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

Class 12 Vistas English The Enemy

QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED

READ AND FIND OUT

Q1. Who was Dr Sadao? Where was his house?
Ans. Dr Sadao Hoki was an eminent Japanese surgeon and scientist. He had spent eight valuable
years of his youth in America to learn all that could be learnt of surgery and medicine there. He
was perfecting a discovery which would render wounds entirely clean. Dr Sadao’s house was
built on rocks well above a narrow beach that was outlined with bent pines. It was on a spot of
the Japanese coast.

Q2. Will Dr Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?

Ans. Dr Sadao knew that they would be arrested if they sheltered a white man in their house. The
wounded man was a prisoner of war who had escaped with a bullet on his back. Since Japan was
at war with America, harbouring an enemy meant being a traitor to Japan. Dr Sadao could be
arrested if anyone complained against him and accused him of harbouring an enemy.

Q3. Will Hana help the wounded man and wash him herself?
Ans. The gardener and the cook were frightened that their master was going to heal the wound of
a white man—an enemy. They felt that after being cured he (the white man) will take revenge on
the Japanese. Yumi, the maid, was also frightened. She refused to wash the white man. Hana
rebuked the maid who had refused to wash a wounded helpless man. Then she dipped a small
dean towel into the steaming hot water and washed the white man’s face. She kept on washing
him until his upper body was quite dean. But she dared not turn him over.

Q4. What will Dr Sadao and his wife do with the man?
Ans. Dr Sadao and his wife, Hana, had told the servants that they only wanted to bring the man
to his senses so that they could turn him over as a prisoner. They knew that the best possible
course under the circumstances was to put him back into the sea. However, Dr Sadao was against
handing over a wounded man to the police. He dedded to carry him into his house. He operated
upon him and extracted the bullet from his body. He kept the white man in his house. He and his
wife looked after him and fed him till he was strong enough to walk on his legs. .

Q5. Will Dr Sadao be arrested on the charge of harbouring an enemy?

Ans. It was the seventh day since Dr Sadao had operated upon the young white man. Early that
morning, their three servants left together. In the afternoon, a messenger came there in official
uniform. He told Dr Sadao that he had to come to the palace at once as the old General was in
pain again.
Hana, who had thought that the officer had come to arrest Dr Sadao, asked the messenger, “Is
that all?” The baffled messenger enquired if that was not enough. She tried to cover her mistake
by expressing regret and admitted that the General’s illness was enough. Dr Sadao told the
General about the white man he had operated upon. Since Dr Sadao was indispensable to the
General, he promised that Dr Sadao would not be arrested.

Q6. What will Dr Sadao do to get rid of the man?

Ans.Dr Sadao had told the old General that he had operated upon a white man. The General
promised to send his private assassins to kill the man silently and secretly at night and remove
his body. Dr Sadao left the outer partition of white man’s room open. He waited anxiously for
three nights. The servants had left their house. His wife Hana had to cook, clean the house and
serve the wounded man. She was unaccustomed to this labour. She was anxious that they should
get rid of the man.
Dr Sadao told Tom, the white man, that he was quite well then. He offered to put his boat on the
shore that night. It would have food and extra clothing in it. Tom might be able to row to the
little island which was not far from the coast. It had not been fortified. The .water was quite
deep. Nobody lived there, as it was submerged in storm. Since it was not the season of storm, he
could live there till he saw a Korean fishing boat pass by. He gave the man his flashlight. He was
to signal twice with his flashlight at sunset in case his food ran out. In case, he was still there and
all right, he was to signal only once.
Dr Sadao gave the man Japanese clothes and covered his blond head with a black doth. In short,
Dr Sadao helped the man to escape from Japan. At the same time he also got rid of the man.

READING WITH INSIGHT

Q1.There are moments in life when we have to make hard choices between our roles as
private individuals and as citizens with a sense of national loyalty? Discuss with reference
to the story you have just read.
Ans. Dr Sadao Hoki faces a dilemma when he finds the body of an unconscious wounded white
man lying on the lonely coast with dangerous rocks near his house. His first reaction was that the
person was perhaps a fisherman who had been washed from his boat. He ran quickly down the
steps. His wife, Hana came behind him. When they came near, Sadao found that the man was
wounded and lay motionless. His face was in the sand. As they saw his face, they found that he
was a white man with long yellow hair and a rough yellow beard.
Being an expert surgeon, Dr Sadao saw that the man had a gun-wound on the right side of his
lower back. He at once packed the wound with sea moss to stanch the fearful bleeding. Since
Japan was at war with America, the white man was an enemy. Dr Sadao muttered, “What shall
we do with this man?” He answered the question himself, “The best thing that we could do
would be to put him back in the sea.” His wife approved of his decision.
Then Sadao made another observation. If they sheltered a white man in their house they would
be arrested and if they turned him over as a prisoner, he would certainly die. Hana still insisted
on putting him back into the sea. From his battered cap, Dr Sadao concluded that he was a sailor
from an American warship. The man was a prisoner of war. He had escaped and that was why he
was wounded in the back..
Hana asked if they were able to put him back into the sea. Sadao then said that if the man was
whole he could turn the man over to the police without difficulty. He cared nothing for the man.
He was their enemy. All Americans were their ‘enemy’. But since he was wounded… Hana
understood his dilemma and realised that in the conflict between his sense of national loyalty and
his duty as a doctor, it was the latter which proved dominant. Since Sadao too could not throw
him back to the sea, the only course left for them was to carry him to their house. Sadao enquired
about the reaction of the servants.
Hana said that they would, tell the servants that they intended to give the man to the police. She
told Sadao that they must do so. They had to think of the children and the doctor’s position. It
would endanger all of them if they did not give that man over as a prisoner of war.
Sadao agreed and promised that he would not think of doing anything else.

Q2. Dr Sadao was compelled by his duty as a doctor to help the enemy soldier. What made
Hana, his wife, sympathetic to him in the face of open defiance from the domestic staff?
Ans. Dr Sadao and his wife, Hana, together lifted the wounded man and carried him to an empty
bedroom in their house. The man was very dirty. Sadao suggested that he had better be washed.
He offered to do so if she would fetch water. Hana was against it. She suggested that the maid,
Yumi, could wash the man. They would have to tell the servants. Dr Sadao examined the man
again and remarked that the man would die unless he was operated upon at once. He left the
room to bring his surgical instruments.
The servants did not approve of their master’s decision to heal the wound of a white man. Even
Yumi refused to wash the white man. There was so fierce a look of resistance upon Yumi’s
round dull face that Hana felt unreasonably afraid. Then she said with dignity that they only
wanted to bring him to his senses so that they would turn him over as a prisoner. However, Yumi
refused to have anything to do with him. Hana asked Yumi gently to return to her work.
The open defiance from the domestic staff hurt Hana’s feelings. She had told the servants to do
what their master commanded them. She was convinced of her own superiority. She now became
sympathetic to her husband and helped him in his efforts to heal the wounded man. Though the
sight of the white man was repulsive to her, she washed his face and his upper body. She
prepared herself to give him the anaesthetic according to her husband’s instructions. She had
never seen an operation. She choked and her face turned pale like sulphur. She felt like vomiting
and left for a while. She returned after retching and administered anaesthetic to the man. Thus
she co-operated with her husband fully to save the wounded man.

