He recalled many instances in his life when he could have lost his childhood. He wondered if it was the day he ceased to be eleven or he realized that Hell and Heaven didn’t exist in this world and no one could find them in the geography.
Next, he talks about the possibility when he realized that adults are not what they seemed to be and they are hypocrites. They talk and preach of love but their actions don’t say so.
Was it the day when he realized that his mind was his own and capable of producing his own thoughts? No one could own that and he is an individual with his particular personality.
In the last stanza, he talks about the whereabouts of his childhood. He concludes that it had gone to some forgotten place and it can only be found in the innocent face of an infant.
Question 1:
Comment on the attitude shown by Taplow towards Crocker-Harris.
Answer:
Taplow is respectful towards Mr. Crocker-Harris and likes him for his principles. He criticises him for being a feelingless person yet regards him an extraordinary master. He is mortally afraid of him and dare not cut the extra work even on the last day of the term.
Question 2:
Does Frank seem to encourage Taplow’s comments on Crocker-Harris?
Answer:
Yes, Frank seems to encourage Taplow’s comments on Crocker-Harris. He shows appreciation for Taplow’s imitation of Mr Crocker-Harris and asks him to repeat it. On smother occasion, Frank tells Taplow not to keep a good joke (narrated in the style of Mr Crocker Harris) to himself but to tell it to others.
Question 3:
What do you gather about Crocker-Harris from the play?
Answer:
Mr Crocker-Harris appears as a stem master who is a man of principles and stickler to the rules. He believes in fair assessment of his students and is not swayed by emotions, as the man is hardly human. He is not a sadist, but strict in performance of his duties. Even on his last day at school, when he is over-busy in his own affairs, he does not neglect his duty towards his students.
This play is a story of two school masters and a student named Taplow. Taplow, a boy of 16, comes in to do extra work for Mr. Crocker Harris. Mr. Harris is not there but the other teacher Mr. Frank arrives.
Frank asks Taplow many questions about him. He learns that Taplow is in the lower fifth and is waiting for his ‘remove’ to be announced the next day. Results have been prepared and fate of students has already been decided. Infact most students know whether they have been promoted to the next class or not. He finds that in case Taplow’s ‘remove’ is favourable, he intends to opt for science in the next class. He sees that the boy is a little bitter for having to come for extra work on the last day of school. He likes Taplow’s imitation of Mr. Crocker Harris but does not like to show his feelings to Taplow. On the other hand, he rebukes Taplow and asks him to read his Greek play.
Then, he suggests that Taplow could go back because Mr. Crocker Harris was already late. Seeing that Taplow is shocked at the suggestion, he admits that he feels envious of Mr. Harris for keeping his students scared. He asks Taplow if Mr. Harris beats his students.
Harris Taplow denies and says that Mr. Harris is not a sadist still. Taplow admits that he is more frightening than those teachers who beat. And yet, there is something that Taplow likes about Mr. Harris. He considers Mr. Harris very special as he seems to have no feelings. Unlike other teachers he is not pleased when he is praised or liked. Despite this Taplow loves Crocker.
While they were talking, Millie Crocker Harris comes in. It is a few seconds before the other two noticed her presence. Taplow feels uneasy as he thinks that Millie has perhaps heard him talking ill of her husband. She gives Taplow a medical prescription and asks him to get it made up from the chemist. At first, he is reluctant to go fearing that Mr. Harris might get angry in case he comes in Taplow’s absence. When Millie says that she will take the blame, he goes and the play comes to an end.Question 1:
Comment on the attitude shown by Taplow towards Crocker-Harris.
Answer:
Taplow is respectful towards Mr. Crocker-Harris and likes him for his principles. He criticises him for being a feelingless person yet regards him an extraordinary master. He is mortally afraid of him and dare not cut the extra work even on the last day of the term.
Question 2:
Does Frank seem to encourage Taplow’s comments on Crocker-Harris?
Answer:
Yes, Frank seems to encourage Taplow’s comments on Crocker-Harris. He shows appreciation for Taplow’s imitation of Mr Crocker-Harris and asks him to repeat it. On smother occasion, Frank tells Taplow not to keep a good joke (narrated in the style of Mr Crocker Harris) to himself but to tell it to others.
Question 3:
What do you gather about Crocker-Harris from the play?
Answer:
Mr Crocker-Harris appears as a stem master who is a man of principles and stickler to the rules. He believes in fair assessment of his students and is not swayed by emotions, as the man is hardly human. He is not a sadist, but strict in performance of his duties. Even on his last day at school, when he is over-busy in his own affairs, he does not neglect his duty towards his students.
The child goes to school at 10 in the morning. On his way to school, he first meets the bangle-seller. The child wishes that he was the hawker because he is free to go down any road he likes. He does not have to return home at an appointed hour.
When the child returns from school at 4 O’ clock, he sees the gardener digging the soil with a spade. The gardener is not worried that his clothes are getting dirty or that it is too hot or that he will get wet if it is raining. The child then wishes that he was a gardener.
At night when the child is sent to bed by his mother, he sees the watchman pacing up and down the lane with his lantern. The child envies the watchman because no one tells him to go to bed. So the child wishes that he was a watchman.
Question 1:
You partner and you may now be able to answer these questions.
(i) Who is the speaker in the poem? Who are the people the speaker meets? What are they doing?
(ii) What wishes does the child in the poem make? Why does the child want to be a hawker, a gardener, or a watchman? Pick out the lines in each stanza, which tell us this.
ANSWERS
(i) The speaker is a little child who goes to school. On his way to the school, he met a hawker, who cried “Bangles, crystal bangles!” When he returned from school, he watched a gardener, who was digging the ground. When it got dark and his mother sent him to bed, through his window he saw the watchman walking up and down
(ii) The child in the poem wants to be a hawker, a gardener, and a watchman. When he looks at the hawker, he wishes he could also spend his day on the road crying “Bangles, crystal bangles!” He feels that there is nothing to hurry the hawker on. There is no road he must take, no place he must go to, and no fixed time when he must come home. These are the things that he cannot do himself and therefore, he wants to be a hawker so that he could do all these things. Next, he wishes he was a gardener because a gardener does what he likes with his spade. He soils his clothes with dust. Nobody scolds him if he gets baked in the sun or gets wet. Therefore, if the little child was a gardener, nobody would stop him from digging. Finally, he sees the watchman and wants to be like the watchman so that he could walk through dark and lonely streets all night with his lantern and chase shadows. When he is put to bed and is not allowed to roam outside, he sees the watchman swinging his lantern with his shadow at his side and he feels that the watchman never even once has to go to bed in his entire life. Therefore, he wants to be a hawker, a gardener, and a watchman so that he could do all the things they did as he could not do them being a child.
