rati . Uujral’s English Classes * mob.: 9413352436 ou Q2. 93. Os. Q7. ON THE FACE OF IT Why is Derek startled as soon as he enters the garden? Derek enters Mr Lamb's garden by climbing over the boundary wall believing there is no one in the garden. But no sooner does he land on the ground, he hears Mr Lamb, the owner's ‘words, “Mind the apples!” The presence of Mr Lamb, thus startles Derek. Why does Derek enter Mr Lamb's garden? ‘While most other children come to Mr Lamb’s garden to steal apples, Derek enters it out of curiosity. He wants to explore it at a time when it appears to be empty or deserted. Why does Derek want to go back home as soon as he come face to face with Mr Lamb? Derek climbs over the wall to enter Mr Lamb’s garden hoping that it is empty. However, when Mr Lamb startles him with his presence, Derek feels embarrassed at entering the garden without its owner’s permission. Moreover, he is afraid that like most other people, Mr Lamb ‘will also find hi8 scarry face repulsive. So, he wants to go-back as soon as he has come. Why, according to Mr Lamb does Derek want to go back? How does he put the boy at ease? Mr Lamb believes that Derek wants to turn back because he is afraid of him, particularly because he has entered the garden stealthily. So he tries to talk the boy out of his fear. He assures the boy that he is only partially ugly and frightful, not wholly and suggests that Derek could stay back and help him in picking the apples and making jelly What terrible complex does Derek suffer from? One side of Derek’s face was severely burnt away by acid. As a result he looked very ugly. Nobody liked to look at him, love him, befriend him and play with him. This made Derek suffer from an acute lack of self-regard and rejection. Why does Derek feel that Mr Lamb has changed the subject? Do you agrée with Derek? Give reason in support of your answer. Derek feels that Mr Lamb has changed the subject because instead of responding to Derek’s conversation about being ugly and unwanted, Mr Lamb starts talking about apple picking and jelly making and asks for his help, Why does Derek not like being with people? Derek is full of self-reproach and rejection on account of an acid-burnt side of his face. He doesn’t like being with people because they constantly remind him of his ugliness and stay08. a9. Quo. Qu. QR. O13. away from him. He does not like to see people being afraid of him because he is ugly. Instead of feeling loved and wanted like the other children, he feels rejected and unwanted. What does Derek feel Mr Lamb must think of him? How does Mr Lamb surprise him in this context? Derel feels that like other people Mr Lamb would also feel scared by this burnt down face and pity him and out of repulsion would want him to go away, However, he is in for a surprise when Mr Lamb welcomes him to his garden and tells him that he is interested in him. How would you explain Mr Lamb's expression, “I'm old, you're young. You've got a burned ‘face. I've got a tin leg. Not important”? What Mr Lamb wants to make Derek understand is that everyone has one or the other reason to hate and dislike oneself and feel inferior to other but such a fecling is disastrous, It does not really matter-how one looks. What is important for one is to accept who or what one is and live life fully. One must have a positive attitude and not allow any complexes to block one’s way to a life of happiness and fulfillment. Why do kids call Mr Lamb ‘Lamey-Lamb'? How does he feel about it? Mr Lamb has an artificial leg of tin, His real leg had been blown off in a bomb explosion. Since he walks with a limp, children of the neighbourhood call him Lamey-Lamb i.e. lame Lamb. Initially he must have felt bad now he feels the name suits him and does not trouble him, He has got over with the upset. Do you think Derek's attitude towards life would have been different had he been lame instead of having a burnt face? Derek thinks that Mr Lamb can cover up his handicap by wearing trousers, so his attitude towards life is different and if he had been lame he would have led a normal life. But he is certainly wrong, because his problem is psychological. People would still have made fun of him and Derek would have remained frustrated because of his lameness and negative attitude towards life. Why is one green, growing plant called a ‘weed’ and another ‘flower’? What does Mr Lamb mean by this statement? Mr Lamb is a staunch believer in the inherent oneness and equality of all the species created by God and repudiates (rejects) man-made differences there seem to be are superficial and unimportant. “It’s all relative. Beauty and the best,” What does Mr Lamb mean by this statement. Mr Lamb means to say that different people have different view-points to look at the same thing. Some find a thing beautiful, others fin attitude. It is, therefore, important to adopt a positive attitude to everything in life just like the it ugly. It all depends on one’s outlook andou. 