Question

what is the theme of the story "A Face in the Dark" by Ruskin Bond?

Answer 1

Hi friend,

Your answer:

Main theme - 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.

Hope it helps!