ON THE FACE OF IT

( Susan Hill )

Presented by Mrs. Shalini Rajpal

St Mary’s School, Hisar, Haryana
A PLAY FEATURING AN OLD
MAN AND A SMALL BOY

A BOND UNITES
THE TWO
TOGETHER
THEMES

● LONELINESS
BOTH OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS - LAMB AND DERRY ARE LONELY

● SELF ACCEPTANCE
DERRY IS UNABLE TO ACCEPT HIMSELF WHILE LAMB HAS ACCEPTED HIS
DISABILITY.

● INSENSITIVE SOCIETY
THE UNKIND REMARKS OF PEOPLE HURT DERRY LEADING HIM TO BE
WITHDRAWN AND DEFIANT
LONELINESS
SELF ACCEPTANCE
INSENSITIVE SOCIETY
(Vocabulary) Pages 56,57

▪ On the face of it – used to say that

something seems to be good, true etc. but
that this opinion may need to be changed
when you know more about it.
(Vocabulary)Pages 56,57

▪ Tentatively – in a hesitant or uncertain

manner
▪ Scrump – steal
▪ Pretend – to give a false appearance of
being
(Vocabulary) Pages 58,59,60

▪ Jelly – a fruit product made by boiling sugar

and juice of fruit
▪ Weeds – wild plants
▪ Monstrous – extraordinarily ugly
▪ Daft – silly
▪ Dribble – to let saliva trickle from the corner
of the mouth
(vocabulary) Pages 61 - 68

▪ Trespassing – intruding
▪ Peculiar – different from the usual or normal
▪ Panting – breathing heavily
▪ Withdrawn – lost to oneself
A LONELY CHILD

● ACID LEFT DERRY’S FACE SCARRED AND

DISFIGURED
● HE FEELS THAT PEOPLE STARE AT HIS FACE
● THINKS THAT PEOPLE ARE SCARED OR DISGUSTED
OF HIS UGLY FACE
● DEEPLY HURT BY UNKIND REMARKS
● LOCKED IN A WORLD OF HIS OWN
DERRY DISLIKES HIS SCARRED FACE
LOCKED IN A WORLD OF HIS OWN
A LONELY OLD MAN

● LAMB LIVES ALL ALONE

● HE KEEPS HIMSELF ENGAGED
● HE OBSERVES THE BEES OR PICKS THE APPLES
● HE IS OPTIMISTIC AND HAPPY
● HE IS HANDICAPPED AND HAS A TIN LEG
● DOESN’T CARE MUCH ABOUT HIS DISABILITY- HAS
LEARNT TO ACCEPT IT
PICKING APPLES
LAMB’S GARDEN

● IT WAS WALLED BUT THE GATES WERE KEPT

OPEN
● THERE WERE WEEDS AND TALL GRASS ALONG
WITH TALL SUN-FLOWERS, CRAB APPLE TREES
AND PEACH
● THERE WAS ALSO A HIVE OF BEES BEHIND THE
TREES
WEEDS AND TALL GRASS
HIVE OF BEES
DERRY’S MOTIVE IN ENTERING THE GARDEN

DERRY THOUGHT THAT THE GARDEN, OVERGROWN

WITH GRASS AND WEEDS, WAS A DESERTED ,PLACE
WHERE HE COULD SPEND HIS TIME , AWAY FROM
THE PRYING GLANCES OF PEOPLE. THOUGH THE
GATE WAS OPEN HE CLIMBED OVER THE WALL TO
GET IN. HE WALKS SLOWLY AND TENTATIVELY
THROUGH THE LONG GRASS AND WAS STARTLED TO
HEAR LAMB SPEAK TO HIM.
DERRY DID NOT ENTER THROUGH THE GATE
DERRY HAS INHIBITIONS

TO HELP DERRY OVERCOME HIS

INHIBITIONS LAMB TOLD HIM THE
STORY OF A MAN WHO LOCKED
HIMSELF UP IN A ROOM TO BE SAFE
THE MAN WHO LOCKED HIMSELF UP

● THE MAN WAS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING

● FEARED THAT A BUS MIGHT RUN OVER HIM
● A MAN MIGHT BREATH DEADLY GERMS ONTO
HIM
● A DONKEY MIGHT KICK HIM TO DEATH
● LIGHTNING MIGHT STRIKE HIM
● HE MIGHT SLIP ON A BANANA PEEL MAKING
PEOPLE LAUGH
SPOOKED OF EVERYTHING
LOCKING HIMSELF DIDN’T HELP THE MAN

● A PICTURE FELL OFF THE WALL ON TO HIS

HEAD AND KILLED HIM
● DERRY LIKES THE STORY AND LAUGHS A
LOT
● DERRY FEELS THAT LAMB SAYS PECULIAR
THINGS
FRUITFUL FRIENDSHIP