1s. ou. O18. Princess Beauty who loved the monstrous Beast in the fairy tale but the beast, although he was a prince, failed to discover his reality. The point is that you are not what you look like, but what you are inside. Why does Derek say he doesn’t care if no one kisses him? Derek suffers from an acute sense of selfhatred and rejection on account of his burnt face. He feels he is too ugly to be liked and loved by anyone. So out of frustration he says, “I don’t care if no one kisses me.” He feels really bad when his mother, too kisses him on the good side of his face because she has to as a mother and not becamse she really loves him and accepts him as he is. “So you will. But the world won't, The world’s got a whole face, and the world’s there to be looked at.” When Derek says that no one will ever love him because he is going to continue to remain uualy on account of his scarry face, Mr Lamb tries to comfort him by saying that it does not matter if Derek’s looks won't change for the better as itis quite possible that people’s attitude towards him will change and they may accept and love him. Moreover, it is no use for Derek to go on complaining of his being ugly when there is so much beauty in the world to be explored and appreciated. What concept of the world does Mr Lamb propound when Derek asks him if his old garden is aworld? On Derek asking if his old garden is a world un to Mr Lamb, the latter replies in the affirmative saying it is his world when he is in it. He then goes on to explain that his garden is not the only ‘world’, the world is where one is, That is a unique concept of the world. How have people been sermonizing Derek about his burnt face? How does Derek feel about this sermonizing ? Since Derek has a particularly low self-regard due to his burnt face, people have been advising him to brave his handicap and change his outlook. They have been advising him to take inspiration from those who are in pain but never cry and complain or feel sorry for themselves. He is also advised look at those people who are more severely handicapped than he is — the blind, the born deaf, the mentally retarded and those confined to wheelchairs and think that he is more fortunate than them. Derek does not like this sermonizing for he feels that it, or for that matter anything else, cannot make his face change from an ugly one to a handsome one. What conversation did the two women at the bus-stop have? How did Derek feel about it? How does Mr Lamb interpret the conversation?gus. 020. 21 022. 023. 024. ‘Once Derek had overheard two women at the bus-stop talking about him. One woman looked at him and whispered to the other “Look at that, that's a terrible thing. That's a face only a mother could love.” Derek happened to overhear this conversation and felt it was cruel. When he recounted it before Mr Lamb, the latter tried to remove Derek’s hurt by saying that the Women’s conversation might not have been as cruel as he thinks. He dismisses it as a casual ‘conversation which Derek ought not to have taken so seriously or sensitively. Do you think that through the incident to buzzing/humming of bees the author wants to be tell 1s that life treats us the way we treat it. Do you agree? If so, why? ‘The author brings about the incident of buzzing / humming to bring home the point that life treats us the way we take it. Music and noise coexist and if we choose music in life we lead a life full of cheer and if we pay heed to the noise alone our life is a bundle of frustrations. Why does Mr Lamb narrate the story of a man who locked himself in a room because he was afraid? f Mr Lamb tells the story of a man who had locked himself in a room because he was terribly afraid of everything in order that Derek could realize that recoiling into oneself and building 8 shell around does not help. What Derek needed to do was to shed his fear, complex and self-hatred and live life fully, What is Mr Lamb's daily routine? Mr Lamb lives alone in a large house with a huge garden. During the day he has neighbourhood children visiting him for crab apples, pears, toffee and jelly. So he is busy picking apples and pears, tending his bees, making jelly and toffee. Apart form this, he likes to talk to the children who visit him. He also likes to read books and reflect. Why doesn't Mr Lamb have any curtains at the windows? Unlike most people Mr Lamb does not have any curtains at the windows of his house because he is not fond of them. He believes that curtains shut things out. Instead he likes to experience the alternating phases of light and darkness and he likes to hear the wind. Why does Mr Lamb feel Derek is not lost altogether? ‘Mr Lamb has heard Derek only complain, bemoan and spitting hatred for himself. He does not seem to like anybody or anything. So, when Derek says that he likes when it is raining and hearing it pitter-patter on the roof, Mr Lamb discovers that the boy does have some interest in life and remarks, “So you're not lost, are you? Not altogether?” What does Mr Lamb tell Derek he can do? Mr Lamb is sad to see Derek, a fourteen-year-old boy, give up on life just because he got a side of his face burnt by acid. He tells Derek that the latter has got two arms, two legs and925. 026. o27. 028. 029, eyes and ears, a tongue and a brain with which he can get on in life like any other boy. He could even do better than most others only if he so chose and set his mind to it. Why does Derek ask Mr Lamb if he has any friends? What answer does Mr Lamb give him? Derek has noticed that Mr Lamb lives alone in a big house. He also knows that the neighbourhood people are not very kind and friendly to him and the children call him lamey- Lamb. So, out of curiosity he asks Mr Lamb if the latter had any friends. In reply Mr Lamb says that he has got lots of friends and that everybody knows him. People come to him and sit in the garden in summer and in front of the fire in winter. Kids come to him for toffee, apples and pears. Why does Derek say that he is not a friend of Mr Lamb? What does Mr Lamb say in response? Derek believes he is not a friend of Mr Lamb because Mr Lamb does not know him well. For example, he does not know Derek’s name and where he has come from. Mr Lamb very gently replies that as far as he is concerned, Derek is his friend, It does not matter what his name is and where he has come from, What condition does Derek put on his friendship with Mr Lamb? What doubt does he have about this friendship? How does Mr