It ~as an old building with an old elevator-a very small elevator, which could ·carry only three people.

Martin, a
thin twelve-year-old, felt nervous in it from the first day he and his father moved into the apartment. Of course
he was al~ays uncomfortable in elevators, afraid that they would fall, but this one was especially un_pleasant.
Perhaps this was because of the poor lighting and the dirty walls. Perhaps it was because of the door, which never
stayed open long enough, and slammed shut with a loud clanging noise. Perhaps it was the way the elevator
shuddered each time it left a floor, as if it was exhausted. Maybe it was simply too small. It seemed crowded even
with only two people in it.

The stairs were no better. Martin tried them one day after school. There were no windows, and the lights were
not working. Martin's footsteps echoed behind him on the cement, as though there was another person climbing,
getting clos_er. By the time he reached his home on the seventeenth floor, he was gasping for breath.
Martin's father worked at home. He wanted to know why Martin was out of breath. "Why didn't you take the
elevator?" he asked, frowning at Martin. You're not only skinny and weak and bad at sports, his face seemed to
say, but you are also a coward. After that, Martin always took the elevator. He would have to get used to it, he told
himself, just like he got used to being bullied at school.
But he didn't get used to it. He was always afraid that it would stop suddenly and he would be trapped inside
it for hours by himself. But it wasn't much better when there were other passengers. He didn't like to be close to
them. He also disliked the way people tried hard not to look at one another, starinS at nothing.
"One morning, the elevator stopped at the fourteenth floor, and a fat lady got on." She was wearing an old green
coat that ballooned around her. As she waddled into the elevator, Martin was sure he felt it sink under her weight.
She was so big that her coat brushed against him, and he had to squeeze himself into a corner. There was no room
for anybody else. The door closed quickly behind her, and instead of facing it, she turned around and stared at
~fu .
r
He looked at htt for a moment. She had large fll~!>hy
cheeks and no chin. ju,t I hup- ma~ of neck. Her blue
~ were tiny kit wrr. The,· Sft...,,l'd to be boring into
Martin's face. ·
Martin lookl"d awa,•. l,ut the woman didn't tum around.
Wu she !'till looldni at him? He glanred at her quickly, then
looked •"·ay again. She wa, still watching him. He wanted
to crow his e\"t.'5. he wanted to tum around and stare into
the comet but how rould he? The elevator creaked down
to tweh-e, then eJe,-en. The piggy eyes were still looking at
him. She had to t,e a.uy. Why else would she stare at him
like this? What was she going to do next?
She did nothing. She only watched him, breathing loud~y,
until the ele\·ator reachl-d the first floor at last. Martin
wanh.ad to run past her to get out, but there was no room.
He could onlv wait as she turned and moved slowly
out into the tdbbv. Then he ran. He didn't care what she
thought. He ran ~early aU the way to school. . .
He thought about her aU day. Did she live in the building? He had never seen her before, a_n_d_the butldmg was
not \'tt)' big. M.1ybe she was visiting somebody? But 7.30 in the morning was too early for v1s1ting.
Martin felt nervous when he got back to the building after school. But why should ~e be afr~id of an o ld lady? lie
kit ashamed of himself. He pressed the button and stepped into the ele:ator, hoping that it ~ o~ld not stop, but
it stopp..>d on the third floor. Martin watched the door slide open, revealmg a green coat, a piggish face and blue
eyes which were already staring at him as if she knew he would be there.
It wasn'r possible. It was like a nightmare. But there she was. "Going up!" said Martin, his voice little more than
a squeak. She nodded, and stepped on. The door slammed. He watched her pudgy hand move towards the
buttons. She pressed, not fourteen, but eighteen, the top floor. The elevator trembled and began to go up. The fat
lady watched him.
This morning she got on at the fourteenth floor, so why did she get on at the third floor today and go up to
eightl.-en? The elevator seemed to be moving more slowly than usual. Martin wanted to press seven, so that he
could get out and walk up the stairs, but he couldn't reach the buttons without touching her, and he d idn' t want
to do that.
Wh_en the elevator stopped on his floor, she hardly moved out of his way. He had to squeeze past he1~rubbing
agamst her horrible scratchy coat. He was afraid the door would close before he could get out. She turned and
watched him as the door slammed shut. "Now she knows _I live on seventeen," he thought.
"Have you ever noticed a strange lady in the elevator?" he asked his father that evening.
·can't say I have," he replied, not looking away from the television.
Martin knew he was probably making a mistake, but he had to tell somebody about the womaJ1, "She was in the
elevator with me twice today. She just kept staring at me._She never stopped looking at me for a minute."_
"What are you so worried about now?" his father said, turning impatiently away from the television.
"What am I going to do with you, Martin? Honestly, now you're afraid of some poor old lady."
"I'm not afraid."
"You'~e afraid," said his father. When are you going to grow up and act like a man? Are you going to be timid all
your life?"
Martin d'dn t want to cry in front of his father, so he waited until he got to his room. His father proba bly knew
1 _ I

