Question

Summary of 'A Face in the Dark'

Answer 1

A Face in the DarK by Ruskin Bond narrates an incident that revolves around Mr. Oliver, an Anglo-Indian teacher who taught in an English school in Shimla. He often went to Shimla which was a few kilometers away and return by evening. One day while he was returning from Shimla, it was late in the evening and he decided to take a short cut through the pine forests. He carried his torch along and moved briskly. When he was at a short distance from his school, he saw a boy sitting with his head held between his hands and sobbing silently. He asked the boy why he was sitting out there as it was not allowed for the boys to move out of the school. The boy said nothing, still sobbing strangely. Mr. Oliver asked him to lift his face up and when the boy lifted his face up, what Mr. Oliver saw, he was terrified and he started running towards his school. When he saw the watchman with his lantern, he asked him why he was running. Mr. Oliver told him that he saw a boy who had no face, i.e., no eyes, ears, or any other feature on his face. The watchman asked him if the boys face looked like it, and he raised the lantern up to his face. Mr. Oliver saw his face, no eyes, no ears and no features. At that moment the wind blew and put the lamp out.

Answer 2

Answer:

The story “A Face in the Dark” by Ruskin Bond is set in Simla, a town in Himachal Pradesh, India where an Anglo-Indian teacher Mr. Oliver teaches in a reputed English public school which is regarded as the “Eton of the East”. He is a bachelor and goes to the market some three miles away in the evening and returns back to school at night on a daily basis. He takes the short cut way through the pine forest.

On the day of the story when he is returning late at night, the strong wind is making an eerie sound through the pine trees and the batteries of his torch is running down. Suddenly, he comes across a boy who is crying silently with his head hung down, sitting on a rock. Following a number of questions from the teacher, when the boy finally looks up,  Mr. Oliver sees that the boy has no eyes, ears, nose or mouth on his face. “It was just a round smooth head – with a school cap on top of it!”

Panicked by the horrific scene, Mr. Oliver runs down the path calling for help. He finally stops when he sees the watchman swinging a lantern on his way. Oliver tells the watchman what he has seen. But soon after, he finds out in the light of the lantern that the watchman too has no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. Then the wind blows the lamp out.

Explanation: