On The Face of It Class 12 Question Answer | On The Face of It Extra Question Answer | AxomAbc

On the Face of It Question Answer :

Question : Why does Derry go back to Mr. Lamb in the end?

Aas : Actually, Mr. Lamb has taught Derry the most important lesson of life. He advises him not to care about the comments made by others. He now no longer cares about his burnt face. He is more concerned what he thinks and feels what he wants to hear and see. He knows if does not go back, he will never back. Therefore he returns back. 

Question: Who should be friends according to both Derry and Mr. Lamb ?

Ans. According to Derry, they are good friends whom we know each other well. But according to Mr. Lamb, all people whom we come across in the street and are not enemies, they are friends.

Question : Why and how does Derry enter Mr. Lamb's garden ?

Ans : Derry enters Mr. Lamb's garden because he likes to be lonely and he also likes to stay lonely places.

  He enters Mr. Lambs garden by climbing the garden wall.

Question : How do people comment so painfully about Derry's face ?

Ans. People comment that Derry has a terrible face and the face is the ugliest thing. Though they seem to be expressing their kindness, in reality they are afraid of his ugly face.

Question : Who is Mr. Lamb ?

Ans : Mr. Lamb is an old man who lives in a big house and has a garden. One of his legs is of tin. It was blown off in the war.

Question : Do you think all this will change Derry's attitude towards Lamb?

Ans. Mr. Lamb has left a deep impression on the mind of Derry. He is sad and angry for his burnt face. He is frustrated. It is Lamb who motivates him to see the life positively. So, Derry goes back to Mr. Lamb, inspite of prevention from his mother.

Reading with insight :

Question : What is it that draws Derry towards Mr Lamb in spite of himself?

Ans. Both Derry and Mr Lamb suffer from physical disability. One side of Derry's face is defective, which is burnt by acid. The old man has a tin leg because his real leg got blown off during the war. Apart from these physical disabilities, Derry finds signs of loneliness and disappointment in Mr Lamb’s life. The old man tries to conquer these feelings but the sense of alienation felt by him is more painful than the pain caused by physical disability.

Derry tries to avoid meeting people because they consider his face terrible and ugly. They avoid him as they are afraid of him. His parents seem worried about him and talk about him and his future.

Mr Lamb provides him a new approach to things. He tells him to see, hear, feel and think about things around him. He should not hate others. Hatred is worse than acid because it bums the inside. He has all the God-given limbs. He must take a firm decision and work towards it. He will succeed. He should not be afraid of people and they will not be afraid of him. All these factors draw Derry towards Mr Lamb.

Question : In which section of the play does Mr Lamb display signs of loneliness and disappointment? What are the ways in which Mr Lamb tries to overcome these feelings?

Ans. It is in the middle section of the first scene of the play that Mr Lamb displays signs of loneliness and disappointment. He says that when it is a bit cooler, he will get the ladder and a stick, and pull down those crab apples. He makes jelly. Derry could help him. Then he says he is interested in anybody or anything that God made. It may be a person, flower, fruit, grass, weeds or rubbish. There are plenty of things to look at. Some of them are his crab apples or the weeds or a spider climbing up a silken ladder or his tall sun-flowers. He also likes to talk and have a company. He has a hive of bees. He hears them singing. He sits in the sun and reads books. He likes the light and the darkness. He hears the wind coming through open windows. There aren’t any curtains at the windows as they either shut things out or shut things in. These are the ways in which Mr Lamb tries to overcome his loneliness.

Question : The actual pain or inconvenie- nce caused by a physical impairment is often much less than the sense of alien- ation felt by the person with disabilities. What is the kind of behaviour that the person expects from others?

Ans. The play ‘On The Face Of It’ focuses our attention on the physical pain and mental distress of the persons suffering from some physical disability. The author, Susan Hill, presents the two leading characters—an old man and a small boy—having different sorts of physical disabilities.
The old man has a tin leg. It did hurt him when it came off. Then he got used to it. He feels pain now and then in wet weather. He finds it inconvenient to run, to climb a tree or a ladder. He lives all alone in a big house with a garden.
The boy has one side of his face badly burnt by acid. He felt the physical pain then. After discharge from hospital, he feels hurt at the attitude of the people. They regard his face as horrible and ugly, show signs of being scared and avoid his presence. In short, he is disliked, if not hated. He is not accepted as an ordinary member of society. So, he does not like people to look at him.
It is clear that the sense of alienation that these disabled persons feel causes them constant pain. Such persons expect kind and considerate behaviour from others. They do not want tears, sympathy or pity. They dislike being pointed at, nicknamed, mocked at or made a fun of. They only demand a reasonable bahaviour from others, full of appreciation of their difficulties.

Question : Will Derry get back to his old seclusion or will Mr Lamb’s brief association effect a change in the kind of life he will lead in the future?