Q3. How would you explain the reluctance of the soldier to leave the shelter of the doctor’s
home even when he knew he couldn’t stay there without risk to the doctor and himself?
Ans. On the third day after the operation, the young man asked Dr Sadao what he was going to
do with him and if he was going to hand him over. Dr Sadao said that he did not know himself
what he would do with the mem. He ought to hand him over to the police as he was a prisoner of
war.
The young man saw that Dr Sadao and his wife Hana were different from other Japanese. They
spoke English well, looked after him and served him food. Seven days after the operation of the
man, Dr Sadao was called to the palace to see the General. Hana thought that the police had
come to arrest Dr Sadao. Dr Sadao confided in the General and he (General) promised to send
his personal assassins to kill the man and remove his body. Dr Sadao waited for three nights.
Nothing happened. Then he made a plan to let the prisoner escape. He told Tom, the young
American, about it. The young man stared at him and asked if he had to leave. It seemed he was
reluctant to leave. Dr Sadao told him that he should understand everything clearly. It was not
hidden that he was there and this situation was full of risk for himself as well as for the doctor
and his family. Thus it is quite clear that the reluctance of the soldier was caused by the single
motive of self-preservation. He knew from the treatment he had received from the couple that
they would save him.

Q4. What explains the attitude of the General in the matter of the enemy soldier? Was it
human consideration, lack of national loyalty, dereliction of duty or simply self-
absorption?
Ans. During his meeting with the General, Dr Sadao told him about the man he had operated on
successfully. He explained that he cared nothing for the man. The General appreciated his skill
and efficiency and promised that he would not be arrested.
The General thought it quite unfortunate that the man had been washed up to Dr Sadao’s
doorstep and thought it best if he could be quietly killed. He promised to send his private
assassins to do so and remove his dead body. He suggested that Dr Sadao should leave the outer
partition of the white man’s room to the garden open at night.
It is evident that the General had no human consideration in this matter. For him an enemy was
an enemy and must be wiped out. He wanted the man to be eliminated silently to save the doctor
from being arrested. It was neither lack of national loyalty nor dereliction of duty that guided and
inspired his decision. It was simply his sense of self-absorption. He “wanted to keep Dr Sadao
safe only for his own sake. He had no faith in the other Germany trained doctors. He might have
to be operated upon anytime when he had another attack and he had full faith in the skill and
loyalty of Dr Sadao only.
This fact is further corroborated by the General’s remarks to Dr Sadao, one week after the
emergency operation upon the General. Dr Sadao informed him that the man had escaped. The
General asked whether he had not promised Sadao that he would kill the
man for him. Dr Sadao replied that he had done nothing. The General admitted that he had
forgotten his promise as he had been suffering a great deal and he thought of nothing but himself.
He revealed the whole truth. He admitted that it was careless of him to have forgotten his
promise. But added that it was not lack of patriotism or dereliction of duty on his part.

Q5. While hatred against a member of the enemy race is justifiable, especially during
wartime, what makes a human being rise above narrow prejudices?
Ans. It is the consciousness of the demands of one’s calling that make a sensitive soul respond to
the call of his duty as a professional doctor to attend to the wounded human being regardless of
his being an enemy.
In the story ‘The Enemy’ Dr Sadao Hoki finds a prisoner of war washed ashore and in a dying
state thrown to his doorstep. As a patriot, it is his duty to hand him over to the police. If he does
not want to be entangled, the next best thing is to put him back to the sea.
However, the surgeon in him instinctively inspires him to operate upon the dying man and save
him from the jaws of death. First, he packs the wound with sea-moss to stanch the fearful
bleeding. Then he brings him home with the help of his wife. In spite of stiff opposition and open
defiance of the servants, he operates upon the man and harbours him till he is able to leave. He
knows fully well the risk of sheltering a white man—a prisoner of war—in his house. But his
sentimentality for the suffering and wounded person help him rise above narrow national
prejudices and extend his help and services even to an enemy.

Q6. Do you think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the
circumstances?
Ans. Yes, I think the doctor’s final solution to the problem was the best possible one in the
circumstances. Initially, the doctor as well as his wife thought that the best as well as kindest
thing would be to put him back into the sea. But neither of them was able to put him back into
the sea.
Sadao explained that if the man was whole he could turn him over to the police without
difficulty, but since he was wounded, the doctor could not throw him back to the sea. He could
not kill the man whom he had saved from the jaws of death.
The General promised to send his private assassins to kill the man and remove his dead body.
Sadao waited for three nights for their arrival, but they never came as the General being
preoccupied with his own suffering, forgot everything else.
Meanwhile the fear of Hana, the doctor’s wife, that he would be arrested on the charge of
harbouring an enemy kept on mounting. Dr Sadao made up his mind to get rid of the man as it
was not only inconvenient but also dangerous for them to have him there any longer. He,
therefore, quietly devised the plan of letting the prisoner escape by using his own boat and
Japanese clothes.
As soon as the enemy left, the servants returned and life became normal once again. Dr Sadao
informed the General that “the man” had escaped. The General admitted that he had forgotten his
promise as he thought of nothing but himself as he was suffering a great deal. He confessed that
it was careless of him but it was not his lack of patriotism or dereliction of duty. In short, the
doctor’s strategy to let the prisoner escape was the best possible solution to the problem under
the prevailing circumstances.

Q7. Does the story remind you of ‘Birth’ by A. J. Cronin that you read in ‘Snapshots’ last
year? What are the similarities?
Ans. Yes, the story ‘The Enemy’ by Pearl S. Buck certainly reminds us of the story ‘Birth’ by A.
J. Cronin. Both the stories have certain obvious similarities. Both the stories revolve around the
protagonist who is a doctor. Both of them focus on the doctor’s devotion and dedication to his
duty and his concern for the well-being of his patient. The doctor sacrifices his own rest and
comfort while attending to the patient. If the doctor brings a ‘still-born’ baby back to life in the
story ‘Birth’, Dr Sadao Hoki performs no less a miracle. He saves an almost dying man from the
jaws of death by skilfully extracting the bullet from his body and giving him medicines and
injections for quick relief.
Dr Sadao runs a greater risk than Dr Andrew Mason. While the former could be arrested on the
charge of harbouring an enemy and condemned to death, the latter (Dr Andrew) was foregoing
rest and staking his reputation as a medical practitioner. He had had a disappointing evening with
Christine, the girl he loves, but he forgets his personal feelings and concentrates on the safe
delivery of child and then of reviving the middle-aged mother and the still-born child. Similarly,
Dr Sadao is dedicated to his patient and his problems. He forgets everything while concentrating
on the operation. His servants have defied him for sheltering an enemy and run away. His wife,
Hana, has to do menial jobs while attending to the patient and her retching disturbs him. Her
distress and his inability to attend to her make him impatient and irritable, but he does not desert
the man who is under his knife. To conclude, we may say that the zeal, dedication and efforts of
both the doctors are similar. There is difference of degree in the risk factor, but their devotion to
suffering humanity is undoubtedly of the same kind.

