Page 101

THINK it out

Q1. Tick the item which best answers the following:
(a) The tall girl with her head weighed down means The girl
(i) is ill and exhausted
(ii) has her head bent with shame
(iii) has untidy hair
Answer: (i) is ill and exhausted

(b) ‘‘The paper-seeming boy with rat’s eyes’’ means The boy is
(i) sly and secretive
(ii) thin, hungry and weak
(iii) unpleasant looking
Answer: (ii) thin, hungry and weak

(c) The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones means The boy
(i) has an inherited disability
(ii) was short and bony
Answer: (i) has an inherited disability

(d) ‘‘His eyes live in a dream, A squirrel’s game, in the tree room other than’’ this means The boy is
(i) full of hope in the future
(ii) mentally ill
(iii) distracted from the lesson
Answer: (iii) distracted from the lesson

(e) The children’s faces are compared to ‘rootless weeds’. This means they
(i) are insecure
(ii) are ill-fed
(iii) are wasters
Answer: (i) are insecure and unwanted

Q2. What do you think is the colour of ‘sour cream’? Why do you think the poet has used this expression to describe the classroom walls?
Answer: The colour of ‘sour cream’ is an off-white or yellowish-cream colour. The poet has used this expression to describe the classroom walls because it suggests a sense of decay and neglect. It is a sign that the walls have not been maintained and are not clean.

Q3. The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of ‘Shakespeare’, ‘buildings with domes’, ‘world maps’ and beautiful valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these children?
Answer: These pictures contrast with the world of the children in a very ironic way. The pictures of ‘Shakespeare’ and ‘civilized dome’ are symbols of a world of education and privilege that is alien to these children. The ‘world maps’ and beautiful valleys are a stark reminder of a world that is “far far from” their reality. Their world is a “narrow street sealed in with a lead sky,” and they live in “cramped holes” on a “slag heap.”

Q4. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?
Answer: The poet wants the children of the slums to be able to break free from their poverty and the “foggy slum” they live in. He wants them to be able to “break open” the windows that “shut upon their lives like catacombs.” Their lives can be made to change if “governor, inspector, visitor” act to provide them with a real education and a chance to experience the outside world. He wants to give them a history that is “theirs whose language is the sun.”