Lamb dispel this doubt? Derek tells Mr Lamb that he could call him Derry and accepts to be Mr Lamb’s friend but says that Mr Lamb does not have to be his friend in return, if he so chooses. He wonders if he could continue to be Mr Lamb's friend if he never came back. Mr Lamb assures him that their friendship would continue even then also. “There are some people I hate.” How does Mr Lamb react to this statement of Derek? Mr Lamb believes that hatred is Man's worst enemy. So when he hears Derek say, “There are some people I hate,’ Mr Lamb remarks that hatred would do Derek more harm than any bottle of acid for acid had burnt only his face but hatred can burn him away inside. Indirectly he tells Derek that hatred is unnatural and hence injurious to mankind, The natural instinct is Jove which is a panacea for all maladies. “What kind of a world that be.” Which world is Mr Lamb referring to here? Why does he disapprove of it? Here Mr Derek is questioning the rationale of a world as proposed by one of Derek’s neighours when the boy had come home from hospital, The neighbour, a woman, had said that Derek ought to have stayed back in the hospital because he would have been better off with others like himself. She believed that blind people only ought to be with other blind people and idiot boys with idiot boys. My Lamb strongly disapproves of such a world as it would do more harm than good. According to him, it would make people with handicaps30. Q31. 032. 33. 034. 035. more miserable and more hurt. They need a world of compassion where those without handicaps accept them as their own and love them and help them overcome and forget theit handicaps for fulfilling and wholesome life. What is the underlying idea behind Mr Lamb's observation, “Everything's the same, but everything is different itself’? Lamb makes this observation in answer to Derek’s opinion that if people with similar handicaps stay together, “at least there would be nobody to stare at you... . “What he means to suggest is that underneath the scars and handicaps, people have same feelings, desires, aspirations and longings as the normal people do. Under the superficial differences of colour, class and creed lies the universal sameness, oneness of all human beings. However, this sameness does not prevent people from being unique individuals, for God creates them so- different from all others in several ways yet basically similar to them. Do you think Mr Lamb believes in universal brotherhood? Give reasons for your answer. Mr Lamb makes a vital statement that he is prepared to share all his belongings with others He believes that everything one has is God’s bounty and God belongs to all. Thus it is not ‘wrong to say that he is a strong believer in universal brotherhood Why does Derek feel Mr Lamb might lose all his friends because of him? Derek feels that if he continued coming to Mr Lamb’s house, the other friends of his would be scared to see his scarred and ugly face and would run away never to return, Thus, Derek feels, his frequent visits to Mr Lamb would result in the latter losing all his friends. What is Mr Lamb's fear about Derek's going back home? What light does this throw on Mr Lamb's life and character? Mr Lamb feels Derek would never come back to him. This is what has been happening to all his little fiends in the past. This apprehension brings out the terrible loneliness Mr Lamb suffers from and his desperate longing for company. Why does Derek suspect that Mr Lamb has no friends? Derek has only seen Mr Lamb talk about his friends but hasn’t seen any visiting him, He feels that nobody ever comes to Mr Lamb and cares for him and that he lives alone — all by himself and miserable. Further, when he asks Mr Lamb to name his friends, he fails to name any. All this makes Derek doubt that Mr Lamb has any ftiends, Why does Derek, at one point of the story, think that Mr Lamb is crazy? Derek feels that Mr. Lamb has no friends and lives a lonely and miserable life but Mr Lamb vehemently denies it, However, when Derek asks the old man to name his friends, the latter says “What are names” Tom, Dick or Hatry” and goes off to tend the bees. At this point036. 037. 038. 039. 040. O4 Derek calls Mr Lamb crazy because he refuses to admit his loneliness and skirts the whole issue of his friends At what stage of the play and what comment of Derek makes you feel that he is a changed individual now? The challenge thrown by Mr Lamb that once he (Derek) goes back home, he would never come back acts as a spur and he immediately retorts that he (Mr Lamb) does not know what he (Derek), “could do”. From then on, Derek is a changed individual. How does Mr Lamb's conversation transform Derek? Derek is indeed a very sensitive but brave and courageous boy. His long conversation with Mr Lamb helps him overcome his inferiority complex and poor self-regard. He no longer hates himself for his ugly face or others for disliking and avoiding him for his ugliness. Now hhe fecls what he thinks is important and wants to explore and experience the world around him. Why does Derek return to Mr Lamb’s garden? Derek returns to Mr Lamb’s garden because he had promised that he would. Mr Lamb has helped him rediscover himself and add a new meaning to his life. Now Derek wants to leave his handicap behind and forge ahead in life and live it-full, He feels that he is Mr Lamb’s natural successor and has to carry on his mission. What significance would you attach to Derek’s statement, “You shouldn't believe all you hear”? Derek has already started speaking the language of Mr Lamb and he tries to impress upon his mother that there is always a vast gap between what really is and what people say, and that one should not believe in hearsay. What