to bhe typical smell of the skunk—the foul odour—and did not run away.

Q3.What do you think was Jo’s problem?
Ans. Little Jo had been accustomed to the happy ending of the stories of Roger, where the wizard was helpful to him in fulfilling his wish. At the request of Roger Skunk, the wizard had changed his awful smell to that of the roses. Other small animals liked it and played with Roger Skunk happily. She could not digest the ending of the extended story where Roger Skunk’s mother hit the wizard on the head and forced him to change Skunk’s smell to the earlier foul one.
Jo could not accept Skunk’s mother’s stubbornness e.g. hitting the wellwisher of her son, Roger Skunk. Jo insisted that her father should tell her the same story again the next day with changed ending. The wizard should hit that unreasonable mommy on the head and leave Roger Skunk emitting the pleasant smell of roses. In the beautiful world of a child’s imagination, fairies and wizard’s are more real than reality itself. She could not digest the harsh realities of life. She did not like the rude mother who hit the benefactor of her own son.

READING WITH INSIGHT
Q1. What is the moral issue that the story raises?
Ans.The story raises a moral issue—should parents always decide what the children should do or let the children do what they like to do. There is an evident contrast between an adult’s perspective on life and the world view of a little child.
Jack, the father, defends the behaviour of Roger Skunk’s mother who forced the old wizard to restore the natural but offensive smell to Roger Skunk. He sums up the issue in one sentence: ‘She knew what was right’. As to why the little skunk agreed to her mother’s proposal, Jack says that the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals. Jack cites an instance. When Roger Skunk was in bed, Mommy Skunk came up, hugged him and said he smelled like her little baby Skunk again and she loved him very much.
Little Jo, the spokesperson of children, does not agree with her father’s view. She feels that the Skunk’s mother should not have robbed the pleasure of her little son and deprived him of the pleasant smell of the roses. She insisted that the wizard hit that mommy on the head and did not change that little skunk back. She calls the little skunk’s mother “a stupid mommy”. She realised that her father was defending his own mother to her, or something odd.
Jo stuck to her view point. She insisted that her father should tell her the story the next day in a different manner. It was the wizard that took the magic wand and hit that mommy.

Q2. How does Jo want the story to end and why?
Ans. Jack ends the story in a way that seems unusual to Jo. In her dream world, the wizard is a miracle worker. She can’t digest the statement that the little skunk’s mother hit the wizard right on his head with her umbrella and he agreed to do what she desired. Roger Skunk did not smell of roses any more. He smelled very bad again.
Jo did not want the story to end this way. She had in mind, the pleasure of all the little animals. She says, “But daddy, then he said about the other little animals run away!” Her
father admits it. He agrees that Roger Skunk told his mother, “But Mommy, all the other animals run away!” -The mother does not bother about them. She says bluntly, “I don’t care. You smelled the way a little skunk should have.”
Jo can’t, digest the ending that the mother hit the wizard right over the head and he made Roger Skunk smell very bad again. She suggested to her father to end the story in another fnanner—“The wizard hit her on the head and did not change that little skunk back.” She “” wanted that stupid mommy to be punished and insisted repeatedly on the changed ending next night till her father agreed to consider it, saying, “Well, we’ll see.”

Q3. Why does Jack insist that it was the wizard that was hit and not the mother?
Ans. Jack has the typical parental attitude. He is of the opinion that the parents know what is best for their children. He asserts the parental authority time and again to quieten Jo and stifle her objections and amendments to the story of the foul smelling Skunk related by him.
He defends the attitude of Roger Skunk’s mother. She does not approve of the unnatural, unskunk like smell that Roger has. She calls the sweet smell of the roses an awful smell. Earlier the little skunk smelled the way a little skunk should. She wants the natural characteristic—the foul smell—restored. He says that she knew what was right. Secondly, the little skunk loved his mommy more than he loved all the other animals. That is why, he took his mommy to the wizard. She hit the wizard and forced him to change the smell of roses to his earlier bad odour, He insisted on this ending to emphasize the concern of the parents for children and their role in bringing them up on proper lines. .

Q4. What makes Jack feel caught in an ugly middle position?
Ans. Jack feels that he has been caught in an ugly middle position physically, emotionally as well as mentally. The woodwork, a cage of mouldings and rails and skirting boards all around them was half old tan and half new ivory.
He was conscious of his duties as a father and as a husband. Little Bobby was already asleep. His efforts to make Jo fall asleep proved quite fatiguing. She kept on interrupting him, asking for clarifications, pointing errors and suggesting alternatives.
Jack did not like that women should take anything for granted. He liked them to be apprehensive. So, he extended the story, though he was in a haste to go down stairs and help his pregnant wife in her hard work of painting the woodwork. The result of the extension to the story proved unfruitful and unpleasant for Jo, Jack and Clare. Jo wanted him to change the ending of the story. Clare complained that he had told a long story. Jack felt utter weariness and did not want to speak with his wife or work with her or touch her. He was really caught in an ugly middle pisition.

Q5. What is your stance regarding the two endings to the Roger Skunk story?
Ans. Of the two endings to the Roger Skunk story, I approve of the mature and realistic one narrated by Jack that the mother skunk hit the wizard on the head and forced him to restore the original smell to the skunk.
Every species of animals has its special features. She wanted Roger Skunk to smell the ’ way a little skunk should have. It should not carry the deceptive and borrowed smell of the roses. Roger Skunk is agreed to go with her because he loved his mommy more than he loved all the other little animals. She knew what was right.
The mother’s point was proved right. When the wizard restored the original foul smell to Roger Skunk, the other little animals got used to the way he was and did not mind it at all.
Of course, it took them sometime. Jack did not agree with Joanne’s remark that she was a ‘stupid’ mother. On the other hand, we find her a caring and’Joving mother. When Roger Skunk was in bed, mommy skunk embraced him and said he smelled like her little baby skunk again and she loved him very much. Thus, Jack’s version brings out the mother’s love, care and concern for her little baby.

Q6. Why is an adult’s perspective on life different from that of a child’s?
Ans. An adult’s perspective on life is different from that of a child’s because of the difference between their respective experiences and exposure to the world around them. An adult comes across all sorts of experiences—good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, happy or sad, encouraging or discouraging. The child lives a sheltered life under the protection and love of his parents. In their rosy dream world of fairies and wizards, nothing good is impossible for their favourite characters. Their adoration of these characters is nothing short of hero-worship.
The world of make-believe makes the children lovers of romance, beauty and all things pleasant in nature. These characters and their super feats, which appear so real in stories, may not be real at all in real life. The adults who are familiar with harsh realities of life know that all that glitters is not gold. Everything is not honey. They accept things critically— with a pinch of salt. Children usually lack this quality.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.What custom did Jack follow in the evenings and for Saturday naps?
Ans. Jack would tell his four year old daughter Joanne (or Jo) a stoxy out of his head in the evenings and for Saturday naps. This custom had begun when she was two and now it was nearly two years old.

