LITERATURE

NOTES
VOLUME 2
(ALL IMPORTANT STRUCTURED QUESTIONS)

ASHISH RANJAN
 LITERATURE
NOTES
(Volume 2)
ALL IMPORTANT STRUCTURED QUESTIONS

ASHISH RANJAN
Chapter 1. Chief Seattle’s Speech

Question 1. State the Red Indians’ concern for the

environment. Use details from the story to support your
answer.
Ans- The Red Indians lived in complete harmony with the
environment. They revered the sky, the rain, the
mountains, the forests etc. They felt the rains were the
tears of compassion shed by the sky on their ancestors.
This is clear from the opening lines, “Yonder sky has wept
tears of compassion on our fathers for centuries untold,
The Red Indians scattered the ashes of their ancestors on
the ground, so that they remained in close proximity with
their descendants. This is clear from the line, “The ashes of
our ancestors are sacred and their final resting place is
hallowed ground”.
The tribesmen also venerated the nature’s landmarks like
the rivers, mountains etc. This is clear from the lines, “Our
dead never forget the beautiful world that gave them
being. They still love its winding rivers, its great mountains
and its sequestered vales, and they ever yearn in tenderest
affection over the lonely hearted living and often return to
visit and comfort them.
Question 2. Explain the role of Red Indians
after their death.

Ans- As Chief Seattle says it, the Red Indians

are deeply attached to their lands. They never
forget ‘this beautiful world that gave them
being’ even after their death. They continue
to love the places where they worked or
roamed about — ‘its verdant valleys, its
murmuring rivers, its magnificent
mountains, sequestered vales and verdant
lined lakes and bays’, and often return to
visit, guide, console or comfort their lonely
hearted living children or grandchildren with
their ‘tender fond affection.’ When they die,
the departed elderly people’s souls remain
close to their living tribes men to bless, guide,
and protect them. They mingle with the
grasses , so that they can be very close to their
young ones. In return, the living members
venerate them.
Question 3. Compare the Red Indians’ belief
system with that of the White men.
Ans- The Red Indians might appear primitive
compared to the White colonizers, but they were in
no way inferior to the latter with regard to
spirituality, social cohesion, and regard for
environment. Particularly, with regard to dealing
with the dead, the two races had starkly different
practices and attitudes. The Whites buried their dead
in graves, put a tomb stone with the name of the dead
written on it, and forgot the matter. The Red Indians,
on the contrary, felt their dead elders do not desert
them choosing to stay close to them as benign
guardians. All living Red Indians invoke the memory
of their ancestors with love and reverence. They seek
their blessings at every point of their lives.
With regard to religion, the Whites believe in a single
god in the form of Jesus Christ, who the Red Indians
feel is not caring towards them. The Red Indians see
god in the souls of their dead ancestors who live close
to them to bless and guide them.
In their attitude towards environment, the two races
stood gulfs apart. The Red Indians adored the
mountains, forests, rivers and the meadows as the
bounties of Nature. They were careful not to ravage
them in any way. The Whites had no such concern.