Question

Did Private Quelch's day to day practices take him closer towards his goal? How can you make out?

The Man Who Knew Too Much Class 9 - NCERT Solution - English

Answer 1

 Private Quelch's day to day practices did not take him closer towards his goal. No doubt he worked very hard to secure stripe and then commission for himself. However, there were some bad qualities in him that led to his downfall. The factors that led to the decline of Private Quelch were his boastful attitude, lack of etiquette, decency, decorum, and respect for seniors. In his excitement to achieve promotion and success he opted the wrong approach. He thought by impressing his seniors with his shallow knowledge, he would succeed in winning their favours; but his approach turned to be wrong. He offended Corporal Turnbull by interrupting him in his lecture and suggesting him how he should have started the lecture on grenades. This enraged the Corporal, and in order to teach him a lesson, he assigned him permanent duties of the cook in the mess kitchen.