CBSE Class 10 English Footprints without Feet Worksheet

Footprints without Feet

BY H. G. Wells

GIST:
The story is about a scientist named Griffin. He had been discovering ways which could make a man invisible and finally swallowed certain rare drugs that made him invisible. He was first noticed by two boys in staircase of a house where they could just see his footsteps and started following it. They follow it until the footsteps are fainter and cannot be seen. First as he is feeling cold he enters a mall for some warmth. After the stores shutdown he decides to wear some warm clothes and eat something. He first unboxes a few clothes and wears them. Then from the kitchen of a restaurant he eats cold meat and some coffee. Later he goes to a grocery store and eats sweets and drinks wine. He then falls asleep on a pile of quilts. He then wakes up in the morning when some of the store assistants had seen him and started chasing him. He quickly threw away all the clothes he was wearing and became invisible again. Then he started roaming around again without any clothes in the cold winters of London. He then decides to steal clothes from a theatre company as he knew he would get something there to cover his face as well. He then steals bandages for his face, dark glasses, false nose and a hat for covering himself. He then hits the shopkeeper and steals all his money. Soon he realizes that London is too crowded to live like this and decides that he would go to a remote village. He books two rooms at an inn at the Iping village.

He reaches there and it is strange for the people of Iping that a stranger with such a weird appearance has come to stay at an inn during the winter season. Once his money is over, he steals from people and also hits the landlord and his wife when they try to check his room in his absence. Then the village constable is asked for help but before that Mrs. Hall, the wife of the landlord asks him questions regarding who he is and what he did to her furniture. This makes him really furious and he decides to show her who he really is. The people then see a headless man and Mr. Jaffers, the constable also finds out that he would have to arrest a man who does not have a head. They are unable to catch Griffin as he removes all his clothes and becomes invisible. He even knocks out Jaffers as he tries to catch him.

Extract Based Questions :

1: “ Brilliant scientist though he was, Griffin was rather a lawless person. His landlord disliked him and tried to eject him. In revenge Griffin set fire to the house. To get away without being seen he had to remove his clothes. Thus, it was that he became a homeless wanderer, without clothes, without money and quite invisible – until he happened to step in some mud, and left footprints as he walked ! ”

Question. How can you say that Griffin was a brilliant scientist ?
(a) As he carried on various experiments.
(b) As his experiments were used for common people.
(c) As he carried on various experiments to prove that human body could become invisible.
(d) All the above.
Answer. C

Question. Why was he wandering on the street ?
(a) Because he had set fire to his landlord’s house.
(b) Because he was shifting to another place.
(c) Because he was poor.
(d) Because he was travelling.
Answer. A

Question. Choose the correct option here:
Statement : (A) Griffin was stupid to remove his clothes to become invisible I December chilly winds.
Statement : (B) Griffin was a brilliant scientist.
(a) (A) is right and (B) is wrong
(b) (A) is wrong and (B) is right
(c) Both (A) and (B) are right.
(d) Both (A) and (B) are wrong.
Answer. C

Question. Griffin was disliked by ……………………………. .
Answer. His landlord.

Question. How did he reach to the position of invisibility ?
Answer. He swallowed certain drugs. Which made him invisible

2 : “Eager to get away from crowded London he took a train to the village of Iping, where he booked two rooms at the local inn. The arrival of a stranger at an inn in winter was in any case an unusual event. A stranger of such uncommon appearance set all tongues wagging, Mrs. Hall, the landlord’s wife, made every effort to be friendly.”

Question.After escaping from London, where did Griffin reach ?
(a) The village of Iping.
(b) His landlord’s house.
(c) In a City Hotel.
(d) In a Store House.
Answer. A

Question. What did he experience there ?
(a) No-one paid attention on him.
(b) He had reached out of the danger.
(c) His uncommon appearance attracted everybody’s attention.
(d) None of these.
Answer. C

Question. Who made every effort to be friendly with Griffin ?
(a) The Clergyman.
(b) All the villagers.
(c) Mrs. Hall.
(d) All the above.
Answer. C

Question. Which phrase in the above extract means the same as ‘everybody started talking about him’ ?
Answer. The phrase is ‘set all tongues wagging’.

Question. …………………………………….. was an unusual event.
Answer. The arrival of a stranger at an inn in winter

3 : “As she and her husband turned in terror, the extraordinary chair pushed them both out of the room and then appeared to slam and lock the door after them. Mrs. Hall almost fell down the stairs in hysterics. She was convinced that the room was haunted by spirits, and that the stranger had somehow caused these to enter into her furniture.”

