Hi Everyone!! This article will share A Man Who Had No Eyes Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of My Financial Career, After Blenheim and Hiroshima A Living Lesson so, you can check these posts as well.
A Man Who Had No Eyes Questions & Answers
Question 1: What was Mr Parsons’ profession? Was he a successful man?
Answer: Mr Parsons was an insurance salesman. He was quite successful in his business. He was very hard working. He was much respected and admired.
Question 2: How did the blind beggar look?
Answer: The blind beggar looked shabby. He had coarse hair. He wore a dirty, greasy coat and carried a battered cane. He had a bag on his shoulder. It appeared he had something to sell.
Question 3: Why did Mr Parsons buy the cigarette lighter from the blind man?
Answer: Mr Parsons was himself blind. Naturally, he felt sympathy for another blind person. It was because of this sympathy that he bought the cigarette lighter from the blind man.
Question 4: How did the blind beggar get money out of Mr Parsons?
Answer: The beggar would narrate the story of his blindness to make people pity him and give him some money. He did the same with Mr Parsons. He made Mr Parsons buy a cigarette lighter though the latter didn’t need it.
Question 5: What lie did the beggar tell Mr Parsons?
Answer: The beggar told Mr Parsons that a big man had pulled him from behind when he was trying to crawl out of the burning shop. Then, the man trampled over him and got out of the shop. It was a lie because the true story was the other way round.
Question 6: Who was the blind beggar? How did he lose his eyes? Why did he go around telling a false story?
Answer: The blind man was Markwardt. He lost his eyes in a chemical explosion in Westbury. He went around telling a false story to make people pity him and give him some money.
Question 7: Markwardt would narrate his tale of sorrow to his customers. What was his motive?
Answer: Markwardt wanted to win the sympathy of his customers and thus, extract money out of them.
Question 8: Why did Mr Parsons tell Markwardt that the truth was the other way round?
Answer: Markwardt had told a lie. He had tried to show that he had become blind due to the wickedness of another man. But Mr Parsons knew the truth because he himself was the other person. Therefore, he said that the truth was the other way round.
A Man Who Had No Eyes Questions & Answers
Question 9: What made the blind man realize that he had been recognised?
Answer: Mr Parsons addressed the blind man by his name ‘Markwardt’. He told him that his story was true but the facts were the other way round. It made the blind man realise that he had been recognised.
Question 10: How did Markwardt react when he realised that his listener was Mr Parsons?
Answer: When Markwardt realised that his listener was Mr Parsons, he started shouting loudly. He said that Mr Parsons had been laughing at his blindness. Thus, he tried to turn the tables on Mr Parsons.
Question 11: Why was the Westbury explosion supposed to be one of the greatest disasters?
Answer: Westbury explosion was the greatest disaster in which 108 people were killed. About 200 were injured and fifty of them lost their eyes.
Question 12: What does ‘a studied sob’ mean?
Answer: A ‘studied sob’ means a deliberate sob produced to make a desired effect on someone.
Question 13: How do you come to know that Parsons was blind?
Answer: We come to know only at the end of the story that Parsons was blind. Markwardt shouts that Parsons had taken advantage of his blindness. But Parsons asks him not to make any fuss about it. He says that he, too, had lost his sight in the Westbury explosion.
Question 14: In what ways are Mr Parsons and Markwardt different from each other?
Answer: Both Mr Parsons and Markwardt are blinded in the chemical explosion. Mr Parsons works hard in spite of his blindness. He becomes a respected and successful person. On the other hand, Markwardt takes to begging. He tries to make people pity him and give him some money.
Question 15: What was Parsons’ attitude towards life?
Answer: Mr Parsons had a very healthy attitude towards life. He took interest in life in spite of his blindness. He believed that life was worth living.
Question 16: Describe the meeting between Mr Parsons and Markwardt.
Answer: Mr Parsons comes across a blind man. One day, the blind man tells him how he had lost his eyes in the Westbury chemical explosion fourteen years ago. He was in the chemical shop. The poisonous gas was coming from all sides. The blind man says that he tried to crawl between the big vats to go out. But another man, who was stronger, pulled him back and got out. The blind man says that he was caught in the flames and his eyes were gone. Mr Parsons himself had lost his eyes in that explosion. In fact, it was he who was in the C- shop trying to crawl out. But Markwardt pulled him back and climbed over him to go out. Thus, Mr Parsons recognizes Markwardt. He tells him that his story is true, but the facts are the other way round. Markwardt is stunned at this. He realizes that the person before him is Parsons.
