17/06/2023, 07:05 NIGHT OF THE SCORPION - BASIC ENGLISH NOTES - SEMESTER I - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - EDUCSECTOR

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 Professor J M Jahagirdar  DEGREE NOTES

1st PUC 2nd
Microsoft
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CLASS 07 C

CLASS 10 D

ESSAY WRITING

LETTER WRITING

PPT

NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

Answer the following questions.
1) How was the mother bitten by the scorpion?
Ans: The poet remembers the night his mother was stung by a scorpion,
which bit the mother because of its predatory impulse, while hiding
beneath a bag of rice to escape from the rain.

2) How did the villagers come to the aid of the woman?

Ans: They uttered the name of the God to paralyze the Evil One that had
entered the mother's body.

3) How did the peasants view the stinging in a positive manner?

Ans: The peasants of the village believe in Karma theory. They believe
that the sins committed in the previous birth will be purified if only the
concerned person suffers in this birth. They say that the mother’s
suffering by the scorpion burns away her sins in the previous birth.

Discover related topics

Nissim Ezekiel Writing Style

Nissim Ezekiel as a Modern Poet

Bichhoo Ke Bare Mein

बिच्छू

The Peasants Came Like Swarms of Flies

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4) What type of man was the father? How did he treat his wife?
Ans: The father was a sceptic. He was a rationalist. So he did not
compromise with the beliefs of the villagers. He applied different kinds of
medicinal herbs and a certain curative powder. He also melted paraffin
and poured it on the bitten toe and set fire to it. The father tested every
scientific way to find the recovery. After twenty hours, the mother was
saved. Again the writer keeps a neutral position. He doesn’t say whether
the father’s treatment cured the mother or the belief and rites of the
villagers.

5) How did the mother respond after the recovery?

Ans: The mother found recovery after 20 hours of treatment. We don’t
know whether the father’s treatment cured the mother or the belief and
rites of the villagers. But the poet implies that it is the mother’s love for
her children that saved her. She thanks God because the scorpion has
bitten her, not her children.

6) What is the theme of the poem?

Ans: The key theme of "Night of the Scorpion" is community, as
demonstrated through the selfless dedication of the hordes of villagers
who spend their time praying over the woman who has been stung by
a scorpion.

7) Under what circumstances did the scorpion sting the poet’s

mother?
Ans: Ten hours' of steady rain had filled the scorpion's hiding place with
water; saving its life it hid under the sack of rice in the
kitchen. When the poet's mother went to the kitchen, it accidentally stung
her.
8) How did the scorpion “part with its poison?”
Ans: The scorpion parted with its poison by stinging the toe of the poet's
mother, thus injecting its poison into her veins.

9) Why are the peasants compared to a swarm of flies?

Ans: The comparison is the poet’s expression of discontent with the
peasants. He hated them because they made the night a hell for him, his
father and most importantly, for his mother.

10) Who is the Evil One here? Why is it evil?

Ans: The Evil One is the scorpion that stung the poet's mother. It is
considered Evil because the people associated the sting of scorpions with
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that of the evil power.

11) Why do the peasants’ prayers sound like buzzing in the poet’s
ears?
Ans: Though the peasants meant good and swarmed around the poet’s
house to help the family and the victim of the sting, their actions and
intentions brought endless pain to the poet’s mother.

Explain the following statements with reference to their context.

1) “I remember the night my mother…. He risked the rain again”
Ans: "He" refers to the scorpion. He came inside the house to seek
protection and shelter from the rain. He hid himself beneath a sack of
rice. The sting of the scorpion's tail caused much pain to the poet's
mother. He is therefore calling its tail diabolic or devilish. The poem starts
with the reminiscence of a terrible event in the childhood of the poet
when his mother was stung by a scorpion. This incident in retrospect
brings forth the poet’s gall of criticism against the irrationality of the
average uneducated person. The poet brings out the unavoidable
circumstance in which the insect had come into contact with the mother.
The rains had flooded the nests of the insect and thus to save itself it hid
under a sack of rice. When the mother had gone there to fetch rice the
insect afraid of its life had stung the mother in self-defense. The sting was
quick and the insect ran away but the news brought more nuisances in
the form of the peasants.