● LAMB’S UNENDING ENTHUSIASM AND UNENDING

ZEAL TO LIVE LIFE DESPITE ALL ODDS HELPED DERRY
CHANGE HIS OUTLOOK

● DERRY WHO WAS CARRYING ON AN UNHAPPY

EXISTENCE WAS ABLE TO SEE SOME MEANING IN LIFE
A BOND UNITES DERRY AND LAMB

● BOTH HAD A PHYSICAL DEFORMITY

● BOTH HAVE AN EMPATHETIC FEELING
TOWARDS EACH OTHER
● LAMB HAS AN UPPER HAND IN IN
EXPERIENCE WHICH HELPS HIM TO
INSPIRE THE LITTLE BOY
LAMB REMOVES HIS BASELESS FEARS

● TELLS THAT NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS

WORTHLESS
● NOTHING DESERVES TO BE CONSIDERED AS TRASH
● EVEN WEEDS HAVE THEIR OWN VALUE
● ADVISES DERRY TO IGNORE PEOPLE’S COMMENTS
● TELLS HIM TO HEAR ONLY THOSE THINGS THAT ARE
WORTH HEARING
● CONVINCES HIM THAT IT IS ATTITUDE THAT
MATTERS
MAIN POINTS

▪ Mr Lamb lived in a big house with a garden.

▪ Derry climbed over the garden wall to enter
the garden.
▪ Derry expected it to be an unoccupied
place.
MAIN POINTS

▪ Lamb had a tin leg and some kids called

him Lamey - Lamb
▪ He has accepted his disability
MAIN POINTS

▪ Derry was a 14 year old boy .

▪ His face was burnt on one side due to acid.
▪ He sequestered himself
MAIN POINTS

▪ Mr. Lamb realised that Derry was a lonely

child.
▪ He encouraged Derry to overcome his
handicap with courage.
▪ Before he met Mr. Lamb , Derry was a
cynical (pessimistic) young boy.
MAIN POINTS

▪ Derry was hurt by the mean and insensitive

remarks of people.
▪ Mr. Lamb’s behaviour brought a change in
Derry’s thought process.
▪ Though the association was brief it
definitely left a mark on Derry’s mind.
QUESTIONS

▪ Who is Mr. Lamb ?

▪ Who is Derry ?
▪ How does Derry get into Mr. Lamb’s
garden?
▪ How are Mr. Lamb and Derry different in
their attitudes to their respective disabilities?
QUESTIONS

▪ Why does Mr. Lamb always leave his gate

open ? Why does he live in a house without
any curtains ?
▪ Why does Derry decide to come back to Mr.
Lamb ?
▪ The play ends tragically, yet leaves one
with a sense of hope. Explain.
EXTRACT BASED REFERENCE TO
CONTEXT TYPE QUESTIONS -

YOU MAY BE EXPECTED TO

ANSWER QUESTIONS BASED ON
WHAT LEADS TO THE QUOTE, WHAT
THE QUOTE MEANS OR WHAT IT
REVEALS ABOUT THE STORY
BRIEFLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW
THE EXTRACT

“SOME CALL THEM

WEEDS. IF YOU LIKE, ● WHO IS THE SPEAKER?
THEN…..A WEED ● WHAT IS PECULIAR
GARDEN, THAT. THERE’S ABOUT THE PLACE?
FRUIT AND THERE ARE ● WHY DOES THE
FLOWERS, AND TREES SPEAKER ALLOW
AND HERBS. ALL SORTS” WEEDS?
● WHO IS SPOKEN TO?
BRIEFLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW
THE EXTRACT

“PEOPLE FUSS” …. ● WHO IS THE SPEAKER?

“ONCE I GOT HOME, THEY ● WHAT MAKES HIM
WILL NEVER LET ME COME
APPREHENSIVE?
BACK”
● WHERE WAS HE AT THE
MOMENT?
● WHAT WAS HIS
RESOLVE BEFORE
LEAVING?
NUGGETS OF WISDOM
(Ponder over the following with respect to the lesson and real
situations in life around you)

● DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT OUTLOOK

● WHAT YOU ARE INSIDE IS IMPORTANT
● EVERYONE NEEDS TO DEVELOP CONFIDENCE AND
REALISE POTENTIAL
● PEOPLE CAN INFLUENCE OTHERS FOR GOOD OR
FOR WORSE
● A POSITIVE ATTITUDE HELPS US TO TACKLE ALL
DIFFICULTIES OF LIFE
ON THE FACE OF IT

JUSTIFY THE TITLE

OF THE LESSON
KNOW YOUR EMOTIONS

STUDY THE CHART IN THE SLIDE

THAT FOLLOWS AND CATEGORISE
THE EMOTIONS OF DERRY AND LAMB.

ALSO SEARCH FOR YOUR EMOTIONS

AND FIND OUT YOUR STRENGTHS
AND WEAKNESSES
EMOTIONS
PEN THE INSIGHTS YOU GAINED