Q8. Is there any film you have seen or novel you have read with a similar theme?
Ans. I remember an old Hindi film ‘Dr Kotnis ki Amar Kahani’ that deals with a similar theme.
The eminent doctor gives up his practice and goes to the war front to look after the wounded and
ailing soldiers and render them medical help. He spares no pain in performing his duties. He
ignores the demands of his own body that is sleep, rest and comfort. Service to suffering
humanity is his sole motivation and in his zeal to restore the maximum number of victims back
to health, the doctor suffers from physical and mental exhaustion and ultimately dies.
The film based on the life of Florence Nightingale, the lady with the lamp, also glorifies the
spirit of service and sacrifice of a member of the medical profession. It is through her sheer hard
work and dedication to duty that Florence Nightingale raises the job of a nurse to a high pedestal.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.What do you learn about Sadao’s father from the story ‘The Enemy’?
Ans. Sadao’s father was a visionary. He knew that the islands near the sea coast were the
stepping stones to the future for Japan. No one could limit their future as it depended on what
they made it. His son’s education was his chief concern. He sent his son to America at the age of
twenty-two to learn all that could be learned of surgery and medicine. He loved the Japanese
race, customs and manners.

Q2. Why was Dr Sadao being kept in Japan and not sent abroad with the troops?
Ans. Sadao was an eminent surgeon and a scientist. He was perfecting a discovery which would
render wounds entirely clean. Secondly, the old General was being treated medically for a
condition for which he might need an operation. Due to these two reasons Sadao was being kept
in Japan and not sent abroad with the troops.

Q3. Who was Sadao’s wife? Where had he met her? Why did he wait to fall in love with
her?
Ans. Hana was Sadao’s wife. He had met her by chance at an American professor’s house.
Professor Harley and his wife had been kind people. They held a party at their home for their few
foreign students. Hana was a new student. He waited to fall in love with her until he was sure she
was Japanese. It was because his father would never have received her unless she had been pure
in her race.

Q4. When and where did Sadao marry Hana? How was their married life?
Ans. Sadao married Hana when they returned to Japan after finishing their work at medical
school. Sadao’s father saw her. The marriage was then arranged in the old Japanese way. They
had been married years enough to have two children. Their married life was quite happy. They
still loved each other.

Q5. ‘Both of them saw something black came out of the mists’. What did they see and how
did they react to it?
Ans. It was a man who had been flung up out of the ocean, to his feet by a breaker. He staggered
a few steps with his arms above his head. Then the curled mists hid him again. When they next
saw him, he was on his hands and knees crawling. Then they saw him fall on his face and lie
there. Sadao thought that he was perhaps a fisherman who had been washed from his boat. He
ran quickly down the steps. Hana followed him.

Q6. In which state did Sadao and Hana find the man? What did they learn about him?
Ans. The man lay motionless with his face in the sand. As they turned the man’s head, they saw
that he was a white man with long yellow hair. His young face had a rough yellow beard. He was
unconscious. From his battered cap they learnt that he was a sailor from an American warship.

Q7. What did Sadao learn about the white man’s wound?
Ans. Sadao saw that a gun-wound had been reopened on the right side of his lower back. The
flesh was blackened with powder. The man had been shot recently and had not been tended. It
was bad chance that the rock had struck the wound and reopened it.
Q8. How can you say that Sadao’s head and hands worked in different directions?
Ans. Sadao’s head told him to put the man back into the sea as he was an American soldier-an
enemy of Japan. His trained hands seemed, of their own will, to be doing what they could to
stanch the fearful bleeding. He packed the wound with the sea-moss that strewed the beach. The
bleeding was stopped for the moment.

Q9.What dilemma did Sadao face about the young white man?
Ans. The white man was wounded. He needed immediate medical care. Dr Sadao could do so.
But if they sheltered a white man in their house, they would be arrested. On the other hand, if
they turned him over as a prisoner, he would certainly die. Dr Sadao was in a fix. It was difficult
for him to come to any decision.

Q10.What was the attitude of Sadao and Hana towards the white man?
Ans. They stared upon the inert figure of the white man with a curious repulsion. Both talked of
putting him back into the sea, but neither of them was able to do so alone. They hesitated. Sadao
said that being American, the man was his enemy. He would have handed him over to the police
if he had not been wounded. But since he was wounded… He left the sentence incomplete,
implying that he couldn’t do so.

Q11.What solution did Hana offer to resolve Sadao’s predicament?

Ans. Hana found that neither of them could throw the white man back into the sea. There was
only one thing to do. They must carry the man into their house. They must tell the servants that
they intended to hand him over to the police. She reminded her husband of his position and
children. It would endanger all of them if they did not give that man over as a prisoner of war.

Q12. How did Sadao and Hana take the man inside their house?
Ans. Together they lifted the man. He was very light. His arms were hanging down. They carried
him up the steps and into the side door of the house. This door opened into a passage. Down the
passage, they carried him towards an empty bedroom. They laid the man on the deeply matted
floor.

Q13. Hana took out a soft quilt from the wall cupboard. Then she hesitated. Why? What
did her husband suggest? Why did she not agree?
Ans. The quilt was covered with flowered silk and the lining was pure white silk. Secondly, the
man was quite dirty. So Hana hesitated. Her husband suggested that he should be washed. He
offered to wash him, if she was willing to fetch water. She could not bear for him to touch the
man and offered to tell Yumi, the maid, to wash him.

Q14. Why did Dr Sadao had to touch the man? What did he observe?
Ans. The utter pallor of the man’s unconscious face moved Dr Sadao first to stoop and feel his
pulse. It was faint but it was there. Then he put his hand against the man’s cold breast. The heart
too was yet alive. He observed that the man would die unless he was operated on.

Q15. Why did Hana come behind Sadao when he went out of the room quickly?
Ans. Hana did not wish to be left alone with the white man. He was the first she had seen since
she left America. He seemed to have nothing to do with those whom she had known there. Here
he was her enemy, a menace, living or dead.

Q16. How did the servants react when their master told them about the wounded white
man?
Ans. The servants were frightened and puzzled. The old gardener told Hana that the master
ought not to heal the wound of that white man. He said that the white man ought to die. First he
was shot. Then the sea caught him and wounded him with her rocks. If the master healed what
the gun and the sea had done, they would take revenge on them.

Q17. Why had Hana to wash the wounded man herself?

Ans. Hana told Yumi to fetch hot water and bring it to the room where the white man was. Yumi
put down the wooden bucket, but refused to wash the dirty white man. Hana cried at her
severely. She told her to do what her master commanded her to do. The fierce look of resistance
upon Yumfe dull face made Hana afraid. Under these circumstances, Hana had no option but to
wash the white man herself.

Q18. How did Hana wash the wounded man?

