theme of the face in the dark
Answers
The main theme of the story "A Face in the Dark" by Ruskin Bond is
Supernatural Element
The story has hues of supernatural elements. Mr.Oliver,the protagonist has been described as a man who is not easily given to nervousness or imagination.
On that particular night, it was dark and stormy and because of being a bachelor and lonely, it led him to imagine something supernatural like a boy without face, a kind of ghost. A boy's school cap might be lying on a rock, which Oliver, in the flickering light of his torch, imagined to be a faceless boy. Again it was his fear that made him imagine the watchman too as being faceless.
The story ends with a sense of ambiguity, making the readers ponder over the question whether it were ghosts, which Oliver encountered or whether it was a prank played upon him by a mischievous student.
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Loss of individuality
It is individuality which makes human beings different from each other. None of us are same with any other human being in this world, not only physically or in our face; but also in our thoughts and emotions. This distinctiveness of our personality makes us different and gives us an identity. The aim of our education system should be to provide us with the chance to bloom our individuality and our talent to become distinctive human beings.
But what happens in most cases is that the schools keep on producing people of similar mindsets by discouraging any kind of individuality in the students. The school in Simla is no different as it produces leaders who are all the same as it never encourages any kind of individuality. Mr. Oliver being a teacher of that school does the work of producing these kinds of students who have no personality of their own. Therefore in the story he is being haunted by a student and a watchman who have no face -in the sense of having no distinct identity.
Supernatural Setting
Ruskin Bond has created a setting in the short story "A Face in the Dark" which is most appropriate in terms of narrating an uncanny experience to the readers. The story is set in Simla. A School which is termed as the "Eton of the East" is situated at the outskirts of the city of Simla where Mr. Oliver is a teacher. He being a bachelor has the habit of visiting the town every evening and while returning he takes a short cut through a pine forest to reach back to the school campus.
One day, Mr. Oliver has an uncanny experience of meeting a boy and a watchman who have no eyes, no ears, no nose, no mouth, not even eye brows, in the pine forest. The writer describes the night to be supernatural when it was windy and eerie sounds resounded through the forest. The atmosphere is such that most people went by the main road; but Mr. Oliver does not have any fanciful mind to be fearful of the sounds. So he takes the road through the forest. It is this setting which makes the readers be prepared for an uncanny experience. The supernatural setting is thus significant in the story to build the tone of the story.