FACE IN THE DARK

Extract 1

"From before Kipling's...................... several years."

a) Who was Mr. Oliver? What was his usual leisure activity? 3 ( 1+2)

Mr Oliver, was an Anglo-Indian teacher, who was teaching in a school, located

3 miles away from Shimla.

He used to walk down every evening to the Shimla baazar and returned after
dark by taking a shortcut through the pine forest.

b) What was called 'Eton of the East'? Why?

The all-boys school in Shimla in which Mr Oliver was a teacher has been called
'Eton of the East'.

Eton College is one of the most reputed and expensive English boarding school
for boys in Eton, Verkshire, near Windor.(UK)

c) What kind of weather was there on the night when Oliver was returning
to his school? How does it add to the setting of the story?

Mr Oliver's school was called 'eton of the East' because the school had been run
on English public School lines and the boys were mostly from wealthy Indian
families. According to the spirit of the story the author has created an eerie
atmosphere in the story. It was night time and a strong wind was blowing the
pine trees were mysterious sad sounds indicating that something evil was likely
to happen. The batteries of the torch were running down creating an atmosphere
of fear and suspense.

d) What did Oliver encounter while coming back to school one night? What
did he do after that?

While coming back to the school one night Mr.Oliver encountered a boy sitting
alone at that time of the night in the forest. His head was hung down and he was
holding his face in his hands. Oliver stopped near the boy and asked him what
he was doing there and why he was crying.

e) What kind of man was Oliver as described earlier by the author? How
did he prove himself opposite of this description?

Oliver was a courageous man, who did not believe in imaginary or ghost stories.
So he never felt any fear while walking through the pine forest at night, even
when the weather was windy and the pine trees made sad and eerie sounds.
Though it is said about Oliver that he is not "a nervous or imaginative man" yet
it is possible that out of his fear, anxiety or loneliness he might really be
imagining some strange things, the strange scene frightened him and he runs to
save his life.

Extract 2

"What are you ..................... distinctly uneasy."

a) Where did Mr. Oliver find the boy? What did he notice about the boy?

As he was walking down, the narrow path, he saw a boy sitting alone on a rock.
His head was hung down and he was holding his face in his hands.

b) Why do you think the boy was called a miscreant? In what condition was
he found by Oliver?

Miscreant is a person who has done some mischief. Since the boys were
forbidden to move out after dark. Thus the boy sitting alone on a rock in the
night forced the author to call him a miscreant.

c) How did Mr. Oliver express his concern for the boy? How did the boy
react to it?

Oliver stopped near the boy and asked him what he was doing there and why he
was crying. The boy neither looked up nor answered his questions and
continued to sob. Oliver again enquire from him what was troubling him and
asked him to look up.

d) How can you explain the boy's "strange, soundless weeping"?

The boy's strange soundless weeping hunks at the boy and asked him why he
was crying but the boy's soundless weeping made him uneasy. The strange,
soundless weeping Oliver heard could be explained on the bases that Oliver was
only man caught in some psychological fears which were imaginary, frightening
and scary thing. Thus, Oliver encountered soundless weeping and faceless
faces.

e) What strange revelation took place when the boy finally looked up at
Oliver? How did Mr. Oliver react to it?

When the boy finally looked up at Oliver, Mr. Oliver noticed that the boy had
no face. It was without eyes, nose or mouth. Mr Oliver was horrified to see that
boy.

Extract 3

"The torch fell ..................... you running?"

a) Whose "trembling hand" is referred to in the above extract? Why was it

trembling?

Trembling hand is referred to in the above extract Oliver's. It was trembling

because he was horrified that boy's face without eyes, nose, ear or mouth.

b) Explain the sentence: ''He turned and scrabbled down the path, running
blindly through the trees... ".

The faceless boy terrified Oliver so much that he immediately turned and in
panic ran blindly through the forest calling for help.

c) What did Oliver answer the watchman's questions in the extract above?

Mr. Oliver told the watchman that he had encountered something horrible that
night, a faceless boy.

d) The story ends with a thrilling climax. Do you agree? Why?

Yes, I agree Oliver ran away from the faceless boy and called for help. He saw a
lantern swinging in the middle of the path. What followed next was a thrilling
climax as Oliver while running stumbled up to a watchman only to find that he
was also faceless with no footers. The climax is reached when the wind blew
out the land, leaving a reader's to imagine what might happiness to Oliver.

e) Comment on the appropriateness of the title of the story. Give reasons to

justify your answer.

Mr. Oliver, the main character in the story, was going back to his school at
night. On the way, he saw a boy sitting on a rock, with his head hung down and
holding his face in his hands and crying. Oliver tried to enquire from him the
reason for his being in the forest at night and crying. The boy at first, did not
reply, but then acceded to Oliver's request and looked up. As the light from
Oliver's torch fell on his face, Oliver was horrified to see that he did not have a
face - no eyes, ears, nose or mouth.

Calling for help, he ran from there and bumped into a watchman. The
watchman asked him why he was running so fast. Oliver told him about the
faceless boy he had met on the way. Then, the watchman held the lantern to his
own face and asked him if the boy was like him, without a face.

Thus, the boy and the watchman, who appeared to be having a face' in the
dark, did not have a face when seen in light. Ruskin Bond says, "After dark we
see or hear many things that seem mysterious and irrational and then, by the
clear light of day, we find that the magic and the mystery have an explanation
after all."

Therefore, the title A Face in the Dark is quite apt, as makes the readers
ponder upon the mysteries of human existence and the possibility of another
layer of life outside our material world.