Ans. First, Hana untied the knotted rugs that kept the white man covered. When she had his
breast bare, she dipped a small clean towel into the steaming hot water and washed his face
carefully. She kept on washing him until his upper body was quite clean. But she dared not turn
him over for fear of the wound.

Q19. What help did Dr Sadao seek from Hana while operating the wounded white man?
Ans. First, he asked her to fetch towels. Then he told her that she would have to give him the
anaesthetic if he needed it. Since, Hana had never done so, he told her that it was easy enough.
He asked her to soak the cotton with anaesthetic and hold it near his nostrils. When he breathed
badly, she had to move it away a little. Thus, Hana proved herself helpful to her husband.

Q20. How did Hana react to Sadao’s absorption in his work?

Ans. Sadao went on with his swift concise movements. He did not seem to hear her. She was
used to his absorption when he was at work. She wondered for a moment if it mattered to him
what the body was upon which he worked so long as it was for the work which he did so
excellently.

Q21. What did Sadao remark when he peered into the wound with his bright surgeon’s
light?
Ans. He remarked that the bullet was still there. He said so with cool interest. He then wondered
how deep that wound was. If it was not very deep it was possible that he could get the bullet. He
observed that the bleeding was not superficial. The man had already lost much blood.

Q22. What made a cool surgeon (like Dr Sadao) speak sharply to his wife? How did she
react to his command?
Ans. The sight of blood made Hana choke. Her face turned pale. She had never seen an
operation. Dr Sadao spoke sharply and asked her not to faint. He did not put down his exploring
instrument. He argued that if he stopped then the man would surely die. Hana clapped her hands
to her mouth, leaped up and ran out of the room. He heard her retching in the garden. But he
went on with his work.

Q23. What forced Dr Sadao to be impatient and irritable with his patient?
Ans. Sadao heard Hana retching in the garden and said that it would be better for her to empty
her stomach. He went on with his work. He had forgotten that she had never seen an operation.
But her distress and his inability to go to her at once made him impatient and irritable with the
man who lay like dead under his knife.

Q24. What instructions did Sadao give to Hana to administer the anaesthetic and when?
Ans. The man was beginning to stir. Hana asked Sadao where the anaesthetic was. Sadao
motioned with his chin. She now had the bottle and some cotton in her hand. Sadao instructed
her to saturate the cotton with anaesthetic and hold it near the man’s nostrils. She had to move it
away a little when he breathed badly.

Q25. How did Hana react to the stories they heard of the sufferings of the prisoners of war?
What made her think so?
Ans. These stories came like flickers of rumour, told by word of mouth. They were always
contradicted. Hana wondered whether these stories were true. In the newspapers the reports were
that people received the Japanese armies gladly with cries of joy at their liberation.

Q26. In what context does Hana remember General Takima? What does she infer?
Ans. General Takima was a ruthless despot. At home he beat his wife cruelly. No one mentioned
it now because he had won a victory in a battle in Manchuria. Hana remembers him in the
context of the sufferings of the prisoners of war. She infers that if a man (like General Takima)
could be so cruel to a woman in his power, he would be quite cruel to a prisoner. The deep red
scars on the white man’s neck confirmed her apprehension.

Q27. “Ml thought left him. He felt only the purest pleasure.” Why, do you think, did Dr
Sadao behave in this way?
Ans. Dr Sadao was concentrating hard on locating the bullet. He felt the tip of his probing
instrument strike against something hard, dangerously near the kidney. He was filled with the
purest pleasure at the success of his skill. He thought only of curing his patient and did not
answer even his wife’s query.

Q28. Dr Sadao was ‘familiar with every atom of this human body’. Who had seen to that
knowl¬edge and how?
Ans. It was Sadao’s old American professor of Anatomy who had seen to the perfect knowledge
of human body. He would tell his students, ‘Ignorance of the human body is the surgeon’s
cardinal sin.” He would go a step further and impress upon the budding surgeons to have as
complete knowledge of the body as if they had made it. To operate with anything less than that
meant a murder.

Q29. Comment on Dr Sadao’s attitude to the white man in the light of the following:
(i) “Sadao took up his wrist, hating the touch of it.”
(ii) “But certainly I do not want this man to live.”
(iii) “This man will live in spite of all.”
Ans. Sadao has an ambivalent attitude towards the wounded white man. Since he is their enemy,
he hates touching his wrist. As a patriot he does not want that man to live. However, as a
surgeon, he does not want the man to die after a successful operation. Hence, in order to revive
his faint, feeble pulse, he gives him an injection. The pulse now flutters and then grows stronger.
The survival of the man is the victory of the surgeon’s skill.

Q30. How did Harm look after the white man? How did he react?
Ans. Hana had to serve him herself, for none of the servants would enter the room. She did not
like him and yet she was moved to comfort him. She found the man quite weak and terrified. She
knelt and fed him gently from the porcelain spoon. He ate unwillingly but still he ate.

Q31. How did Dr Sadao respond to the boy’s query: “What are you going to do with me?…
Are you going to hand me over?”
Ans. Dr Sadao examined the boy and then told him that he did not know himself what he would
do with the boy. He ought to give him to the police as he was a prisoner of war.

Q32. What did Hana inform Sadao about the servants? How did Sadao react to it?
Ans. The servants felt that they could not stay there if their master sheltered the white man there
any more. They also accused them of liking Americans and of having forgotten to think of their
own country first. Dr Sadao protested that it was not true. Americans were their enemies. But he
had been trained not to let a man die if he could help him. Hana told him that the servants could
not understand it.

Q33. ‘Somehow the household dragged on’. How did the servants behave after Sadao had
operated upon the American? What opinions did they express?
Ans. The servants grew more watchful day by day. Their courtesy was as careful as ever, but
their eyes were cold towards Hana and Sadao. The old gardener was sore, why Sadao had not let
the young man bleed when he was so near the death. The cook remarked contemptuously that
being proud of his skill to save life that he saves any life. Yumi added that they must think of the
children. She enquired: “What will be their fate if their father is condemned as a traitor?”

Q34. What two things happened on the seventh day after that?
Ans. In the morning the servants left together with their belongings tied in large square cotton
kerchiefs. Hana paid them off gracefully and thanked them for all that they had done for her. In
the afternoon, a messenger came to the door in official uniform.

Q35. How did Hana react when she saw a messenger at the door in official uniform?
Ans. Hana was working hard on unaccustomed labour. When she saw the uniformed messenger,
her hands went weak and she could not draw her breath. She feared that the servants must have
told everything already. She thought that they had come to arrest Dr Sadao.

Q36. Why, do you think, had the messenger come to Dr Sadao’s house? How did Hana
react to the message and what did the messenger take exception to?
Ans. The messenger had arrived there to ask Dr Sadao to come to the palace as the old General
was in pain again. In her anxiety for her husband’s safety, Hana asked if that was all. The
messenger took exception to the word ‘all’ and enquired if that was not enough. Hana
apologised for the error.

Q37. Why did Dr Sadao tell the General everything about the man he had operated upon?
Ans. Dr Sadao could not report the arrival of the escaped prisoner at his doorstep. He wanted to
get rid of the man for the sake of his wife. He explained his position to the General. He did not
care for that man, but since he had operated upon the man he could not kill him. The
General praised his skill, called him indispensable and promised that he would allow nothing to
happen to Dr Sadao.

