20th Century Novel Special Brief Suggestion

Heart of Darkness

1. What is Marlow’s attitude towards colonization?

Ans: He criticizes colonialization as robbery with violence.

• Who was the first white man that Marlow met at the Company’s station?

Ans: The first White man that Marlow met at the Company’s station was the Company’s chief accountant.

• What does the chief accountant symbolize?

Ans: He symbolizes the dual identity: (i) proficiency and responsibility, (ii) a ridiculous figure.

• What does the manager of the central station symbolize?

Ans: He stands for the hollowness of European Imperialism and spiritual barrenness.

• Why was the Manager envious of Kurtz?

Ans: The Manager was envious of Kurtz because Kurtz, as a successful trading agent supplied plenty of Ivory.

• Why did Marlow need brickmakers’ help?

Ans: Marlow needs brickmaker’s help to repair the boat.

• What do the knitting women signify to Marlow?

Ans: The old women knitting in Heart of Darkness symbolize fate.

• Why do the natives worship Kurtz?

Ans: The natives offer “unspeakable rites” and sacrifices for Kurtz and worship him.

• Why are the cannibal crews starving?

Ans: Marlow realizes that the cannibals must be terribly hungry, as they have not been allowed to go ashore to trade for supplies, and their only food, a supply of rotting hippo meat, was long since thrown overboard by the pilgrims.

1. How do the natives bid on ‘Kurtz’?

Ans: The native starts shouting and plans to fire at the steamer. But Marlow quickly sounds the whistle which disperses the natives.

1. How do you know of Congo?

Ans: The Congo symbolizes movement and helps the characters and the plot keep going forward.

1. What is Nellie?

Ans: A small ship moored on the Thames River in London.

1. What does the native woman symbolize?

Ans: The native woman represents the whole Black community and the beauty of the wilderness.

1. What is the meaning of “Whited Sepulchre”?

Ans: The phrase “Whited Seulchre” means this place is outwardly pleasant and religious but inwardly it is disgusting and corrupt.

1. Who is Joseph Conrad?

Ans: Joseph Conrad is a Polish-British novelist and short story writer.

1. What is imperialism?

Ans: A policy of extending a country’s power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means.

1. What does the Chief Accounts symbolize?

Ans: In Heart of Darkness, the chief accountant represents imperialism in both his manner and dress.

1. What does “Intended” stand for?

Ans: Kurtz refers to his fiancée as his “Intended,” and Marlow adopts this terminology to talk about the long-suffering woman who has waited years for Kurtz to return to London.

1. What do you mean by the word harlequin?

Ans: A humorous type character in a play.

• Who are the ‘faithless pilgrims?

Ans: They serve for the company’s spies.

• What information about Kurtz did Marlow get from the Russian?

Ans: Marlow learns form the Russian that Kurtz has a deep obsession for Ivory.

• What change did Marlow notice in the face of Kurtz before a few minutes of his death?

Ans: Due to his excess temptation, a terrible changed was noticed in the face of Kurtz before his death.

• What are the last words spoken by Kurtz?

Ans: ‘The Horrors! The Horrors!”

• What does the phrase ‘Eldorado Exploring Expedition’ mean?

Ans: The Eldorado Exploring Expedition is a group of five white men who come downriver to seek treasure, one of whom is the Station Manager’s uncle.

• Why does kurtz utter ‘horror’ at his dying time?

Ans: It indicates his upcoming suffering after death.

• What is Conrad’s original name?

Ans: Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski.

• Where was Kurtz buried?

Ans: In a muddy whole by the river of Congo.

• Who personifies dark in every man?

Ans: Kurtz.

• What does Ivory stand for?

Ans: It stands for the greed of the European colonialists.

• How is Marlow’s ship attacked by the natives?

Ans: Unseen people with little arrows in their hands assaulted the steamboat while they were approximately a mile and a half below the Inner Station. While the attack went on, the pilgrims opened fire into the underbrush, and the helmsman was soon speared to death. Marlow eventually arrived at the Inner Station.

study More: Heart of Darkness Summary

A Passage to India

• What do you know about the relation of the author, this novel and India?

Ans: E.M Forster has made 3 visit to India: first in 1912 and third or last in 1945. He is awarded Famina vie Heureuse and James Tait Black memorial prize in 1925 for this writing.

• What does the Marabar Cave symbolize?

