ON THE FACE OF IT

SUSAN HILL
1. Why is Derry surprised when he climbs over the garden wall into the garden
and suddenly finds an old man talking to him? Why does he feel indignant?
2. Who is Mr. Lamb? What sort of house he lives in?
3. Who is Derry? Why does he come to Lamb’s garden?
4. What do people say about Derry and how does he react to it?
5. How does Lamb convince Derry? How does it affect him?
6. What does Derry’s mother feel about Lamb? What does she say Derry to do
and what does Derry do?
7. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr. Lamb in spite of himself?
8. What is the bond that unites Mr. Lamb and Derry?
9. Why was Derry startled as he entered the garden?
10. How had Derry burnt his face? What did he mean by the acid’ ate my face up.
It ate me up”?
11. What did Mr. Lamb mean by “all life is the same”?
12. How had Mr. Lamb lost his leg? What did he mean by ‘Tin doesn’t hurt?
13. How according to Derry, was Mr. Lamb’s disability different form his?
14. Why did Mr. Lamb ask Derry to keep his ears shut?
15. Why did Derry avoid people?
16. Mr. Lamb did not have curtains and he kept the doors and windows of his
house open. What did that signify?
17. Why did Derry feel it would be better to be with people of your own kind?
What were Mr. Lamb’s views on that?
18. Derry said, “I would like a house with no curtain” What did this signify?
19. Why did Derry feel Mr. Lamb was saying the strangest things?
20. What do you think made Derry stay on in the garden?
21. What is the disability that the old man suffers form? How does he cope with it
in his daily life?
22. How are Derry and Mr. Lamb different in their attitudes to their respective
disabilities?
23. How did Dery’s face get scarred? How did this scar on his face scar his life?
24. Mention instance form, the play to show that most people are insensitive in
their behaviour towards those who have a physical disability?
25. Why does Derry feel drawn towards Mr. Lamb?
26. What qualities of the old man does Derry seem to have an admiration for,
despite himself?
27. Why does Mr. Lamb leave his gate always open? Why does he live in a house
without any curtains?
28. What advice does the old man give Derry that makes him start to thaw a little?
29. Why does Derry decide to come back to Mr. Lamb’s house?

Your passion will define your limits…..strive for more.

30. How does the old man get across the idea that one cannot go through life
being scared?
31. What do you think would have been his mother’s objection to his going back
to Mr. Lamb’s house?
32. How does the old man try to make a friend of Derry?
33. How does Mr. Lamb attempt to change Derry’s attitude?
34. What is Derry’s belief about of what people think of him?
35. What help did Mr. Lamb seek form Derry?
36. “I’m interested in anybody, any thing” How do these words reflect Mr.
Lamb’s attitude?
37. Why did Mr. Lamb tell Derry the story of the man who locked himself up in
his room?
38. Why didn’t Mr. Lamb have any curtains?
39. Why did Derry’s mother warn him about Mr. Lamb?
40. In what respect had Derry changed?
41. What similarities were three in the lives of Mr. Lamb and Derry?
42. What drew Derry towards Mr. Lamb? (Long)
43. +In which section of the play does Mr. Lamb display signs of loneliness and
disappointment? How does he try to overcome these feelings?
44. The actual pain or inconvenience caused by physical impairment is often
much less than the sense of alienation felt by person with disabilities. What is
the kind of behaviour that such a person expects from others? (Long)
45. Will Derry get back to his old seclusion or will Mr. Lamb’s brief association
effect a change in the kind of life he will lead in future? (Long)
46. Do you think that old Mr. Lamb’s advice to Derry stemmed from the
goodness of his heart or from the motive to befriend him out of a sense of his
own loneliness? (Long)
47. “You look at me….. and then you see my face, and then you think, that is bad
“ says Derry to the old man. What makes him say this? Elucidate? (Long)
48. “It ate my face up. It ate me up” says Derry to Lamb. What is this reference to
and how does the play bear out the latter part of the statement? (Long)
49. Despite all that the old man says, he is a yet a lonely old man. How is this
brought out in the course of the play? How does Mr. Lamb overcome this?
50. Despite their disabilities, both Mr. Lamb and Derry look at life differently.
Elucidate with examples form the play? (Long)
51. Though the play ends tragically yet it leaves one with a ray of hope. Elaborate.
52. What impression do you get of Mr. Lamb from the story? (Long)
53. The author uses Derry as a mouthpiece of the voice of the impaired kids.
Write in your own words how should those kids be treated by the society?
(Long)
54. What was the story about the man who locked himself in a room? Why did
Mr. Lamb narrate the story to him? (Long)
55. Derry was a young boy with a burnt face and a scarred soul. Discuss. (Long)

Lali Mathew M.A. M.Ed 9810312549 27492907