Notes of Bangle Sellers

Notes of Bangle Sellers

Extract I

Bangle sellers are we……daughters and happy wives.

1.    What is being referred to as ‘shining loads’? Who all are its prospective buyers?

The shining bangles that are being carried by the bangle sellers to the temple fair for sale are referred to as shining loads. Women of every age group are the prospective buyers of these bangles.

2.    Bangle sellers could sell their goods anywhere. Why do they choose to go to the temple fair?

Temple fair is the place which is visited by women of all age groups. Here the bangle sellers can sell their goods to ‘happy daughters and happy wives.’

3.    Which figure of speech is used in the line ‘Rainbow-tinted circles of light’? Explain what is linked to the happiness of daughters and wives.

The figure of speech used here is  a metaphor as multi-hued bangles are compared to the radiant lives of ‘happy daughters and happy wives.’ The multi-coloured bangles have been linked to the dreams, youthfulness and aspirations of ‘happy daughters and happy wives.’

4.    Explain how the poet uses her descriptive skills to present facts. Give two examples from the extract.

The bangle sellers go to the temple fair to sell bangles as women of every age would be present there. The poet’s descriptive skills are reflected in the way she has expressed the different stages in a traditional India woman’s life. For example, in a single stanza she had described bangles as ‘shining loads’, ‘rainbow tinted circles of light’ and ‘lustrous tokens of radiant lives.’

5.    What role do the bangle sellers play in a traditional Indian set-up, according to this extract?

The bangle sellers are the carriers of those ‘shining loads’ that glorify the idea of Indian womanhood. They try to convince buyers of the spiritual and symbolic importance of the bangles in the lives of ‘happy daughters and happy wives.’ The bangles are symbolic of different stages of womanhood.

Extract II

Some are meet for a ……..of new born leaves.

1.    What type of bangles are befitting for a maiden’s wrist? Why are silver and blue colours compared to the mountain mist?

Silver and blue coloured bangles are befitting a maiden’s wrist. These bangles are compared to blue and silver mist of mountains as they symbolise the freshness and the beauty of young maidens.

2.    In what way are the buds set to dream? What figure of speech is used in ‘the buds set to dream’?

The bangles are suitable for the bud-like young maidens who dream of their happy future. They dream of growing up and blossoming like beautiful flowers. The figure of speech- personification.

3.    Give the meaning of :

Some are flushed like the buds that dream

On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream

Some of the bangles have shades of pink of yet to bloom flowers on a woodland stream.

4.    How are the bangles compared to the newborn leaves?

The bangles suitable for maiden’s wrist are see in association with the freshness of ‘new born leaves’ or the clear dew drops on newborn leaves. The maidens like the newborn leaves or dew drops are pure, fresh and chaste. They are yet to see the world.

5.    State the colours of the bangles meant for a maiden. What do these colours symbolise?

Silver and blue coloured bangles are meant for a maiden. These colours have their association with mountain mist or streams, which are fresh, beautiful and evolving.

Extract III

Some are like fields of sunlit corn……laughter and bridal dear.

1.    What is being compared to ‘fields of sunlit corn’? Why?

Golden or yellow coloured bangles, suitable for a bride are compared to fields of sunlight corn. The corn fields- a proof of Mother Nature’s fertility are symbolic of the fertility of a young girl getting married.

2.    What do you understand by the phrases ‘bridal laughter’ and ‘bridal tear’? With what have they been compared in the extract?

Bridal laughter means the happiness and blissfulness a bride experiences while getting married. Bridal tear means sadness that accompanies a bride while leaving her parental abode.

These phrases are compared to the bangles suitable for a bride, which are luminous, bright and tinkling. The bangles are symbolic of her entry into  a new life.

3.    Which figure of speech is used in these two lines? Explain with examples.

Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,

Or, rich with the hue of her heart’s desire

 Simile, in which a likeness between two different things is stated  in an explicit way using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.

In these lines the golden and red coloured bangles suitable for a bride are compared to the flame of her  marriage fire and the love that she would experience in her new life.

4.    Bring out the relevance of the line:

Some , like the flame of her marriage fire

The colour of the bangles suitable for  a woman on her wedding day is compared to the reddish yellow flame of marriage around which the bride takes marriage vows with her groom. The flame-like colour of bangles is appropriate to symbolise the flame of love in marriage.