Q38. Why, do you think, did the old General not want Dr Sadao to be arrested?
Ans. Dr Sadao had told the General that he could stand only one more such attack as he had that
day. Then he would have to be operated upon. The General wanted Dr Sadao to operate upon
him. He had no faith in the other surgeons trained by the Germans. So, he would not let Dr Sadao
be arrested.

Q39. What plan did the old General suggest for getting rid of the ‘man’?
Ans. He thought that it would be best if the white man could be quietly killed—not by the
doctor, but by someone who did not know him. He offered to send two of his private assassins
any night to his home. These capable assassins would make no noise. They knew the trick of
inward bleeding. They could even remove the body. Dr Sadao had to leave the outer partition of
the room open and this made restless.

Q40. Why did Sadao sleep badly at night after meeting the General?
Ans. Sadao woke up time and again thinking he heard the rustling of footsteps, the sound of a
twig broken or a stone displaced in the garden—or any noise such as men might make who
carried a burden. This went on for three nights. Every night Sadao expected the assassins to
come and this made him restless.

Q41. What plan did Dr Sadao devise to get rid of the man?
Ans. Dr Sadao devised the plan of letting the man escape to the nearest uninhabited island. He
told the man everything. He put his boat on the shore with food and extra clothing. He advised
the man to row to the little island not far from the coast. He could live there till he saw a Korean
fishing boat pass by.

Q42. How was the plan of the prisoner’s escape executed?

Ans. Dr Sadao had put food and bottled water in his stout boat. He also put two quilts. After
supper, he cheked the American again. He gave him his flashlight and told him to signal two
flashes if he needed more food. One signal would mean he was OK He had to signal at sunset
and not in the darkness. The man was dressed in Japanese clothes and his blond head was
covered with a black cloth.

Q43. What did Sadao tell the General after a week? Why did he wait that long?
Ans. The General had undergone an emergency operation a week before. The gall bladder was
involved. He was in critical state for twelve hours. Then he recovered slowly. After a week
Sadao felt that the General was well enough to be spoken to about the prisoner. He told the
General that the prisoner had escaped.

Q44. What did the General tell Dr Sadao about his promise to kill the prisoner for him?
Ans. Dr Sadao did not want to disturb the General much. So he simply said that the prisoner had
escaped. The General at once remembered his promise. He confessed that he had been suffering
a great deal. He thought of nothing but himself. He forgot his promise, but it was not lack of
patriotism or dereliction of duty.

Q45. “I wonder why I could not kill him?” What makes Dr Sadao think so?
Ans. After the departure of the young American, Dr Sadao thinks of the other white faces he had
“come across. The Americans were full of prejudice and he had found it bitter to live there. The
white people were repulsive even in their kindness. It was relief to be openly at war with them.
Then he remembered the youthful, haggard face of the prisoner. It was also white and repulsive.
He thought it strange that he spared his enemy. He wondered why he could not kill him.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Q1. Why did Sadao Hoki go to America? What do you learn about his experiences there?
Ans. Sadao’s education was his father’s chief concern. So he had been sent at twenty-two to
America to leam all that could be learnt of surgery and medicine. He studied there for eight years
and returned to Japan at thirty. Before his father died, Sadao had become famous not only as a
surgeon, but also as a scientist.
He had had great difficulty in finding a place to live in America because he was a Japanese. The
Americans were full of prejudice and it had been bitter to live in it, knowing himself to be
superior to them. An ignorant and dirty old woman at last consented to house him in her
miserable home. He found her repulsive to him even in her kindness.
One of his American professors and his wife were kind people. They were anxious to do
something for their few foreign students. But their rooms were quite small, the food was very
bad, the professor was a dull person and his wife was a silly talkative woman.

Q2. How can you say that Dr Sadao’s father was a Japanese to the core?
Ans. Dr Sadao’s father had high dreams about the future of Japan. There was no limit to their
future as it depended on what they made it. He never played or joked with his only son. But he
spent infinite pains upon him. For the sake of the best possible medical education, he sent his son
to America. Sadao met Hana there, but waited to fall in love with her until he was sure she was
Japanese. His father would never have received her unless she had been pure in her race. Their
marriage was arranged in the old Japanese way only after Sadao’s father had seen her when both
of them had come home to Japan after finishing their education.
He was a Japanese every inch. The floor of his room was deeply matted. He would never sit on a
chair or sleep in a foreign bed in his house. The quilt was covered with flowered silk and the
lining was pure white silk. In short, everything here had been Japanese to please him.

Q3. What do you learn about Dr Sadao and Harm from the story ‘The Enemy’?
Ans. Sadao and Hana represent modem, enlightened and educated Japanese who get the benefit
of American training in medical science, yet retain love and respect for their moth¬erland and its
customs and traditions. He was an obedient and caring son who had deep regard for his father.
He married Hana only after his father had seen her. Their marriage was arranged in the old
Japanese way. They were perfectly happy and had two children. Even years after their marriage
they retained the same love and affection for each other. Since Japan was at war with America,
they considered the Americans as their enemies. The waves of the ocean had flung up a wounded
young American to their doorstep. They wanted to put him back into the sea, but neither of them
was able to do so. They brought the wounded man inside their house in spite of repulsion for
him. Sadao had been trained not to let a man die if he could help him. The ethics of the medical
profession forced him to save even his enemy. His wife Hana obeyed all his commands and
instructions like a child though she suffered a lot internally.

Q4. What was the dilemma that Sadao faced when he saw a wounded, young white man
washed to his doorstep? What solution did his wife, Hana, offer to resolve his (Sadao’s)
predica¬ment?
Ans. The young white man was bleeding. He had a bullet wound on his lower back. He needed
immediate medical attention. Dr Sadao, an eminent surgeon, could do so. But if they sheltered a
white man in their house, they would be arrested. On the other hand, if they tinned him over as a
prisoner, he would certainly die. Neither of them could put him back into the sea and get rid of
him. They were true humanist. So, they hesitated.
Sadao declared that being an American, the man was his enemy. He would have handed him
over to the police if he had been hale and hearty. But since he was wounded… He left the
sentence unfinished implying that he could not do so as he had been trained not to let a man die
if he could help him.
Hana suggested that they must carry the man inside the house. They must tell the ser¬vants that
they intended to hand him over to the police. She reminded her husband of his position and the
children. It would endanger all of them if they did not hand that man over as a prisoner of war.
His doubts were removed and they decided to carry the man into their house.

Q5. How did Dr Sadao take the man inside his house and try to save him?
Ans. Dr Sadao and Hana lifted the man together. He was very light. His arms were hanging
down. They carried him up the steps and into the side door of the house. This door opened •
into a passage. Down the passage, they carried him towards an empty bedroom. They laid the
man on the deeply matted floor. The man was quite dirty, so Dr Sadao suggested that he should
be washed.
The utter pallor of the man’s unconscious face moved Dr Sadao first to stoop and feel his pulse.
It was faint, but it was there. Then he put his hand against the man’s cold breast.
The heart too was yet alive. He observed that the man would die unless he was operated upon
immediately. He left the room to bring his instruments to perform an emergency operation to
save the man’s life.

