Story 5: A Face in the Dark (Workbook Answers)

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Treasure Trove

Chapter 5

A Face in the Dark

(Workbook Answers)


Extract 1

Answer 1: Mr Oliver was an Anglo-Indian teacher. He taught at a boarding school in Shimla. His usual activity was to walk down to the Shimla bazar in the evening and to return after dark. He took a shortcut through the pine forest.

Answer 2: The school in Shimla, where Mr Oliver was a teacher, has been called the 'Eton of the East'. Eton is one of the most reputed and expensive schools in England. Oliver's School is called 'Eton of the East' because the school was run on English public school lines and the students were from wealthy families.

 

Answer 3: It was night time and a strong wind was blowing, the pine trees were making mysterious side sounds, indicating that something evil was likely to happen. It creates an atmosphere of fear and suspense.


Answer 4: Oliver encountered a boy sitting alone on a rock, one night. After seeing the boy, Oliver stopped and approached the boy.

Answer 5: At the beginning of the story, Oliver was described as a brave man who was not imaginative. At the end, he proved himself the opposite, by running away from the boy.

 

Extract 2

Answer 1: Oliver found the boy in the pine forest, sitting alone on a rock.
 
He noticed that the boy was crying with his head hanging down and his face held in his hands.

 

Answer 2: Mr Oliver saw a boy in the forest after dark. He thought that the boy was a student of his school. Students were not permitted to go outside the school after sunset. So, Mr Oliver thought he had committed a mischief and called him a miscreant. Mr Oliver found the boy crying and all alone.

Answer 3: Mr Oliver asked the boy what he was doing there and why he was crying. The boy did not answer him and didn't look at him.

Answer 4: The boy's " strange, soundless weeping" hints at the supernatural elements of the story. Mr Oliver found the boy crying bitterly, but he wasn't making any noise. We think that Mr Oliver didn't hear the sound because of the noise produced by the pine trees, due to the wind.

Answer 5: When the boy looked up, it was revealed that he had no face. The face didn't have eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was completely blank.

Mr Oliver was frightened. The torch fell from his trembling hands, and he ran away screaming.


Extract 3

Answer 1: Oliver's 'trembling hand' is referred to here. The hand was trembling because he was terrified by the boy's featureless face.

Answer 2: At the sight of the boy's featureless face, Mr Oliver was scared to death. So, he ran blindly through the forest.

Answer 3: Oliver replied that he had seen a really horrible sight: a boy with a face without eyes, nose, mouth or near.

Answer 4: Yes, we agree. The climax leaves the reader to imagine what might have happened to Oliver and leaves a lasting impact on the reader's mind.

Answer 5: We think that the title 'A face in the Dark' is appropriate. The events of the story take place in the dark. It may be because of the darkness that Oliver did not see the features of their face. The climax also leaves us guessing.
 

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