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?
or
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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