5.    Wedding become befitting occasions to wear bangles. In what ways does the poet associate bangles with a bride?

The bangles worn by a bride in a traditional Indian wedding have spiritual and symbolic significance. Each stage of an  Indian woman’s life is described according to the colour of bangles suitable at that stage from a dreamy maiden to an excited bride and finally to a mature matriarch. The bangles that are suitable for a bride are golden coloured like the holy fire around which the bride takes marriage vows with her groom. The bangles also have the colour of ‘her heart’s desire’ which is suggestive of dreams and hopes of a newly wedded bride.

Extract IV

Some are purple and gold…..her husband’s side.

1.    For whom are the  ‘purple and gold flecked grey’ bangles suitable for? Which phase of their lives is symbolised by these bangles?

For a woman ‘who has journeyed through life midway’ and has gained experience and wisdom.

These bangles symbolise that phase when the maiden turned bride becomes a proud mother and responsible wife. She has experienced all the aspects of being a woman.

2.    Discuss the use of colour imagery in the above extract.

Colours represent various moods and aspects of life. In the above extract, all the aspects of being a woman have been experienced. The colours chosen for he bangles are purple and gold flecked grey. Purple colour indicates power, authority, pride and dignity and gold flecked grey, a sober colour, indicates experience and wisdom. Thus, the woman wearing purple bangles has gained maturity, reared her children with love and at last has achieved the fullness of her role as wife and mother.

3.    Explain briefly the following lines:

Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,

And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast.

The lines are relevant to the concept of Indian motherhood. The bangle sellers attribute purple and gold flecked grey bangles to the mother who has attained maturity by rearing her children. The bangles are suitable for those hands that  have cherished, loved, blessed and cradled her sons.

4.    What special significance does the phrase ‘faithful pride’ hold in the above extract?

‘Faithful pride’ is a significant phrase in context of a woman who has ‘journeyed through life midway’; she has been a loving daughter, a happy bride; a responsible wife and mother. Her experiences have made her a perfect India woman. She has been productive and fecund for her family and thus ‘serves her household in fruitful pride.

5.    Comment on the changes in the life of a woman vis-à-vis the colour of her bangles.

Rainbow-tinted bangles are symbolic of different shades of womanhood.

The blue and silver coloured bangles like the blue and silver mist of mountains; shades of pink of yet to blossom flowers or the clear dew drops on new born leaves are suitable for young maidens.

The golden coloured like the holy fire around which the bride takes marriage vows and the golden coloured bangles, compared to yellow sunlit corn fields are suitable for a bride.

The purple and golden flecked  grey bangles are suitable for a woman who has journeyed through life midway. 

Notes of Cold Within

Notes of Cold Within

Extract I

Six humans trapped…….one was black.

1.    Which figure of speech is used in the line ‘In bleak and bitter cold’? What special significance do the adjectives bleak and bitter have?

Alliteration, close repetition of consonant sound.

The adjectives bleak and bitter define the word cold. The coldness outside is comparable to the coldness within the hearts of these six characters as they are not  warm or friendly with each other.

2.    Who are the people referred to in the above extract? Why do they need logs?

The people referred to are six indifferent people, who are trapped together by chance in biting cold. They need logs so that they can renew the dying fire to prevent themselves from cold.

3.    State how the following theme is connected with the theme of the poem:

Their dying fire in need of logs

Literally, it refers to the fire that is dying and needs to be kept alive with the use of a log. Metaphorically, it can be understood as the fire of compassion in their hearts that is dying. To keep it burning what they need is a log of wood, but they do not use it. Thus, by the end, each one of them dies from ‘the cold within’.

4.    What does the first one hold back and why?

The first person holds back her log because she was guided by her racist attitude towards the black man. So she does not  use log to prevent  the black man from getting its warmth.

5.    What character traits would you associate with ‘the first one’ and ‘the next man’? Why?

The first one can be said to be holding  a racist attitude as she does not want to benefit the black man. The next man can be said to be a bigot who on seeing that one of the men in the group does not belong to his religion, prevents himself from using his log to renew the fire.

Extract II

The third one sat…..chance to spite the white.

1.    What is meant by ‘tattered clothes’? What does this expression symbolise? Why does the ‘third one’ gives his coat a hitch?

Tattered clothes refer to the torn clothes. This expression symbolises that the man, who was wearing them was poor and had little money to cover himself in extreme cold.

The poor man does not intend to use his log to renew the fire and thus to protect himself from biting cold, the pulled up his coat to feel a little warm.

2.    The ‘third one’ doesn’t want to use his log to warm the rich. Why?

The ‘third one’ is a poor man and is envious of the rich man. He is prejudiced and thus does not put his log to use.