he was crymg anyway. He slept very little.

LITERATURE IN ENGLISH CLASS-X • - ---------------------

►
. . . ror h·m
Jn the morning, when the elevator door opened the fat lady was waiting 1 M.irtin stood there, unable to
• d
move, then backed away. As she saw him, her ~pressio n changed . She smihtd as the
Martin started running down the stairs. The stairs were dark and he foll. His father
hospital, disappoi nted and angry with him for being a coward and a rool. Martin had
door sl~mme ·
was 5ile~t on th; wa~:
broken h 15 leg an nee ~ t
to walk o n crutches. He could not use the stairs now. Was that why the fat lady had smiled?
Did she know w a
would happen?
At least his father was with him in the elevator o n the way back from the hospital, There
was no room for the fat
lady to get in, and if she did, his father would see her and maybe he would understa
nd. When ~e got ho~e, he
co uld stay in U1e apartme nt for a few days. The d octo r said that he had to rest as much
as pos!,tblc. Martin foll
quite safe from the fat lady now.
"Oh, I almost forgot," his father reached out and pressed number nine.
"What are you d oing?" asked Martin, trying not to sound afraid.
"I promised to visit Mrs. Ullman," said his fa ther, looking at his watch as he stepped out
of the elevator.
"Let me go with you. I want to visit her too!" Martin pleaded, struggling to move o n
his crutches.
But the d oor was already closing. "Afraid to be in the elevator alone?" said his father. "Grow
up, Martin"• The door
slammed shut.
Martin hobbled to the buttons and pressed nine, but it didn' t do any good. The elevator
slopped at ten, where
the fat lady was w aiting for him. She moved in quickly, and he was too slow to get past
her in ti.me lo get oul The
d oor closed and the elevator began to move.
"Hello, Martin," she said, and laughed, and pushed the Stop button.

About the Author

William Warner Sleator
( February 13, 1945-Au gust 3, 2011)

William Warner Sleator, an American author of juvenile novels, picture books, young
adult novel and short stories, was born in Havre De Grace, Marylan d, USA. He
is
regarded as an imagi native author whose works utilize the genres of fantasy, mystery
and science fiction to explore personal relations hips and emo tional growth. Sleator
takes his characte rs from their everyd ay lives into confrontations with unusal, even
unnervin g situatio ns. His protagon ists encounte r alien beings, evil spirits, weird
scientific experiments, time travel into past and future and o ther strange p henome na.
His
characte rs must learn to deal with their close ones and their fa mily members. Through
their physical and emo tional journeys; young people in Sleato r's stories d iscover strength
and con fidence within themselv es w hile developing a greater understa nd ing of life
:-,
in
general.
For mo re than thirty yea rs, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventiv e books.
His 'Ho use of Stairs' was named one of the best novels of the twentiet h century by
'Young Adult Library Services Association. William Sleator died in early August in 2011
the
'
-·~ . ___ ..,. ~
a t his home in Thailand .
In the story, 'The Elevator', he has masterfu lly blended fiction w ith the dysfunc tional
relations hip between a fa ther and
a son.