Question. Why did Mrs. Hall think that the room was haunted by spirits ?
(a) She saw a ghost there.
(b) Strange things happened there.
(c) Somebody stole her ornaments there.
(d) None of these.
Answer. B

Question. Who had caused this to happen ?
(a) Griffin, the scientist.
(b) The Clergyman.
(c) Mr. Jaffers.
(d) A ghost.
Answer. A

Question. Pick the option that best describes how Mrs. Hall must be feeling at the moment described in the extract.
(a) Stunned and furious
(b) Shocked and outraged
(c) Outraged and nervous
(d) Stunned and agitated.
Answer. D

Question. Which word in the extract means the same as ‘fits of crying’?
Answer. hysterics.

Question. Which word in the extract is antonym to the word ‘conventional or familiar ’?
Answer. stranger.

Short Answer Questions :

Question. How would you assess Griffin as a Scientist?
Answer. Griffin is a brilliant scientist which is evident from his drug of invisibility. But he seems to enjoy the feeling of power which he got out of his invisibility. The power to hurt anybody without getting noticed can give sadistic pleasure to somebody. A true scientist makes discovery for the larger benefit of the society.

Question. “Griffin was rather a lawless person”. Comment.
Answer. Griffin never thought twice before harming anybody. He put his landlord’s house on fire.Then his stealing acts at shops and later in the village indicate towards this. When he was encountered by the landlady of the inn, he threw chair at her and her husband. Lawless persons never think about safety and well-being of others. They are always preoccupied by their benefits only.

Question.What was the explanation of ‘mystery’?
Answer. The two boys followed muddy footprints, being made fresh without seeing anybody making the prints, which was a ‘mystery’ for them. The explanation was that the bewildered boys had been following a scientist who had just discovered how to make the human body transparent and thus invisible, by swallowing certain drugs.

Question.What did Halls see in the scientist’s room?
Answer. As the door was open and nobody appeared to be inside, Halls entered the scientist’s room. They saw that the bedclothes were cold, showing that the scientist must have been up for some time and stranger still, the clothes and bandages that he always wore were lying about the room.

Question. Why were the two boys in London surprised and fascinated?
Answer. The two boys in London saw fresh muddy footprints appearing on the steps of a house but the barefooted man was not visible. So, they were surprised and fascinated.

Question. What did Griffin do in the shop of a theatrical company?
Answer. He wore bandages round his forehead and put on dark glasses, a false nose, big bushy side whiskers and a large hat. He attacked the shopkeeper from behind and robbed him of all his money.

Question. What was the “curious episode” that took place in the clergyman’s study?
Answer. One morning, the clergyman and his wife were awakened by noise. They saw no person. They were shocked to find that their money had been stolen from the desk.

Question. What did the scientist do when he became furious? Why were the people in the bar horrified ? What happened to the constable?
Answer. The scientist took off his bandages and spectacles and became headless. The people in the bar were shocked to see a headless man. Griffin hit the constable Mr. Jaffers hard and made him senseless.

Question. Why did the landlord want to eject Griffin? Why did Griffin set the house on fire?
Answer. The landlord wanted to eject Griffin from his house because his activities were whimsical. Griffin set the house on fire to take his revenge on the landlord.

Question. Who was Mr. Jaffers ? What was his surprise?
Answer. Mr. Jaffers was a police constable of Iping village. He was called to catch a thief there. His surprise was that he was ordered to arrest a lawless person who was totally invisible.

Question. Why were they surprised when they opened the room?
Answer. Both the clergyman and his wife were surprised because the room was empty. They searched everywhere but couldn’t find anyone. Yet the desk had been opened and the housekeeping money was missing.

Question. What did the scientist do when Mrs. Hall confronted him?
Answer. When Mrs. Hall confronted the scientist he threatened her and threw off his bandages, whiskers, spectacles, and even the nose in a minute. The people were horrified to see the headless man.

Question. Do you think Griffin’s discovery was of any use to humanity?
Answer. No, Griffin’s discovery, through remarkable, was of no use to anyone except himself. He began robbing money and other things and even assaulting people after he became invisible.

Question. Scientists contribute to make the world a better place. Griffin is antithesis to this statement . Justify.
Answer. Griffin was a brilliant scientist but he was an antithesis to the above statement. This is so because he uses his mind for making a good drug which could make anyone invisible but he used the drug unethically and immorally. He looted stores and showed violent behavior after being invisible which takes away his credibility.

Long Answer Questions :

Question. What extraordinary things happen at the inn?
Answer. The landlord of the inn and his wife were surprised to see the doors of Griffin’s room open. They looked inside and found that nobody was inside the room and decided to investigate. They found it strange that his room’s door was open as he never liked anyone even trying to enter his room. All of a sudden, while investigating, Mrs Hall heard a sniff next to her ear and was hit by Griffin’s hat on the face. Then the chair in the room charged towards Mrs Hall and hit her in her legs. As they both turned in terror, the chair pushed both of them out of the room and the door was slammed and suddenly a locking sound was heard. Mrs Hall was scared and felt that the furniture was haunted by spirits and it was the stranger’s work. The nearby people started talking that the work was that of a witchcraft.

