NCRT Solutions English Vistas ON THE FACE OF IT

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

= Mr. Lamb is an old man with a tin leg who was the owner of the apple garden . He had to lose one of his legs in a war and since then he lives all alone in his house. 

                Derry gets into his garden by climbing it's boundary wall. Though the gate was open , he does not use it.

Q. 2) Why aren't there any curtains at the windows of Mr. Lambs house ?

= There are not any curtains in the windows of Mr. Lambs house, because he is not fond of curtains as they shuts things in and shuts things out. He like the light and the darkness. He always kept open his windows to hear the wind.

Q. 3) Why does Mr. Lamb have tin leg ?

= Mr. lamb has tin leg because he had to lose one of his legs in a war. Since then he has to walk on an artificial leg.

Q. 4) What is meant by " Handsome is as handsome does " ?

= The proverb " handsome is as handsome does " means that it is not important how one looks like but it is more important what one is from inside his heart. It also implies that beauty does not lie in the outer appearance but beauty lies in the purity of the heart.

Q. 5) What did Derry think when he entered the garden of Mr. Lamb ?

= When Derry entered the garden of Mr. Lamb, he thought that it was an empty place as there was nobody inside it.

Q. 6) What are the sounds heard in Mr. Lambs garden ?

= The sounds heard in the garden of Mr. lamb is the singing of the bees, sound of birdsong and the rustling of leaves.

Q. 7) How does Mr Lamb perceive things ?

= Mr lamb perceive things by listening , watching and thinking. 

Q.8) Why does not Derry like being with people ?

= Derry thinks that people are afraid of him because of his burnt face. When Derry approaches to other people to talk or to share his feelings with them, they hesitate to be with him. They often show different excuses to avoid him. Whenever, he comes in contact with other people, they began to stare at his face and feel sorry for it. Nobody loves him and nobody wants to befriend with him. 

Q) What impression do you form of Derry, the small boy, in the play " On the face of it " ?

= Derry is a small boy of fourteen years old who got one side of his face burnt by acid. He is very withdrawn and defiant. In the play he is represented as a poor boy who likes to stay alone .

            Derry had a negative attitude towards his life and people. He is very anxious about his burnt face which deprives him of all his happiness and affections. It makes his life unhappy. He thinks that it will never be good. In addition to this , he thinks that people are afraid of him and they think that his face is the ugliest thing they have ever seen.

             Actually, it is a very pathetic matter that like other physical disability persons Derry have to suffer from inferior complexity. As a young boy Derry must have longing for love and affection. But no one can give him love only for his burnt face. Even, they are afraid of approaching to him and to talk with him. The most sorrowful matter is  that even his own mother would not like to kiss on the burnt side of his face. People's whispering about his face and staring at his face makes him solitude. These all things hurt him a lot and is it our humanity to make the physical disability persons like Derry alone and sufferer of inferior complexity.

Q) " I am not afraid. People are afraid of me. " says Derry. What do the people think on seeing his face ? How do they react them ?

= Derry is a small boy of fourteen years old who got one side of his face burnt by acid. He is very withdrawn and defiant. In the play he is represented as a poor boy who likes to stay alone . Derry had a negative attitude towards his life and people. He is very anxious about his burnt face which deprives him of all his happiness and affections. It makes his life unhappy. He thinks that it will never be good. In addition to this , he thinks that people are afraid of him and they think that his face is the ugliest thing they have ever seen.

             On seeing Derry's face people begin to give unpleasant comments. They think that it is  the ugliest thing they have ever seen. They think that no one will love him for his burnt face. They call him a poor boy as one side of his face has been burnt by acid.

               In addition to this, they react very badly. They are afraid of his ugly face. They always try to avoid him by showing different excuses. Even, they are afraid to talk with him. When they see his ugly  face they whisper among themselves about it. This make Derry uneasy to be  with the people

Q) What is the bond that unites the two- old Mr. Lamb and Derry the small boy ? how does the old man inspire the small boy ?

= The bond of physical impairment unites old Mr. Lamb and Derry the small boy. Both of them are sufferer for inferior complexity. Derry got one side of his face burnt by acid while Mr. Lamb got a tin leg. The real one was blown off during war. Their respective disabilities have not only caused pain and suffering to the body but to their mind and soul as. Their physical impairment makes both of them solitude. They are immensely longing for someone with whom they can share their feelings. When both of them came in contact with each other and began to talk they felt something closer to each other. They were not afraid of each other and could go on to see their world from the positive side of their lives. Thus, the bond of physical impairment unites both of them.

             Mr. Lamb turned Derry into a confident boy from a complexive one. Both were physically handicapped but with different perspective towards life. In the beginning Derry was a defiant and withdrawn boy who hated meeting people. He suffered a lot due to his burnt face and held life in the pessimist manner. Mr. Lamb transformed his vision of life and infused to live it on his own terms and conditions. Mr. Lamb discussed his own life with Derry to make him understand that he should be open-minded. He told him to enjoy all the beautiful things made by God. He also taught Derry to use whatever God had given to him.

                After meeting and talking a lot with Mr. lamb, Derry could understand better about his life and he could open up the layers of his heart and complexes in front of him which unburdened his heart. Derry got a new ray of hope in his life, the light of the enlightened his soul to live it as it was. The lesson of Mr. Lamb could not be ignored. He learnt the lesson of optimism.

Q) Both Derry and Mr. Lamb suffer physical disabilities but their attitude towards life and people is totally different- Justify

= Derry is a young boy of fourteen years old. He suffers from a tremendous sense of inferiority complex because he got one side of his face burnt by acid. On the other hand Mr. Lamb is an old and experienced person who was busy with his garden. 

                   Both Derry and Mr. Lamb suffer from physical disabilities but their attitude towards life and people is different. Derry had a negative attitude towards his life and people. He is very worry about his burnt face. He thinks that it would never come to be good. It will remain same until he dies. He is very much concern of his ugly face. He thinks that people would never love him for his burnt face and so he always tries to avoid them. He separates himself from others and learns to stay alone. He suffers from an inferiority complex and makes his life miserable. He even forgets to enjoy his life.

                      On the other hand Mr. lamb does not think the way of Derry. Though he has got a tin leg, it does not bother him. He even does not mind some people calling him '' Lamey-Lamb' . He likes the company of others. He always opens his gate to come to people. He likes to talk with people . The physical impairment  has not changed Mr. Lamb's outlook of his life and he has learnt to live with his deformity. After all he enjoys life to the full.