G.D.

Salwan Public School, English Core, Class XII Vistas _ L On the Face of it
ON THE FACE OF IT - SUSAN HILL
Summary
o Derry was a teenager, highly pessimistic and withdrawn from the mainstream society. He developed this attitude
after one side of his face was disfigured by acid. He avoided company of others and remained lonely lest he be
noticed by other people.
o He believed that no one loved him and his mother loved him because she was supposed to. Derry cannot be
completely blamed for his pessimistic and aggressive attitude towards the world around him. Once he heard two
women commenting about his monstrous appearance.
o They said only a mother could love a face like his. On another day Derry heard his parents conversing that he
would not survive after their death because he was deformed. The shock he received from these words was big.
o On another occasion Derry heard his relatives saying that his being put in the hospital where he had been
treated after the accident was good for him. In their opinion a deformed boy like Derry could accommodate
himself with other deformed boys and girls.
o Derry had his ears always open for such comments and used to respond to them in his silent way. He concluded
that the world altogether didnt need a boy like him.
o One day Derry accidently met a man called Mr. Lamb. Mr. Lamb was an old man with a lame leg. After he
became lame, Mr. Lamb began to develop a positive attitude with his deformity. He worked hard to defeat this
impairment and learnt to walk and climb ladders. He was happy to be alive and ignored his lameness. He made
everyone his friend and had a house with no curtains and open doors. He welcomed anyone who came to him.
o While Mr. Lamb took his impairment as a challenge and tried to overcome it, Derry believed that he was
unwanted and lost. His pain was physical and mental. Being a child he was not as strong as Mr. Lamb about
suffering. He couldnt take the sneering and sympathizing world as taken by Mr. Lamb. Mr. Lamb was able to sit
smart and unaffected as long as he wore trousers and sat but Derry had no way to hide his face.
o After meeting Mr. Lamb Derry realized how foolish he had been to believe his parents. For him Lamb was a man
who opened the doors of his closed world in an hours time the same of which were shut on him by his parents
and therefore believed that his company with Lamb would make him a perfect person.
Questions and Answers
1. What sort of a boy was Derry?
Derry was a teenager, a highly pessimistic and withdrawn from the mainstream society. He developed this
attitude after one side of his face was disfigured by acid. He avoided company of others and remained lonely so
that he would not be noticed by other people. He believed that no one loved him and his mother loved him
because she was supposed to.
2. Why did Derry go into Mr. Lambs garden?
Derry preferred a lonely life in order to hide his disfigured face from the world. Yet he had love for the world
such as a garden and he wished to own one. He thought that Mr. Lambs garden and his house were empty and
therefore went into it.
3. Why did Derry wish to get out of Mr. Lamb's garden immediately after getting into?
Derry went into Lambs garden because he thought it was empty. But when he saw Mr. Lamb there and that he
had been being watched by Mr. Lamb, he felt ashamed and wished to get out of the garden.
4. What kind of a man was Mr. Lamb?
Mr. Lamb was an old man with a lame leg. Since he was lame, Mr. Lamb began to develop a positive attitude