Q2. What was the basic tale underlying each story that Jack told?
Ans. A small creature named Roger had some problem. He would go to the wise owl who told him to go to the wizard. Theiwizard performed a magic spell. It solved Roger’s problem. He demanded more pennies than Roger had. Then he directed Roger to the place where extra money could be found. Roger felt happy and played many games with other creatines. He then went home. His daddy arrived from Boston. They had supper. The stoiy wound up with the description of the items of their supper.

Q3. How was the custom of story telling especially fatiguing on Saturdays?
Ans. Jo was growing up. She never fell asleep in naps any more. Her brother, Bobby, who was two was already asleep with the bottle. But Jo would not take her nap like an infant. The bumps her feet made under the covers were hallway down the bed. Her fat face deep in the pillow shone in the sunlight. The custom seemed futile and especially fatiguing on Saturdays.

Q4. Which animal did Jo suggest for the story that day? What do you know about this new animal?
Ans. Jo suggested ‘skunk’ for the story that day. It was a new animal for her. They must be talking about it at nursery school. A skunk or a pole-cat is a small black and white North American animal. It can produce a strong unpleasant smell to defend itself when it is attacked.

Q5. Why did Roger Skunk go to see the old owl? [All India 2014]
Ans. Due to foul body odour of Skunk, other animals were not interested in playing with him. But he wanted to play with friends. So, Roger Skunk went to the wise owl to get rid of the foul smell.

Q6. How did Jo and Jack react as the new animal was mentioned?
Ans. Jo squeezed her eye&Shut and smiled to be thinking that she was thinking. She opened her blue eyes and said firmly, “Skunk”. Having a fresh hero momentarily stirred Jack to creative enthusiasm. He started telling the story of Roger Skunk that smelled so bad that none of the other little woodland creatures would play with him.

Q7. How did Jack imagine the reaction of Roger Skunk on being universally detested ?
Ans. Whenever Roger Skunk went out to play, all of the other tiny animals would cry: “Uh-oh, here comes Roger Stinky Skunk”. Then they would run away. Roger Skunk would stand there all alone. Two little round tears would fall from his eyes. Jack would relate all this with zest, remembering certain humiliations of his own childhood.

Q8. How do you think, did Jo identify with Roger Skunk, the victim of the hatred of other creatures?
Ans. Jo seemed to share the pleasure and pain of the hero of the stray—Roger. So complete was her identification that the mention of tears in Roger’s eyes brought tears in her eyes. Her mouth drooped down and her lower lip bent forward. Jack’s finger traced the course of a tear along the side of her nose.

Q9.Which two opposite forces acted on Jack while he was telling Jo a story about the little skunk?
Ans. Jack was happy that he was telling Jo something true, something she must know. He had no wish to hurry on. But just then, a chair scraped downstairs. He realised that he must get down to help his wife, Clare to paint the woodwork in the living room. Thus, the interests of daughter and wife pulled him in different directions like two opposite forces.

Q10.“This was a new phase, just this last month, a reality phase.” What do you learn about Jo’s reality phase? How did her parents try to convince her?
Ans. Jo would ask if the magic spells were real. When Jack told her that spiders ate bugs, she would turn to her mother and ask if that was really so. When Clare told her God was in the sky and all around them, she would turn to her father to know the reality. Jack tried to convince her by saying? “They’re real in stories.”

Q11. “He felt being an old man suited him.” How would Jack play the old wizard?
Ans. The wizard’s voice was one of Jack’s own favourite effects. He did it by scrunching up his face and somehow whining through his eyes. During this brief period of time his eyes would become full of watery secretions. He would say, ‘Eh? Whatzis? Whatcher want? You smell awful.’

Q12. How was the Skunk’s story different from the other stories narrated by Jack? [Delhi 2014]
Ans. The stories told by Jack were well taken by Jo. But the ending of the Skunk’s story did not satisfy her. She believed that the wizard should have hit back Skunk’s mommy and Skunk would have kept smelling like roses.

Q13. How did Jack make the role of the wizard more impressive?
Ans. Jack fixed Jo with the trance like gaze. Then he chanted a magic spell in the wizard’s elderly irritable voice. The chanting was rhythmical and had sweet rhymes. The exclamation “Bingo!” confirmed the pleasure, the pleasure of the wizard at having done what he had been trying to do. All of a sudden, the whole inside of the wizard’s house was full of the smell of roses.

Q14. How did Jo react to Jack’s chanting of the magic spell ?
Ans. Jack chanted the magic spell as the wizard would do. When he paused, he noticed a rapt expression widening out from his daughter’s nostrils. She forced her eyebrows up and her lower lip down in a wide noiseless grin. This expression reminded Jack of his wife’s expression while feigning pleasure at cocktail parties.

Q15. “Very silly of your stupid old daddy,” says Jack. Why, do you think, did Jack say so?
Ans. While narrating the story of Roger Skunk, Jack by chance said Roger Fish. Jo was quick to interrupt him and point out the error. She repeated twice that he had said Roger Fish and asked if that wasn’t silly. Jack had to admit that it had been very silly of him.

Q16. What action of Jo annoyed Jack? What do you think disturbed him?
Ans. Roger Skunk began to cry as he had only four pennies. Jo made the crying face again, but this time without a trace of sincerity. This annoyed Jack. Some more furniture rumbled down stairs. Jack thought that Clare shouldn’t move heavy things. He was worried because she was six months pregnant. It would be their third child.

Q17. Which two factors made Jack continue the story?
Ans. Roger Skunk had returned home at dark after playing happily with the other little animals. Jo did not fall asleep. She was starting to fuss with her hands and look out of the window. She thought the story was over. Jack did not like women when they took anything for granted. He liked them to be worried. So he continued the story.

Q18. Why was Roger Skunk’s mommy angry? What did she finally tell him?
Ans. She was angry because Roger Skunk had an unusual smell of roses. She called it awful and asked Roger who made him smell like that. When he said, “The wizard”, she ordered him to come with her and they were going right back to that very awful wizard. She seemed to be very angry with the wizard.

Q19. Why, do you think, did Roger Skunk’s mommy insist on taking him to the wizard at once?
Ans. Roger Skunk’s mommy wanted young skunk to smell the way a little skunk should. She did not want him to acquire the artificial and uncharacteristic smell of the roses. The foul smell was a tool for him to keep the enemy away. That is why she hit the wizard right over the head and he agreed to restore the original ‘foul’ smell.

Q20. How did Jo want the wizard to behave when mommy skunk approached him?
Ans. Jo had a deep regard for the wizard. He had magical powers and could do anything. She did not agree with her father’s version. She said that the wizard hit her (Roger Skunk’s mommy) on the head and did not change that little skunk back. She did not want that the other little animals should hate him again for his awful smell.