Question. Would you like to become invisible? What advantages and disadvantages do you foresee, if you did?
Answer. It can be an exciting idea for most of the people. Like two facets of coin; invisibility can have many advantages and disadvantages. For a child, invisibility may mean a license to do all kinds of pranks without getting caught. Like a Hindi movie, invisibility can help you beat all the villains black and blue and get rid of them.
Once you become invisible, nobody would notice you. Within no time, the sadness of isolation will take over the excitement of being invisible. You will have no friend. You will tend to behave like the eccentric scientist in this story.

Question. ‘Griffin could use his discovery for welfare of the people but misuses it to take revenge.’ Discuss with reference with the story Footprints without Feet. OR Do you think Griffin misused a scientific discovery or he took advantages of his discovery? OR Griffin misused his invention, instead of using it for the betterment of the society. Do you think moral values are important along with intellectual abilities? Discuss.
Answer. Griffin was a scientist who had worked hard and made a discovery due to which human body invisible and transparent. However, instead of using it for the welfare of the society, Griffin himself he became invisible. He was rather a lawless scientist, who misused a scientific discovery for his petty, selfish gains. He set his landlord’s house on fire, when he asked him to vacate it. He entered the store invisible, stole clothes and food. At another shop, he attacked the shopkeeper from behind and ran away after robbing his money. When he reached at the village of Iping , he stayed in an inn. He robbed there at Iping and he stole the clergyman’s money from his desk and hit Mrs. Hall by throwing a chair on her. He hurled blows on the police constable Mr. Jaffers and knocked him down unconscious but also hit all those people who came to help the constable. In this way, Griffin misused his scientific discovery without making benefit to the mankind.

Question. Scientific discoveries have made life easier but insecure.” Explain with reference to the story ‘Footprints without Feet’ written by H.G. Wells.
Answer. There is no doubt that scientific discoveries have made life easier. Take any sphere of human activity, electricity, telecommunications, electronics, computer, etc. , these have totally changed man’s life. We can interact and walk on the moon. Trip to Mars is next on our agenda. We can fly like birds. Supersonic planes fly at more than the speed of sound. Wonderful drugs can overcome deadly diseases and surgery can replace defective limbs. Despite all these discoveries, human life is becoming insecure. Weapons of mass destruction are a constant danger. The fear of chemical, or biological warfare looms large. Diseases like AIDS and SARS can destroy human race. So, it is not wrong to say that these discoveries have made our lives insecure as well.

Question. What other extraordinary things happened at the Inn?
Answer. The landlord and his wife were surprised to see the door of the scientist’s room open. Usually it is shut and locked and Griffin becomes furious if anyone enters his room. So they did not want to miss this opportunity. They peeped round the door, and finding nobody inside, decided to enter and investigate. The bedclothes were cold, showing that the scientist must have been up for some time now. All of a sudden Mrs. Hall heard a sniff close to her ear. A moment later that hat on the bed suddenly leapt up and dashed itself onto her face. Then the bedroom chair became alive. Springing into the air, it charged straight at her legs. As she and her husband turned away in terror, the extraordinary chair pushed them both out of the room and then appeared to slam and lock the door after them. Mrs. Hall almost fell down the stairs in hysterics. She was, by now, convinced that the room was haunted by spirits and the stranger had somehow caused these to enter into the furniture.

Question. “A lawless scientist is a curse to the society.” Discuss. Here brilliant scientist though he was, Griffin was a lawless person. How ?
Answer. It is true, that a lawless scientist is a curse to the society. A true scientist uses his discoveries for the good of the society and welfare of the people. It helps the nations to progress. A lawless scientist increases the miseries and sufferings of society. In this story, we find how Griffin misuses his discovery. He causes pain and suffering to others. He causes destruction. Suppose the nuclear weapons fall in the hands of a lawless scientist, he can cause widespread destruction. He may ruin the achievements of other scientists. That’s why the leaders of the world are worried about chemical weapons falling into the hands of lawless heads of governments or terrorists. If this happens, all the scientists of the world will be doomed. Griffin was a brilliant scientist. He had discovered a rare drug that could make a human body invisible. This made Griffin an arrogant lawless person. He broke the law more them once but never for a good reason. He could dedicate his discovery to his country but he didn’t do that. His lawlessness made the law helpless. All his actions prove that science in devil’s hand is disastrous.