Ans: The Marabar Cave symbolizes the soul of India which is beyond the comprehension of the foreigners. It also indicates the impossibility of mutual friendship between the natives and the British.

• Who is Hamidullah?

Ans: Hamidullah is the Muslim barrister and uncle of Dr. Aziz.

• What is a Bridge Party?

Ans: This party is supposed to “bridge” the gap between the British and the Indians.

• What does the Marabar Caves symbolize?

Ans: The caves symbolize the whole world which is absolutely dark because of the imperialist governing system.

• Why is Aziz arrested?

Ans: Doctor Aziz is arrested on the accusation made by Adela Quested that she has been criminally assaulted by him in the Marabar Caves.

• What does the mosque symbolize?

Ans: The Mosque serves as a symbol of understanding between Dr. Aziz and Mrs. Moore or between East and West.

• What does the “Temple” symbolize?

Ans: The Temple is the symbol of the Hindu religion: it stands for reconciliation, regeneration and hope.

• Who is Ronny Heaslop?

Ans: Ronny Heaslop is the city magistrate of Chandrapore.

• What is “Cousin Kate”?

Ans: “Cousin Kate” is a play which is staged in a British officer’s club at Chandrapore.

• Whom does Aziz meet at the Mosque?

Ans: Aziz meets with Mrs Moore at the Mosque.

• Who are the defence council of Dr. Aziz in his trial?

Ans: Mahmoud Ali and Amrit Rao are the defense councils of Dr. Aziz in his trial.

• What does the “Punkhawallah” symbolize?

Ans: The “Punkhawallah symbolizes impersonal fate, the indifference of India or life itself.

• What is the effect of eco on Mrs. Moore?

Ans: The echo plagues Mrs. Moore until her death, causing her to abandon her beliefs and cease to care about human relationships.

• What is Mrs Moore’s experience in the first cave?

Ans: She had terrifying experience in the caves. The echo came to her, again and again. Her Christian faith seemed to fail here. She perceived that the emptiness of the cave was like the emptiness of the universe.

• What is the name of the last section of “A Passage to India”?

Ans: The Temple Episode is the last section in “A Passage to India”.

• Why does Dr Aziz go to the Mosque?

Ans: To get the peace and happiness denied to him in the Anglo-Indian world.

• Why does Adela Quested withdraw her charge against Aziz?

Ans: She states quietly that she has made a mistake, that Aziz never followed her. The courtroom erupts. Callendar tries to halt the trial on medical grounds, but Adela confirms that she withdraws all the charges.

• Who is Professor Godbole?

Ans: Professor Godbole, “Ancient Night,” represents Hinduism and acts as a foil to Dr. Aziz in the novel.

• Where did Mrs Moore die?

Ans: she dies on a ship back in England.

• How many communities do live in Chandrapore?

Ans: Three communities including the Europeans, the Indians, the Euro-Asians.

• Why did Dr. Aziz build friendship with Mrs. Moore?

Ans: Because Mrs. Moore hates Mrs. Callender who once humiliated Dr. Aziz.

• What is the British attitude towards the Indians?

Ans: The British believe that the are from superior race and the Indians are from inferior.

• Who first arrives at Fielding’s tea party?

Ans: Dr. Aziz.

• Why does Dr. Aziz leave Adele in the cave?

Ans: Adele tells him that why he keeps one wife and a single child instead of four wives that every Muslim can as she learns from Mrs. Turton.

• Where was the bridge party held?

Ans: In the garden of the British officer’s club in Chandrapore.

• Who leads the ceremony of Janmasthami?

Ans: Professor Godbole.

• Who is Adela?

Ans: She is newly arrived woman from England.

• Whom did Fielding marry?

Ans: Mrs. Moore’ daughter, Stella.

• What is Fielding’s profession?

Ans: He works as the principal of the Chandrapore govt. college.

Study More: A Passage to India Summary

To the Lighthouse

1. What is the setting of “To the Lighthouse”?

Ans: The novel centers on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920.

• Who is Mr. Tansley?

Ans: Charles Tansley is a student of Mr. Ramsay’s who was invited to the house for the summer.

• Who is the protagonist in “To the Lighthouse”?

Ans: Two characters can be considered as the protagonists, including Lily Briscoe and Mrs. Ramsay.

• Who is Virginia Woolf?

