8th standard English (For a Five Year Old Boy )

 

For a Five Year Old Boy

I. Answer the following questions and share your responses with your partner:

1.Name the creature mentioned in the poem.
Answer:Snail is the creature mentioned in the poem

2.Who do you think is the speaker?
Answer:The speaker is none other than the poetess (mother)

3.Who is the speaker addressing?
Answer:The speaker addressing her five years old and the readers.

4.What does the child want his mother to see?
Answer:The child wants its mother to see the snail.

5.What does the mother tell the child?
Answer:The mother tells her child that they should not have the snail-like that. It would be unkind because it might crawl on to the floor and might get crushed under one’s foot.

 

II. Read and discuss your responses with your partner. Then write.

1.Why does the mother say ‘a kind of faith prevails?
Answer:The mother says ‘a kind of faith prevails’ because she sees that her child’s gentleness is moulded still by words rather than being guided by gentle actions. Even though the mother acted cruelly by, drawing the child’s kittens, trapping nice, and shooting wild birds. The ‘faith’ the mother refers to is that is the belief that character is built by words rather than actions.

2.How has the mother treated other animals?
Answer:The mother has trapped mice, shot wild birds, drowned kittens, and betrayed the closest relatives like other people.

3.Do you observe any difference between the mother’s treatment of the snail and her treatment of other animals and her own relatives?
Answer:Yes, there is a vast difference between the two. She wants her child to be kind to the snail. She does not want the snail to get crushed under someone’s foot. She behaves well here. But, she had not shown the same kind of concern to other animals. She had killed mice, birds, and kitten without any pity. She had even ill-treated her own relatives. She does not practise what she preaches.

4.Hoe does the mother console herself? Read the last two lines and comment.
Answer:The mother wants her child to learn good behaviour and be kind to all creatures. She recalls that she had not been kind to such creatures. In real life, she had seen people behaving in a similar manner. No one is perfect in this regard. They say one thing and do some other thing. The mother consoles herself saying that she and her child are kind to snails, and this mattered more than anything else, as this is the order of the day.