Question

In your own words, describe what the garden was like In winter? Selfish Giant (Story)

Answer 1

Answer:

IT SO HAPPENED

The Selfish Giant

Question 1: Why is the Giant called selfish?

Answer: The giant did not want to share his happiness with anybody. He wanted to enjoy his garden all alone. That is why the Giant is called selfish.

Question 2: On one occasion the children said: “How happy we are here!” Later they said: “How happy we were there!” What are they referring to in both the cases?

Answer: In the first case the children were referring to their joy when they were playing in the Giant’s garden. When the Giant returned after a long gap he shooed away all the children and erected a wall around his garden. Now children had no place to play. So, they were fondly remembering their old happy days.

Question 3: When spring came, it was still winter in the garden. What does winter stand for or indicate here?

Answer: The spring is a symbol of happiness. The harsh cold winter is a symbol of suffering. The way there was no flower in the Giant’s garden shows that the happiness was nowhere to be seen in the garden

Answer 2

(i)In the story, winter stands for a negative, desolate and lifeless environment. In this environment, trees and flowers do not blossom. Here, winter also refers to an atmosphere of depression and laziness. Since birds did not sing, children did not play and spring did not visit the garden, winter prolonged its stay in the garden.

(ii)When spring came, the birds did not sing as there were no children. The trees too did not blossom. At an instance, a flower put its head out from the grass. However, when it saw the notice board put up by the giant, it felt sad and sorry for the children, got back inside the grass, and went off to sleep.On the other hand, snow and frost were very happy. While the snow covered the grass, the frost fell on all the trees. They invited the North Wind to stay with them, and later even the Hail was asked to visit. The Hail rattled the roof of the castle every day until some of it started breaking, and then it ran around the garden again and again as fast as it could.