&

-
Ill. Answer the following questions in abo ut 300 words ·
..
I
a). How doe s Oe sub stan tiate that the souls salvaged by tlze
Peopl<~ of Hiroslzin1a are tlze soi, ls ofal! lzi,man ·b eing s alive
today.? . .
OR
JuJ'.tify the title of the essa y "The Uns urre nde red People".
 issu es 1. ·11at Mat ter

,. . ":'~ at d rd .the Japa nes e\ writ er Oe mea n when he cal I-thi s essa y
• •\
,- ~
hl , . ,. rt u
n)
. : . " ..___ . le nsu rrcn dcrc d People'? Did he sim
l •1 ., ply mea n
11

d1at the peo pl ~ O 1· J apan d 1·d not surr end er to and cou l
d no t be
-c
teou s
~ur ren~ e red by _the Am eric ans . Or did he emp has ise the righ
'"1nd ult1n1ate vict ory of man's goo dne ss and stre ngth agan
1st all
o nd
pow e.rs of de st ruct ion. He cert ainl y emp has ised the _sec
nd th e
tnea nin g, and underlined it with the final com men t: '' A
ls ~fa ll
sou ls sal. v~g ed by the peo ple of Hir osh ima are the sou
did by
hu': 1an _Detngs aliv e to day ." Wh at the Jap ane se peo ple
b~ings
tf~_e ir h~r oic surv ival was rede ami ng the sou ls of hum an
01 aJJ tim e from the pow er of dam nati on ·and tota l des truc tion .

to prsent a strange phii\rn

!" th is essay Oe attemptswea loso ~y of
cnc ans
, sur viv al aga nist ,nan 's dea dly pon s. Te bom b that
my
exp lod ed in Hir osh ima was aim ed at surr end erin g thei r ene
pro ved
the Jap ane se. But inst ead of surr end erin g the Jap ane se they
. The y
the m se fve the mos t wic ked ene mie s of the hum an race
un leas hed the uni ver sal evil to destroy a nation. But the vict ims
of
def ied -the m and def eate d them by their rem ark able pow ers
resistance and surv ival . The con cien ce of the Am eric ans quailed
and sho ok at the goo dne ss and strength of the Jap ane se. i
. .
,
The Arn eric an scie ntis ts and exp erts mad e the mse lve s fool
s:
by pro vid ing the wolf's phil oso phy that _the Jamb enj oys
being
eate n by the wol f. They made themselves gre ater foo ls by say
ing
se; we /
'"w e thre w the bom b onl y to test the strength of the Jap ane
,
knew tha t they will survie the destructive power of the bomb. So
/
there is nothing wro ng i'n thro win g our bomb upo n them." . i
.
The Am eric ans argued furth~r.that bombing was onl y an act
,
of "hu man ism " because the Jap ane se taught us by the ir
heroic / 1

resi stan ce and strength that there is some built in har mo ny

in the /
ng
wor ld. The y praise not onl y the Jap ane se peo ple for preservi
J

the bui lt in han non y, but t~e A~ eric an do_ctors wh o hel ped
the '
vic tim ~ in the ~ro ccs s of sur viv al. The ir ser ~ic e was
quite I
le i c
hum anit aria n bec aus e they help ed to red uce the pam of the peop
 15
lsSltes That Matter

whom they put to great pain and th"'y h I d th .

I . 1t - .
' . h .h d 1 · • · ,., e pe e peop e .o surv1 ve,
whom t ey . a P anned to destroy. . · · . · .
th
What e Americans did Was to persuade their God to send a
second Noah t~ save .the people whom they wanted to kill bya
deluge of atomic energy for a second propagation of the world.
But this was another deception, because the deluge of atomic
power does not end Once and for all. The waters of this del~ge
remain frozen for any number of future deluges. Yet they naivly
believed beyond their God and their Noah that the Japanese,
people have ~edeamed the souls of men for ever by thei~ strength
and good ·WI 11 to overcome the powers of destruction. The
unsuffendered people qf Japan will never surrender.
 23 Issues That Matter

is also Ii~e a bone which plays as a flute when the wind blows
through it.

III. Answer the ~ollowing questions ·in about 300 words .

a). Elaborate on 'thi old prison' as a metaphor for human
suffering, and enumerate the glooniy imagery and figures of .
speech · ., _ ·· ,,. .
Judith Wrights' poem 'The Old Prison' is a symbolic
interp~etation of ht1man suffering. War prisoners are the most~Hl-
treated and isolated hum.an beings. The prison in the Trial Bay
was constructed by the labour of the convicts brought from
different European contries during the First World War. Their
life in the prison was intol.erable because they were far away from
their home relatives .and friends . There was no hope to return t.o
their homeland, or to live a free life. Death w·as certian after long
suffering. There was no chance for . realease or means for fair
treatment. How ·c ruelly they were treated, no one can say.
. .

·The misery of the prison life is hinted at by using several

images ..The prisoners are no more alive. They died some how,
· or were ki1led. They were like birds imprisoned in cages. If birds
mak.e neststhey love and breed, and after breeding they fly away
, to the freedom of the sky. The prisoners had a diff~,rent fate. They
were shut in isolation, each living in a cell. There was no one to .
talk, no chance of loving and br~eding.
· The prison in which the convicts lived and died is the silent _
· witness of thei~ fate. Wind has taken away the roof; the ruined
cells are like flutes where the wind sing sad songs in ·memory of
the dead men . The biting, .cold, angry wind is·· further compared
to the angry bee that bites and hunts for the black honey. The ._;
waves. wash the ruined prison as they wash the sea she11s. The
·ruined building is also a musical .i nstrument for the wind to .blow
upon and sing. The old prison is not only like a bone; it is a flute
of stone. .

I _A 14 . l...$J4&3L
24 Issues That Matter
. 5
t1fferit1g•
Th_e skeleton o~the old prison is a symbol of huma,n t,opes it'I
The pnson was built to house convicts who had lost all prison, .·
th
Ii fe. They al so could not expect any good treatment in ete ce 11 s, .
In order to make their suffering they were kept i~ sepa~he wind .
Loneliness brought them the worst kind of expenen_c\able song
that blows upon the ruin produce a desolate and mise
.. . • r

about the-wretched Hfe of.the prisoners. . :· - . t~ 1

. _ . 1 f pa1_nu
nd
All the imag~s in_ th~ poeni are glo~my a .fu\c~s pain. It .
10
memories. The wmd 1s. hke a bee that bites and ~ O· cean. ·
comes from the ice caves in the depth of the antarcttc .
. . . . . . . d come from
· The prison was like a nest into which btr_ .s t laces.
p-

.. . - -. - 1. - from d1 ff eren
different places. The pnsoners a so hca~e . ;cts could
.. .d 1 ests The convt
The birds love atid.;br~ed a~ eave t en : · ·, · · If the birds
- · · ~ b t th have.· left the1r cage. · .
not love and breeu, u ey . . . . convicts have died
have flown to freedom and happiness, the • . . ...
and gone.
34 Issues That Matter

III. Answer the following questions in about 300 words

a). HoliJ does Pirandello portray humn nature through ·,1,<!
story ?
OR
-· Briefly explain the conflicts and then1es raised·through
·war?
Piradello's story 'War' is a deep study about human nature in
general and man's views about life, war, patriotism etc. War is ,
the theme round which several profound questions are raised. It ;
is introduced in a subtle way that ·we do not doubt that the author ·
aims at presenting .so many problems. . I
There are five passengers in a railway carriage; two more get
in form the station at Fabriano. Each one has his children in the
war, though ·none has yet communicated it to the other. -Th~ fat
woman who enters is wearing a deep mourning dress. Her face is I
covered with the collar. Though _her husband pulls it down, she I
pulls it tip to hide her face. Her husband, a lean and weak .man
with a death-pale face looks shy and uneasy. His enquiry to his
wife, "Are you aH night, dear?" shows how·much he is concerned
with his wife. He wants the other passengers to sympathise with
her for sending her only son to war.
This is the point at which the story turns to war, and the
relation between parents and children. The fat woman thinks th-at
her case is the worst one, because she is sending her only son to
war, and that also very suddenly. The others pose their .problems
as deserving the same sympathy. One man's son has been in the
war since it started and has incurred wounds·two times. Another
has two sons and three nephews in the field. Whose son·ow is
greater? Whose love to the child is more?. The simple answer is I
that we do' not give our love to our children by dividinab and II
. . . fb
distributing 1t as a piece o read. We love all our children in the ,
same way, neither more nor less.
 JS Issues That Mutter

Now another question is posed. If u man has two sons, and

one dies in wur, the ot.her remains to comfort him. But that also
means the rcmaining _son demands owr care. If, on the other hand
the only one son dies, the father can readily ki II himself and settle
the matter.
Other questi.ons come up. A red f.aced man who thinks alJ
these views mere nonsense and part.hH, presents a question of
wider implications. "Do we give life to our children for our own
benefit?" This leads to the question of foye to children versus
love of the ·country. War demands us to Jove the country. Our
children do not belong to us, but they belong to the country. This
is not all. Our sons are not born for us, or for the country; they are
born because they must be born. We belong to them, and they
never belong to us. At twenty they think as we thought when we
were at twenty. There is the father and moher, but there are other
considerations also - girls, cigarettes, i1lusions, new ties - and of
course the country whose call we must ·answer. At th_at age the
love of the country is greater. Even grown up people would take
their sons '.place in the war. On the other hand our children
consider us as old boys who should remain at home.
A very logical proposition results from this train of thought.
If the country is a natural necesity like bread which we must eat
to keep away hunger, somebody must go to defend it. That means
a readiness to die. Our children do not want us to weep for them
when they are fighting. They themselves love death, and have
-accepted death as a crucial and inevitable necessity.
One of the passengers tells that his son died satisfied with
the thoug~,~ that he had given his life in the best way and for the
finest cause. That is why he does not even wear any mourning
dress.
Patriotism has now risen to its logical height, and everybody
seems impressed with the conclusion. The bubble of patriotism
breaks at the simple question from the fat woman. She makes the
 36 Js~ucs 'fhaf. l\·f otter

question not fnnn nny deep reflection. '',.J'hcn, is your son really
dead?'
T)cath 100,11s large as a stark reality, as something thut
separates us frnn1 our children for ever. The man who has befooleu
his fcllo\v passenger s with his false argument cannot escape the
pang of the tn·1ble question . He breaks into sobs admitting the
silliness of his patriotisrn.
\Ve suddenly reconside r what is human nature? It does not
c0ntain in defenition s and petty interpretat ions of love. Love is a
deep experfenc e that inspires and countroJs alJ our thoughts and
action-. Love of parents to children, children to parents, btween
aJJ people is a more meaningfu l thing than patriotism , the love
for our country. There is no justificati on to boast of our feelings
and·to ignore the feelings of others. Love is not a quantifiab le or
a dividable thing. It is not like bread, nor is the country Jjke bread. ·
Life is a complex affair; it involves altpeople , whether they.fall
into families or group as nations. Even war and the hatred between
nations have to be thought of in a new light. Let us consider all ,
human beings py the same stand~rd. That .is the mess~ge of the
essay.