On The Face Of It Question Answer 12th English

Ch-6

On The Face of It by Susan Hill

Q1. Who is Mr Lamb? How does Derry get into his garden?

Ans. Mr Lamb is an old man with a tin leg.He is retired from the army. 

 His real leg was blown off years ago during the war. He lives all alone in his house. There is a garden near the house. It has ripe crab apples looking orange and golden in colour.Kids call him Lamey Lamb.Mr Lamb is sitting in his garden when Derry climbs over the garden wall to get into his garden. Though the gate is open, the boy does not use it.

Q2. Do you think all this will change Derry’s attitude towards Mr Lamb?

Ans.Yes, Mr Lamb's kind behaviour will change Derry's attitude towards Mr Lamb. Derry's face got burned with acid. It looks ugly. People dislike him and avoid him. So Derry also avoids people and likes to remain lonely. But Lamb talks to him in a kind manner. He tells Derry that outer appearance is  not much importance. The real beauty is within man's spirit. Handsome is  he who does handsome.Man is known by his actions and reactions. This pleases Derry. So he is drawn towards Mr Lamb.

Q3. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr Lamb in spite of himself?

Ans.Mr Lamb advises Derry that he should also not mind what others say about his face. Mr Lamb tells Derry that beauty is not merely in the physical body. Real beauty lies within our spirits. Handsome is he who does handsome. He tells Derry never to think of his burnt face. He has two arms, two legs, eyes, ears tongue and a brain. He can do better than others. It is by such words of encouragement that Mr Lamb draws Derry to himself

Q4. In which section of the play does Mr Lamb display signs of loneliness and disappointment? What are the ways in which Mr Lamb tries to overcome these feelings?

Ans.It is midway in the first scene of the story that Mr. Lamb displays signs of loneliness and disappointment. When Derry goes away saying that he will come back, Mr Lamb says to himself: " Everyone says, I will come back but they never do. None of them ever comes back." These words show Mr lamb's loneliness and disappointment. But he tries to overcome the feelings by watching, listening and thinking.He has no curtains on his window. He loves to see the natural lights and darkness. He loves to hear the winds blowing. He finds no difference between flowers and trees, birds and weeds. To him they all are growing living things. It is by such positive thinking that he tries to overcome his loneliness and disappointment.

Q5. 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?

Ans.A disabled person is generally considered an object of pity, He is considered incapable of doing anything useful. People keep reminding him of his disability through their behaviour towards him

He thinks that he is not a part of the normal society..

 This gives the disabled person a deep mental pain. He feels himself alienated from society. A disabled person never wants others to pity him. He only wants that he should be treated as a human being. He expects people to give him an opportunity to show his potential. He is prepared to put in extra labour to make up for his physical impairment. But he wants that his efforts should be recognized and he should be given proper respect.

Q6. 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?

Ans.When Derry comes to Mr Lamb's garden, he is afraid. He avoids people and wants to spend some time in a lonely place. His face is burned with acid and people are afraid of him. So he also hates them. But his meeting with Mr Lamb changes his outlook. Mr Lamb tells him not to avoid people or to hate them. He is deeply influenced by Mr Lamb. So, it is expected that his brief association with Lamb will bring a change in the kind of life that he will lead in the future.

Q7.What did Derry overhear from the conversation of two women at the bus stop?

Ans. Once, Derry was standing at the bus stop when two women crossed him. One woman looked at him and told the other about Derry's burnt face. She said "Look at that, that's a terrible thing. That's a face only a mother could love. "Derry tells this incident to Mr Lamb who advises him not to pay attention towards such ordinary things.

Q.8. How did Derry get his face burnt? 

Ans. One side of Derry's face was totally burnt. Mr Lamb guessed that Derry's face got burned in a fire. Derry corrected him. He got acid all down on that side of his face. The acid burned it all the way. It ate his face up.

Question 9.

Why had Derry come to the garden?