A Man Who Had No Eyes Questions & Answers
Question 17: Describe how Mr Parsons reacted to Markwardt’s false story. Also comment on the ending of the story.
Answer: The blind man tells Mr Parsons how he became blind in the Westbury chemical explosion. He was in the C-shop when the accident occurred. People rushed out for their lives. He too, crawled between the vats of chemicals to go out. But another fellow pulled him back. This man walked over him and got out. The blind man says that he was caught in the flames of the explosion and his eyes were gone. He poses to break down while telling the story. He expects pity and money from his listener. But he feels stunned when Mr Parsons calls out his name, ‘Markwardt’. Mr Parsons tells him that his story is correct, but the facts are the other way round. The wickedness of the blind man comes to light. He fails to arouse any pity in us.
Question 18: Mr Parsons said that he was very glad to be alive. What had he done to make a success of his life?
Answer: Mr Parsons was very glad to be alive. A few years ago, he had been little more than a skilled labourer. Now he was successful, respected and admired. He rose to a high social position by dint of his hard and sincere work. He started insurance work. He had done it alone, in spite of his blindness. He became a successful insurance agent by his hard work. It was for this reason that he looked quite young. He was well dressed and well-to-do. He earned a lot from his business. He enjoyed his life well. He never minded his blindness. Rather, he made constant efforts to rise in life. He was noble, kind, truthful and sympathetic. He thought kindly of all blind men. He wanted to help Markwardt because he was blind. He was successful on account of his qualities of head and heart.
Question 19: Bring out the contrast between the character of Markwardt and Mr Parsons.
Answer: Both Parsons and Markwardt lost their eyes in a chemical explosion. But they differ in their outlook on life. Markwardt has ever been mean and selfish. When the explosion took place in the chemical-shop, he tried to save his own life by putting Parsons into danger. But, he could not save his eyes. He became blind. Ever since that accident, he had been weeping over his blindness. But Parsons is full of self-respect. He, too, lost his eyes in the Westbury chemical explosion. His misfortune was the result of Markwardt’s meanness. But he does not let blindness come in his way. He works hard at insurance and grows rich. In fact, Markwadt and Parsons have nothing common between them. Both are blind but they are poles apart in their approach to life.
Question 20: How does the story show a whole range of human qualities?
Answer: It is a simple story of two persons who lose their eyes in a chemical explosion. But it throws a flood of light on a whole range of human qualities. Mr Parsons used to be only an unskilled worker. But, after his blindness, he put in greater hard work. He was too self-respecting to beg. He worked hard in spite of his blindness and became a rich successful insurance agent. But this sudden richness didn’t make him lose his head. He became more generous, sympathetic and large-hearted. He met another blind man, Markwardt. He helped him by buying a cigarette lighter from him though he was not a smoker. On the other hand, Markwardt has been presented as a mean and selfish person who pushed another person into the fire to save himself. He had no self-respect and begged for money by weeping over his blindness.
Question 21: Real bigness is always of the soul and of the heart. It is never of the body. Explain it with reference to this story.
Answer: Many people were caught In the C-shop at the time of the explosion. Fumes of poisonous gas were coming through the broken windows. Each one was trying to get out of there. Mr. Parsons and Markwardt were also among them. Parsons was crawling to reach the door. Markwardt was behind him. He was bigger than Parsons. He pulled Parsons back. Then, he climbed over him to get out first. However, both of them were blinded in the explosion. Parsons got over his handicap through hard work. He became an insurance salesman. He became very successful. He was much respected and admired. On the other hand, Markwardt took to begging. He would weep and cry over his blindness. He tried to make people pity him and give him money. Thus the bigger man had now become far smaller. While Markwardt had become a mean beggar, Parsons had become a successful and respected person. Real bigness is always of the soul and of the heart. It is never of the body.
So, these were A Man Who Had No Eyes Questions & Answers.