Ans: Virginia Woolf, born Adeline Virginia Stephen, is considered one of the most important English modernist authors of the 20th-century.

• How does Tansley insult Lily?

 Ans: Tansley insults Lily by remarking that women cannot write or paint.

• What is a stream of consciousness novel?

 Ans: Stream of consciousness writing refers to a narrative technique where the thoughts and emotions of a narrator or character are written out such that a reader can track the fluid mental state of these characters.

• What does Mr. Ramsay want from his children?

 Ans: Mr. Ramsay is very harsh and critical toward his children because he wants the best for them and for them to become self-sufficient.

• How does Mrs Ramsay react when Mr. Ramsay repeatedly says he is a failure?

Ans: Mrs. Ramsay assures Mr. Ramsay of his greatness and says that if he puts implicit faith in him, nothing will hurt him.

• Who is Carrie Manning?

Ans: A friend of William Bankes, Carrie Manning is Mrs. Ramsay’s estranged friend and Herbert Manning’s wife.

1. Who says that the weather will not be enough for the trip?

 Ans: Mr. Ramsay says that the weather will not be enough for the trip.

1. What was Virginia Woolf’s real name?

 Ans: Adeline Virginia Stephen.

1. What is Feminism?

Ans: The advocacy of women’s rights based on the equality of the sexes.

1. What is an interior monologue?

 Ans: A piece of writing expressing a character’s inner thoughts.

1. What is Paul’s favorite subject of study?

 Ans: Painting sketches is the favorite subject of Paul’s study.

1. What nickname do the children give as a tribute to Charles Tansley?

 Ans: The little atheist.

1. What kind of novel is ‘To the Lighthouse’?

Ans: It is an autobiographical fictional novel.

1. What promise does Mr. Ramsay make to James?

Ans: Mr. Ramsay promises James that if tomorrow’s weather is fine, he will take him (j) to the lighthouse but he must get up early.

1. What does Mr. Ramsay want his children to learn?

Ans: He hopes his children will learn that life is a hard struggle, and they must have endurance to face it with knowing the truth.

1. How does Mrs. Ramsay describe Lily’s face?

Ans: Lily has Chinese eyes and a puckered-up face.

• Who is Bankes?

Ans: Mr. Bankes is a widower and botanist.

• Who can according to Mr. Ramsay reach Z?

Ans: Only one in a generation.

• What does Mr. Ramsay think about Shakespeare’s fame?

Ans: He thinks that even Shakespear’s fame will also fade away.

• In What subjects is Mr. Ramsay well-versed?

Ans: Philosophy of Locke, Hume, and Berkeley, and in the authority of French Revolution.

• What is Mrs. Ramsay’s view about marriage?

Ans: She thinks that everywoman should get married.

• Why does Lily paint Mrs. Ramsay’s picture?

Ans: She wants to pay tribute to Mrs. Ramsay by her painting as she adores her.

• What kind of boy is James?

Ans: He is the most gifted and most sensitive among the Ramsay Children.

• What is Mrs. Ramsay’s attitude towards life?

Ans: Life has eternal suffering, death and poverty.

• What are ‘waverly novels?

Ans: Waverly novels is a long series of novels written by Sir Walter Scott.

• Where does Mrs. Ramsay die?

Ans: In London.

• What happens to the marriage of Paul and Minta?

Ans: It ultimately fails.

• How does Lily complete her picture?

Ans: Remembering the portrait of Mrs. Ramsay.

• Why is the light house called a triple decker novel?

Ans: As the novel has three parts, it is called a triple decker novel.

• How many children are there in the Ramsay family?

Ans: Eight children including four sons and four daughters.

Study More: To the Lighthouse Summary

Sons and Lovers

1. What is the profession of Walter Morel?

Ans: Mr. Morel is a coal miner and has worked in the mines from the age of thirteen onwards and for the rest of his adult life.

• What type of girl is Miriam?

Ans: Miriam keeps to traditions and is extremely religious.

• Name the parents of Paul.

 Ans: The parents of Paul are Gertrude Morel and Walter Morel.

• How did Mrs. Morel die?

 Ans: When Mrs. Morel becomes ill, her children start to look forward to her death. However, it doesn’t seem   like she will leave life any time soon. Her children, Paul and Annie, give her an overdose of medicine to end her life.

• What strengthens Mr. Ramsay?

