A Face in the Dark
Extract I
From before Kipling’s time, the school had been
run……..the school for several years.
1. Who
was Mr Oliver? What was his usual leisure activity?
Mr Oliver was an Anglo-Indian
teacher, who was teaching in a school, located three miles away from Shimla. He
would usually walk down to the Shimla Bazar and would return after dark by
taking a shortcut through the pine forest.
2. What
was called ‘Eton of the East’? Why?
The all-boys school in Shimla, in
which Mr Oliver was a teacher has been called ‘Eaton of the East.’
Eton college is one of the most
reputable and expensive English boarding
school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor(UK). Mr Olvier’s school was
called ‘Eton of the East’ because the school had been run on English public
school lines and the boys, were mostly from wealthy Indian families.
3. What
kind of weather was there on the night when Oliver was returning to his school?
How does it add to the setting of the story?
According to the spirit of the
story, the author has created an eerie atmosphere in the story. It was night
time and a strong wind was blowing, the pine trees were making mysterious
sounds, indicating that something evil was likely to happen. The batteries of
Oliver’s torch were running down, creating an atmosphere of fear and suspense.
4. What
did Oliver encounter while coming back to school one night? What did he do
after that?
While walking back to school one
night, he encountered a boy sitting alone on a rock whose head was hung down
and whose face was held in his own hands.
After seeing the boy, Oliver
stopped near the boy and asked him what he was doing there and why he was
crying.
Extract II
“What are you doing out here……felt
distinctly uneasy.
1. Where
did Mr Oliver find the boy? What did he notice about the boy?
Walking
through the pine forest to return to school, Oliver found the boy sitting on a
rock.
He
noticed that the boy was crying with his head hung down and his face held in
his hands.
2. Why
do you think the boy was called a miscreant? In what condition was he found by Oliver?
A
miscreant is a person who has done some mischief. Boys were not supposed to be out after dark. Thus the
boy sitting alone on the rock in the night forced the author to call him a
miscreant.
3. How
did Mr Oliver express his concern for the boy? How did the boy react to it?
Mr
Oliver asked him what he was doing there and why he was crying. The boy did not
respond and continued to sob. Oliver again enquired what was troubling him and
asked him to look up.
4. How
can you explain the boy’s ‘strange, soundless weeping’?
The
boy’s strange , boundless weeping that Oliver heard could be explained on the
basis that Oliver was lonely man caught
in psychological fears who was imagining frightening and scary things. Thus all
Oliver encountered was ‘soundless weeping’ and ‘faceless’ faces.
5. What
strange revelation took place when the boy finally looked up at Oliver?
When
the boy finally looked up at Oliver, it was
revealed that the boy had no face. It was without eyes, ears, nose or
mouth. It was just a round head
with a school cap on it.
Extract
III
The
torch fell from his trembling hand……Why are you running?
1. Whose
‘trembling hand’ is referred to in the above extract? Why was trembling?
Oliver’s
‘trembling hand’ is referred to here. It
was trembling, as Oliver was horrified to see that the boy’s face was
featureless, without eyes, ears, nose or mouth.
2. Explain
the sentence:
“
He returned and scrambled down the path, running blindly through the trees.”
The
‘faceless’ boy terrified Oliver so much so that he immediately turned and in
panic ran blindly through the
forest to call for help.
3. What
did Oliver answer the watchman’s questions in the extract above?
Oliver
told the watchman that he had
encountered something horrible
that night-a ‘faceless’ boy
weeping in the forest.
4. The
story ends with a thrilling climax. Do
you agree? Why?
Oliver
ran away from the faceless boy and called for help. He saw a lantern swinging
in the middle of the path. What followed
next was a thrilling climax as
Oliver while running stumbled up to a
watchman only to find that he too was
faceless, with no features or even eyebrows. The climax is reached when the
wind blew out the lamp, leaving the readers to imagine what might have happened
to Oliver.
5. Comment
on the appropriateness of the title.
The
title A Face in the Dark is suitable as it describes a strange experience of Mr
Oliver, the protagonist of the story. Oliver, on his way back at night, meets a
boy in an isolated place sitting on a rock. A close look at the boy horrifies
him as he has no face-no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. As he runs horrified by the
strange experience, he meets the watchman who is also without a face. Thus, the
boy and the watchman, who appeared to be having a face
in the dark, did not have a face when seen in light.
Please give more extracts along with the questions and answers.
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