Q6. How did the servants initially react to the presence of a white man in their masters
house?
Ans.When Dr Sadao told the cook and the gardener about the wounded young white man, they
had brought inside the house, the two servants were frightened and puzzled. The *
superstitious old gardener looked so annoyed that he pulled the few hairs on his upper lip.
He bluntly told Hana that the master ought not to heal the wound of that white man. He said that
the white man ought to die. First he was shot. Then the sea caught him and wounded him with
her rocks. If the master healed what the gun and the sea had done, they would take revenge on
them.
Even the maid, Yumi, refused to wash the man though Hana cried at her severely and told her to
do what the master had commanded her to do. The servants seemed to be in a defiant mood. The
fierce look of resistance upon Yumi’s dull face frightened Hana. She thought that the servants
might report something that was not as it happened. She main¬tained her dignity and told the
maid that they wanted to bring him to his senses so that they could turn him over as a prisoner.
Even this explanation failed to convince Yumi and she refused to do anything for the white man.

Q7. What was the change in the mood of open defiance of their master on the part of
domestic staff as time passed and the white man was kept in Dr Sadao’s house ?
Ans. Dr Sadao not only kept the young white man at his home, but also operated upon him. It
was the third day after the operation. The servants continued their open defiance of their master
and did not enter the white man’s room. Hana served him herself. Hana told Sadao what the
servants had conveyed through Yumi. The domestic staff felt that they could not stay there if
their. master sheltered that man any more. They accused them of having forgotten to think of
their own countiy because they had lived for a long time in America. They thought that their
master and mistress liked Americans. Dr Sadao tried to clarify his position as a man and as a
doctor. Hana told him that the servants could not understand this subtle distinction.
”Somehow the household dragged on. The servants grew more watchful day by day. They were
careful in their courtesy as ever but their eyes were cold. The old gardener was the most vocal.
He taunted that their master knew very well what he ought to do. He was sore why Sadao had not
let the young man bleed when he was so near to death. The cook remarked contemptuously that
the young master was so proud of his skill to save life that he saved any life. Yumi added that
they must think of the children. She enquired: “What will be their fate if their father is
condemned as a traitor?”
Since the white man was not handed over to the police, even after a week, all the servants left on
the seventh day after that.

Q8. Hana was a loving, caring, devoted and obedient wife who was quite anxious about her
husband’s wellbeing, position and reputation? Discuss.
Ans. Hana is the alter ego of her husband, Dr Sadao Hoki. She has adapted herself to his ways.
She knows that saving a life is a mission for him and when he is attending on his patient, he
forgets everything else—even Hana herself. Even years after their marriage, they retain the same
love and affection for each other.
She cared for him a lot and would not let him stand outside in the cold foggy February night. She
was a bit sentimental, yet pragmatic in her approach. She was quick to judge what went on in her
husband’s mind and suggested solutions. She maintained her dignity when the servants showed
resistance and open defiance. As an obedient and devoted wife, she carried out all the orders and
instructions of her husband. She washed the wounded white man, gave him anaesthesia and later
on food.
She was worried about her husband’s safety, position and reputation. Initially, she suggested to
throw the man back into the sea. She was afraid that the servants might misreport. Her fears are
exhibited clearly when a messenger in uniform arrives from the palace. In order to calm down
her fears, Dr Sadao decides to get rid of the white man anyhow. In short, she is an ideal life
partner.
Q9. What impression do you form of Dr Sadao as a man and as a surgeon from your
reading of the story ‘The Enemy’?
Ans. Dr Sadao Hoki was a true Japanese like his father. He was a brave boy who obeyed and
respected his father and loved Japanese culture, tradition and people. He was intelligent and hard
working and studied surgery and medicine in America for eight years. He mar¬ried a Japanese
girl, Hana, whom he had met in America. But he waited for his father’s approval and their
marriage was arranged in the old Japanese way after they had re¬turned home to Japan. They
had two children. He still loved his wife as warmly as ever. He returned home at fixed hours.
Dr Sadao was an eminent surgeon as well as scientist. The old General had full faith in him. He
was not sent abroad with the troops because the old General might need an operation. Dr Sadao
was called even at odd hours from the palace. Dr Sadao was a real doctor. He would not let a
man die if he could help him. That is why he cured even an “enemy” of bullet wound and did not
hand him over to the police. He faced a great risk to his position and life by sheltering the man.
Since Dr Sadao could not kill the man himself, he sought the help of the old General to get rid of
him. When that plan failed, he let the prisoner escape in order to calm down the fears of his wife
and let the household run properly. It may be a blemish from a narrow patriotic angle but a
sensitive soul can’t take back what he has given.

Q10. Under what circumstances did Dr Sadao let the wounded white man escape? Was it
lack of national loyalty, professional ego and sentimentality, human consideration or just
an attempt to save his skin?
Ans. Hr Sadao had no love for the repulsive Americans and he considered them his enemies.
Unfortunately, the sea-waves pushed a wounded white man to his doorstep. He knew that the
best possible thing was to throw him back into the sea. He could not handover a wounded
‘enemy’ to police because he would certainly die. Being a doctor, he could save him and not kill
him. His efforts to get him removed with the help of the old General’s private assassins did not
bear fruit.
He was under a severe strain. His domestic servants had left him. His wife had to do
unaccustomed labour and run the household. Moreover, his wife was anxious about his safety.
They might be arrested for harbouring an enemy prisoner of war and condemned as traitors.
Dr Sadao let the man escape in the larger interest of professional ethics and human consideration.
He rose above narrow national loyalty and sentimentality. He did not think of himself as the
General had already assured him that no harm would be caused to him. The matter remained
unreported and closed from public eyes and ears. The servants returned after the white man had
“left”. Everything became normal again.

Q11. Comment on the role of the old General in the story ‘The Enemy’.
Ans. The old General plays an important role in the story. He is being treated medically for a
condition which might need an operation any time. Since he has full faith in Dr Sadao, he is kept
back in Japan. Dr Sadao is indispensable to the General. He assures Sadao that nothing will
happen to him and he will not be arrested.
The arrival of the messenger rouses Hana’s worst fears. She thinks that police has come to arrest
her husband. Dr Sadao gets distressed at her anxiety and decides to get rid of the white man for
her sake. When Dr Sadao confides in the General, the latter promises to send two of his private
assassins to remove the man from the scene.
The old General has an unsual sense of humour as well as frankness and ability to admit his
mistake. Dr Sadao keeps on waiting for three nights for the assassins who fail to turn up. He
loses sleep and rest. Finally he lets the white man escape.
When Dr Sadao tells the General that the man has escaped, the General admits that he forgot his
promise. He was suffering a great deal and thought of nothing but himself. It was careless of him
but not lack of patriotism or dereliction of duty, It is his self-absorption and instinct of preserving
himself that saves Dr Sadao and his family from being arrested.