Q21. Why does Jo insist that her father should tell her the story with a different ending—where the wizard hit that mommy?
Ans. Jo was not convinced that the little animals eventually got used to the way the little skunk was and did not mind it all. It was just the opposite of what her father had said at the beginning. (The other tiny creatures called him Stinky Skunk and would run away, leaving Roger alone to shed tears.) Later, when the wizard made the skunk smell like roses, the other little animals gathered around him and played with him till dark. Hence Jo wanted the wizard to punish the stupid mommy.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. Why did Jack conduct the ‘story-session’ and what story did he tell? How did he ensure active participation of the listener in the development of the story?
Ans. Jack started telling bed-time stories to his two-year-old daughter Jo (Joanne) two ye&fs ago. Now she was four-year-old and had recently entered the reality phase. Jack would tell her stories in the evenings or for Saturdays naps.
Each new story was a slight variation of a basic tale. The central character was a small creature named Roger. He could be Roger Fish, Roger Squirrel, Roger Chipmunk or Roger Skunk. Roger had some problem and went for help to the wise, old owl. The owl would tell him to go to the wizard. The wizard would perform a magical spell that solved the problem. He would demand more pennies than Roger had. He would direct unhappy Roger to the place where extra pennies could be found. Roger would then feel happy and play games with other small creatures till dark. Then he went home to his mommy. His daddy arrived from Boston and they had their supper. The story would end with the description of the items of supper.
Since the plot of the story and the actions and reactions of the various characters remained the same, both Jo and Jack would enact typical scenes. Thus, Jo felt involved in the story.

Q2. What problem did Roger Skunk have? How was it solved?
Ans.Roger Skunk smelled very bad—in fact so bad that none of the other little woodland creatures would play with him. Whenever Roger Skunk went out to play, all the other tiny animals would cry: ‘Uh-oh, here comes Roger Stinky Skunk.’ Then they would run away. Roger Skunk would stand there all alone. Two little round tears would fall from his eyes. Roger Skunk walked along very sadly and came to a very big tree. There was a huge, wise, old owl on the topmost branch of the tree. He told the owl that all the other little animals ran away from him because he smelled very bad. The owl admitted that he did so. Skunk wanted to know what he could do and cried hard. The owl advised Roger Skunk to go to the wizard who lived in the dense forest over a little river. The wizard too observed that the Skunk smelled awful. He asked what he wanted. Roger Skunk told his problem. The wizard found his magic wand and asked Roger Skunk what he wanted to smell like. Roger thought and said, “Roses”. The wizard chanted a magical spell. There was a smell of roses all around the wizard’s house. Roger Skunk now smelled like that of roses

Q3. Why, do you think, was Roger Skunk’s mommy angry ? Does her anger seem justified? What did she decide to do?
Ans. Roger Skunk’s mommy was angry because he had lost his God-given smell. He no longer emitted the foul smell he was bom with. On the other hand, he had an awful and unusu¬ally sweet smell of roses. She wanted her young one to smell the way a young skunk should. This smell was God-given protection against danger. The predator could be kept at bay.
The newly acquired smell of roses, howsoever pleasant and sweet smelling could endan¬ger the skunk’s life by attracting the predators to the tiny skunk. She wanted to know who had done so. She felt very angry at the wizard. Her anger is justified because by his simple act he had put the life of the young skunk in danger. No mother can act peacefully or rationally when there is some danger to her young one. Hence, she at once decided to go to the wizard with Roger Skunk so that his foul smell might be restored and his life might be free from dangers.

Q4. Comment on the ending of the story ‘Should Wizard Hit Mommy’?
Ans. The story does not end with the wizard being hit by the mother. Joanne, who believes the fictional characters to be real, wants her papa to tell the story that the wizard hit the stupid mommy. Instead of having a nap, she kicks her legs up and sits down on the bed. Jack advises her to have a rest.
When he went downstairs, he found that his wife, Clare had spread the newspapers and opened the paint can. She was wearing an old shirt of his on top of her maternity smock. She was stroking the chair rail with a dipped brush. He heard footsteps moving overhead and scolded Joanne.
Jack watched his wife labour. He had come there to help her, but the story-session had filled him with utter weariness. Clare remarked that it was a long stoiy. Jack uttered only three words: ‘The poor kid’. He felt caught in an ugly middle position. Though he felt the presence of his wife there, he did not wish to speak to her, touch her or work with her. It leaves us baffled. We begin to ponder over human relationships. Thus, the ending is thought provoking.

Q5. Why, do you think, the title has a question mark? How far do you find it a convincing and appropriate title?
Ans. The question mark in the title ‘Should Wizard Hit Mommy?’ focuses the reader’s attention on the two well-wishers of the main character—Roger Skunk. The wizard solves Roger Skunk’s problem of bad smell and gives him the smell of roses at his request. The skunk’s mother is angry, because her baby has been deprived of the bad odour which a skunk of his age should emit. This bad odour is a sort of armoura protection against predators who are kept away by the dirty smell. The mother skunk hits the wizard on the head and forces him to restore the foul smell to the skunk.
Jo, the four-year-old girl, for whom the wizard is a real do-gooder, can’t digest his humiliation at the hands of a stupid mother. From her point of view, the smell of roses make skunk popular among the other little animals.
The story can take either direction and ending depending on the point of view of the adult or child. The author very cunningly seeks the reaction of his readers by putting a ques¬tion mark at the end of the title. One may approve of it or reject it. Thus, the title is quite convincing and appropriate one.

More Resources for CBSE Class 12
RD Sharma class 12 Solutions
NCERT Solutions for Class 12th English Flamingo
NCERT Solutions for Class 12th English Vistas
CBSE Class 12 Accountancy
NCERT Solutions for Class 12th Maths
CBSE Class 12 Biology
CBSE Class 12 Physics
CBSE Class 12 Chemistry
CBSE Sample Papers For Class 12

NCERT Solutions Class 12 Vistas English Class 12 Flamingo English

The Trip of Le Horla Summary

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Vistas English Evans Tries an O-level

QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED

READ AND FIND OUT
Q1. What kind of a person was Evans?
Ans. James Roderick Evans was a jail bird. The prison officers called him ‘Evans the Break’ as he had escaped from prison three times. At present he was in a solitary cell in Oxford Prison. He was quite a pleasant sort of chap—an amusing person who was good at imitations. He was not at all violent. He was just a congenital kleptomaniac. It meant he suffered from the disease of involuntarily stealing things. This was disease with which he was bom.

A great way to improve your English conversation skills is to write your own conversations! Write a dialogue between Conversation Between Two Friends to improve English fluency

Q2. What were the precautions taken for the smooth conduct of the examination?
Ans. The solitary cell of Evans was tinned into examination room by placing two small tables and two chairs in it. Reverend Stuart McLeery, a parson from St. Mary Mags was to work as invigilator. The cell was to be kept locked from outside and a prison officer would observe Evans from a peep-hole after every minute or so. All potential weapons such as knife, scissors, nail-file and razor had been taken away. Even the contents of the suitcase of the invigilator were thoroughly searched, fhe paper knife was taken away by a prison officer. The Governor himself was to listen-in the conversation in the cell during the examination. The cell was in the D-Wing which had two heavy gates—outer and inner. Both were locked securely. Mr Jackson, the prison officer, was in constant contact with the Governor on the phone.

