CLASS 12- Lesson-On the face of It

       Lesson-On the face of It

 

Question 1.
Narrate the first meeting between Mr Lamb and Derry?
Answer:
The first meeting between Mr Lamb and Derry takes place in Mr Lamb’s garden. Derry is a small boy . Derry comes into the garden. He thinks that no one is in the garden. Suddenly, he hears Mr Lamb’s voice, “Mind the apples.” Derry is surprised to hear that voice. He has thought that no one was there in the garden. He wants to run way from there but Mr Lamb says that he is most welcomed in the garden.

Derry sits beside Mr Lamb. They have heart to heart talk. They thoroughly enjoy each other’s company. Mr Lamb has been retired from the army. One of his legs had been blown due to a bomb blast. Nobody comes to visit him. People have spread many stories about him. Children mockingly call him ‘Lamey Lamb’. The condition of Derry is also not much different. One side of his face is burnt due to acid.

Question 2.
Why do you think Derry is so pessimistic? How does Mr Lamb give solace to the boy?

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How did Mr Lamb’s meeting with Derry become a turning point in Derry’s life?
Answer:
The face of Derry is burnt due to acid. People look at him in awe. They say that it is the ugliest’ thing that they have ever seen. Derry feels afraid of him when he sees himself in the mirror. He has become pessimistic. He knows even his mother doesn’t love him truly. She just fulfils her duty as a mother.

Therefore, she never kisses him on the burnt side of his face. she always kisses on the other side of his face. Lamb gives the boy great solace and inspiration. He tells him he is not handicapped like him. He has two legs, two eyes, two ears and two hands. He can do anything in life. He also advises him to have optimistic approach in life.

 

Question 3.
What lesson of life does Mr Lamb tell Derry? What effect it has on him?
Answer:
Mr Lamb has lost one of his legs in a war. He tells Derry he is not handicapped like him. He has two legs, two eyes, two ears and two hands. He can do anything in life. He also advises him to have optimistic approach in life. Then he starts explaining Derry about his own approach towards life. He says everything interests him that is created by God.

He says that people say the bees buzz but according to him . they hum. According to Lamb, every growing thing has life in it. For him even weeds are important. He tells Derry that it’s not what he looks like; it’s what he is inside. This makes Derry understand that beauty is only skin deep. He understands that he is not inferior to anybody. He can do whatever he likes.

Question 4.
How did Mr Lamb try to give courage and confidence to Derry?
Answer:
Mr Lamb was retired from the army. He had lost one of his legs due to bomb blast. He met Derry for the first time in his garden. One side of Derry’s face is burnt due to acid. As a result, Derry had become quite pessimistic in his life. But Mr Lamb told him he was not handicapped like him. He had two legs, two eyes, two ears and two hands. He could do anything in life. He also advised him to have optimistic approach in life. Then he started explaining Derry about his own approach towards life.

He said everything interested him that was created by God. He said that people would say the bees buzz but according to him, they hum. According to Lamb, every growing thing had life in it. For him, even weeds were important. He told Derry that it was not what he looked like; it was what he was inside. Now Derry came to understand that beauty is only skin deep.

Question 5.
Both Derry and Lamb are victims of physical impairment, but much more painful for them is the feeling of loneliness. Comment.
Answer:
If a person is constantly reminded of his physical impairment, he will feel a great mental pain. This pain is much more than the pain of actual physical impairment. The same thing is with Derry and Lamb, One side of Derry’s face has been burnt due to acid. People look at him with a sense of fear or shock. They would say that it is a terrible thing. Some would show sympathy towards him. A woman looks at him and says, “That it is a face only a mother could love.” It  gave Derry  great pain when he heard them. Even the people at his own home don’t treat him well.

They think him to be a burden. Even his mother would not kiss him on the burnt side. She would always kiss him on the other side. Derry is deeply hurt at all this. He wants to run away from his house. Lamb has lost one of his legs due to bomb blast. Nobody ever comes to meet him. Children mockingly call him ‘Lamey Lamb’. Thus for both of them the more painful is the feeling of loneliness.

Question 6.
Derry sneaked into Mr Lamb’s garden and it became a turning point in his life. Comment.
Answer:
Mr Lamb’s meeting with Derry indeed proved to be a turning point in a young boy’s life. One side of Derry’s face was burnt due to acid. People looked at him in awe. They would say that it was the ugliest thing that they have ever seen. Derry felt afraid of him when he saw himself in the mirror. He had become highly pessimistic. He knew even his mother didn’t love him truly.

She would just fulfil her duty as a mother. Therefore she never kissed him on the burnt side of his face; she would always kiss on the other side of his face. But Lamb gave the boy great solace and inspiration. He told him he was not handicapped like him. He had two legs, two eyes two ears and two hands. He could do anything in life. He also advised him to have optimistic approach in life. Thus this meeting proved to be a turning point in Derry’s life. Now he doesn’t care what others say.

Question 7.
Who is Mr Lamb? How does Derry get into his garden?
Answer:
Mr Lamb is an old man. He is retired from the army. He has lost his one leg in the war. Now, a tin leg has been there in place of his original leg. People have spread many stories about him. Hardly anyone comes to see him. He is living a lonely life. The children in the street call him Lamey-Lamb. His house has a lovely garden. Mr Lamb always keeps the gate of his garden open.

Everyone is welcomed in his garden. Derry does not come into the garden by the gate, instead he climbs over the garden wall. He does not want that anyone should notice his entry. Therefore, he climbs over the garden wall. The second thing is one part of his face is burnt due to acid. He does not want that anyone should notice his ugly face and so he ran away.

Question 8.
What is it that draws Derry towards Mr Lamb in spite of himself?
Answer:
Both Derry and Mr Lamb are suffering from the same sort of problem. Mr Lamb is living a lonely life. He has lost one of his legs in a war. People have spread many stories about him. The children would mock at him and call him ‘Lamey Lamb’. No one comes to see him.

The condition of Derry is not much different. Half side of his face has been burnt with acid. People would look at him with awe. They would say what he would do in his life. Even Derry thinks that members of his own family avoid him.

When the two, Mr Lamb and Derry, meet with each other, they have heart to heart talking. Mr Lamb talks to him lovingly. He says that all the living things are beautiful. He also encourages Derry by saying that since he has two legs, two hands two ears, two eyes and two hands, he can do anything. It is by such words of encouragement that Derry is drawn towards Mr Lamb.

Question 9.
Will Derry get back to his old seclusion or will Mr Lamb’s brief association effect a change in the kind of life he will lead in the future?
Arts.
There is little chance of Derry going back to his old seclusion. Now he has gained a lot of self-confidence. Mr Lamb has told him that like every other person Derry has two eyes, two legs, two hands, two ears and two hands. He can do anything he likes. Derry has been a very pessimistic boy but Mr Lamb gives him a lot of confidence.

His words of encouragement bring about a total change in the attitude and perspective of Derry towards life. Now he does not care about how he looks like. Now he wants to live life in his own way. Therefore he decides to leave his home and live with Mr Lamb. He understands that beauty is only skin deep.

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