idea do you form about Derek's mother from your brief encounter with her in the second part of the play? Derek’s mother is an unintelligent lady who has failed to understand her son’s tragedy. Derek clearly speaks a different language having different nuances but she is not able to comprehend them and fails to read between the lines. Like others, she is also repelled by the but side of Derek’s face and kisses only the good side. What makes Derek observe that,” world again”? Derek has rediscovered the joy of life thanks to Mr Lamb. He strongly feels that he must do II don't go back there, I'll never go anywhere in this something for the lonely old man. He makes the statement in question to tell his mom how important it if for bim to go to Lamb because he has promised to return unlike other little042. Qu. friends of the old man, Moreover, Derek feels that he can live a meaningful life only by furthering Mr Lamb’s mission. What significance would you attach to Mr Lamb's silence at the end of the play? Every individual in this world has special tasks allotted to him which must be performed. The old and decrepit Lamb needed someone to carry on the good work he had started. Fortunately for him, he finds Derek as his successor. Now, a lot of burden is off his head and he can die peacefully. He becomes silent in order to experience fulfillment and peace. He is silent because perhaps he is already dead when Derek calls him. The actual pain or inconvenience caused by a physical impairment is often much less than the sense of alienation felt by the person with disabilities. What is the kind of behaviour that the person expects from others? Both Mr Lamb and Derek suffer from physical impairment. Mr Lamb has an artificial leg ‘made of tin and Derek has a severely burnt face-both the experiences must have been terribly painful for the respective sufferers. However, we see that Derek suffers not just on account of the pain or inconvenience caused by his physical impairment but also from an acutely low self-regard, self-rejection and his notion of how much people hate him for being ugly. His loneliness and suffering are aggravated by his feeling that nobody loves him and wants him. He suffers pangs of alienation within his family, too. Even his mother, he believes kisses him not because she loves him but because she has to as a mother. In some way or the other this behaviour of people like Derek stems from people’s gross indifference to them, their hatred and dislike for handicaps and deformities and their utter lack of concern and compassion. The words of sympathy they utter are actually an expression of their fear of looking at somebody so ugly and horrible and not out of any genuine concern and empathy. ‘The victims of impairment do not want empty words of sympathy and pity, for they feel more hurt when people continue to remind them unwittingly of their being handicapped and impaired. Instead they need time and space in which they can leave behind their handicaps and live life as fully as possible. The best others can do for them is to accept that handicaps and impairment do occur in life and that they still can lead a highly productive and meaningful life. People must not make fun of others’ handicaps and impairment and must never make a false display of their sympathy and concern for those braving any impairment. Instead they should help such people live as wonderful a life as possible by creating appropriate opportunities and environment.2. 03. ‘This is how Mr Lamb himself has successfully overcome his impairment and the consequent inental block and complexes. This is what he has done for Derek, too. What is the significance of Derek's words, “I thought it was empty ... an empty house” in the play? Derek says these words to Mr Lamb when the latter sees him entering his garden by climbing over the boundary wall. Mr Lamb is not surprised at this because he is quite used to children coming to his garden to steal and eat apples, pears etc. But Derek has ventured into the garden out of curiosity. He had supposed that the garden was empty, but it was not. So when Mr Lamb accosts him, Derek is embarrassed and wants to go back but not before explaining that he had not come there to steal apples, an explanation Mr Lamb very readily accepts. Derek’s words are significant in that they point out to his terrible sense of frustration, loneliness and ‘isolation’ on account of his severely bumt face. These words also prompt Mr Lamb to spill out his loneliness, too, towards the end of the first scene, They go a long way in Mr Lamb's, (and the reader's) understanding of Derek’s character and Mr Lamb’s subsequent efforts in helping Derek come out his inferiority complex, poor self-regard and self-fejection. These words are a bitter reminder of the bitterness that has crept into Derek’s mind due to other people’s dislike and hatred for his ugly face, They are a desperate cry of a fourteen- year-old boy for love and acceptance. Why do you think Mr Lamb keeps the gates of the house and garden open ? Mr Lamb’s keeping the gates of the house and garden open is a reflection on the whole philosophy of Mr Lamb's life and speaks volumes about his nature. He keeps the windows and gates open to announce to the world that everybody is welcome in his house. It also suggests that whatever belongs to him belongs to everybody. It is like the kingdom of heaven that showers blessings on all, Mr Lamb’s action is also a critical comment on the people who are over-possessive about their belongings. It is also a way of life where one dispels all darkness of life. This practice of Mr Lamb also conveys the message that we should keep the gates and windows of our minds open in order to succeed in life.