A Face in the Dark

A Face in the Dark

Ruskin Bond

ASSIGNMENTS

Context Questions 

Mr. Oliver was an Anglo-Indian teacher, who was teaching in a school, located three miles away form Shimla. He would usually walk down to the Shimla Bazaar and would return after dark by taking a shortcut through the pine forest.

(ii) The all-boys school in Shimla, in which Mr. Oliver was a teacher has been called 'Eton of the East'.

Eton college is one of most reputable and expensive English boarding school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor (UK). Mr. Oliver's school was called 'Eton of the East' because the school had been run on English public school lines and the boys, were mostly from wealthy Indian families.

(iii) Refer to Setting, Page 106.

(iv) While walking back to school one night, he encountered a boy sitting alone on a rock. The boy's head was hung down and his face was held in his own hands. After seeing the boy, Oliver stopped near the boy asked him what he was doing there and why he was crying.

(v) Refer to Critical Appreciation, Page 109.

II (i) Walking through the pine forest on his way back to school, Oliver found the boy sitting on a rock. He noticed that the boy was crying with his head hung down and his face held in his hands.

(ii) A miscreant is a person who has done some mischief. Boys were not supposed to be out after dark. The boy was out in the forest after dark so he was called a miscreant. The boy sitting alone on the rock in the forest.

(iii) Mr. Oliver asked him what he was be doing there and why he was crying. The boy did not respond and continued to sob. Oliver again enquired what was troubling him and asked him to look up.

(iv) The boy's "strange, boundless weeping" hints at the supernatural element of the story. The "strange, soundless weeping" that Oliver heard could be explained on the basis that Oliver was lonely man caught in psychological fears and was imagining frightening and scary things such as "soundless weeping" and "faceless" faces.

(v) When the boy finally looked up at Oliver, it was revealed that the boy had no face. It was without eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a round head with a school cap on it. Mr. Oliver started trembling in fear. His torch fell from his hands. He turned and ran blindly through the trees. He was shouting for help while running towards the school.

III. (i) Oliver's "trembling hand" is referred to here. It was trembling, as Oliver was horrified to see that the boy's face was featureless, without eyes, ears, nose or mouth.

(ii) The "faceless" boy terrified Oliver so much so that he immediately turned and in panic ran blindly through the forest calling for help.

(iii) Oliver told the watchman that he had encountered something horrible that night a "faceless" boy weeping in the forest.

(iv) Oliver ran away from the faceless boy and called for help. He saw a lantern swinging in the middle of the path. What followed next was a thrilling climax as Oliver while running stumbled up to a watchman only to find that he too was faceless, with no features or even eyebrows. The climax is reached when the wind blew out the lamp, leaving the readers to imagine what might have happened to Oliver.

(v) Refer to The Title, Page 104.