3.    What thoughts preoccupy the rich man’s mind? What does it say about him?

The thoughts of keeping his wealth safe from the lazy poor man preoccupied the rich man’s mind. It reflects his class bias.

4.    What prejudice the black man has and for whom?

The black man is filled with revenge for the white ma. Based on colour of the skin, he considers the white man different from himself.

5.    Explain the following lines:

For all he saw in his stick of wood

Was a chance to spite the white

The lines refer to the black man, who was filled with revenge for the white man. Therefore, to harm the white man he does not put his log to use. Making the white man suffer in cold was his only chance to get his revenge.

Extract III

The last man of this forlorn………….from the cold within.

1.    Explain the phrase ‘forlorn group.’ Which figure of speech is used here?

The phrase ‘forlorn group’ is an example of oxymoron i.e., a pair of contradictory terms. This phrase is ironical as it refers to these six people, who were sitting together in a group and were sad and lonely.

2.    What game is the poet referring to while mentioning the last man of the group?

The selfish game of give and take that the last man employs-since anyone else does not offer his log to renew the fire, he also steps back.

3.    What ‘proof of human sin’ is being referred to here? Explain.

All the six people died with their logs tightly clutched in their hands. Their indifference, animosity, discrimination invited death. This ‘proof of human sin’ is referred here.

4.    The poet says that the characters ‘died from the cold within.’ What does he mean?

The title of the poem The Cold Within is symbolic of lack of warmth and compassion in human beings. Six human beings are caught against their will in ‘bleak and bitter cold,’ but none of them uses the wooden stick each one has , due to racism, envy, arrogance, revenge and greed. They are so cold from inside that they do not realise that by not helping others, they themselves will perish. Their cold heartedness invites death in the end and they die with their logs held tight in their hands.

5.    What message is the poet trying to convey in the poem? How does he succeed in carrying out his task?

The message that the poet tries to give is that discriminatory attitude and hatred that humans have against  one another on the basis of race, class and religion is futile. It is self-destructive.

The poem projects discrimination based on race, class and religion by narrating the story of six individuals who are caught together by chance in extreme cold. The people in the poem are from different  backgrounds and religions. Owing to their prejudices against one another, it becomes difficult for them to put their stick into the fire. The discrimination, racism and bigotry proves futile as none of the six people stay alive  at the end. Each perishes, not because of the cold outside but of the cold heartedness within each. 

Notes of Hearts and Hands

Hearts and Hands

Extract I

As they passed down the aisle of the coach…….owner was accustomed to speak and be heard.

1.    Which coach is referred to in the extract? How can you conclude that the coach was crowded?

The coach of the eastbound train, B & M Express. The only vacant seat left was a ‘reversed one facing the attractive young woman.’ This tells us that the coach was crowded.

2.    Name the young woman in the coach. What is said about her just before the extract?

Miss Fairchild. She is described as an elegantly dressed, pretty young woman who had all the luxuries and who loved travelling.

3.    Which linked couple is referred to in the extract above? In what way were they linked?

The linked couple were Mr Easton and the marshal because they were handcuffed together.

4.    Describe the reaction of the young woman on seeing  the two men.

At first, she saw them indifferently with a ‘distant, swift disinterest.’ As soon as she recognized Mr Easton, she smiled at them and started conversing.

5.    What was the relationship between Mr Easton and the young woman?

They were old acquaintances.

Extract II

“It’s Miss Fairchild,” he said, with a smile……glances from his keen, shrewd eyes.

1.    Who said, “It’s Miss Fairchild”? Which hand of his was engaged? How?

 Mr Easton. His right hand was engaged as it was handcuffed to the left hand of the marshal.

2.    Why did the young lady’s look changed to bewildered horror? What changes were seen in her due to the horror?

As soon as the lady saw Mr Easton being handcuffed, her look changed to bewildered horror. She was no longer glad; ‘the glow faded from her cheeks’ and ‘her lips parted in a vague, relaxing distress.’

3.    What did the glum-faced man say about the marshal? As per the context here where was the glum-faced man being taken? Why?

The glum-faced man spoke as if Mr Easton was the marshal. The glum-faced man was a convict being taken to Leavenworth prison for counterfeiting.

4.    With reference to question 3 above explain what happened in reality. In  reality, the glum-faced man was the marshal who was taking the convict Mr Easton to the prison. The marshal, to save Mr Easton from embarrassment in front of Miss Fairchild, presented himself as the convict.

