What light is thrown on human nature by the writer when he gives you the reason for people's hostility to playing a bagpipes by the boy.
Answers
The bagpipe scene is another masterful humorous description of the narrator. He describes the plight of music enthusiasts who in their passion to learn music annoy other people around them. Through the example of a young man who wanted to learn bagpipes, the narrator portrays a very humorous description of his futile and irritating efforts. He faced a tough opposition even from the members of his own family. His father was dead against the business from the beginning, and spoke quite unfeelingly on the subject. He used to get up early in the morning to practise, but he had to give that plan up, because of his sister. She was somewhat religiously inclined, and she said it seemed such an awful thing to begin the day like that.
So he sat up at night instead, and played after the family had gone to bed, but that did not do, as it got the house such a bad name. People, going home late, would stop outside to listen, and then put it about all over the town, the next morning, that a fearful murder had been committed at Mr. Jefferson’s the night before; and would describe how they had heard the victims shrieks and the brutal oaths and curses of the murderer, followed by the prayer for mercy, and the last dying gurgle of the corpse.
All his attempts to learn bagpipes failed. Finally, he was able to learn a tune, but nobody could make out what the tune was.
Through the description of this incident the narrator wants to tell the readers that there is inveterate enmity between the music learners and the people of the world. The former think the people don’t let them learn music, and he latter think the former make their life hell with their din on the pretext of learning music.