Summary of On the Face of It

This is a play. Moreover, it is about the friendship between a young boy, Derry and an old man, Mr. Lamb. Because of his
facial scar, he is very upset and feels that people do not want to associate with him. So, to hide from people he gets into
the old man’s garden but panics when he meets him. Mr. Lamb put him at ease and advise him to accept life as it comes.
Further, he has a more cheerful and optimistic approach to life. Also, he conveys Derry to live life to the fullest and avoid
bitterness. He further advises him to accept life as it is. However, Derry was moved by Mr. Lamb’s attitude and spirit.
Besides, when Derry tries to come out of his shell, he meets a great loss of the only person who makes friends with him.

Mr. Lamb: Mr. Lamb is an old man who lives alone in a big house with a big lawn. He is handicapped, having lost his leg in
a bomb explosion during the war. He is very optimistic. His openness is reflected through the open doors and windows of
his house. He makes toffees, jam and jelly to attract people. He grows crab apples. He is never perturbed at being called
‘Lamey Lamb’.

Mr. Lamb accepted his handicap in a very mature manner. He is a great motivator and encourages Derry to look at
everything in a positive way. He is a patient listener and holds a positive attitude to life. He fills Derry with confidence. He
has great love for life and believes that we should not fritter away our lives aimlessly. Mr. Lamb is instrumental in
changing the attitude of Derry to his handicap and, finally, accepting it as part of life.
Derry’s mother is given little characterization in the play, but she seems simultaneously overprotective and not
understanding of her son. She contributes to his isolation by keeping him home because of his facial injury, and treats him
with a sense of pity that robs him of dignity and agency—essentially treating him like a perpetually helpless victim. In the
play, Derry’s mother forbids him from returning to Mr. Lamb’s house, but Derry leaves anyway, finally asserting himself in
a positive way.

Derry (whose full name is Derek) is a boy of fourteen with a badly burned face. Of the accident that left him scarred,
all he says is “I got acid all down that side of my face and it burned it all away. It ate my face up.” Because of this,
people treat him differently—he complains that others fear and pity him, and usually actively avoid him. This has led
Derry to isolate himself and create a tough, reserved exterior. He wants to avoid being hurt, and so he avoids
everyone he can, and when he does interact with other people he is both wary and angrily defiant. He also has
internalized the way others see him and seems to consider himself monstrous because of his disability. He assumes
that the world is a harsh and alienating place, and acts accordingly—for example, climbing over Mr. Lamb’s garden
wall instead of checking the gate, which is always left open. At first Derry assumes that Mr. Lamb will treat him like
other people do, but he is soon intrigued by the old man’s “peculiar” questions and open nature, suggesting that
Derry does in fact long for human connection even as he fears the potential pain of being rejected. This is confirmed
when Derry runs away from his mother—who, it’s suggested, treats him with a dehumanizing kind of pity—to go back
to Mr. Lamb’s garden, where he just wants to sit and talk with the old man.
MULTIPLE CHOICE TYPE QUESTIONS

VISTAS-ON THE FACE OF IT

SL QUESTIONS
NO

1 How old was Derry?

a. Ten year old

b. Sixteen year old
c. Fourteen year old
d. Thirteen year old

2 What did the children name Mr Lamb?

a. Limpy- Lamb
b. Crippled-Lamb
c. Lamey-Lamb
d. Lamer-Lamb

3 According to Lamb, which month of the year was the most appropriate for making jellies?
 a. October
b. September
c. November
d. December

4 How far was Derry’s home from Mr Lamb’s garden?

a. Two miles
b. Four miles
c. Three miles
d. Five miles

5 Who would never let Derry come back to Mr.Lamb?

a. His mother
b. His father
c. His uncle
d. His brother

6 Why does Mr. Lamb leave the garden gates always open?

a. He was afraid
b. He was dejected
c. He was lonely
 d. He was sad

7 What makes the women at the bus stop comment, ‘that’s a face only a mother could love.’

a. The face was ugly

b. The woman was angry
c. The woman was horrified with the burnt face
d. She disliked the boy

8 Why did Mr Lamb grow weeds?

a. It bore fruits
b. He saw beauty in weeds
c. Made the garden beautiful
d. They were useful

9 Why did Derry enter Mr Lamb’s garden?

a. He wanted to steal apples

b. He wanted to be alone
c. He saw the gate open
d. He wanted to see bees

10 Why was Derry persistent about going back to Mr lamb’s garden?

a. He wanted to listen, sit , watch

 b. He wanted to eat crab apples
c. He wanted to play with the children
d. He wanted to read books

11 Why did Mr lamb ask Derry to stay back in his garden?

a. He wanted his company

b. He wanted him to help pluck crab apples
c. He wanted him to hear the bees
d. He wanted him to make honey toffees

12 How did Mr Lamb’s friendship prove to be a turning point for Derry?

a. He forgot about his burnt face

b. He gained confidence
c. He began liking gardens
d. He made many friends

13 If you were Derry , what would have hurt you the most?

a. Uncharitable remarks by people

b. Mother kissing on the good side of face
c. Not being able to make friends
d. Mother being sad for you