Q12. The ending of the story ‘The Enemy’ epitomises the attitude of a Japanese towards
Americans during the war. Elucidate.
OR
Comment on the ending of the story ‘The Enemy’.
Ans. The ending of the story, ‘The Enemy’ is highly artistic. The old General, recovering from
the operation, promises that Dr Sadao will be rewarded as he is a good man. Dr Sadao has his
reward when he finds that his prisoner has gone away safely from the island. He now recalls all
the other white faces he ever came across. The professor, at whose house he met Hana, was a
dull man and his wife had been a silly, talkative woman, in spite of her wish to be kind. His old
teacher of anatomy had been insistent on ‘mercy with the knife’. He remembered the face of his
fat and slatterly landlady whom he had despised for being ignorant and dirty. He remembered the
difficulties he faced in finding a place to live in America because he was a Japanese. The
Americans were full of prejudice and, it had been bitter to live in America. He found the white
people repulsive. It was a relief to be openly at war with them. Then he remembered the
youthful, haggard face of the prisoner. It was also white and repulsive. He thought it strange that
he spared his enemy. He is left wondering why he could not kill the white man “his enemy”.

Q13. Do you think the title ‘The Enemy’ is appropriate? Give reasons in support of your
answer.
Ans. The title ‘The Enemy’ is quite appropriate and highly suggestive. It focuses our attention on
the wounded man who is incidentally washed ashore to the doorstep of a famous Japanese
surgeon, Dr Sadao Hoki during the war.
The first reaction of the Japanese pair is typical of average, patriotic Japanese who hate their
white enemies. However, the doctor in Sadao prompts him to bring the man inside his house and
cure him. The doctor’s involvement with the white enemy annoys the domestic staff who show
open defiance and resistance. The doctor faces grave danger to his position, safety, name, fame
and family by harbouring the enemy. He could be condemned as a traitor and killed.
In spite of all the odds, the doctor finds himself emotionally unable to hand him over to the
police. He has no love for the man. He regards him his enemy, yet he can’t kill him. He tells the
old General how he operated on the white man and saved him. The General is all praise for his
skill, hopes for his own successful operation at his hand, and promises to kill the man for him.
The doctor faces a lot of tension—mental, emotional and physical. He passes sleepless nights
waiting for the assassins, who never turn up. Meanwhile, ‘the enemy’ recovers and the doctor
devises means to let him escape in order to get rid of him. At the end of the story he is left
wondering why he could not kill that man.

Q14. What was the General’s plan to get rid of the American prisoner ? Was it executed ?
What traits of the General’s character are highlighted in the lesson ‘The Enemy’?[All
India 2014]
Ans. The General made a plan to get rid of the American prisoner by sending his personal
assassins to kill the prisoner. He also wanted to remove the body of American prisoner from
Sadao’s house. But, unfortunately he could not succeed in his attempt. The plan was i not
executed. The General could not send the assassins.
The General had an unusual sense of humour as well as frankness and ability to admit his
mistake. Dr. Sadao keeps on waiting for three nights for the assassins who fail to turn up. He
loses his rest and sleep. Finally he lets the white man escape. When Dr. Sadao tells the General
that the man has escaped, the General admits that he forgot his promise. It was carelessness of
him but not the lack of patriotism. It is his self-absorption and instinct of preserving himself that
saves Dr. Sadao and his family being arrested.

Class 12 Flamingo English Keeping Quiet

IMPORTANT STANZAS FOR COMPREHENSION

Read the stanzas given below and answer the questions that follow each:
1.Now we will count to twelve and we will all keep still.
Questions
(a)Name the poem and the poet of these lines.
(b)Why does the poet ask us to count to twelve?
(c)Why does the poet ask us to keep still?
(d) Find words from the passage which mean.
(ii) say number (iii) quiet and motionless.
Answers:
(a)The name of the poem is Keeping Quiet. The name of the poet is Pablo Neruda.
(b)There are only twelve signs on the clock to measure hours. Therefore, the poet asks us to
count till the clock measures these horns.
(c)Too much activity and rush has only brought misfortunes to mankind. Hence, it is better to be
quiet and still.
(d) (i) count (ii) still

2. For once on the face of the Earth let’s not speak in any language, let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
Questions
(a)Name the poem and the poet of these lines.
(b)‘Let’s not speak in any language’, says the poet. Why?
(c)What should we not do for a second?
(d) What do you understand by ‘the face of the Earth ?
Answers:
(a)The name of the poem is Keeping Quiet. The poet is Pablo Neruda.
(b)The people of the world have been indulging in wars and bloodsheds on minor excuses. If
they keep quiet, they may not indulge in reasoning, disputes and quarrels. So, let them keep quiet
and not speak in any language. This will ensure peace and prosperity.
(c)We should cease all activities for a second. Man has used his arms only to kill and destroy
others. Therefore, let them not move their arms so much as to harm others.
(d) The expression “the face of the Earth’ refers to the various countries on the surface of the
earth.

3.It would be an exotic moment without rush, without engines, we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Questions
(a)Name the poem and the poet of these lines.
(b)What will happen if there is no rush or running of engines?
(c)What sort of moment will it be?
(d)How would all of us feel at that moment?
Answers:
(a)The name of the poem is Keeping Quiet. The poet is Pablo Neruda.
(b)There will be peace all around if there is no rush or the sound of the running of engines and
machines.
(c)It will be a very enticing and beautiful moment.
(d) All of us will enjoy the unusualness and sudden strangeness of that moment.

4. Fishermen in the cold sea would not harm whales and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
Questions
(a)What do fishermen usually do in the cold sea?
(b)What does the poet ask fishermen not to do?
(c)What has happened to the man gathering salt?
(d) What should the man gathering salt do?
Answers:
(a)Fishermen usually catch fish, particularly whales, in the cold seas.
(b)The poet asks fishermen not to hurt or injure the whales in the seas.
(c)The man gathering salt has injured his hands.
(d)He must take care of his hurt hands.

5. Those who prepare green wars,

wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their
brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
Questions
(a)Name the poem and the poet of these lines.
(b)What sort of wars are mentioned in the above lines?
(c)What kind of victory will it be?
(d) How should the lovers of war behave?
Answers:
(а)The name of the poem is Keeping Quiet. The poet is Pablo Neruda.
(b)Green wars, wars with poisonous gases and wars with the fire are the different kinds of wars.
(c) It will be a victory where no survivors will be left to celebrate it. Such a victory will be
meaningless.
(d) They should put on clean clothes and walk with their brothers under the trees leisurely doing
nothing.

6.What I want should not be confused

with total inactivity. i Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness of never understanding ourselves and of threatening ourselves with
death.
Questions
(a)What does the poet want? What should it not be confused with?
(b)Explain: 7 want no truck with death’.
(c)What do people pursue single-mindedly? Which is the better course the poet suggests?
(d)When can a huge silence do us good?
Answers:
(а)The poet is advocating for silence or stillness. Stillness should not be confused with total
inactivity.
(b)Total inactivity brings death. The poet refuses to associate (or deal) with death. Thus, he is not
advocating for death.
(c)People pursue single-mindedly on keeping their lives moving. ..The poet suggests that it
would be better if they give themselves rest for sometime. For once they may do nothing.
(d)A huge silence can do us a lot of good when we are disappointed at not understanding
ourselves or threatening ourselves with death.

