On the Face of It (Notes)

Q1. Who is Mr Lamb? How does Derry get into his garden?
Ans. Mr Lamb is an old man with a tin leg. His real leg was blown off years ago during the war. He lives
all alone in his house. There is a garden near the house. It has ripe crab apples looking orange and golden in
colour.
Mr Lamb is sitting in his garden when Derry climbs over the garden wall to get into his garden. Though the
gate is open, the boy does not use it.
Q2. Do you think all this will change Derry’s attitude towards Mr Lamb?
Ans. Yes, Derry's attitude toward Mr. Lamb changes significantly during their conversation in On the Face
of It. Initially, Derry is cautious and insecure, focusing on his own feelings of inadequacy due to his
deformity. However, when Mr. Lamb shares his philosophy of life, emphasizing the importance of
embracing beauty and accepting yourself, Derry begins to look beyond his limitations. Mr. Lamb's kindness
and acceptance challenge Derry's negative self-image, giving him a sense of hope and possibility for a
change in his approach to life and relationships. This shift highlights the power of compassion and
understanding in changing someone's perspective.
Q3. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr Lamb in spite of himself?
Ans. Derry has an acid burnt face. He hates people staring at him and therefore avoids their company. He
suffers from a kind of inferiority complex. Mr Lamb himself is handicapped in one leg. But he seems to
have no inferiority complex. Instead, he loves meeting people. Mr Lamb’s personality is an example for
him to live life without feeling ashamed of himself. All this draws Derry to Mr Lamb. He seems to be
loving his company.
Q4. In which section of the play does Mr Lamb display signs of loneliness and disappointment? What
are the ways in which Mr Lamb tries to overcome these feelings?
Ans. It is in the middle section of the first scene of the play that Mr Lamb displays signs of loneliness and
disappointment. He says that when it is a bit cooler, he will get the ladder and a stick, and pull down those
crab apples. He makes jelly. Derry could help him. Then he says he is interested in anybody or anything
that God made. It may be a person, flower, fruit, grass, weeds or rubbish. There are plenty of things to look
at. Some of them are his crab apples or the weeds or a spider climbing up a silken ladder or his tall sun-
flowers. He also likes to talk and have a company. He has a hive of bees. He hears them singing. He sits in
the sun and reads books. He likes the light and the darkness. He hears the wind coming through open
windows. There aren’t any curtains at the windows as they either shut things out or shut things in. These
are the ways in which Mr Lamb tries to overcome his loneliness.
Q5. 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 the future?
Ans. Derry had received a lot of positivity from Mr. Lamb, who encouraged him to live his life on this own
terms. He had motivated him so much that he had come out of his inferiority complex. So, he would not get
back to his seclusion. I think due to his brief association with Mr. Lamb, Derry would not get back to his
old seclusion. His attitude towards life will change and he is more likely to lead a normal life. It is evident
when Derry tells his mother that it has nothing to do with his face and what he looks like. He says that he
does not care about that and it is not important. Derry says that it is what he thinks and feels and what he
wants to see and find out and hear. He says that he is going back to Mr. Lamb's garden because if he does
not go back there, he will never go anywhere in the world.
Q6.“Mind the apples!”, says Mr Lamb. Why do you think, does he issue this instruction, to whom
and how many times?
Ans. Mr Lamb issues this instruction to Derry, a boy of fourteen, who climbs over the garden wall and
enters the garden. He asks Derry twice to mind the apples which have been blown down by the wind from
the trees and strewn in the grass. He (Derry) could put his foot on some apple, fall down and hint himself.
Q7. What is the attitude of Mr Lamb to the small boy who comes to his garden ?
Ans. Mr Lamb’s attitude to the small boy is quite gentle, protective and accommodating. Like an elder in
the family offering advice and instructions to the younger members, Mr Lamb advises the young boy to
mind the apples lest he should trip. He also advises the boy not to feel afraid.
Q8. What explanation does the small boy offer for coming into the garden? How does Mr Lamb react
to it?
Ans. The boy thought that this was an empty place. He did not know there was anybody there. Mr Lamb
assures him that it is all right. He asks the boy what he is afraid of. He tells the boy that the house is empty
as he is in the garden and is likely to stay there. Such a beautiful day should not be wasted indoors.
Q9. “T ‘m not afraid. People are afraid of me,” says Derry. What do people think on seeing his face?
How do they react then?
Ans. On looking at Derry’s face they find it bad and frightful. They think that it is the ugliest thing they
have ever seen. They call him a poor boy as one side of his face has been burnt by acid. Some of them are
afraid of his ugly and horrible face.
Q10. How does Mr Lamb change the subject from ugly face to ripe apples?
OR
How does Mr Lamb keep himself busy when it is a bit cooler ?
Ans. There is a momentary pause in the conversation. Then Mr Lamb changes the subject. He says that
when it is a bit cooler, he will get the ladder and a stick. Then he will pull down those ripe crab apples. He
makes jelly. He calls these orange coloured and golden apples magic fruit. September is a good time to
make jelly. He tells the boy that he could help him.
Q11. Why, according to Derry, has the old man changed the subject?
Ans. Derry says that people always change the subject. They don’t ask him about his physical impairment.
They simply pretend that it is not true and isn’t there. They don’t want the boy to mind and get upset. He
thinks that the old man has changed the subject because he is afraid to ask him about his burnt face.
Q12. “You got burned in a fire,” says Mr Lamb. What do you think, had happened to Derry’s face?
Ans. Derry’s face did not get burned in a fire. He got acid all down that side of his face and it burned it all
away. Derry says that this acid not only ate his face up, it also ate him up. One side of his face is ugly and it
won’t ever be any different.
Q13. “We’re not the same”, says Derry. How does Mr Lamb try to convince him that there is no
essential difference between them?
Ans. Derry and Mr Lamb are both of the same species. They represent various stages of growth. Derry is
young, Mr Lamb is old. Both suffer from the same physical impairment. Derry has a burnt face. The old
man has got a tin leg. But this physical disability is not important. What is important is that both are alive.
Derry is standing there whereas Mr Lamb is sitting.
Q14. How, according to Derry, does the tin leg not trouble Mr Lamb? What explanation does the old
man offer?
Ans. Derry thinks that the old man can put on trousers and cover up his tin leg. Then no one sees it. So,
people don’t have to notice and stare at, as they do at his face. Mr Lamb replies that some people do notice
and stare at his disability. Some don’t. In the end, they get tired of it. Moreover, there are plenty of things
to stare at.
Q15.“There’s plenty of other things to stare at.” Which ‘things’ are worth staring at and why?
Ans. According to the old man there are plenty of things to stare at. These include crab apples or the weeds
or a spider climbing up a silken ladder, or his tall sun-flowers. All of them are beautiful and ‘growing’.
Derry is surprised at the mention of ‘things’. Mr Lamb tries to convince him that it is all relative. Then he
mentions ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
Q16. “People are never just nothing. Never.” Why does Mr Lamb say so? Why does he advise Derry
not to hate anyone?
Ans. Mr Lamb says that he has friends every where. Derry says that the people passing us in the street are
not our friends. Mr Lamb tells him that they are not enemies either. When Derry says they are “Just
nothing”, Mr Lamb makes this remark. He tells Derrry that hatred does more harm than any bottle of acid.
Acid only bums the face, but hatred may bum a person away inside.