Question

A. Answer these questions.

1. What made the scorpion hide behind the sack of rice?

2. Why according to the peasants was it imperative to find the scorpion?

3. What steps should have been taken to lessen the suffering of the
speaker's mother? Were the steps taken? What does this suggest?

4. What kind of purification would the poison ensure, according to
the peasants?

5. How does the speaker describe the atmosphere in the room?

6. How does the speaker's father try to be helpful?

7. What quality of parenthood is conveyed in the last line of the poem?

8. Point out the images of light and darkness used by the poet. Is darkness
used as a metaphor here? Give reasons for your answer.

9. Quote a few words from the poem that suggest that it is set against a
village backdrop
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Answer 1

Answer:

send the poem first

please don't mind

Answer 2

Answer:

1. ten hours of continuous rain madethe scorpion thought of better hiding behind the rice sack.

2. Peasants believed in the age old traditions of the culture, they had hard core belief if the scorpion moves, the mother will suffer more in pain and if it sits still then the suffering would be less.

3. All the steps taken to cure the pain of speakers mother were theories related to karma, past sufferings and incantations and rituals were done to lessen the sufferings.

4. This poison will for sure purify the flesh, the greed, desires, and spirit of ambition.

5. the atmosphere in room was of fear, full of understanding on each other's face, mother in immense pain and horrors of the pain were growing.

6. Speakers father tried to help in every practical, rational and religional way, he poured wax on the leg of his mother, he did incantations of age old traditions.

7. Last line of the poem conveyed the message of motherhood, a mother can go through hell for the sake of her child.

8. Darkness in the poem is a metaphor used for the stung of the scorpion and light is the love of a mother in this poem, a mother's love is above everything else in the whole world.

9. May your suffering decrease

the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.

May the sum of all evil

balanced in this unreal world

against the sum of good

become diminished by your pain.

May the poison purify your flesh

of desire, and your spirit of ambition,

they said, and they sat around

on the floor with my mother in the centre,

the peace of understanding on each face.