Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones Questions & Answers.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions & answers of The Prayer for Sportsman, The Cherry Tree, I Have a Change and Rajam and Mani so, you can check these posts as well.
The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones Questions & Answers
Question 1: Choose the correct option:
1. The writer says that some people – ‘not you nor I’ – face the difficulty of being unable to say goodbye because
(a) we are self-centered.
(b) we are self-possessed.
(c) we are self-sufficient.
2. By night, Jones had drunk
(a) Two cups of tea.
(b) Eleven cups of tea.
(c) Twelve cups of tea.
3. Jones was miserable because
(a) he was unable to say goodbye.
(b) he was hungry.
(c) the chair was uncomfortable.
4. Mamma showed him photographs because
(a) she was proud of them.
(b) she wanted to show him the house.
(c) she wanted to make him feel comfortable so that he would talk more.
5. Papa said that Jones must stay and invited him to a chat because
(a) it was very late
(b) a dear little romp hid Mr Jones’s hat.
(c) he thought that is what Mr. Jones wanted.
6. Jones would stand for hours gazing at
(a) The sky and talk.
(b) The photographs of papa’s uncle’s friend in his Bengal Uniform.
(c) The mirror and act like papa’s uncle’s friend.
Question 2: What was the greatest difficulty for Melpomenus Jones? What aspects of his character cost this difficulty?
Answer: The greatest difficulty for Melpomenus Jones was that he couldn’t get away from people. Hewas too modest to tell a lie and too religious to wish to appear rude and these two aspects of his character caused this difficulty.
Question 3: What was Jones looking forward to on the first day of his vacation?
Answer: Jones was looking forward to call on some of his friends on the first day of his vacation.
Question 4: What did the lady of the house request Jones? How long did it eventually stretch to?
Answer: The lady of the house requested Jones to stay with them a little longer. It eventually stretched till dinner.
Question 5: What did mamma do to ‘draw him out’?
Answer: In order to ‘draw him out’, Mamma showed Jones the family photographs, which had the photos of papa’s uncle and his wife, mamma’s brother and his little boy, papa’s uncle’s friend in Bengal uniform, papa’s grandfather’s partner’s dog and of papa as the devil for a fancy-dress ball.
Question 6: Which factor – physical or psychological, brought about Jones end?
Answer: Jones had the difficulty of saying goodbye to his friends and could not understand that even the friend’s family wanted him to leave. The cups of tea, the photographs and his inability to say no to people—all led him to his mental agony in the end. Thus, it was both physical and psychological factors that brought about his end.
Question 7: How do we know that Jones’s mind was visibly failing?
Answer: Jones did not step out of the house and the lack of air and exercise affected his health. He passed his time in the drawing room by just drinking tea and looking at the photographs. He stood for hours gazing at the photographs of papa’s uncle’s friend in his Bengal uniform and talking, and sometimes swearing bitterly at it. All this showed that his mind was visibly failing.
Question 8: Why do you think that after spending six weeks in misery, Jones had a ‘beautiful smile of confidence’ on his face as he was dying?
Answer: Jones had a ‘beautiful smile of confidence’ on his face as he was dying because he knew that he would be able to leave the house finally, despite his earlier futile attempts in doing so.
Question 9: What simile does the writer use to show the rushing of Jones’s spirit? Elaborate.
Answer: The writer uses the simile that Jones’s spirit was rushing out of its prison house just like a hunted cat passing over a garden fence rapidly. It is running fast, worried or frightened as if it is being chased. Jones’s spirit rushed out with a similar feeling.
So, these were The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones Questions & Answers.