Name: Divanshu Mittal

Section: A
Roll Number: 25

(Vision) 5
Question: Comment on the title of the story.
The story ‘Vision’ written by Rabindranath Tagore revolves around
Kumo whose life was going through worst conditions as during the
delivery time she gave birth to a dead child and due to this, her
eyesight became weaker and weaker day by day. Her husband
Abhinash was studying medicine and began to treat her eyes which
ultimately led to a total loss of eyesight of Kumo.
The story represents the vision of society towards women. It throws
light on the condition of women in the Indian patriarchal system and
the partiality in the status of husband and wife in the Indian
marriages. The men are always considered superior to women. Men
are considered to be the sole breadwinner of the family. The Indian
society is mostly male dominated where the decision-making power
mostly rests with men and the views of women are not taken into
consideration. Women are judged only on the basis of their skin
colour and beauty. In the story, Kumo is shown as a silent sufferer
and on the other hand she dedicates her life from being a puppet in the
hands of man-made destiny. Thus, the story highlights how the
women are subject to injustice in the male dominated society.
The story also shows the change in the vision or attitude of Abhinash.
He often told his wife that he will help the poor people when he
completes his study of medicine. He had a noble contempt far those in
his profession who would not feel the pulse of a poor patient before
collecting his fee. But after he became a famous medical practitioner,
he became hard. Once when a poor woman came, and begged him out
of charity, to save the life of her only child, he bluntly refused. And
when Kumo implored him myself to help her, he did his work
perfunctorily. Thus, when he became rich, he forgot all his values and
started running behind money. His vision for his wife also changed
after she lost her eyesight. Initially he took a great care of his wife
Kumo. But after sometime, he said to his wife that he is afraid of her
blindness and expressed his feelings to get remarried.
Thus, the title of the story ‘Vision’ is an appropriate title as the story
discusses the vision of the society towards women and the change in
the vision or attitude of the husband of Kumo after she lost her vision.

(An Honest thief) 15

Question: Where did Astafy find Emelyan?
One night in a public-house, Astafy Ivanovich happened upon
Emelyan Ilyitch. The two knew each other previously, but from the
look of his tattered coat, Emelyan had fallen on hard times. Emelyan
Ilyitch was a drunkard. Due to his drinking habits, he lost his work.
He was as thin as a thread-paper. He wanted a drink at pub but could
not afford it since he was poor. Moved by the pathetic position of
Emelyan, Astafy bought him a drink. From then on, both became
good friends. Emelyan followed Astafy everywhere like a dog,
eventually even moved into his apartment. Though Emelyan was a
drunkard but he was quiet and not disruptive when he was drunk.
Since Emelyan was good at heart, Astafy let Emelyan stay in his
apartment. Astafy supported Emelyan with food and lodging and
treated him like his son. Thus, a good relationship established
between both of them after their very first meeting.

(B24) 12
Question: Why was the lady the poorest woman in the parish?
Lady Mannering was a beautiful woman who married Lord
Mannering for his money. Lady Mannering came from London where
she used to work as actress. She was half the age of Lord Mannering.
She was in love with some another person but the riches of the old
Lord tempted her to be false to her love. They just pretend their
married life in front of everyone due to the society but inside they
don’t like each other. Lord Mannering is a mean and aggravative
person. The lady was lonely as her married life was not too good and
no one visits her house because her husband doesn’t like visitors.
Thus, she became a white and silent creature. On one hand, she didn’t
get the love of her life and on the other hand, she didn’t get any
money from her husband. Her life was devasted. She married Lord for
his money to enjoy her life but then she got nothing out of it. So, she
was the poorest woman in the parish.
Transcriptions