Q3. Will the exam now go as scheduled?
Ans. The two-hour examination in O-Level German was scheduled to begin at 9.15 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 June. However, it started a bit late. At 9.20 a.m. Evans objected to the presence of Stephens, a prison officer, in the examination room, as it disturbed his concentration. Under the orders of the Governor, Stephens was got out of the cell.
At 9.40 a.m. a correction slip was dictated to the candidate. At 10.50 a.m. Evans complained of bitter chill and made a request for putting a blanket round his shoulders. At 11.20 a.m. McLeery informed Evans that only five minutes remained. At 11.22 a.m. Jackson called Stephens to the phone. The Governor was on line. Stephens was given orders to escort McLeery to the main prison gates. The examination was over at 11.25 a.m. The door of the cell was locked on Evans after McLeery had left the cell. Thus, the examination went on smoothly as scheduled.

Q4. Did the Governor and his staff finally heave a sigh of relief?
Ans. The Governor heard the door of the cell clang for the last time. The examination was over. Stephens escorted McLeery to the main gates. His Scots accent seemed broader and he seemed to have grown slimmer under his long black overcoat. Stephens was happy
that the morning had gone pretty well. In short, the Governor and his staff finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Their relief was, however, shortlived. On returning to the cell of Evans, Stephens found a person sprawling back in a chair. Blood dripped from his closely cropped front part of head on to his small black beard and over the white clerical collar down into the black clerical front. Stephens shouted wildly for Jackson. It was suspected that Evans had hit McLeery and walked out impersonating him. A search began for Evans dressed as a parson.

Q5. Will the injured McLeery be able to help the prison officers track Evans?
Ans. Injured McLeery spoke slowly and in broken phrases that he knew where Evans was. He asked the prison officers to get the police and not to worry about the ambulance. He found the German question paper on the table. He told Jackson to get the Governor. He drew the attention of the Governor to the German text on photocopied sheet on the last page. The Governor slowly translated it. The words ‘From Elsfied Way drive to the Headington roundabout’ caught his attention. The Examination Board was in Elsfield Way. Meanwhile, the police arrived. Before the Governor could explain anything, McLeery told the officer to go Elsfield Way. The Governor told Detective Superintendent Carter to take injured McLeery with him. McLeery was helped inside the car. He helped the police to follow the direction indicated in the German text.

Q6. Will the clues left behind on the question paper, put Evans back in prison again?
Ans. The text on the last page of German question paper contained the plan of escape. It had important clues of the route. From Elsfield Way the person had to drive to the Headington roundabout and from there to Newbury.
After sometime, Superintendent Carter informed the Governor on phone that McLeery had spotted Evans driving off along Elsfield Way. They had got the number of the car all right and given chase at opce. But they had lost him at the Headington roundabout. Since McLeery felt quite weak when they got to the Examination offices, they rang Radcliffe for the ambulances from there. They left McLeery on Elsfield Way. Thus, the injured McLeery, who had posed to help the authorities, disappeared and Evans remained untraced.
The other clues: Index number 313; Centre number 271 and ‘Golden Lion’ also had a deep meaning. The Governor took help of an Ordnance Survey Map for Oxfordshire. The six figure reference 313/271 brought him in the middle of Chipping Norton. He found Evans in the Golden Lion in Chipping Norton.

Q7. Where did Evans go?
Ans. Evans left the prison disguised as parson McLeery who had been injured by the examinee Evans. He pretended to guide the authorities to help them track Evans. When the police car reached the Examination offices on Elsfield Way, McLeery (Evans in disguise) grogged. An ambulance was called in from the Radcliffe and he was left there.
Evans got into a car as arranged beforehand. It had soap, water, clothes and a map. He removed blood stains from hair, peeled the false beard, changed clothes, put on a smart new hat. Then he drove to the Golden Lion in the middle of Clipping Norton.
He was traced in this hotel by the Governor of Oxford Prison following the clues in the German text on the German question paper.

READING WITH INSIGHT
Q1. Reflecting on the story, what did you feel about Evans’ having the last laugh?
Ans. It is Evans who has the last laugh. The play makes a fun of the routine procedure followed by prison authorities and police. It depicts how the criminals are one step ahead of the jail authorities.
All precautions have been made by the Governor of Oxford Prison to see that the O-Level German examination, held in prison for the prisoner Evans, does not provide him means to escape. The examination passes off peacefully. Mr Stephens, a prison officer, sees off McLeery, the invigilator and on returning to the cell finds injured “McLeery” sprawling in Evans’s chair.
It is easy for Evans impersonating as McLeery to leave the prison along with police officer. He claims to have spotted Evans driving off along Elsfield Way but loses track at the Headington roundabout. He grogs off near the Examination offices. Then he disappears. He is located in the Golden Lion in Chipping Norton by the Governor of Oxford Prison. Instead of bringing Evans securely back to prison, the Governor lets him come in a prison van guarded by a prison officer. It is just what Evans had planned. The driver and the ‘prison officer’ are his friends and Evans escapes from prison once again.
In fact, Evans has made elaborate arrangements. He joins the night classes in September. The German teacher is one of his friends. He has his friends in the Examination Board as well. He waits patiently till June. Two of his friends bind and gag Reverend Stuart McLeery in his Broad Street flat. One of them personates him. He is dressed up as a minister. He has two collars and two black fronts on his person. Evans fiddles about under the blanket with the black front and the stud at the back of the collar. His friends also arrange a car where he can change his make up as well as clothes. He successfully deceives the police as well as the prison authorities.

Q2. When Stephens comes back to the cell he jumps to a conclusion and the whole machinery blindly goes by his assumption without even checking the identity of the injured ‘McLeery’. Qoes this show how hasty conjectures can prevent one from seeing the obvious? How is the criminal able to predict such negligence?
Ans. On his return to the cell of Evans, Stephens saw a man sprawling back in Evans’ chair. For a semi-second Stephens thought it must be Evans. But the small black beard, white clerical collar and black clerical front and red blood dripping from the front of his head, made Stephens jump to a conclusion—Evans impersonating McLeery, had walked out.
Almost immediately the whole machinery jumped into action. No one bothered to check the identity of the injured “McLeery.’ The assumption of Stephens prevailed. It was reinforced by the broader Scots accent and slimmer body of the parson he had seen off and the blood coming out of wound and dress of the “parson” in the cell.
The hasty conjecture prevents one from seeing the obvious. The jail breaker might have played a trick again. Even the Governor is deceived. He believes what his staff says. The man who doubted everything and cross checked it, does not even examine the victim. Due to their long sojourn in prison the criminals become familiar with the temperaments of prison officers as well as the routine they follow. A criminal is always disbelieved. On the other hand, an officer’s word is always accepted. The criminals are sure that negligence of the prison authorities is their only passport to freedom. They doubt the remotest possibility and doubt genuine telephone calls as fake ones, yet an assumption is accepted as truth and the obvious is ignored. Hence, the criminal is able to predict such negligence on the part of prison authorities.