5.    Explain the significance of ‘hands’ in the story.

The story begins with two people, Mr Easton and the glum-faced man hand-cuffed together. It is the handcuffing that lends to the ‘Hands’ part of the title. In fact, it is the hands which are significant for revealing the true identities  of the two men. Miss Fairchild was misled by the unnamed man about the identity of Mr Easton as he wanted to save Mr Easton from an embarrassing situation by revealing that he was a convict and was being taken by him to the prison. It was an astute passenger in the coach, who discovered that  a marshal would not handcuff his own right hand with that of a convict, as was the case with Mr Easton and the marshal.

Extract III

“Oh!” said the girl, with a deep breath and returning colour….quite as high a position as that of ambassador, but…..

1.    Why did Miss Fairchild call Easton, a marshal? What was he in reality? She called Easton, a marshal because she was told so by the real marshal. Moreover, her own fantasies did not allow her to suspect the real marshal’s revelation about Mr Easton.

Easton, in reality, was a convict being taken to a prison on charges of counterfeiting.

2.    Explain why Easton was going to Leavenworth.

He was going to be imprisoned at Leavenworth prison for counterfeiting.

3.    Give the meaning of :

A)Money has a way of taking wings unto itself: Money has the ability to make one feel respected and dignified. Money can make one fly and soar high.

b)To keep step with our crowd:  To compete with the crowd or to feel one with the high class society in Washington.

4.  What did Easton say he was doing in the past?

Easton said he was making money but he needed more in order to fit in high society so he took up the position of a marshal in the west.

4.    What did Fairchild say about Easton’s life in Washington? Why was she not likely to see Easton in Washington soon?

She was not likely to see Easton in Washington soon, because he was to be confined in Leavenworth prison. Miss Fairchild, assumed that he would be extremely busy in his new job as the marshal.

Extract IV

The girl’s eyes, fascinated, went back……my butterfly days are over.

1.    Why were the girl’s eyes fascinated? Who were handcuffed? Why? The girl was fascinated with the handcuffs. Easton was handcuffed to the marshal, because he was being taken to the Leavenworth prison for counterfeiting.

2.    Why did the glum-faced man say, “ Mr Easton knows his business’?

Miss Fairchild was glaring at the handcuffs. The glum-faced man asked her not to worry as it was Mr Easton’s business as a marshal to handcuff the convict to keep from getting away.

3.    What kind of relationship existed between Mr Easton and Miss Fairchild?

The word ‘Hearts’ in the title is indicative as relationship something more than friendship between Miss Fairchild and Mr Easton. When she saw Mr Easton, there appeared a lovely smile on her face and her cheeks turned pink. She even told him that she loved the West, suggesting that she would settle down with him in the West.

4.    Why won’t Easton be in Washington in the near future? What is meant by ‘my butterfly days are over’?

Mr Easton would be imprisoned in Leavenworth prison on the charges of counterfeiting. “ My butterfly days are over’ signifies that Easton’s good  and adventurous days of making money by deceiving people are over. |

Extract V

The two men sidled down the aisle……..a prisoner to his right hand?

1.    What did the glum-faced man do to cut short the conversation between Easton and Miss Fairchild? What could be the reason for his action?

 What The glum-faced man interrupted the conversation between Easton and Miss Fairchild and requested Easton that he should be taken to the smoker room.

To prevent Mr Easton from revealing that he is a convict the glum-faced fellow did so.

2.    What reason did the glum-faced man give for his going for a smoke?

The glum-faced man said he was in need of a drink and a smoke. He asked Mr Easton to accompany him to the smoker car as he was ‘half dead for a pipe.’

3.    Which hand of an officer is handcuffed to the hand of the convict? Why is this information necessary to end the story?

Generally, an officer’s left hand is handcuffed to the right hand of the convict.

The information is necessary to end the story as it reveals that in reality Mr Easton was the convict, and the glum-faced man was the marshal.

4.    Do you like the way the story ends? Give reason to justify your opinion.

Yes, the story ends with a surprise. Give your own answer.

5.    What role do the ‘hearts’ and ‘hands’ play in the plot of the story?

For ‘hands’ refer extract II, question 5

It is the ‘hearts’ part of the title that explains the theme. It is because of having a compassionate heart that the marshal told a lie to Miss Fairchild. He did this to save Mr Easton from the humiliation of being identified as a convict in front of an old friend. He told Miss Fairchild that Mr Easton was the marshal and he was the convict, who was being taken to the prison by Mr Easton. The glum-faced man had golden heart. The effect of the lie was immediate in the response of Miss Fairchild. She showed relief that Mr Easton was not convicted. She was shocked and horrified before the marshal told the lie to her.