Ans. Derry had a quite negative attitude towards life, world and people before he met Mr. Lamb. He had shut himself up in his own self. His burnt face made him desolate and depressed. So, he avoided people. Their cruel, uncharitable remarks offended him. He, thus tamed a deep feeling of hatred for such people.

But after meeting Mr. Lamb, Derry under- stands that he should not give attention to other's comment. He has a burnt face, but besides he has everything, a persons needs to rise in life. Mr. Lamb is also an impaired person. Children tease him calling 'Lamey Lamb'. But he doesn't mind that. He acce- pts life as it comes. He always feels happy. The world is full of joy. Every object of it is a subject of great pleasure and happiness. So, with a tin leg, he has nothing to object. He leads a life of pure effort with his big house and his garden. He gives away toffees among children. He likes flowers, fruits and even weeds equally. He is positive and productive.

Derry will never get back to his old seclu- sion. His burnt face can no more eat away his self-respect, poise and belief. He will surely find his place in the society like a normal man.

Extra Question Answers :

Question : "I am not afraid, people are afraid of me." Who said this and why ?

Ans : Derry said this because his face was burnt that made him defiant and withdrawn. People found his face terrible. They got scared when they saw his terrible face.

Question : How did Derry get his face burnt?

Ans : Derry got acid all down on that side of his face. The acid burnt one side of his face fully. The acid ate his face up.

Question : Why does Mr. Lamb have a tin leg ?

Ans : One of Mr. Lamb's legs was blown off by an explosion during war. After that, he has had to walk with a tin leg.

Question : How does Mr. Lamb die ?

Ans : Mr. Lamb tries to pluck crab apples by climbing up on a ladder. Accidentally, the ladder falls back. With the ladder, Lamb also falls onto the ground. He is unable to balance himself with his tin leg. As a result he dies tragically.

Question : Mr. Lamb told Derry the story of a man who hid himself in his room. Why did the man do so and with what result? OR
What story that Mr. Lamb said to Derry ?

Ans : Mr. Lamb told Derry a story that a timid man locked himself in a room because he was afraid of everything. Ironically, a picture fell off the wall on to his head and the man died.

Question : Why does Derry stay away from people?

Ans : Derry suffers from a severe sense of complex after one side of his face got burnt by acid. He stays away from people who constantly remind him of his ugliness. He does not like to see people shirking from him because he is ugly. He feels rejected and unwanted.

Question : What was the reaction of Mr. Lamb after he saw Derry entering his garden after climbing over the wall ?

Ans : Mr. Lamb did not react when he saw Derry trespassing into his garden. He sat under an apple tree and asked Derry to step on the grass carefully, so that he doesn't trip on the apples.

Question : Mr. Lamb says to Derry : 'It's all relative. Beauty and the beast.' What does he mean by that ?

Ans : Mr. Lamb relates Derry's story to the fairy story "The Beauty and the Beast" and says that beauty loved the beast without his good looks. You should be beautiful from inside. Handsome is as handsome does.

Question : What does Mr Lamb usually do that seems 'peculiar' to Derry ?

Ans : Mr. Lamb says that he likes sitting under the trees with a book, listening to the breeze or the bees, watching the sunlight or the darkness coming in through the windows, listening to the rain drops on the roof, watching the weeds in the garden, preparing toffees or jelly for the children etc. According to Derry, all these seem very peculiar.

Long Question Answer : 7 Marks

Question : What impression do you from of Mr. Lamb ? How does he look at life ?

Ans : Mr. Lamb impresses us as a sensitive, watchful, kind, considerate and sympathetic person. He is quite gentle, accomodating and protective and more concerned about Derry's well being.

He is a victim of alienation due to his physical disability. Though he keeps his gate open and says he has many friends, actually he lives alone and is quite miserable. He loves company and shares his thoughts with the young boy, Derry. He is a good communicator and a psychologist who believes in bringing out the best in an individual. He is a source of inspiration to the depressed and gloomy Derry.

His way of life is a lesson for all who suffer some physical handicap or the other. According to him one can always undertake some meaningful activities which give life some purpose and aim to save it from boredom.

Question : Though both Mr. Lamb and Derry suffer from a physical disability, their attitude to life is very different. Justify the relevance of this statement with reference to the story, "On the Face of It".

Ans : Both Mr. Lamb and Derry have one thing in common, their physical disabilities and both are victims after birth. Apart from this they have all differences. Mr. Lamb is an old man and Derry is a young boy of fourteen. Mr. Lamb enjoys company and is accommodating but Derry shuns company and he is defiant.

Derry fears to come in contact with people. Mr. Lamb does not bother about his loneliness and lameness. He develops love for reading books, seeing beautiful things and thinking about them. He is calm and patient and asks peculiar questions. He forces Derry to see that actions are more important than mere looks. The gate of his garden is always open for people and it is he who inspires Derry to develop a new vision of life under his guidance.