Book : Kaliedoscope - Short Stories | NCERT Solutions for class 12 English - Short Stories Chapter - 3
A Wedding in Brownsville ( Short Story )
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Understanding the text
Q.1. What do you understand of Dr. Margalin's past ? How does it affect his present life ?
Ans :- A mixture of grief and tragedy is Dr Margalin's past. He was considered as a genius in his childhood days. The expectations of the people around him was too much . His life was not bed of roses instead he faced a lot of hardships and his family suffered a lot , they were tortured , burned and gassed . The loss of Raizel , his true love affected his present state of mind . He lost complete faith in humanity in the reign of Hitler . He constantly feated death . In spite of all the hardships he faced in his personal life , his professional life was a success . He was highly regarded and respected by the people . There were an office on West End Avenue and wealthy patients too in his life.
Q.2. What was Dr Margolin's attitude towards his profession ?
Ans :- As a professional Dr. Margolin was truly great person. He never broke his oath and was always respectful towards his patients . In his professional field , he was held in high esteem . People around him held him in high esteem because of his dedication towards his profession . He had wealthy patients , but always considered humanity above everything this was visible when he would treat the refugees and rabbi for free , would supply them with medicines and a hospital bed too , if required.
Q.3. What is Dr. Margalin's view of the kind of life the American Jewish community leads ?
Ans :- According to Dr. Margolin the kind of life American Jewish community lived was totally unaccepted. He felt Jewish ways of living were completely distorted . He found their ways of celebrations irritating and annoying. He disliked the Anglicized Yiddish, the Yiddishised English, the ear - splitting music and also the unruly way they danced. The new style of living embarrassed him as there was no culture left in it. He felt ashamed to take his wife at such gatherings. So he did not want to take her to those places.
Q.4. What were the personality traits that endeared Dr. Margolin to others in his community ?
Ans :- He was the son of a poor teacher of Talmud. He was a self-taught man. He could easily recite long passages of the bible, studied Talmud and commentaries on his own. He learned geometry and algebra on his own. At a very young age, he was declared a child prodigy. At the eleven, he was sent for a Responsum to the rabbi of Tarnow, there he was referred to as "great and illustrious". At a young age of seventeen, attempted translations that made him considered really great and genius.
Q.5. Why do you think Dr. Margo had the curious experience at the wedding hall?
Ans :- Dr. Margolin met with a deadly accident on the wedding day. The things that happened in the marriage hall were the consequences of the accident. Raziel was the doctor's true love whom he wanted to marry with all his heart and soul. She was married to someone else and later shot dead by Nazis. The mysterious encounter with her could only be explained through his past experience. It is really heart touching experience.
Q.6. Was the encounter with Raizel an illusion or was the carousing at the wedding - hall illusory? Was Dr. Margolin the victim of the accident and was his astral body hovering in the world of twilight?
Ans :- Yes, the encounter with Raziel was an illusion. She was dead long ago when shot by a Nazi and the union with Dr. Margolin was only possible because of his own death. Yes, he was faced with a fatal accident and himself the victim. They were both in spiritual forms. Carousing at the wedding hall was illusionary.
Talking about the Text
Q.1. Fiction often deals with human consciousness, rather than with the reality of existence.
Ans :- Fiction is that genre that deals exclusively with invented events and people. Fiction deals exclusively with real life events and people. In fiction the sole purpose is to entertain the readers by depicting the depth of human thoughts and consciousness. Fictions are constructed on the inner thoughts of the writer. What the writer thinks is expressed through his writings.
Q.2. The ways in which survivors of holocausts deal with life.
Ans :- A holocaust survivor's life is not easy. They are constantly haunted by the dreadful thoughts of those past days and leave huge mark on their brain. The first thing they did was to find a roof to lead their life. They believe in constantly keeping themselves occupied with work and reunite with their left relatives and be each others strength. So it is not too easy to lead a life like other people.
Appreciation
Q.1. Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement in France between the two World Wars. Its basic idea is that the automatic, illogical and uncontrolled associations of the mind represent a higher reality than the world of practical life and ordinary literature. Do you think this story could be loosely classified as surrealistic? What elements in this story would support the idea?
Ans :- Yes, the story could be considered as surrealistic. The last part of the story gives evidence of surrealism. Dr. Margolin is not in his physical form but still, he is among the people talking to them, seen dancing and enjoying to the fullest and he remains unaware of his spiritual form. His union with Raziel is also in the form of spirit.
Q.2. Comment on the technique used by the author to convey the gruesome realities of the war and its devastating effect on the psyche of human beings through an intense personal experience.
Ans :- The conversational technique has been used to depict the cruel effects of war. At the party, people discuss war among each other and talks about the death of their loved ones and also their community. The cruel aftermath of war is shown vividly in a conversational tone, which makes it more realistic and believable for readers. The cruelty of war has been unfolded to the readers realistically.
No comments:
Post a Comment