14 How would you show your understanding towards physically challenged people?
 a. Urge them to ask for help
b. Make them understand that they are different
c. Ask them to remain in confinement
d. Make them understand that being handicap is not an obstacle

15 If you were Derry ,what would you have done after Mr Lamb’s death?

a. Continued to run from the world

b. Helped other disabled children gain confidence
c. Helped to maintain gardens
d. Continued to jump the wall

FILL UPS/SENTENCE COMPLETION TYPE QUESTIONS

VISTAS-ON THE FACE OF IT

SL QUESTIONS
NO

1 Derry suffered from ……………………… complex.

2 Derry was a ………………….. year old boy

3 Mr Lamb’s leg was blown off in the ………………

4 Mr Lamb was not fond of ………………….in his house.

5 Mr Lamb feels the young lads come to steal ……. From his garden.

6 Derry entered the garden thinking it to be ………………………

7 Children called Mr lamb ‘Lamey-lamb’ as he had……….

8 The play’ On the Face of It’ is about the friendship between . …….. and …………………………

9 Mr Lamb made ……………….. with honey for the children

10 Despite being disabled Mr Lamb had a ………………approach towards life.

11 Mr lamb tells Derry a story of a man who stayed inside his house fearing death by ………….

12 Despite the tin leg, Mr lamb climbed the …………………. to pluck apples.

13 Mr Lamb understood that Derry was not lost completely when Derry told him he heard the
sound of ……………….

14 Mr lamb warned Derry that ………….. could make a person in and out while acid can burn the
 part of a body alone.

15 The play ‘On the Face of It’ teaches people with ………… to face the world with positivity.

REFERENCE TO CONTEXT TYPE QUESTIONS

VISTAS-ON THE FACE OF IT

SL QUESTIONS
NO

1 I might never come here again, you might never

see me again and then I couldn’t still be a friend.

a. Name the lesson

b. Who is the speaker?
c. Why do you think the speaker might never come here again?
d. Who does the speaker want to befriend?

2. When I go down the street, the kids shout

‘Lamey-Lamb.’ But they still come into the garden,

 into my house; it’s a game. They’re not afraid of

me. Why should they be? Because I’m not afraid

of them, that’s why not.

a. Who is the speaker of the above line?

b. With whom is the speaker interacting?
c. Why do the kids call the speaker ‘Lamey-lamb’?
d. Give a word to describe the speaker’s attitude towards life?

3 They talk about me. Downstairs, When I’m not

there. ‘What’ll he ever do? What’s going to happen

to him when we’ve gone? However will he get on

in this world? Looking like that? With that on

his face?’ That’s what they say.

a. Who are being referred to as ‘they’ in the above extract?

b. Who is the speaker?
c. What does ‘with that on his face’ refer to?
d. Name the lesson.
4 Lord, boy, you’ve got two arms, two legs and eyes

and ears, you’ve got a tongue and a brain. You’ll

get on the way you want, like all the rest. And if

you chose, and set mind to it, you could get

on better than all the rest.

a. Who is the boy here?

b. Where is the conversation taking place?
c. What problem is the boy suffering from?
d. What does the speaker want to convey to the

Boy?

5 What are you afraid of? What do you think he is?

An old man with a tin leg and he lives in a huge

house without curtains and has a garden. And I

want to be there, and sit and....listen to things.

Listen and look

 a. Who is referred to as ‘you’ in the above lines?
b. Who is the old man with a tin leg?
c. Why does the speaker want to go back to the place?
d. What is the listener afraid of?

6 Mind the

apples. Crab apples those are.

Windfalls in the long grass.

You could trip.

a. Who is the speaker of the above lines ?

b. Who is referred to as’ you’?
c. What do you mean by windfalls?
d. Why is the speaker warning the listener?

7 but I’m not....I’m not afraid. [Pause] People are

afraid of me

a. Name the lesson.

b. Who is the speaker?
c. What makes the speaker say so?
 d. Why does the speaker feel that people are afraid of him?

8 It won’t make my face change. Do you know, one

day, a woman went by me in the street — I was
at a bus-stop — and she was with another
woman, and she looked at me, and she said....
whispered....only I heard her.... she said, “Look
at that, that’s a terrible thing. That’s a face only
a mother could love.
a. Who is the speaker?
b. What happened to the speaker’s face?
c. What was the impact of the woman’s remark on the speaker?
d. Name the lesson.

9 I like to talk. Have company. You don’t have to

answer questions. You don’t have to stop here at

all. The gate’s open.

a. Who is the speaker?

b. Why the gates are always open?
c. Who is referred to as ‘you’?
 d. What is the speaker’s perspective towards life?

10 It’s all relative beauty and the beast.

a. Who is the speaker and the listener?

b. Why does the speaker refer to the beauty and the beast?
c. How does the listener interpret the story?
d. What does the listener feel about himself?