2) “They clicked their tongues…. Be burned away tonight.”

Ans: "They" in the above passage refers to the villagers. They attributed
the mother's sufferings to her sins in some previous birth. They said that
her present suffering would burn away her sins of her previous birth.
They thought that the poison in the mother's blood moved swiftly as the
scorpion moved. They, therefore wanted the scorpion to sit still. These
peasants who were uneducated village folk could do nothing but to make
a tiny incident snowball into a big issue where these people found fertile
ground to propound their stupid superstitions. Some people said that the
more the scorpion moves the quicker the poison will spread in the body
of the victim. In fact, the villagers actually take their candles and lanterns
to search for the Scorpion. From this absolutely foolish assumption, the
people soon moved onto philosophy where in the metaphysical scale of
universe acts of redemption balances sins.

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3) “May the poison purify your flesh….. the peace of understanding

on each face”
Ans: The scorpion had stung the mother on her toe and thus the poison
entered the mother's body. The villagers hoped that the poison would
purify the mother's body of desire and her spirit of ambition. These
peasants who were uneducated village folk could do nothing but to make
a tiny incident snowball into a big issue where these people found fertile
ground to propound their stupid superstitions. Some people said that the
more the scorpion moves the quicker the poison will spread in the body
of the victim. In fact, the villagers actually take their candles and lanterns
to search for the Scorpion. From this absolutely foolish assumption, the
people soon moved onto philosophy where in the metaphysical scale of
universe acts of redemption balances sins. Although the villagers were
sad to see the mother suffering, the understanding that it was doing
some good to both her body and her spirit - brought peace on their faces.

4) “My father, sceptic, rationalist… upon the bitten toe and put a
math to it”
Ans: Although the poet's father was a sceptic and rationalist, he was too
grieved with the mother's situation to think practically. So, he tried
whatever anyone around suggested to him which would help to relieve
the mother's pain and suffering. It shows that during a crisis, human
beings will do anything suggested to them, by others, to help them
overcome the crisis. The people wax more philosophy by saying that the
sufferings of this birth would mitigate the sufferings of the next.
According to them, pain is directly proportional to the sins of the past life
and inversely proportional to coming life. While the mother was in mortal
pain some people pretended to understand her pain and do nothing. But
the father was very much a rational man who instead of taking the
mother to a doctor actually tries various herbs and medicines to get rid of
the poison. In fact, he burns the toe of the mother. Yet all the all patient
earth she forebears and to our amazement thanks the heavens since it
was her that was stung and not her children. The father put a little
paraffin upon the bitten toe and put a match to it (lit it) because it was
thought that it would burn the poison of the wound.

5) “I watched the flame feeding on my mother… it lost its sting”

Ans: "I" here is the poet who is the narrator. "The flame" probably reminds
the poet of the funeral or burning or cremation of a dead body according
to funeral rites. In it, the dead body is consigned to flames. So the burning
of the mother's toe, probably reminds the poet of that. After twenty hours
of suffering in pain, the poison finally subsided, and the mother got relief.
While the mother was in mortal pain some people pretended to
understand her pain and do nothing. But the father was very much a
rational man who instead of taking the mother to a doctor actually tries
various herbs and medicines to get rid of the poison. In fact, he burns the
toe of the mother. Yet all the all patient earth she forebears and to our
amazement thanks the heavens since it was her that was stung and not
her children.

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Answer the following questions.