Summ ary of the Story

The Elevator is a short story that revolves around Ma rtin, a twelve-y ear-old child, as
he faces his fears and navigate s a
difficult sil uation in his life. The story also gives an insight into Martin's relatio nship
with his fa the r.
The story begins by describin g an old building with an elevator. The elevator of th is
building was quite small and could
only hold th ree people at maximu m. Martin already hated elevator s but the new apartme
nt lhat he and his father had
 • teenth floor, The elevolor had lltu
moved m was even smaller than the previous one. This house was on the sevenff t d even if there were only l\\,I!
lighting and dirty walls and the door always shut with a lot of noise. ~artin felt su oca e o
'
people in it. . k nd no window was to be found
The stairs were no bette~ He had med them too. The light in the airs was~: ~~s ~ather angrily asked him Why h~
st
Once he had climbed upto the seventeenth floor and was left breathless. W b be a ting him, It seemed as If hew
didn't take the elevator instead, Martin stared at his father's face which seemed to deM:rtin got so scared (of his fathe;s ·
8
saying that his son was not only skinny, frail and bad at sports but also 8 cowar · '
expressions) that he always took the elevator after that. . b u·ed at school.
h h d got used to being u 1
He told himself to get used to the elevator like the way e a d that the elevator would stop and h
H was always scare . e
However, he could never really get used to the elevator. e 'th passenger in the elevator either. Ji
. d.d 't lik to travel w1 any h I e
would get trapped in it He felt claustrophobic. He I n e d Martin was going down t e e evator to
. h ther: One ay as '
despised their closeness and their efforts not to look at eac O • • rsiz'ed hat entered the elevator. Instead
fl A fat lady with an ove uJ ,
go to his school the elevator stopped at fourteenth oot . t Marti·n He got scared and co dn t 6gur..
' d he kept stanng a · "
of turning to look at the elevator door as everyone oes, s d nd stare towards the corner, but couldn't
his eyes turn aroun a h •
out why she was looking at him. He wished to c1ose , 1 M ti' n wanted to run past her butt ere was no
ch d the first floor at ast, ar
She kept staring and when the elevator rea e f t as he could to the school.
. th 1 bbv he ran out as as
space. As soon as she moved out into e o J' to the building after school, he was extremely nervous. He tried
He kept thinking about it all day. When he retumed . fr 'd fan old lady. Unfortunately, when the elevator
• If th t ·t as no use being a ai 0
to act brave and explained to himse a I ": artin timidl told her that the lift was going up. The women nod~ed
reached the third floor, the same_old lady got m. M le[ator halted at Martin's floor, he somehow squeezed Past
and pressed the button for the eighteenth floot Whe~ the e
h now knew where he lived. . . d
her and began to think tha t s e d in the elevator. His father replie vague1Y that he
1
In the evening, he asked his father if he ~~w about: s::faeth:r:ccused him of being afraid. He seemed to be angry
wasn't sure. When Martin continued describing the la y, lik man. At the end, Martin left for his room and cried
with Martin and asked him when would he grow up and act e a
there~ usual. waitin in the lift. He got so terrorised that he began to run down
To M ~ horror, the next day, the lady was already g . d to be taken to the hospital by h is father
the stairs but unfortunately feU due to the darkness and broke his leg. He ha .
whose silence indicated that he was disappointed and furious at Martin's behaV1our. . . .· .
· • h that he had his father with him m the lift
Now Martin was on crutches and could not take the starrs but he was appy
and in case the lady entered his father would understand his fear. His father announced that he needed to meet Mrs.
th
Ullman and stepped out of the elevator at the ninth floor. He pleaded with his father to come along but his fa er merely
mocked him and the door of the elevator slammed. The elevator stopped at the tenth floor, where the old lady was
waiting for Martin. He tried to run past her but he could not due to his fractured leg. She moved in quickly. The door
dosed and the elevator started moving. The lady wished Martin, laughed and pushed the stop button.

Theme of the Story

The prominent theme of the story' The Elevator' by William Sleator is that we should confront our fears bravely. Martin
always refrained from using elevators so when he moved into a new building with his father, h e was extremely afraid
of the elevator there as it was not spacious enough to accommodate even three people. But as his h ouse was on the
seventeenth floor, he had no other choice but to use the elevator. Moreover he w as scared to share his fear w ith his
father who always mocked or scorned at him for his cowardice. His father's indifferent a ttitude towards Martin an d his
criticism regarding Martin's weak physique and ~ d personality and the impact of this on Martin's person ality and
psyche is also one important theme rughlighted in the story. Martin just listened to w hat his father said and resorted to
:rying in rus own room. Martin consoled rumself by thinking that he would get used to the elevator eventually as he
lid with the bullying he faced at school.

