VISTAS (SUPPLEMENTARY READER) ON THE FACE OF IT

VISTAS (SUPPLEMENTARY READER)

                                            ON THE FACE OF IT                              Susan Hill

TEXTUAL QUESTION-ANSWER

Q.1. Who is Mr. Lamb? How does Derry get into his garden?

Ans:- Mr. Lamb is an old man. He has lost one of his legs in war. Now he has a tin leg in its place. Children in the street call him Lamey-Lamb but he doesn’t mind it. He takes it as a fun. He lives all alone in a house. The house has a lovely garden. Mr Lamb keeps the garden gate always open. Everyone is welcome to come in. But Derry doesn’t come in through the open gate. He climbs over the garden wall and comes in.

Q.2. Do you think all this will change Derry’s attitude towards Mr. Lamb?

Ans:- Derry finds Mr. Lamb very different from other people. Mr. Lamb shows no fear or shock on seeing Derry’s burnt face. Unlike other people, he does not try to avoid him. Rather he welcomes him to his garden and talks lovingly with him. He tells Derry of the things what really matter in life. He fills him with self-confidence. He says that Derry has two arms, two legs, eyes, ears, a tongue and a brain. He could get on in life like all the rest. He could do even better if he set his mind to it. All this fills Derry with love and admiration for Mr. Lamb. He no longer thinks him a crazy old man. He chooses to stay with him in his house.

Q.3. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr. Lamb in’ spite of himself?    2011

Ans:- Derry finds Mr. Lamb very different from others. Mr. Lamb shows no shock or fear on seeing Derry’s burnt face. Rather he talks to him in a loving manner. He welcomes him to his garden. He offers to pluck apples and make jelly for him. He calls him his friend. He says that things look outwardly different, but inwardly they are all the same. Derry says that he hates some people. At this, Mr. Lamb says that it can do him more harm than any bottle of acid. Acid burns only the face, but hatred burns one away inside. He tells Derry never to think of his burnt face. He has two arms, two legs, eyes, ears, tongue and a brain. And if he has a firm mind, he can do better than others. It is by such words of encouragement that Mr. Lamb draws Derry to himself.

SHORT-ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Q. 1. Who is Mr. Lamb?

Ans:- Mr. Lamb is an old man. He lost one of his legs in war. Now he has a tin leg in its place. He lives alone in a house that has a garden. No one ever comes to visit him. Kids call him Lamey- Lamb. But Mr. Lamb does not mind it.

Q. 2. What peculiar things does Derry notice about the old man, Mr. Lamb?

Ans:- Mr. Lamb is an old man. Derry finds that he leaves his gate always open. Everybody is welcome in his garden. Also there are no blinds on the windows. All these strike Derry as peculiar things.

Q 3. Why does Mr. Lamb leave his gate always open? (2011)

Ans:- Mr. Lamb is a lonely person. He wants people to come to his garden and talk to him. That is why he leaves his gate always open. Everyone is welcome to come in.

Q. 4. Why and how does Derry get into Mr. Lamb’s garden?   2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017

Ans:- He thought it was an empty place and no one lived there. He came in just to see what kind of place it was. He had no mind to steal any apples. The garden gate was open. But Derry did not come through the gate. He did not want to be noticed by anyone that he was getting into the garden. So he climbed over the garden wall and came in.

Q. 5. What did Mr. Lamb say to Derry when he saw him come into his garden?

Ans:-Derry was walking through the long grass under the apple trees. There were crab apples lying in the grass. They were windfalls. Mr. Lamb asked Derry to mind the apples lest he should trip over them.

Q. 6. Why had Derry come into the garden? 2015, 2017, 2016

 Ans:- He thought it was an empty place and no one lived there. He came in just to see what kind of place it was. He had no mind to steal any apples.

Q. 7. Why does Derry say people are afraid of him?

 Ans:- Derry says that people look at his face and call it a terrible thing. They call it the ugliest thing they ever saw. That is why Derry says people are afraid of looking at him.

Q.8. Who Should be friend according to both Derry and Mr. Lamb?

Ans:- According to Derry and Mr. lamb the friend  who is not the presence to each other but  helps  each other without any selfishness.

Q.9. How does Mr. Lamb try to change the topic of Derry’s ugly face?

Ans:-He starts talking of the crab apples in his garden. He says that when it is cool in the evening, they will pull down those apples. He calls them a magic fruit. He says that they are best to be made into jelly. He asks Derry to give him a hand in it.

Q.10. How does Derry say his face got burned?   OR How did Derry get his face burnt? 2019

Ans:- Derry says it was not a fire that burned his face. He got acid all down that side of his face. It burned the face all the way. It ate up his face.

Q.11.What idea does the story of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ convey?

Ans:- It conveys the idea that it does not matter what you look like. It is what you are inside. Handsome is that handsome does.

Q.12. Why did Derry not like his mother to kiss him ?

Ans:-  Derry’s mother never kissed him on the burnt side of his face. She always kissed him on the other side. It gave Derry a feeling that she did not kiss him from her heart. She kissed him because she had to do so as a mother.

Q.13. What does Mr. Lamb want to say by the example of the bees?