Answer:

Derry had thought it was an empty place and no one lived there. He wanted to see what kind of place it was. He had no mind to steal any apple.

Question 10.

How does Mr Lamb try to remove the baseless fears of Derry?

Answer:

Mr Lamb tells Derry that he, like others, has two eyes, two ears, two legs, two arms, brain and a tongue. He can do or achieve whatever he likes.Je can better than others.In this way Mr Lamb tries to remove baseless fears of Derry.

Q11.What did Derry’s mother think of Mr Lamb?

Answer:

Derry’s mother did not have any good opinion about Mr Lamb. She considered him to be a worthless man. She thought that Mr Lamb’s talk was all nonsense. She did not want Derry to go there.

Q12.What is the moral of the story on the Face of it?

The moral of the play is very loud and clear. The physically disabled should focus on the brighter side of life and not to brood over the shortcomings. The society should accept them as they are and expand their social interactions . In this way they can fight out the loneliness, depression and disappointment.

Q13. Who is Derry?

Ans.Derry is a fourteen-year-old boy who is disfigured and ugly because half of his face was burnt due to spilling of acid on one side of his face. He is conscious of the fact that his ugliness is revolting to others and so everybody wants to ignore him or pity him. He suffers from inferiority complex. He becomes too arrogant and usually avoids any social interaction. He heard people using nasty comments about him and so bears a grudge towards the entire society.

 Q14.How does Derry interpret the fairy story 'Beauty and the Beast"? What does he feel about himself? Ans. Derry says that he has been told that story before. It teaches us that outward appearance does not matter. It is what one is inside that is important. Handsome is that handsome does. Beauty loved the monstrous beast for himself. When she kissed him, he changed into a handsome prince. No one except Derry's mother kisses him. She too kisses him on  the other of the face.He has developed a negative attitude and says he doesn't care "if anybody ever kissed" him.

Q15.Which fears did the man suffer from? What is the common factor in all of them?

 Ans. The man feared that a bus might run him over, or a man might breathe deadly germs onto him, or a donkey might kick him to death or lightning might strike him down, or he might love a girl and the girl would leave him, and he might slip on a banana skin and fall and people who saw him would laugh their heads off. Most of these fears are imaginary.

Q16. What other ending would you suggest to the above story? 

Ans. I would like the play to end on a happy note. Derry's efforts will revive the old man. After regaining his consciousness, Mr Lamb will grant permission to Derry to live with him and see,hear and learn things.

Q17.How should people be judged?

Ans. People should not be judged by what they look like. They must be judged by their actions and reactions. Appearances may be deceptive. On the other hand, people with physical impairments overcome their disabilities and perform wonderful feats in different spheres.

Q18."I'm not afraid. People are afraid of me," says Derry. What do people think on seeing his face? How do they react then?

 Ans. On looking at Derry's face they find it bad and frightful. They think that it is the ugliest thing they have ever seen. They call him a poor boy as one side of his face has been burnt by acid. Some of them are afraid of his ugly and horrible face. 

 MCQ TYPE ANSWER

Q1How far is Derry’s house from Mr Lamb’s?

Ans.3 miles

Q2.The boy’s name is __ but he prefers

Ans. Derek

Q3.Mr. Lamb claimed he had ______ friends

Ans.hundreds of

Q4.Derry didn’t like people

Ans.being afraid of him

Q5.The gate to Mr Lamb’s house is…

Ans.always open

Q6.The terrible woman said about Derry that it was a face———-

Ans.only a mother could love

Q7.What ate Derry’s face away?

Ans.Acid

Q8.How old is Derry?

Ans.14 years

Q9.Why did Derry enter Mr Lamb’s garden?

Ans.Out of curiosity

Q10.Derry entered Mr Lamb’s garden by __

Ans.climbing over the wall

Q11.What kind of a garden did Mr. Lamb have ?

Ans.Apple garden

Q12.Why did Mr. Lamb call Derry blessed?

Ans.because except a burnt face he had a perfectly healthy body

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