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| A face in the dark |
Extract I
(i). Who was Mr. Oliver? What was his usual activity during the evening?
Ans. Mr. Oliver was an Anglo-Indian teacher, who was teaching in a
school, which is located three miles away from Shimla. He was a bachelor and
was probably staying alone in the school premises. He usually used to walk
down to the Shimla Bazar and would return after dark by taking a shortcut
through the pine forest.
(ii). What was called ‘Eton of the East’? Why?
Ans. 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 reputable
and expensive English boarding school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, near
Windsor(UK). It was called 'Eton of the East' because it was one of the
most reputed schools in Shimla, the children of wealthy family come here to
study.
(iii) 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?
Ans. 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 making mysterious sounds, indicating that
something evil was likely to happen. The batteries of Oliver’s torch were
running down, creating an atmosphere of fear and suspense.
(iv) What did Oliver encounter while coming back to school one night? What
did he do after that?
Ans. While walking back to school one night, he encountered a boy
sitting alone on a rock whose head was hung down, whose body shook
convulsively and whose face was held in his own hands. After seeing the boy,
Oliver stopped near the boy and asked him what he was doing there and why he
was crying and ask the reason to him for staying there in the dark.
(v) What kind of man was Oliver as described at the beginning of the story?
How did he prove himself opposite of this description?
Ans. At the beginning of the story, the Author describes Oliver
to be a courageous man who did not believe in the existence of supernatural
things. He was the only person who could dare to take shortcut route through
the pine forest late in the night, even in the stormy weather.
Later towards the end of the story, Oliver saw the boy with a featureless
face, he was horrified and seemed to be in the grip of unknown fear. The torch
he was holding fell from his trembling hand and he ran blindly through the
trees calling for help. This incident shows that when Oliver was in real
danger, he got overwhelmed with an unknown fear, could not think rationally
and reacted like a coward. His behaviour was quite the opposite of what was
portrayed earlier about him being a daring personality.
Extract II
(i) Where did Mr. Oliver find the boy? What did he notice about the boy?
Ans. Walking through the pine forest to return to school, Oliver found
the boy sitting on a rock. He noticed that the boy was crying with his head
hung down, body shook convulsively and his face held in his hands.
(ii) Why do you think the boy was called a miscreant? In what condition was
he found by Oliver?
Ans. A miscreant is a person who has done some mischief. Boys were not
supposed to be out after dark. Thus the boy sitting alone on the rock in the
night forced the author to call him a miscreant. He found the boy in a
strange, soundless weeping, and distinctly uneasy condition.
(iii) How did Mr Oliver express his concern for the boy? How did the
boy react to it?
Ans. By asking to him that what he was doing there and why he was
crying, Mr. Oliver express his concern for the boy. The boy did not respond
and continued to sob. Oliver again enquired what was troubling him and asked
him to look up.
(iv) How can you explain the boy’s "strange, soundless weeping"?
Ans. The boy's weeping can be explained in the following ways: the boy
was weeping a soundless weeping. the soundless weeping of the boy frightened
Mr. Oliver although he was a very brave man because that was unusual for
anyone to see such a scene as every person makes noise while weeping. anyone
in Mr. Oliver's place would have been shocked and frightened.
although Mr. Oliver's still proves his bravery because if
anyone else would have been there would have choked to death.
(v) What strange revelation took place when the boy finally looked up at
Oliver? How did Mr. Oliver react to it?
Ans. When the boy finally looked up at Oliver, it was revealed that the
boy had no face. The face was without eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a
round head with a school cap on it.
When Oliver saw the boy's face in the light of the torch, he was shocked. The
suspense is further heightened when Mr. Oliver started running away from the
faceless boy.
Extract III
(i) Whose "trembling hand" is referred to in the above extract? Why was it
trembling?
Ans. Oliver’s ‘trembling hand’ is referred to in the above extract. It
was trembling, as Oliver was horrified to see that the boy’s face was
featureless, without eyes, ears, nose or mouth.
(ii) Explain the sentence:
"He returned and scrambled down the path, running blindly through the
trees..."
Why did Mr. Oliver do so?
Ans. The 'faceless' boy terrified Oliver too much so that he
immediately turned back and in panic ran blindly through the forest to call
for help.
(iii) What answer did Oliver give for the watchman’s questions in the
extract above?
Ans. Oliver told the watchman that he had encountered something
horrible, a boy, weeping in the forest, who had no face.
(iv) The story ends with a thrilling climax. Do you agree? Why?
Ans. 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 too was faceless, with no features or even eyebrows. The climax
is reached when the wind blew out the lamp, leaving the readers to imagine
what might have happened to Oliver.
(v) Comment on the appropriateness of the title of the story. Give the
reason to justify your answer.
Ans. The title A Face in the Dark is suitable as it describes a strange
experience of Mr. Oliver, the protagonist of the story. Oliver, on his way
back at night, meets a boy in an isolated place sitting on a rock. A close
look at the boy horrifies him as he has no face-no eyes, ears, nose or mouth.
As he runs horrified by the strange experience, he meets the watchman who is
also 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.
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