LITERATURE IN ENGLISH CLASS-X • - - -- -- - -- -- - -- -- - - - - --

.......-
\d and fat lady &tarted sharing the elevator
°
But things were not easy for Marlin. He got all the more terrified when

1·
on his\ H'- fathew: \nstead ot show\ng
ith him. He got so terrified that he once hurriedly ran down the stairs and broke l l dcg. "'
hi father ' more supp<>rtive,
been
ic:~;
:;,.,,p11thy, gave him an angry look as If rebuking his childish w~ys and coward
~Aortln could have explained his fear clearly to his father. By giving mora\ supp '
~is (;her could have buUlled more r.•
.'f rl
ourage In h"is son. He even left his son alone on his crutches in th e elcvator to meet somL-one.
IY•
. . f h\s mind wh\ch .
c . f Martins unagmabon, rum ,:,·
I t can also be considered that the fat old lady could have emerged out O d f ce the wor\d w\\h
wns full of fear and •insecurities.
. \ Ultimately,
. It was Martin who needed to sl,ow more courage an a
strength and mental stability.
characters In the Story
Martin
. n bo of 12 who is fearfu\,
In the story 'The Elevator', William Sleator characterises Martin, the protagonist, as a you g Y ' H . fr •d of
desperate and lacks confidence. He moves into his new which is on the seventeenth floor of a build ing. e 15 a ill th
using an elevator as he is scared that he might get trapped in it for hours. He fee\s c\ austroph O bic when there. are od ._,
er
· h I · · h
people m t e e evator. He 1s a docile and a weak boy who is often bullied at sc oo . e ,s\ H · a motherless
. child an nlS

father is insensitive to his insecurities. His father mocked and rebuked him for his weak persona\ity.
His fears g!?t worse when a mysterious fat old lady begins to stalks him as he rides the elevator back and forth everyday.
He is so scared of her that he and avoid her tries to discuss this with his father. 1n order to escape nom the o\d \ady, he
runs down the stairs and even fractures his\eg. But his father is disappointed by h\s cowardice and doesn't pay need \o
his words. Martin feels ashamed of himself and doesn't know what to do. He cries alone in his room. "Throughout lhe
story he is porrrayed as a sad, scared isolated boy who has nowhere to turn when he faces a terrifying problem.
Martin"s Father
The story highlights the confusing and unfulfilling relationship between Ma~ti.n and his father. His father is his only
guardian.. So Martin needs to depend on him for his support. Martin fee\s scared and uncomfortable riding the elevator,
so he uses the stairs and gets exhausted. Instead of providing courage to Martin and helping him to conq_uer his tear, his
:;
father frowns at him, and makes him feel a coward by rebuking him for his frailties. This \eaves Maron trapped wi\hin
~ --:
his fears. His father often disapproves of his actions. ii:
i::..::::
Martin's father proves to be an impatient man, unsympathetic towards his child and always critical of his tears. ~ :-,
He shows no emotional concern when martin breaks his leg. He even left him alone in the \ift alone, with a h:actured leg ~

~
grappling with his claustrophobia and his awkward interaction with the lady.
Lady
The presumed antagonist in the story- the fat lady who stares at Martin and makes him uncomfortable and further
claustrophobic wears an old green oversized coat that balloons around her as she gets on the e\evator with M.ar\in. She
completely fills the space pushing Martin in the comer. She had \arge fleshy cheeks and no chin, \ust a huge mass oi
neck. She had blue tiny piercing eyes. Her breathing was loud and heavy. Al\ these physical traits o\ the \ad"Y intimidated
Martin apart from making him feel suffocated. The way she stared fixedly at Martin made him uncomfortable. Her
appearance and behaviour was almost menacing.
Her presence made the elevator appear even smaller and tighter. For a claustrophobic Marti.n, her stares and her presence
was a nightmare. She would laugh at his flustered state and intentionally board the elevator everyday at the same time
to run in~o Martin (or this is what Martin believed that she did).
The old lady could have been a manifestation of Martin's imagination and fear of people and uncomfortable social
situations. The mysterious woman seemed to symbolise some sinister supernatural power that is specifically haunnn1
 ~.
.........Wtd