Q3. What could the Governor have done to securely bring back Evans to prison when he caught him at the Golden Lion? Does that final act of foolishness really prove that “he was just another good-for-a-giggle, gullible governor, that was all”.
Ans. The Governor should have escorted Evans himself to the Oxford Prison. He had only two persons with him, and later it turned out that these two persons were associates of Evans. One of them, who posed to be the silent prison officer instructed the driver to move on faster. The driver, who spoke in a broad Scots accent, was the person who acted as the Reverend S. McLeery. The Governor should have at least checked the identity of the staff to whom he was entrusting the prisoner.
Secondly, he should have contacted Mr Jackson and Mr Stephens, the two prison officers, Detective Superintendent Carter and Detective Chief Inspector Bell, who were all searching Evans.
It was perhaps his over excitement and childish enthusiasm at his arm-chair reasoning in locating the hide-out of Evans and catching him at the Golden Lion, that he threw all cautions to wind and acted foolishly by reposing confidence in wrong persons. Evans and his associates had befooled him earlier as well. The German teacher and the invigilator were friends of Evans. The correction slip sent from Examination Branch was a clever device to convey the route of escape and the hide-out. The Governor’s last act of foolishness really proved that he was only worth being laughed at as he was too credulous and trustful.

Q4. While we condemn the crime, we are sympathetic to the criminal. Is this the reason why prison staff often develop a soft comer for those in custody?
Ans. People condemn the crime as it is an evil act against law and society. In the past, punishment was the only way to treat the criminals. The greater the crime, the harsher and harder the punishment, which could go to the extent of life-imprisonment or death sentence.
In the modem age, efforts are on to reform the criminals, even the hard core, and bring them back to the mainstream. Hence police, prison officers, judges and other law-enforcing agencies develop a soft comer for the people in custody. While the sufferer should get justice, the innocent must not be punished. This idea too helps the prison staff often develop a soft comer for jthe prisoners.
The behaviour of prison officer Jackson amply illustrates the above point. He is very strict in enforcing the rules and regulations of prison as well as the Governor’s orders. Yet somewhere in him we find a tiny core of compassion. Even Evans knew it. Mr Jackson has asked Evans to remove that filthy bobble hat. Evans requested him to allow it to wear it during exam as it brought luck to him. It was kind o’ lucky charm for him. Jackson agreed.

Q5. Do you agree that between crime and punishment it is mainly a battle of wits?
Ans. Crime and punishment are like two sides of the coin. Punishment follows crime. It is only after a crime has been committed that the law-enforcing agencies become active and try to nab the offenders and bring them to book. If efforts of the police are successful, suitable punishment is awarded to the criminals.
Since the location, time and victim of a crime cannot be predicted in advance, preventive action to check the crime is not possible. Even tight security fails when hardened criminals or suicide-minded human bombs come into play.
Criminals are always one step ahead of the police. It is always a battle of wits between the two. The police tries to trace the clues left by the criminals and apprehend them on the basis of these. On the other hand, the criminals devise a foolproof plan and try to leave no clues which might help in identification later on. Since the legal system is based on evidence—both human and material—police as well as criminals and their lawyers, use their wits to turn the case in their favour and win it.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.What request did the Secretary of the Examination Board receive from the Governor of Oxford Prison?
Ans. The request was to create an examination centre in the prison for one candidate named James Roderick Evans. He had started night classes in O-Level German last September. He was the only one in the class and said that he was keen to get some sort of academic qualification. The Secretary agreed to give him a chance and promised to send all the forms and stuff.

Q2. What enquiry did the Secretary of the Examination Board make about Evans? What did the Governor tell him about Evans?
Ans. The Secretary wanted to know if Evans was a violent sort of person. The Governor told him that there was no record of violence. He was informed that Evans was quite a pleasant fellow—an amusing person. He was good at imitation and hence h star at the Christmas concert. He suffered from the desire to steal. He had this disease from birth.

Q3. What facts about Evans did the Governor of Oxford Prison not reveal to the Secretary of the Examination Board?
Ans. Evans was called ‘Evans the Break’ by the prison officers. He had escaped from prison three times already. He would have done so from Oxford Prison as well if there had pot been unrest in the maximum security establishments up north.

Q4. What issue regarding conducting the examination did the Secretary of Examination Board raise? What was he told?
Ans. The Secretary wanted to know whether a room could be arranged for holding examination. The Governor told him that Evans had a cell on his own. He could sit the exam in there. Secondly, they could easily get one of the parsons from St. Mary Mags to invigilate. The Secretary hoped that they would not have much trouble in keeping Evans without communicating with others.

Q5. Who met Evans on the eve of the examination? What does this brief interview reveal?
Ans. It was Evans’ German teacher who shook him by the hand at 8.30 p.m. on Monday, 7 June. They met in the heavily guarded Recreational Block, just across from D Wing. The teacher wished him good luck in German, which Evans failed to understand. The teacher observed that he had a remote chance of getting through. Evans remarked that he might surprise everybody. These remarks prove quite meaningful and prophetic.

Q6. Who visited Evans on the morning of the Examination? What did they visit him for?
Ans. Mr Jackson and Mr Stephens visited Evans. Jackson was the senior prison officer on D Wing and Stephens was a burly, surly-looking, new recruit. They visited him to ensure that he did not retain any potential weapon with him. Mr Stephens was asked to take away the razor after Evans had shaved himself.

Q7. What evidence do you get from the text to show that Mr Jackson and Evans “had already become warm enemies” ?
Ans. Jackson nodded curtly. He addressed Evans as “little Einstein” and mockingly enquired about him. He felt annoyed as Evans pointed out his ignorance about Einstein. Jackson genuinely loathed about the long, wavy hair of Evans. He had taken away the nail-scissors and nail-file of Evans. He used the word ‘bloody’ too often while addressing Evans.

Q8. How was the Reverend Stuart McLeery dressed and why ?
Ans. He had put on a long black overcoat and a shallow-crowned clerical hat. His spectacles had thick lenses. It was a chilly day for early June and the steady drizzle, which had set in half an hour earlier still continued. In his right hand he was carrying a small brown suitcase.

Q9. What were the contents of the small brown suitcase that McLeery carried?
Ans. It had a sealed question paper envelope, a yellow invigilation form, a special ‘authentication’ card from the Examination Board, a paper knife, a Bible, and a current copy of ‘The Church Times’. Except the last two articles, the rest were related to his morning duties as invigilator.

Q10. What was the object found in McLeery’s suitcase that puzzled Mr Jackson? How did McLeery react to Mr Jackson’s query?
Ans. There was a smallish semi-inflated rubber ring. Even a young child with a waist of about twelve inches might have to struggle into it. Jackson asked McLeery if he was thinking of going for a swim. McLeery’s amiable demeanour was slightly ruffled by this tasteless pleasantry. He answered Jackson somewhat sourly and told him he suffered from piles.

Q11. What instructions did the invigilator issue to the examiner before the examination?
Ans. He asked the examinee if he had got a watch. He would tell him when to start and again
when he had five minutes left. He asked him to write the name of the paper, 021-1, in the .
top left-hand comer, and his index number-313 in the top right-hand comer. Just below that he was to write his centre number-271.

