NCERT Class 12 English On The Face Of It

On The Face Of It

SCENE ONE

Mr Lamb’s garden [There is the occasional sound of birdsong and of tree leaves rustling. Derry’s footsteps are heard as he walks slowly and tentatively through the long grass. He pauses, then walks on again. He comes round a screen of bushes, so that when Mr Lamb speaks to him he is close at hand and Derry is startled]

MR LAMB: Mind the apples!

DERRY: What? Who’s that? Who’s there?

MR LAMB: Lamb’s my name. Mind the apples. Crab apples those are. Windfalls in the long grass. You could trip.

DERRY: I....there....I thought this was an empty place. I didn’t know there was anybody here....

MR LAMB: That’s all right. I’m here. What are you afraid of, boy? That’s all right.

DERRY: I thought it was empty....an empty house. 

MR LAMB: So it is. Since I’m out here in the garden. It is empty. Until I go back inside. In the meantime, I’m out here and likely to stop. A day like this. Beautiful day. Not a day to be indoors.

DERRY: [Panic] I’ve got to go.

MR LAMB: Not on my account. I don’t mind who comes into the garden. The gate’s always open. Only you climbed the garden wall.

DERRY: [Angry] You were watching me.

MR LAMB: I saw you. But the gate’s open. All welcome. You’re welcome. I sit here. I like sitting.

DERRY: I’d not come to steal anything.

MR LAMB: No, no. The young lads steal....scrump the apples. You’re not so young.

DERRY: I just....wanted to come in. Into the garden.

MR LAMB: So you did. Here we are, then.

DERRY: You don’t know who I am.

MR LAMB: A boy. Thirteen or so.

DERRY: Fourteen. [Pause] But I’ve got to go now. Good-bye.

MR LAMB: Nothing to be afraid of. Just a garden. Just me.

DERRY: But I’m not....I’m not afraid. [Pause] People are afraid of me.

MR LAMB: Why should that be?

DERRY: Everyone is. It doesn’t matter who they are, or what they say, or how they look. How they pretend. I know. I can see.

MR LAMB: See what?

DERRY: What they think.

MR LAMB: What do they think, then?

DERRY: You think.... ‘Here’s a boy.’ You look at me...and then you see my face and you think. ‘That’s bad. That’s a terrible thing. That’s the ugliest thing I ever saw.’ You think, ‘Poor boy.’ But I’m not. Not poor. Underneath, you are afraid. Anybody would be. I am. When I look in the mirror, and see it, I’m afraid of me.

MR LAMB: No, Not the whole of you. Not of you.

DERRY: Yes!

[Pause]

Reading with Insight

1. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr Lamb inspite of himself?

2. 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?

3. The actual pain or inconvenience caused by a physical impairment is often much less than the sense of alienation felt by the person with disabilities. What is the kind of behaviour that the person expects from others?

4. 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?

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 English On The Face Of It