··~lu1ddftltid
~
-~
-
-

-
~ ftlkibh
I<\ ft\M ~

~~ tift"d:
and"'°""''
rMtaDk 1i~~ ~••uft\i

~ ( ' I m ~·
&owning - 'Sht""'ing disf"~~ or dr.-af'I'"'''" '
WaddJed ,,111
~~""i ,,n,·n -'' ~ ""'''l1 ,,
- tt'lmc,w, du~k· I l"t'1ll~ " ' ' ' "
aeaJaed - lo mal.e a prnl~gt"d pati~ of ~n<'alJ1\t: ,

nigh~ - • frightening J~am

squak - lo utter or makt> a short shnll '-'"I')' Of n<li~
pu~• - being short and rlump; chubby.
timid •'Uk
hobbled - lo limp along; to move along un!-readil~• or ,,,th J,111,--ultv

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How old was Martin?
(11) N"me years old (b) Ten yea!"' {l)J
(c) Eleven years old (d) Tv,•clve y ear-, old
2. The reasons Martin does not give for being nervous about his building elc,·ator-
(a) It is ,-ery small in size. (b) It har, n o fan,
(c) [t has dirty walls. (d) It i~ lo ud'1t h a, a nnn -funct,on,,1 door
3. The stairs were equally bad because-
(a) There were no windows. (/1) Tlwy m ade a cn•epv ,., hom~ -.t1und
(c) It was dark on the stairs. (d) All o f I ht' ,1bovc>

4. The lady entered on the _ _ _ floor, first time.

(a) twelve (/,) f, >u r ll't' n
(c) seven (d) l'ig hlt't'n
5. The word that has not been used to describe Martin-
(a) ~ervous (/ n ,111~hty 1)

(c) Ashamed (d) timid

6. How did Martin fracture his leg?
(a) He jumped from the stairs. (/•) Ht· jumpl'd out ell tlw l'h', .11l11
(c) He fell down the stairs while hurrying d own . (d) H l• h ,1J a f1~hl ,ll ,;chnol
7. Which floor did Martin Jive on?
(a) Seventh (h) Fourh't•nth

(c) Eighteenth (d) Sl•wnlt•cn th

8. \\'hen Martin tries to use the stairs instead of the Elevator-

(a) ht- start~ to ga<,p (b) tlw l•~;hh go out
(cj htc- I ~ hi~ wdy (d) ht- hunip-. 11110 tlw l,1d,

LITERATU RE IN ENGLISH CLASS-X • - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - --

i,, M1111111 d•dd•t1 lu lilf'l Uffd lu th• elnat"' tt,-t ft1<e h• ,i,,f ttWd t&-
(11) hl11 r11thl't'11 M.·1Jltll11111 (I>) M~~....g tl'le \ady
(I') h11lly111r, 111 'K·lu,ol (tf) the 11pa'l'\'n'l.,y\l'
Ill, I luw &1111•11 M11rlln'11 f•lhl'r ,.,.c:twhen M11rtln t•1III him abmlt ~e fat lady?
(11) I It• l1!,m•t1•, Mnrlln'• wmd,. (I>) He comf~ Marth'\,
(1 ') I Ir ,-or, le, flr1tl tht- Indy hlm'lf"lf. (ti) He beat11 Martin.
11 . Wh11t 11h11111 the l11dy made M11rtln extremely uncomfnrtabl~ .
(11) ~h•· nlwny" "'l'PPNJ hl,i fo(lt . (I,) She 'kept 'ltarlng at tum. .
· I
(1') Shi· n wny11 hrour,ht her Joy, along. (d) She \(q>t snee-z•· ng \oud\y on his face.
12. Wh.-rv d11e11 M11ttln merl the lady the eecond time?
(11) "t'vr11th floor (I,) first floor
(r ) rourh•1·nth floor (d) seventeenth floor
13, What ty pe of t«!lallon did Martin share with his father?
(11) loving and caring (b) of hatred
(r ) rc~pcctful and of mutual understanding (d) distanced and of no mutual undeT&tanding
14. Whal wu Martin's father's opinion about his son?
(a) It mid and cowa rd (b) disdp\ined and weU-manneTed
(r ) cou ragcou ~ a nd stron g (d) ove r-imaginative
15. O n which floor does the b dy get down the second tlme7
(n) c11;hlcrn th (Ii) firs t
(() lh1rtft'nth (d) seventeenth
H,. W hy d oe, ~ hrtin·, f.alher !'!top .at th e nlnelh floor?
( 0 1 ~"C.lU'<" hl• v.,mtrd MMtm lo go alone (Ii) b ecause he wante d to meet someone
(r I t-N-,,u'-l· thl· rll··v..itor could n o l c.i rry hie; wci~ht (ii) b ecau se h e was lee\ing unwe\\ in the e\evatm

