Question

‘War may destroy one’s home but not ones heart’. Discuss this statement with reference to the story

of the two boys in ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’.​

Answer 1

Nicola and Jacopo were leading a happy, comfortable life in the company of their sister and father until the war-devastated their life. Their father, who was a widower, was a well-known singer at La Scala and was taking good care of his children. But he lost his life during the early part of the war. A little later, a bomb destroyed their home and the children were literally thrown onto the streets. For months they barely managed to keep themselves alive in a sort of shelter they built with t their own hands amidst the rubble. During this time they had to suffer a great deal of hardship, one of which was starvation and exposure to the cold Veronese winter. The German Elite Guards established its headquarters in Verona and ruled the city with ruthless severity. Next, when a secret resistance movement took concrete shape, the boys joined the group and worked as secret agents’ for them. They carried messages to the forces of liberation, carrying information on the movements of the German troops. During one such secret mission, they had to move in the darkness through the mountain passes with letters in their shoes and the chances of their getting caught and shot by the German soldiers were many. Once peace returned to the city, they came back home only to find that their sister had contracted tuberculosis of the spine. Again they had to work relentlessly day and night to earn enough money not merely to keep themselves alive but also to make regular payments to the hospital ungrudgingly. This they accomplished by shining shoes, selling fruit, hawking newspapers, conducting tourists round the town and exploiting every avenue to earn

Answer 2

Answer:

The two boys despite losing their father to war, didn't back down from their responsibility.

They used to hate wars but that did not affect their heart and thoughtfulness.

Explanation:

• This is a synopsis from the chapter ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’.​
• In this story, the narrator came across two hard working boys, Nicola and Jacopo who were toiling for the treatment of their sister Lucia.
• They had lost their mother earlier and their father was killed by a bomb in the war.
• Then, the Germans attacked their country, for three long years they faced the destruction caused by war.
• But that did not lessen their love for the sister who was suffering from tuberculosis.

Hence, ‘War may destroy one’s home but not ones heart’ is a true statement that can be perceived through this story.