Q12. How did the Governor, who was listening-in, react to these numbers at that time and later on after the escape of Evans?
Ans. Initially, the Governor took them as innocuous, routine information and did not pay much attention. Later on, when Evans had escaped, he consulted the Ordnance Survey Map for Oxfordshire. He found that the six-figure reference 313/271 pointed to the middle of Chipping Norton—the place of hiding for run away Evans.

Q13. What was the import of the two phone calls the Governor received after a quarter of an hour of the start of the examination?
Ans. The first phone call was from the Assistant Secretary of the Examination Board. It was about a correction slip in the O-Level German paper. The word ‘Golden Lion’ was to replace ‘Golden Lowe’. The second call was from the Magistrate’s Court. They needed a prison van and a couple of prison officers for a remand case.

Q14. How did the Governor react to the two phone calls he received in quick succession?
Ans. When the Governor received the first call, he checked it immediately by dialling the number of the Examination Board. He wanted to ascertain whether it was a fake phone call or some signal or secret message. He found the line engaged. After the second phone call, the Governor was wondering whether that could be a hoax. Then he told himself not to be so silly. His imagination was beginning to run riot.

Q15. What did Stephens notice on looking through the peep-hole of Evans’ cell?
Ans. He found Evans sitting with his pen between his lips. He was staring straight in front of him towards the door. Opposite him sat McLeery. His hair was amateurishly clipped pretty closely to the scalp. His eyes were fixed at ‘The Church Times’. His right index finger was hooked beneath the narrow clerical collar. The fingers of the left hand were slowly stroking the short black beard.

Q16. What request did Evans make about half an hour before the end of the examination? How did McLeery and Stephens react to it?
Ans. Evans made a polite request if he could put a blanket round his shoulders as it was a bit chilly there. McLeery told Evans to be quick about it. A minute later, Stephens was surprised to see a grey blanket draped round Evans shoulders.

Q17. Who was the phone call three minutes before the end of the examination meant for? How important did it prove?
Ans. The phone call was meant for Stephens. Jackson told him that the Governor wanted to speak to him. Stephens listened to the rapidly spoken orders. The phone call was important. Stephens had to accompany McLeery to the main prison gates. He was to see the door locked on Evans after McLeery had left the cell. It was also important for Evans. He could make swift changes and adjustments, in his dress and make-up.

Q18. What did* Stephens notice on coming back to the cell of Evans? What did he assume?
Ans. Stephens saw a man sprawling in Evans’ chair. The front of his closely cropped, irregularly tufted hair was covered with red blood. It had dripped already through the small black beard. It was now spreading over the white clerical collar and down into the black clerical front. He assumed that Evans had hit McLeery and left the prison impersonating McLeery.

Q19. How did the Prison machinery swing to action? What point was overlooked?
Ans. Sirens were sounded. Prison officers shouted orders. Puzzled prisoners pushed their way along the corridors. Doors were banged and bolted. Phones were ringing everywhere. Jackson and Stephens supported McLeery on either side and brought him to the prison yard. The identity of the injured “McLeery” remained unchecked. Thus, hasty conjectures prevented them from seeing the obvious.

Q20. How did the injured “McLeery’’ behave? What, do you think, did he achieve by this sort of behaviour?
Ans. The injured “McLeery” claimed to know where Evans was. He showed more interest in arrival of police than of ambulance. He drew the Governor’s attention to the German question paper. The photocopied sheet in German contained the route of escape. He diverted the attention of the prison officers and the police to the person (Evans) who had already left the prison.

Q21. What did the Governor tell Detective Superintendent Carter when he enquired about the injured “McLeery”?
Ans. Carter wondered who had hit “McLeery”. Before the Governor could explain anything, McLeery told the officer to go to Elsfield Way, where Evans… The Governor told Carter to take “McLeery” with him if he thought he would be all right. He was the only one who seemed to know what was happening. Thus, injured “McLeery” left the prison in police car as a witness.

Q22. What conclusion did the Governor arrive at after reading the German text on the question paper?
Ans. The text advised Evans to drive to the Headington roundabout from Elsfield Way. The Examinations Board was in Elsfield Way. Someone from the Board must have been involved in the escape plan from the very beginning. It was clear from the question paper and the correction slip.

Q23. What did the Governor’s questioning of Stephens reveal?
Ans. It was Stephens who had taken “Evans” to the main gates. Stephens claimed that he had acted as he had been told by the Governor on phone at about twenty past eleven just before the paper was over. The Governor said that he had not rung him. He had used the telephone at that time, unsuccessfully, to get through to the Examinations Board.

Q24. Why was the Governor angry with Jackson?
Ans. Jackson had spent two hours in Evans’s cell the previous evening. He had confidently reported that there was nothing hidden away there. Yet Evans had concealed a false beard, a pair of spectacles, a dogcollar and other material of a priest. He also had a weapon with which he hit McLeery across the head.

Q25. What did the Governor think of Evans and his plan after ringing up Detective Chief Inspec¬tor Bell?
Ans. The Governor admired clever Evans and his beautifully laid plan. He called it careless of him to leave the question paper behind. He observed that all criminals made mistakes somewhere. That is why they were nabbed. He hoped that very shortly Mr clever-clever Evans would be back inside the prison.

Q26. What did Detective Superintendent Carter inform the Governor about Evans?
Ans. Superintendent Carter informed the Governor that McLeery had spotted Evans driving off along Elsfield Way. They had got the number of the car all right. They had given chase immediately, but they had lost him at the Headington roundabout. He assumed that Evans must have doubled back into the city.

Q27. Where, according to the Governor, was Evans likely to be found and why ? What did he think about himself after this episode?
Ans. The Governor said that Evans was on his way to Newbury. He explained his reasons for believing so. The clues in the German text pointed to this. It was now a police job to arrest him. He thought he was merely a laughing stock, a credulous governor.

Q28. What truth did the enquiries about injured “McLeery” from (i) Carter and (ii) the Radcliffe reveal?
Ans. Carter said that he was in the Radcliffe. He was really groggy near the Examination offices. They rang for the ambulance from there. The accident department of the Radcliffe informed him that there was no parson named McLeery there. They had sent an ambulance to Elsfield Way, but the fellow had vanished from there by then.

Q29. Where did they find the Reverend S. McLeery and in what condition? What can you deduce from it?
Ans. A quarter of an hour later they found the Reverend S. McLeery in his study in Broad Street. He was bound and gagged securely. He said that he had been there since 8.15 a.m. when two men had called and… It is obvious that the two men were helpers of Evans and one of them acted as the Reverend S. McLeery during the Exam.

Q30. What did the inmates of the prison come to know by tea-time?
Ans. They came to know what had really happened. Earlier, it was presumed that Evans had impersonated McLeery and walked out of the prison. The truth was that Evans, impersonating McLeery, had stayed in.

Q31. What sort of hair did Evans have? How then did he personate McLeery?
Ans. Evans had long, wavy hair, whereas the hair of McLeery had been amateurishly clipped pretty closely to the scalp. Jackson had pinched Evans’s scissors. So, he had to remove his hair off his head with his only razor. Then he kept his head covered with a bobble hat to prevent detection.