J7. \ \ 'hrn ~hrhn m cl"h th e b dy 2 nd time, wh ile coming b ack from school, he ut\eTs tha\-
1.11 h r ,, ~nm~ dm, n (h) there is n o !'.p ace in the e\evator
c, I tlw, h·,.11.,r 1~ not v.nr\...m~ (cl) h e is goin g u p
IK !\1.ir11n • f.a t h<' r frh _ wh ile he took M a rtin to th e ho<ipital.
,.n , , m r,11lw t1< (h) di">appomted and angr y
< I '""' ,111,I ,I, 1n k,1 (cl) immune and in diHere n\
I~ \\ h .11 J ,J th (' l.a J > U) to \h rti n whe n h e w a'I l eft a l o ne in the elev ator by the father'?
1.11 L, t .,u1' H ow are you , Martin?
(Ii)
I,) I I, llu \1.irtm (.fl She a-.\...cd, What h appened to you?
:W \\ hJ I JiJ th~ IJd y in the tl eva tor d o a fte r Ma rti n i~ aba ndone d b y hi ~ father?
t,d ,100 J .,,\l·ntl:, .ind '> torvd a t ~ \ .irtin, a-, u-.u,ll {I•) \,,uF,,hed and caught M artin
t, I prl•-.~j lhl· bu t tun fu r tht.· '>t.·H-nh:enth fi lx)r (,f) \.,uS?,hed a nd push ed the !>to p button
21. How did ~1.i rtin react wht: n hi ~ fJlher accu-.ed him o ( b ein ~ ah aid and asked Mm when wou\d he gyow Ut) and
.ict like a man?
(-,J H..., rl.'phcJ b.il~ Lu rtlv to ht-. f.1th.·r
I' IHl.'-... .ittt:J fur him tu tlm,h .rnJ • n~·J ,\ltt·r fl',\-:hmi hi-. mom.
(.) Ht: expl,1.11h:J h1-. lt'.n, hi h,, l.\tl\l r l k.Hh
(,!1 He r.1n llUt t•I tiw ht>u~· • n rn~
 22. '11w....,,,._ a! :: W haa been authored by-
(a) OIIYer eo (b) John Masefield
(ti) R.IC. Narayan
(t) William Sleeter
23. '11w lnaln Iheme of the lloay
u -
od
{a) Irrational lean of childho
sitive boy and his insensitive father
{I,) relation between a sen
edstena! of supernatural
(r)
(d) both (a) an d (b)
sto ay -
2t.. What is the genre of the (b) humour and fear
(a) horror fiction (d) humour
(c) tragedy
25• Th e ele va tor co uld an y _ _ peopJe.
(b) tw o
(a) one (d) four
(c) three

Reference to Context
Questions all elevator, wh ich could carry 011/y three people. Martin
, a thin twelve.Yell,.
with an old eleURlor- a ver y sm
It was an old buildin" o fat her mo ved
.
mt o the aparhne11t.
t day he and his
old, felt noTIOUS in ii from thefirs
?
d he shifted and with whom
1. Who was Martin? Where ha
What had been his perpetua
l fear?
2. or.
for being nervous in the elevat
3. List the reasons Martin gives
er?
4. Why did 'the elevator' shudd
t Martin from this extract?
5. What do we get to know abou lights were not working. Martin'
re we re no wi1 1dows , and the
tried them 011e day after school. The ting closer. By the time he reached
h:
The stairs were no better. Martin s ano ther per son clim bing, get
the cement, as though there wa
footsteps ecltoed behind him 011 ath.
·
floor, he wa s gas ping for bre
home 011 lhe sevenlee11th
mpared to here? Why?
l. What have the stairs been co
2. W hy were they no 'better'?
e in his new home?
3. What pro ble m did Martin fac ?
de Ma rtin fee l tha t som eo ne was climbing do ser to him
4. What ma
ve no option lef t except
the elevator?
S. W hy did Martin ha
lied at school.
lo ge l use d lo ii, Ire tol d him self, just like he got used to being bul
He would have
eleva tor?
de Ma rtin 's fat he r ask him the reason for not taking the
l. What ma tha t moment?
ive d by M art in, wh at loo ks did his father give him at
2. As perce
decide to take the elevator ?
3. W hy did Martin finally
with the problem?
4. Ho w did he try to adjust father?
yo u thi nk Ma rtin did no t discuss his problem wi th his
S. W hy do ballooned
and a fat lad y go t on." She wa s wearing an old green coat that
ed at tire fourteen/It floor, She was so big that her coat brushed
"One nwrning, the elevator slopp he fel t it sink under her we ight.
o the elevator, Martin was sure
around her. As she waddled int
e himsel f into a corner.
against him, and he had to squeez -- -
----- --------
URE IN ENGLISHCLASS-X • - - - --
LITERAT
 le
. was Marttn successful In adjusting to the elevator r\dn'l Whal ar cl\cl he face? Why'l
1:z.. J-{ow
did he feel If there was someone accompany\ng him ln the e\evator 7
. Whal did he dislike about the fellow passengers7
3
. Highlight the character sketch lady who entered on the fourteenth noor.
4
s. What problem did Martin face due to the big size of the \ady7 icld ttvn k,oUII ll1IIIIY
. . h" ? He glanced al tiff 'I" 'J• lll he?
/llfnrtin looked away, but fire woman didn't turn around. Was she slrll lookmg al ,m d d tare into the'°"'"'• blil holO COIi cl sh£
again. Sire was still watching him. He wan led lo clo54! his eyes, he wanted ~o turn_aroun _an ~ had to be CTaZ'}-
Why else woul
Tlie elevator creak~d down to lweloe, then eleven. The piggy eyes were still looking al him. 5
stare-at him like tltjs? What was site going lo do nexl?