1) Show the different qualities in the poet’s father and mother that
are brought out in the poem.
Ans: The father is logical and scientific in his thinking and does not believe
in superstitions and blind beliefs. Yet when his wife is bitten by the
scorpion he is anything but logical. He tries out every curse and blessing,
every possible antidote. He summons the holy man to perform his rites
and even pours paraffin on the bitten to and ignites it. The mother suffers
the bite of the scorpion. She groans and moans on the mat twisting and
turning in pain. As soon as the poison loses its effect she thanks god for
sparing her children. She epitomizes motherhood and like a typical Indian
mother is selfless in her love for her children.

2) Examine the theme of the poem “Night of the Scorpion”.

Ans: The theme of the poem is presented through an incident in which the
poet's mother is bitten by a scorpion on rainy night. The villagers on
hearing of this unfortunate event come to see her, praying to god and
giving all kinds of justifications for her suffering. With their prayers and
words they try to console the victim. The victim’s husband who is
otherwise a sceptic and a rationalist also gives in to every curse and
blessing. The poem shows how when a critical situation arises, human
beings are always willing to help one another. Common villagers show
their simplicity and sympathy; though they are not of much help, and give
in to superstitions and false beliefs, they try to help out. The father,
though a sceptic and rationalist in normal circumstances, yet in this
moment of crisis, he gives in to the villagers' advice. The mother bears the
pain and suffering for twenty hours, writhing in pain and when she
recovers, she is thankful that she was bitten and not her children, bringing
out the maternal love of a mother for her children.

3) How did the peasants view the stinging in a positive manger?

Ans: The peasants believed that the suffering would cleanse some of her
sins of the poet birth or of the next birth. With her suffering the balance
of evil in this world would be reduced. It would cleanse her soul and kill
the spirit of desire which is the root cause of suffering in the world. The
hunt that the peasants embark on in an effort to find the scorpion. They
search with both candles and lanterns, which throw shadows on the wall
in the shape of a scorpion. This image of the scorpion still being in the
room (only in the form of shadow) helps set the scene for the next lines as
the peasants struggle to help the mother. The shadow is representative of
their primitive fears, that something Evil is lurking just where they cannot
see it. The search for the scorpion has failed, they do not know, as the
reader does, that the scorpion fled the house at the beginning of the
poem. This puts the reader in a position above those in the poem; he/she
has a greater knowledge of the situation than those experiencing it.

4) How does the poet express his unsympathetic feelings towards

illiterates and their superstitions?
Ans: Here Nissim Ezekiel in his poem night of the Scorpion, depicts a are
very tender situation of every Indian family. But though dealing with a
very sensitive theme - the theme of the speaker's mother, stung by a
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Scorpion, is given multiple treatment, bringing in its sweep the world of

magic and superstition, science and rationality and above all material
affection. He deliberately withholds his own emotional colouring and this
he does only to make us aware, while reading the poem, of a traditional
world of superstitions as against another of scepticism and rationalism.

5) Critically appreciate the poem “Night of the Scorpion”.

Ans: The poem "Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel depicts the
selflessness and unconditional love of a mother who is stung by a
scorpion. It also explains the care and affection of the villagers and their
efforts to comfort the pain of the mother. In the poem poet tells about
the love of a mother for her children. He depicts the love in a very
aesthetic way. The poet tells that once a mother was bite by a scorpion
due to which was in the pain but she was still very happy that her child
was not bite by the scorpion. After hearing the news about it the people
gathered and search for the scorpion but did not find it. In the end poet
tells about the views of the about mother's suffering of people. Everyone
had the own opinion. The poet shows that the love of a mother is
countless no matter what happens and a mother never think twice if she
has to face situation like this. This poem shows the value of the love in the
world.

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11 comments

Unknown said...
Helpful in understandable manner...
June 15, 2021 at 6:16 PM

mukundan said...
thank you
August 24, 2021 at 9:13 PM

Anonymous said...
thanks for the help
September 16, 2021 at 5:08 PM

Anonymous said...
Tysm
February 19, 2022 at 2:11 PM

Anonymous said...
Tysm
February 19, 2022 at 2:11 PM

Anonymous said...
Thanks a ton. It helped me for my exams :)
June 13, 2022 at 8:53 PM

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