Ans: Mr. Lamb says that some people hear bees and say, “Bees buzz.” But when he listens to them, he feels that they are humming which means singing. By this, Mr. Lamb wants to say that it depends on us how we interpret what we hear.

Q.14. What did Derry’s mother think of Mr. Lamb? (2009)

Ans:- Derry’s mother thought of Mr. Lamb as a worthless person. She said that Lamb’s all talk was nothing but nonsense. She didn’t want Derry to go back to him.

 Q.15. Why does Mr. Lamb not have any curtains at the windows of his house?      2012, 2016, 2018

Ans:- He says that he is not fond of curtains. He does not want to shut things in and shut things out. He likes the natural light and natural. He wants to hear the winds blowing outside. That is why he keeps his windows open.

Q.16. Why did Derry go back to Mr. Lamb in the end?

Ans:- Mr. Lamb says to Derry no one come back again in this garden. Derry promised to Mr. Lamb he is come back again and fulfill his promised and Mr. Lamb filled Derry’s heart with courage and confidence. So he is coming to meet him again.

Q.17. What does Mr. Lamb say when Derry says, “There are some people I hate.”?

Ans:- Mr. Lamb says that hatred could do him more harm than any bottle of acid. Acid could only burn his face. But hatred could do a worse thing. It could burn him away inside.

Q.18. What does Derry tell his mother about Mr. Lamb?

Ans:- He says that Mr. Lamb is an old man with a tin leg. He lives in a huge house without curtains and has a garden. Derry says that he wants to be there. He wants to sit there, look and listen to things. He wants to think about things nobody else has ever said.

Q.19. What happens to Mr. Lamb in the end?

Ans:- Mr. Lamb puts a ladder against the branch of an apple tree. He tries to pluck apples. When he pulls the branch, his ladder falls back. He falls with the ladder and dies.

Q.20.How does Mr. Lamb keep himself busy when it is a bit cool?

Ans:- When it is a bit cool, Mr. Lamb gets a ladder and a stick and busies himself by pulling down the crab apples in the garden. They are ripe for picking.

Q.21. How do people comment so painfully about Derry’s face and why?

Ans:- Derry is a fourteen-year-old boy. The one side of his face is all burned and he looks very ugly.

People look at him with a sense of shock and fear. Everyone told that ‘poor boy’ and it gives him much mental pain.

Q.22. If you were to give a different ending to the story, ‘On the Face of It’ how would you end

It ? (2013)

Ans:- If I were to give a different ending to this story, 1 would have kept the character of Mr. Lamb alive. Mr. Lamb was a man with a positive attitude towards life and people. He had tried to change Derry’s perspective towards life and people. So he could prove a good companion as well as a guide for Derry.

LONG-ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Q. 1. How did Mr. Lamb’s meeting with Derry become ‘a turning point in Derry’s life?

Ans:-Mr. Lamb’s meeting with Derry proves a turning point in Derry’s life. Mr. Lamb shows no shock or fear on seeing Derry’s burnt face. Rather, he talks to him in a loving manner. He welcomes him to his garden. He tells Derry never to think of his burnt face. He says that Derry has two arms, two legs, eyes, ears, tongue and a brain. And if he has a firm mind, he can do better than others. Such words of encouragement bring about a total change in Derry’s mind. Now he does not care a fig for what he looks. like. He wants to live the way Mr. Lamb has been living. He wants to see, hear and think in his own way. He doesn't care about what others say.

Q. 2. How did Mr. Lamb try to give courage and confidence to Derry?

Ans:- Mr. Lamb gave courage and confidence to Derry by talking to him in a loving and winsome manner. He welcomed him to his garden. He offered to pluck apples and make jelly for him. He called him his friend and showed no shock or fear on seeing Derry’s burnt face. He told Derry never to think of his burnt face. He said that Derry had two arms, two legs, eyes, ears tongue and a brain. And if he had a firm mind, he could do better than others. Such words of encouragement brought about a total change in Derry’s mind. Now he did not care a fig for what he looked like. He wanted to live the way Mr. Lamb had been living. He wanted to see, hear and think in his own way. He did not care about what others said. Thus it was by the magic of love that Mr. Lamb filled Derry’s heart with courage and confidence

Q. 3. What is the bond that unites the two — the old Mr. Lamb and Derry, the small boy? How does the old man inspire the small boy? 2013

Ans:- Mr. Lamb is an old man. He has lost one of his legs in war. Now he has a tin leg in its place.

lives alone in a house. People have spread many stories about him and no one ever comes 1

visit him. He feels very lonely. Kids call him Lamey-Lamb. Derry’s state is also not much different.

He is a fourteen-year-old boy. The one side of his face is all burned and he looks very ugly.

People look at him with a sense of shock and fear. Everyone makes him conscious of his ugliness

 and it gives him much mental pain. This bond unites the two — the old Mr. Lamb and Derry, the small boy.

               The old man Mr. Lamb inspires the small boy Derry by talking to him in a loving and winsome manner. He calls him his friend and shows no shock or fear on seeing Derry’s burnt face. H tells Derry never to think of his burnt face. He says that Derry has two arms, two legs, eyes, ears, tongue and a brain. And if he has a firm mind, he could do better than others. Such words of encouragement bring about a total change in Derry’s mind. Now he doesn’t care a fig for how he looks like or what others say about him.