7. Perhaps the Earth can teach us as when everything seems dead and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.
Questions
(a)What can the Earth teach us?
(b)What remains alive when everything seems dead?
(c)Who is the poet? What does he want to do?
(d)What does the poet ask us to do?
Answers:
‘(a) The earth can teach us a lesson how to live on it.
(b)Only the earth remains alive when everything seems dead.
(c) The poet is Pablo Neruda. He wants to count upto twelve.
(d) He asks us to keep quiet while he is counting upto twelve.

QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED

Q1. What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
Ans: Counting up to twelve takes very short time. Keeping still for this brief interval of time
gives us a momentary pause to introspect and review the course of action. It is generally
observed that most of the ills and troubles of the world are caused by our rush or hurry. Violence
is caused by anger. Keeping quiet and still will give us necessary respite and ensure peace.

Q2. Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?
Ans: No, he doesn’t advocate either total inactivity or death. He makes it quite clear that
‘stillness’ should not be confused with “total inactivity or equated to it. Total inactivity brings
death. But Neruda has ‘no truck with death’. His stillness means halting of harmful and hostile
human activities.

Q3. What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem? [All India 2014]
Ans: Man’s sadness is formed out of his own actions and thoughts. It is quite ironical that man
who understands so much fails to understand himself and his action. Rash actions prove harmful
and disastruous. Man is the creator of all disasters. He is always threatening himself with death
because of his thoughts and actions. This is the tragedy of his life.

Q4. What symbol from Nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life under
apparent stillness?
Ans: The poet wants to prove that there can be life under apparent stillness. The poet invokes the
earth as a living symbol to prove his point. The earth never attains total inactivity. Nature
remains at work all the time even under apparent stillness. It keeps earth alive. This idea is
beautifully illustrated by the following lines:“as when everything seems dead and later proves to
he alive.”

Q5. Choose a quiet corner and keep still physically and mentally for about five minutes. Do
you feel any change in your state of mind?
Ans: Extension Activity: For self-study.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (Word Limit: 30-40 words)

Q1. Why does Pablo Neruda urge us to keep still?
Ans: Stillness is essential for calm reflection and quiet introspection. We hear the voice of
conscience in moments of silence. The poet is convinced that most of human ills and miseries are
caused by man’s hurry and rush to do things. The poet wishes that we may withdraw ourselves
from our undesirable actions and keep still for a moment.

Q2. Why shouldn’t we “speak in any language” and “not move our arms so much”?
Ans: People of the world speak in different languages. They indulge in unnecessary debates and
disputes. Most of these arguments lead to destructive wars. The poet urges people to stop
speaking in any language. They must speak through their hearts. So far men have moved their
arms only to harm others. Therefore, the poet wants that they should not move their arms so
much. Let these arms rest for once. Let a feeling of mutual understanding , be created among
human beings.
Q3. Pablo Neruda says:“we would all be together in a sudden strangeness.”
When can we experience such a moment? Why will that be an exotic moment?
Ans: Non-stop activity, unnecessary rush and noise have made our lives unpleasant and full of
misery, pain and troubles. We must stop rushing, hurrying, worrying and running. Even the noise
of engines and machines must stop for once. Then all of us will enjoy the sudden strangeness of
that moment. It will be a unique moment. In that exotic or fascinating moment we shall feel
totally relaxed, physically as well as mentally.

Q4. What does the poet ask the fisherman and the man collecting salt to dot What docs In-
exactly want to convey by this?
Ans: Pablo Neruda is against any kind of violence. He addresses the fishermen and asks them
not to harm whales living in the cold seas of the polar regions. He is also against any kind of self
torturing. The man who is gathering salt has hint his hands. He asks this man to look after
himself and take care of his injured hands.

Q5. What are the different kinds of war mentioned towards war?
Ans: The poet is against wars of all kinds. He wants a total stoppage of war. Green wars against
the environment, wars with poisonous gases and wars with fire must be terminated (stopped) at
once.

Q6. What alternative does Pablo Neruda suggest instead of indulging in wars?
Ans: Instead of indulging in wars, the people must come out in their best dresses with then-
brothers. They should go out for a walk under the shady trees and enjoy themselves doing
nothing. This would bring the feeling of togetherness among them.

Q7. How does the poet distinguish ‘stillness’ from ‘total inactivity’? Why does Neruda saw
I want no truck with death?
Ans: Pablo Neruda is in favour of stillness or silence. We remain still and quiet for sometime.
On the other hand, total inactivity is a permanent suspension of work. It is just like death.
‘Stillness’ should not be Confused with ‘total inactivity’. Life goes on as usual. There can’t be
anything like total inactivity. The poet refuses to associate with death or deal with it.

Q8. Why does the poet fee! that we should not be so single-minded’?
Ans: People are generally single-minded. They want to focus on only one thing. They want to
keep their lives going. They are ever busy in their pursuit. The poet wishes that they would not
be so much absorbed with always remaining on the move. They must have some respite or rest.
They too need peace or silence.

Q9.Why do men become sad? How can this sadness be overcome?

Ans: Men fail to understand themselves. They are always threatening themselves with death.
When they realise their failure to understand themselves they become sad or helpless. Fear of
death also makes them sad. Only a huge silence’ can interrupt this sadness. Such silence will do
them good.

Q10. How might a huge silence interrupt the sadness of men?

Ans: Men never understand themselves. Nor are they ever sure of their actions. They face
another tragedy. Due to their own actions, they are threatening themselves with death. This
realisation makes them helpless and sad. Only a huge (long) silence might interrupt this sadness
and do them some good.

Q11. Under the apparent stillness there is life. Justify this statement giving an example
from the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’.
Ans: Neruda does not equate stillness with total inactivity. He believes that under this apparent
stillness there is life. We can learn it from the earth. When everything seems dead, the earth still
remains alive. The earth is never dead. The life on the earth goes on as usual under the apparent
stillness.

Q12. Justify the title ‘Keeping Quiet’.

Ans: The title of the poem is quite appropriate and logical. It suggests the necessity of quiet
introspection. The people of the world are overactive and always on the move. Their activities
have caused untold troubles and sufferings. Keeping quiet will do them a lot of good. It will save
them from many harmful and violent activities. Moreover, it will help in reflecting over the fate
of man and help in creating a feeling of mutual understanding among human beings.

Q13. Which is the exotic moment that the poet refers to in ‘Keeping Quiet’:[Delhi 201]
Ans: The poet talks about the exotic moment when everyone keeps quiet. There will be no rush
for a second. The machines must stop for a moment. That moment will be fascinating for all of
us. All of us shall enjoy the sudden strangeness of the moment together.

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 emphasise 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 Shunk
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.

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 emphasise 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 Shunk
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.

Evans Tries 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.
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 a 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.

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.