Homesickness
Answer these:
1.
Why did the speaker
think that he may sound silly? How did he argue that he was not silly?
The speaker
thought he might sound silly for thinking that being a 9-year-old boy, he could
pretend to have appendicitis and get sent home from school. He argued that not
long back, his elder sister actually had appendicitis. He had observed that what
she complained most about was a severe pain down in the lower right side of her
tummy. Also, she kept being sick, refused to eat and ran a temperature. So, he
knew actually how to pretend to be ill so that he would be believed.
2.
How did the speaker
and his sisters react to the event of an operation inside their home?
The speaker and his sisters were very excited
about the event of an operation inside their home. They lurked in the corridor
outside the nursery while the operation was going on. They stood fascinated
outside the nursery door, listening to the soft medical murmurs coming from
behind the locked door. They could smell the ether filtering through the crack
under the door and imagined what the patient might be looking like, with her
stomach sliced open.
3.
Who are the adults in
this story? How did the speaker, as a child, feel towards them? Why do you
think he felt that way?
The adults in the story are the speaker's
mother, the speaker's nanny, the school matron, the school doctor, and Dr.
Dunbar.
The speaker, as a child, felt that his
mother was very bad because he blamed her for sending him to boarding
school. At the same time, he loved his mother and wanted to go back to
her.
He admired his nanny and believed
everything she told him. He believed her to be wiser than King Solomon
because she had an instant answer to every question.
He thought
that the matron and the school doctor were not very skilled because they could
not catch his lies.
He thought
that Dr. Dunbar was very wise and skillful because he caught the speaker's
lies. He also was grateful to Dr Dunbar for helping and giving him a good
lesson.
4.
Dr Dunbar taught the
speaker a lesson but he also helped him how did he do that?
Dr. Dunbar
taught the speaker a lesson by explaining that life is tough and the sooner he
learned to cope with it, the better it would be for him. He also explained
why the speaker needed to face his homesickness. Dr. Dunbar was kind,
understanding, and sympathetic. He said that the speaker had to stay at
home for a few days so that the speaker’s plan was not a complete failure and
he gets to spend some time with his family.
5.
For years after that,
I used to get nervous whenever I found a toothbrush bristle on my tongue.
a.
Why did the speaker
get nervous on finding a toothbrush brush on his tongue?
The speaker
had asked his Nanny what causes an attack of appendicitis and she had said that if
loose toothbrush bristles were swallowed, then they get stuck in the appendix
and turn it rotten. That is why he would get nervous if he found a loose
toothbrush bristle on his tongue.
b.
What can you
understand about the speaker’s attitude to his nanny from this statement? Which
other words support your answer?
The speaker's
attitude towards his nanny is that he has great faith in her wisdom. He
believes everything she tells him. He admires his nanny as being very
wise. This could be because she has a ready reply for every
question.
Other words
that show the speaker's attitude towards his nanny are "Nanny who in my
eyes was filled with more wisdom than Solomon".
6.
I entered the room
clutching my stomach on the right-hand side and staggering pathetically.
a.
Which room is being
referred to?
It is the
Matron's room at the speaker's school.
b.
Why was the speaker
clutching his stomach on the right-hand side?
The speaker
was pretending to have an attack of appendicitis. He had observed his
sister, who had really had such an attack, and she had complained of pain in
the lower right side of her tummy. That is why, he was clutching his stomach on
the right- hand side.
c.
Why was he staggering
pathetically?
The speaker
was staggering pathetically because he was pretending to be in great pain. He
was putting on an act of being very ill- so ill that he could not eat or walk
properly.
7.
Then I slipped in the
clincher.
a.
What was the clincher?
The clincher
was the speaker’s (false) report to the Matron that he had been sick all
morning.
b.
What do you think the
word clincher means here?
Here the word
‘clincher’ means the final argument or statement that would decide the case. It
is because the speaker said that he had been sick that the matron finally began
to believe him.
8.
“Life is tough, and
the sooner you learn to how to cope with it the better for you”. Why did Dr
Dunbar say this to the speaker? Do you think that after this incident he would
face a similar situation differently? What would you do, if faced with a
similar situation?
Dr Dunbar said this because he had understood that the
speaker had lied and pretended to be sick in order to come back home. He knew
that the speaker maybe home sick again, or face other problems at school, but
he had to be strong and face them bravely.
Yes, after this incident, the speaker would be able to
bear his homesickness more bravely. He would not be so miserable and would not
try so hard to come back home.
9.
He himself sat down
behind his desk and fixed me with a penetrating but not an unkindly eye.
a.
Who is being talked
about in the sentence?
Dr Dunbar is
being talked about in the sentence.
b.
Why did the he look at
the speaker with a penetrating eye?
He suspected
that the speaker was pretending to be suffering from appendicitis.
c.
What did he ask him?
He wanted to
confirm with the speaker whether his suspicion was right and asked him if he
was faking it.
d.
How did the speaker
react?
The speaker
could not deny it and asked how did he know it.
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