Q32. Jackson had thoroughly searched Evans’s cell for two hours the previous evening. How then was Evans able to disguise himself as a parson?
Ans. Evans had really nothing hidden in the cell. It was McLeery who had worn two black fronts and two collars. Evidently, Evans put on one set of these. He used the blanket to cover his act. The parson suddenly seemed to have grown slimmer when he left the Oxford Prison.

Q33. “It was that bloody correction slip, I s’pose”. Who said this, when and why?
Ans. Evans said this when he found the Governor of Oxford Prison in his room in Hotel Golden Lion in Chipping Norton. He knew he was beaten. The details of the escape plan were there on the correction slip and he had left it there on the table.

Q34. What two purposes did the correction slip serve? Which of them did Evans consider more important?
Ans. The correction slip provided Evans the name of the hotel and its location. Secondly, it contained the exact time the exam started. The really important thing for Evans was that the phone rang just before the exam finished. Thus, he was able to get the prison officers out of the way for a couple of minutes.

Q35. “How did you know which Golden Lion it was? There’s imdreds of ’em,” said Evans. How did the Governor of Oxford Prison locate the hiding place of Evans?
Ans. The Governor told Evans that he used the same method as Evans had done. The six-figure reference 313/271 was formed by two hints—Index number 313 and Centre number 271. If one takes an Ordnance Survey Map for Oxfordshire, this number lands one bang in the middle of Chipping Norton.

Q36. “Tell me one thing before we go. How on earth did you get all that blood to pour over your head?” asks the Governor. How does Evans react to this question?
Ans. Evans looked a little happier. He said it was very clever to get a couple of pints of blood into a cell. There was none there to start off with. The “invigilator” got searched before he came in. Evans refused to disclose it as he might use that trick again. Governor then enquired if it was anything to do with a little rubber ring for piles. Evans grinned and asked if it wasn’t clever.

Q37. “Must have been a tricky job sticking a couple of pints.” “Nah! you’ve got it wrong, sir. No problem about that.” In the light of the above remarks, explain what problem regarding blood Evans faced and howjt was solved?
Ans. Storing blood in the rubber ring was not the problem. It was clotting that was the big problem. They got pig’s blood from slaughter house in Kidlington. But to stop it clotting actual blood has to be mixed with one-tenth of its volume of 3.8 per cent trisodium citrate.

Q38. How did Evans manage to plan the escape from, prison?
Ans. The Governor had taken enough precautions. Evans had no visitors. He had no letters. Evans told the Governor that he had got lots of friends. He gave the example of his German teacher. The Governor said he was from the Technical College. Evans seemed to enjoy all this and asked if he had checked it. Reluctantly, the Governor had to admit that far more was going on than he thought or imagined.

Q39. What suggestion did the handcuffed Evans make while clambering to van?
Ans. Evans observed that the Governor’s German was pretty good and asked if he knew any more of the modem languages. When the Governor said, “Not very well,” Evans grinned happily. He said that he had noticed that they had got some O-Level Italian classes coming up next September. The Governor said that perhaps he wouldn’t be with them next September. Evans pondered over these words and said that he wouldn’t.

Q40. Who, do you think, has the last laugh—the Governor or Evans? How?
Ans. The Governor is complacent that he has nabbed the run away prisoner and soon the police van will land him in prison. However, facts prove otherwise. As the van turns to the Oxford road, the silent prison officer unlocks the handcuffs and asks the driver to move on fast. The driver enquires in broad Scots accent where they should make for. Evans suggests Newbury. It is crystal clear that the two persons are accomplices of Evans. He has escaped from prison once again. Hence, it is Evans who has the last laugh.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. Should criminals in prison be given the opportunity of learning and education ? Give reasons in support of your answer.
Ans. Modern prisons are no longer the dark dungeons of the middle ages where even the rays of the sun could not penetrate. Human rights are observed scrupulously in all civilised countries even in jails. These prisons are gradually becoming reform houses. Under the prevailing conditions criminals are given the opportunity of self improvement. Provision is made for learning and education. The light of knowledge, it is hoped, will reform the criminals, change their thoughts and make them responsible citizens. They will join the mainstream, give up crime and contribute to the well-being of society and nation. Instead of physical torture and mental agony, love and sympathy be used to transform the bitterness, cruelty and evil bent of mind. Let us hate sin and crime, not the sinner and criminals. Hence, the criminals should be given opportunity of learning and education in prison.

Q2. What precautions were taken for the smooth conduct of the O-Level German examination in prison and why ?
Ans. James Roderick Evans was a smart fellow. He was known as ‘Evans the Break’ among the prison officers. He had escaped from prison three times. Now he was taking O-Level German Examination in prison.His solitary cell was located in D-Wing, which had two heavy gates—outer and inner. Both were locked securely. Evans’s cell was kept under strict observation. Prison officer Mr Stephens watched his activities every minute through the peep-hole. Mr Jackson, the incharge of D-Wing, was in constant touch with the Governor on phone. The Governor himself listened in to the conversation in the cell. During his stay in prison, Evans was not allowed to have any visitor or letters.
All potential weapons such as knife, scissors, nail-file and razor had been removed from the cell of Evans. The contents of the suitcase of the invigilator, Reverend S. McLeery were also thoroughly searched. Even the paper-knife was taken away. In short, all precautions had been taken to see that Evans did not get a means to escape.

Q3. How was Evans able to devise foolproof plan for escape from prison as well as items for disguise in spite of severe restrictions and strict observation ?
Ans. First, Evans joined the 0-Level German night classes in last September. He was the only student. The Governor had appointed a teacher from the Technical College. Since Governor did not check on the person, a friend of Evans joined as German teacher. He was in contact with him everyday and visited him even on the eve of the examination to say good luck. The plan was devised slowly—from September to June.
Reverend S. McLeery, who was to invigilate, was bound and gagged in his flat. A friend of Evans replaced him as invigilator. McLeery put on double clerical collar, two black clerical fronts. He carried a pair of reading glasses and the semi-inflated rubber ring for piles in his suitcase.
Evans had friends in the Examination Board as well. The correction slip fixed the hotel and provided exact time of start of paper. Two more telephone calls proved handy—One asking for prison-van for court and the other for giving instructions to Stephens. It was near the Examination Board that Evans as “injured McLeery” got a car to change his make¬up and clothes and escape to Golden Lion. Here, it is worth-mentioning that the silent prison officer and the driver, who drove the prison van from the Golden Lion and helped Evans escape, were his friends.

Q4. What factors, other than friends, do you think, contributed to the success of the plan of the escape devised by Evans?
Ans. Evans’s calm, pleasant, amusing temperament and his insight into the working of the minds of prison authorities helped him a lot. He devised everything carefully and executed the plan skilfully. Every detail was worked out beforehand. For example, he knew that Mr Jackson who used rough tone, had some compassion for him deep inside. He granted Evans’s request to keep the filthy looking red and white bobble hat on his head during the examination. It was, in fact, a device to hide his recently closely cropped hairs. Secondly, he knew that the whole prison machinery blindly goes by assumption. He impersonated McLeery and posed to be injured. No one checked the injured “McLeery”. The hasty conjecture was that Evans, impersonating McLeery, had hit the parson and escaped. It prevailed. The police was after run away Evans while the real Evans left the prison with the police as the only witness. He claimed to have seen Evans driving. When they reached Examination Board he acted as if he was quite weak. The police officer phoned for an ambulance and left Evans there. He got into the car his friends had kept for him and disappeared from the scene. Thus, his ingenuity, presence of mind and theatricality also helped him.