G.D. Salwan Public School, English Core, Class XII Vistas _ L On the Face of it
with his deformity. He worked hard to defeat this impairment and learnt to walk and climb ladders. He was
happy to be alive and ignored his lameness. He made everyone his friend and had a house with no curtains and
locked doors. He welcomed anyone who came to him.
5. Both Mr. Lamb and Derry had much to suffer yet Derry was the worst affected. Explain.
Mr. Lamb was an old man who had lost one of his legs in a blast while Derry was a teenager with a burnt face.
While Mr. Lamb took his impairment as a challenge and tried to overcome it, Derry believed that he was
unwanted and lost. His pain was physical and mental. Being a child he was not as strong as Mr. Lamb about
suffering. He couldnt take the sneering and sympathizing world as taken by Mr. Lamb. Mr. Lamb was able to sit
smart and unaffected as long as he wore trousers and sat but Derry had no way to hide his face.
6. How does Mr. Lamb explain the dual faces of a weed garden?
Mr. Lamb believes in a positive attitude. He always found the better parts of reality. He says that it is
peoples perception that goes wrong, not the realities. Some people consider some plants fit for a garden
while some other people consider the same plants as weeds, to be removed from their gardens. Both have
leaves and flowers and the beauty of these flowers vary from person to person.
7. What does Mr. Lamb teach Derry from his exploring the two types of sounds of the bees?
Mr. Lamb believes in a positive attitude. He always found the better sides of reality. He says that it is
peoples perception that goes wrong, not the realities. Bees produce the very same sound: music for some
and irritation for others. If one is happy, the bees sound music and if one is sad, the bees buzz. He explored
this dual perception to show Derry that it was important for him to change his attitude.
8. What makes Mr. Lamb say that Derry wasn't completely lost?
When Derry entered Mr. Lambs garden, the former appeared to be highly pessimistic and withdrawn. He
sounded bitter because the world had been so cruel to him. But at one point Derry said that he loved a
garden and a house like the one as Lambs, Mr. Lamb saw his love for the nature and beauty and this gave
Mr. Lamb the hope that Derry was not completely lost in his gloomy world.
9. Why did Derry's mother warn him to keep away from Mr. Lamb?
Derrys mother was very particular about not letting her son mix with other people. She was much stricter
about not allowing the boy to go to Mr. Lamb as she had heard that the old man was not good.
10. Why does Derry say that he would never go out to the world if he didn't go to Mr. Lamb?
Derrys parents were greatly responsible for making an introvert out of him. They believed that the world
was not the place for their son due to his burnt face. They advised him to keep away from people. They
convinced him that his life would be impossible after their death. Thus Derrys parents shut him in a narrow
world of his own, inspiring him to hate and avoid everyone. But after meeting Mr. Lamb Derry realized how
foolish he had been to believe his parents. For him Lamb was a man who opened the doors of his closed
world in an hours time the same of which were shut on him by his parents and therefore believed that his
company with Lamb would make him a perfect person.
11. Do you think Mr. Lamb really had a lot of friends? Explain?
Mr. Lamb claimed to have a lot of friends but in fact he appears to have few. Mr. Lamb is a peculiar person
with no complaints about his deformity but his heavy, philosophical talks may bore people who run into
him. Even though Mr. Lamb had claimed he had hundreds of friends, he didnt know of those names and no
one showed up while Derry was with him for such a long time. Moreover, Mr. Lamb himself is found telling
his bees that human beings do not keep their promise of returning to his garden. From all these one can
conclude that Mr. Lamb had no friends but the bees and the nature around him.

G.D. Salwan Public School, English Core, Class XII Vistas _ L On the Face of it
12. Mr. Lamb says to Derry: Its all relative. Beauty and Beast. What does he mean by that?
Mr. Lamb believes in the relativity theory of beauty. Quoting the fairy tale, The Beauty and the Beast, he
said that everyone has beauty inside but people hardly recognize that. The beautiful ones are not always
good at heart and the ugly ones can have a beautiful heart.
13. Who should be friends according to both Derry and Mr. Lamb?
Both Mr. Lamb and Derry keep different views regarding friendship and company. Derry thinks that one
should know all the particulars of a person before becoming friends. He also thinks that two people who
met casually on the way cannot be friends because they are not going to meet again. In contrast, Mr. Lamb
doesnt agree with Derry. He doesnt know the names of his friends yet he has a lot of friends. For him
anyone is his friend, whether he met them just once or so many times.
14. That would do you more harm than any bottle of acids. Explain.
Mr. Lamb was a man who tried to look at problems with reduced importance while Derry thought his
deformity was the last word of his life and existence. He said that he hated some people for their hatred and
sympathy for him. Seeing the burning hatred in Derry, Mr. Lamb warned him that hatred can burn in and out
of a person while acid can burn part of the body alone.
15. How was the society and family responsible for forming Derry an introvert?
Derry cannot be solely blamed for his pessimistic and aggressive attitude towards the world around him.
Once he heard two women commenting about his ugliness. They said only a mother could love a face like
his. On another day Derry heard his parents conversing that he would not survive after their death because
he was deformed. The shock he received from these words was big. On another occasion Derry heard his
relatives talking about his being put in the hospital where he had been treated after the accident. In their
opinion a deformed boy like Derry could accommodate himself with other deformed boys and girls. Derry
had his ears always open for such comments and used to respond to them in his silent way. He concluded
that the world altogether didnt need a boy like him.

The Change: but will his society change him again!

1. And the world is there to look at. Explain.
In Mr. Lambs opinion the world is a perfect example for people with deformity. The earth is full of good and bad
things, beautiful and ugly places, inhabitable and uninhabitable places yet we love the earth as a whole, not as a
part. Mr. Lamb wants to make Derry think of himself as a whole person with good and bad in him.
2. Why does Derry go back to Mr. Lamb in the end?
Mr. Lamb was a wizard who could transform Derry into a positive character. Derry realized the importance of a
man like Lamb and hoped that he would change completely in his company. Moreover, he knew, he could revert
to his old attitude if he lived with his pessimistic mother and father.
3. How does Derry claim that his deformity is graver than Mr. Lambs lameness?
Derry had a burnt face and Mr. Lamb had lost one of his legs. In Derrys opinion he bore more damage and pain
than Mr. Lamb because his burnt face cannot be hidden from others while Mr. lamb could sit somewhere as a
normal man. For Derry, the deformed face was his identity. People got away from him because of the face and
he believed that no one runs away from a lame man.