Ans: The sight of his wife and his son James at the window strengthens Mr. Ramsay

• What is Paul’s ambition in life?

Ans: He plans his life and career around pleasing and supporting his mother and prioritizes her over his girlfriends, of whom she is very jealous.

• On what occasion does Gertrude Morel name her third child Paul?

Ans: When Walter Morel kicks William, Mrs. Morel goes outside to the adjoining cricket field with Annie and her newborn child. Suddenly, a wave of love and affection washes over her, and she names her son Paul by name.

• Whom does Paul call “nun”?

Ans: Paul calls Miriam a nun.

• Why is ‘sons and lovers’ called a psychological novel?

Ans: Because it deals with the Freudian theory of the Oedipus complex.

1. What do you mean by ‘hell row’?

Ans: The inhabitants of Eastwood.

1. What is the first reason behind the turmoil of the couple?

Ans: The house they live in belongs to Mr. Morel’s mother?

1. Who is Mr. Heaton?

Ans: He is a young clergyman of Bestwood.

1. Why does Gertrude Morel call Mr. Morel lair?

Ans: Because Gertrude Morel learns about his financial emptiness, but he denies that.

1. What is ‘Arabella?

Ans: Annie’s bid doll.

1. Whom does Walter Morel like most among the children?

Ans: The youngest Arthur.

1. When and why did William die?

Ans: He dies in London due to pneumonia and erysipelas.

1. Why does Paul refuse Miriam’s proposal for marriage?

Ans: Because her excess possessiveness and charm would destroy them both.

1. How does Paul accept the realities of life?

Ans: Having the sense of difficulties and challenges of life, he accepts the realities of life.

1. What is the Oedipus complex?

Ans: The Oedipus complex is a Freudian term that was named after a man that unknowingly killed his father and slept with his mother.

• Why does Clara love Paul?

Ans: Because of his quick and unexpected movements.

Study More: Sons and Lovers Summary

The Grass is Singing

1. What special identity does Moses have?

Ans: He is identified as the “mission Boy” who has been brought up in the “Christian Missionaries”.

• What is Tony’s estimate about South Africa?

Ans: Tony’s estimates South Africa as a country of anger, violence and death.

• Why is The Grass is Singing called the debut novel of Doris Lessing?

Ans: As it was the first novel of his which deals with racial conflicts.

• Why does Mary whip the native worker?

Ans: Mary whips a native worker for silently defying her and speaking in English.

• When was Lessing awarded the Nobel prize?

Ans: In 2007.

• What is the setting of the novel ‘The Grass is Singing’?

Ans: Southern Rhodesia now Zimbabwe.

• What kind of man is Charlie Slatter?

Ans: He is a crude, brutal and ruthless farmer.

• Who is Denham?

Ans: He is a police sergeant.

• Who is Tony Marston?

Ans: He is a newly arrived English man who will be trained under Dick Turner to operate the farmhouse for a month.

1. Who is the father of Mary?

Ans: A railway pump man.

1. What does Mary suggest to Dick in the face of poverty?

Ans: For cultivating tobacco on the farm.

1. How is Mary attracted to Moses?

Ans: Mary is attracted to Moses’ virile body and rippling muscles.

1. What nightmare does Mary suffer from?

Ans: She has horrible nightmare about the powerful and obscene native making love to her.

1. In What position did Tony see Moses and Mary?

Ans: He saw Moses dressing up Mary and being socked.

1. When was the apartheid system finally uprooted?

Ans: In 1994 when Nelson Mandela became the South Africa’s first apartheid president.

1. How many novels in your syllabus deal with the theme of imperialism?

Ans: Three including ‘Heart of Darkness’, ‘A Passage to India’, and ‘The Grass is Singing’.

1. Why did Mary hate her father?

Ans: Because of his drinking habit.

1. How does Mary face her death?

Ans: Moses, her black servant, puts his hand on her mouth and stabs her.

1. What is the news caption of Mary’s murder?

Ans: ‘Murder Mystery’.

• What is the Suffragette Movement?

Ans: The women’s suffrage movement made the question of women’s voting rights into an important political issue in the 19th century.

• How was Rhodesia divided by the British?

Ans: The British divided it into Norther Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia in 1911.

• How does Moses comfort Mary?

Ans: By giving her a glass of water and telling her to sleep during mental breakdown

Study More: The Grass is Singing Summary