A FACE IN THE DARK

-RUSKIN BOND
Short Answer Questions
Passage 1

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?

2. What was called ‘Eton of the East’? Why?

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?

4. What did Oliver encounter while coming back to school one night? What did he do after that?

Passage 2

“What are you doing out here……felt distinctly uneasy.

1. Where did Mr Oliver find the boy? What did he notice about the boy?

2. Why do you think the boy was called a miscreant? In what condition was he found by Oliver?

3. How did Mr Oliver express his concern for the boy? How did the boy react to it?

4. How can you explain the boy’s ‘strange, soundless weeping’?

5. What strange revelation took place when the boy finally looked up at Oliver?

Passage 3

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?

2. Explain the sentence:

3. What did Oliver answer the watchman’s questions in the extract above?

4. The story ends with a thrilling climax. Do you agree? Why?

5. Comment on the appropriateness of the title.

Passage 4

When there was a strong wind, the oine trees made sad , eerie sounds that kept most people to the
main road. But Mr Oliver was not a nervous or imaginative man. He carried a torch and its gleam the
batteries were runningdown moved fitfully down the narrow forest path. When its flckering light fell
on the figure of a boy, who was sitting alone on a rock, Mr Oliver stopped. Boys were not supposed to
be out after dark.

1. What did Mr Oliver carry with him when he walked through the pine forest ? What did he
come across in the forest?
2. Describe the posture of the boy?
3. Why did Mr Oliver feel uneasy when he walked hthrough the pine forest?
4. Who did Mr Oliver tell the boy to? Describe the face of the boy?
5. How did Mr Oliver react when he saw the face of the boy?

Passage 5

What are you doing out here boy? asked Mr Oliver sharply moving closer so that he could recognize
the miscreant. But even as he approached the boy, Mr Oliver sensed that something was wrong. The
boy appeared to be crying. His head hung down, he held his face in his hands and his body shook
convulsively. It was a strage soundless weeping and Mr Oliver felt distinctly uneasy.

1. Why did Mr Oliver move closer to the boy whom he had come across in the pine forest?
2. What did Mr Oliver sense when he saw the boy crying?
3. How did the boy's body shake?
4. When did Mr Oliver feel uneasy?
5. When did Mr Oliver's anger give way to concern?

Passage 6

I saw something- something horrible- a boy weeping in the forest- and he had no face!'No face,
Sahib'?'No eyes, nose,mouth-nothing!' 'Do you mean it was like this Sahib?'asked the watchman, and
raised the lamp to hid own face. The watchman had no eyes, no ears, no features at all-not even an
eyebrow!And that's when the wind blew the lamp out.

1. Why did Mr Oliver's hand tremble?

2. Why did Mr Oliver scramble down the path in the pine forest?
3. What ddi Mr Oliver see in the middle of the path?
4. Why did the boy's face look horible to Mr Oliver?
5. How did the watchman react when Mr Oliver told him about the boy?

Long Answer Questions

1. A Face in the dark is a supernatural story. Comment?
2. How does Ruskin Bond create an atmosphere of strangeness, mystery and supernaturalism in
the story 'A Face in the Dark'.
3. How does Mr Oliver react to the face of a boy that sees in the pine forest?
4. Why did Mr Oliver get frightened when he saw a boy in the forest who had no eyes, ears,
nose or mouth?
5. Discuss the art of Ruskin Bond as depicted in the story 'A Face in the Dark.'
6. Discuss the theme of supernatural and paranormal as presented in the story?
7. What are the techniques used by Ruskin Bond to create an atmosphere of strangeness,
mystery and supernaturalism in the story? Can Ruskin Bond be called a visual writer? Why?
8. What happened to Mr Oliver at the end of the story?
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