1. What made Martin uncomfortabl e about the lady?

:z.. What did Martin wish to do in order to avoid her looks?
3. What thoughts arose in Martin's mind while the lady was in the elevator? d?
4. Which floor did she get down at 7 What did Martin want to do when the elevator stoppe
s. What queries did Martin have in his mind about the fearfu.\ lady? d f
a~aid of an old lad!I? He felt ashame ~
Marti11 felt nervous when he got back to the building after school. But wh!I should he be J' . d the thiTd poor. Martin
himself He pressed the button and stepped into the elevator, hoping that it would not st0P• but 11 Sloppe. on t im as
if she knew he
watched the door slide open, revealing a green coat, a piggish face and blue eyes which were already Slanng a I
1

wauld be there.
1. What made Martin feel 'ashamed' of himself?
2. Whom did Martin confront on the third floor?
3. What did Martin tell the lady? Why?
4. What question puzzled Martin?
5. Why did Martin want to step out of the elevator on the seventh floor instead ot \he seven\eenil i7·

"Now she knows I live on seventeen," he thought.

"Have you ever noticed a strange lady in the elevator?" he asked his father that evening.
"Can't say I have," he replied, not looking away from the television.
Martin knew lte was probably making a mistake, but he had to tell somebody about the woman, "She was in the elevator wi th me
t~ice today. She just kept staring at me. She never stopped looking at me for a minute."
1. Why couldn't Martin step out on the seventh floor as he had p\anned?
2. What happened when the elevator reached the seventeenth floor?
3. What did Martin ask his father later in the evening? What response did he get?
4. What 'mistake' Martin knew he was making? Was his doubt con-ect?
5. Did Martin get any help from his father? What made his father impatient?
Martin stood there, unable to move, then backed away. As she saw him, her expression changed. She smiled as the door slammed.
Martin started running down the stairs. The stairs were dark and he fell. His father was silent on the way to hospital, disappointed
and angry with him for being a coward and a fool.

1. Why did Martin cry the previous evening?

2. Why was Martin 'unable to move'?
3. How did Martin fracture his leg?
4. What feelings did his father seeing Martin's condition?
5. What was his worst fear after breaking his leg?
 Martin felt quite safe from the fat lady now. .
•01,, f almost forgot," his father reached out and pressed number nine.
"'What are you doing?" asked Martin, trying not to sound afraid.
"/ promised to visit Mrs. Ullman," said his father, looking at his watch as he stepped out of the elevator.
"Let me go with you. I want to visit her too!" Marti~ pleaded, struggling to move on his crutches.
1. What made Martin feel safe ?n his way back from the hospital?.
2. What made Martin safe from the lady for the next few days?
3. What did Martin .plead with his father? Why? ,
4. What happened much to the horror of Martin?
5. What according to you should have been the end of the story?

000