Q5. What lapses on the part of the police and prison authorities helped Evans to escape from the prison?
Ans. In spite of elaborate precautions and careful arrangements, Evans succeeds in slipping away. Certain lapses on the part of the police and prison authorities contribute to it. The Governor, who smells a rat in every call and tries to cross check it, fails at vital moments. For example, no one tries to verify the identity of the German teacher, the invigilator, the “injured” McLeery, the driver of prison-van and the “silent” prison officer who handcuffs Evans at the Golden Lion hotel. Sometimes, appearance—the outward form and dress— deceives as it is accepted to be genuine. The criminals impersonate even the prison officer and driver. The Detective Superintendent too acts hastily. He does not drive to the Rad- cliffe and get the “injured” McLeery admitted there. This provides him God-sent opportunity to disappear. The greatest lapse is on the part of the Governor who nabs Evans at Golden Lion hotel and fails to bring him to jail as he gets tricked by the prison-van, “silent” prison officer and driver. Had he waited for police escort, Evans would not have escaped yet again.

Q6. What estimate do you form of the Governor of Oxford Prison ?
OR
How far do you agree with the observation: “He was just another good-for-a-giggle, gullible governor, that was all” ?
Ans. The Governor was a fussy sort of person. He would carry things to the extreme and in his enthusiasm, sometimes overdid them and ignored the obvious. His imagination seemed to run riot. He was apprehensive that Evans might try to take advantage of the examination and escape. He was filled with doubts. Evans might take advantage of the invigilator and hi-jack-knife him.
The Governor wag duty-conscious. He did not run away from responsibility. He listened- in to the conversation in the cell himself. In spite of all his virtues, the Governor had a serious flaw. He was too credulous. He had full faith in his officers and the law-enforcing machinery. He believed the injured “McLeery” and let him accompany Superintendent Carter to help him trace Evans. Actually, he let Evans leave the prison.
The final act of foolishness was when he let Evans be carried in a prison-van, without sufficient police escort. He had used his intelligence to locate the hide-out of Evans and nab him. His gullible nature deprived him of all credit. In the end, he appeared as “another good-for-a-giggle, gullible governor.”

Q7. Using examples from the play ‘‘Evans Tries An 0-Level’ show how the criminals like Evans turn the tables on the Governor of Oxford Prison and the local police.
Ans. Evans is familiar with the methods of the prison authorities and he anticipates all their moves. Hence, in the battle of wits between himself and the official machinery he employs tricks unknown to them. The new German teacher and the replaced invigilator are merely stooges of Evans. Carrying blood in a rubber ring for piles is a novelty. The device of the correction slip to fix the hide out and the route to it is another piece of ingenuity. The master-stroke is when Evans impersonating wounded “McLeery” stays in prison and misguides the police to trace the parson. The use of modem devices such as prison-van, car, telephone, Ordnance Survey Map for Oxfordshire etc. shows how the criminals can misuse these facilities for their own ends. The whole operation is run by someone in the Examination Board who remains unknown till the end. It is well-planned and skilfully executed escape using the prison-van and prison staff.

Q8. What impression do you form of ‘Evans the Break’?
OR
Attempt a brief character sketch of James Roderick Evans.
Ans. “Evans the Break” as he was known among the prison officers was a jail-bird. He was a congenital kleptomaniac, but he was non-violent. He was quite a pleasant sort of person— an amusing chap; a star at the Christmas concert good at imitations.
Evans had long wavy hair. When we meet him for the first time his face was unshaven and he wore a filthy looking red and white bobble hat upon his head. He had tucked a grubby string-vest into equally grubby trousers. He smiled cheerfully at the prison officers. “Evans is smart, cunning and resourceful. He makes a request to Mr Jackson to allow him to put on his bobble hat. But he complains to the invigilator against Stephens. Stephens’ presence disturbs Evans’ concentration. He makes a very polite request to cover himself with blanket as it is chilly. He uses it to put on the clerical collar and black front. He employs the brief absence of prison officers to disguise himself as parson McLeery and spill blood on himself to look injured. He acts the part of injured parson well. He offers to help police and wins their confidence. He becomes groggy and is left there to wait for ambulance.
Evans enjoys the faith, support and active cooperation of his dedicated friends. They plan carefully, working out the minute details and execute it skilfully. He never loses his calm or presence of mind even in the worst circumstances.

Q9. Comment on the ending of the play ‘Evans Tries An O-Level’.
Ans. The ending of the play is qyite surprising and unexpected. Only a couple of minutes ago the Governor of Oxford Prison had nabbed Evans from his hide-out at the ‘Golden Lion’. A silent prison officer handcuffed the recaptured Evans. Then the two men clambered awkwardly into the back seat of the prison-van.
The Governor bade him farewell but wished to see him soon in his jail. Evans too behaved as if he would remain there for a long time and wanted to know about the O-Level Italian classes coming up next September. The Governor remarked that perhaps Evans might not be with them then. Evans pondered over it and said that he wouldn’t. After a couple of minutes Evans implemented what he had predicted. Not only were the handcuffs unlocked, but the van moved on fast towards Newbury.
Evans is once again free. The broad Scots accent leaves us in no doubt who the driver was. Once again Evans scores over the prison authorities.

Q10. Comment on the aptness of the title ‘Evans Tries An O-Level’
OR
Do you think the title ‘Evans Tries An O-Level’ is appropriate. Give reasons in support of your answer.
Ans. The title ‘Evans Tries An O-Level’ is quite apt and suggestive. The action of the play begins with a conversation between the Secretary of the Examination Board and the Governor of the Oxford Prison about holding the O-Level examination in German at the prison. The play ends with the mention of O-Level Italian classes and Evans’s interest in them. The middle portion of the play is devoted to the holding of the O-Level Examination and its consequences—escape of Evans impersonating McLeery, the Invigilator. In short, the title dominates the play and is interwoven in the whole action.
The title indicates how criminals may exploit a facility for their selfish purpose of escaping from prison. It, thus, throws a comment on crime and punishment. The complacent Governor and methodical prison officers are outwitted again by a smart criminal ahd his friends who help in his adventure. It makes us laugh at the discomfiture of the efficient prison authorities.

Q11. Describe the precautions taken by the prison officers to prevent Evans from escaping.[Delhi 2014]
Ans. Special precautions were taken by the prison staff to prevent him from escaping during Evans O-level German test. A parson from St. Mary Mags was called to invigilate. Evans “was put in the heavily guarded recreational block. Between the cell and the yard there were two locked doors. The prison officers were on alert. In Evan’s cell a microphone was installed while Mr. Stephens kept eye on Evans. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Stephens, the two prison officers checked his cell thoroughly for the possible escape.
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