My first Magazine A Face in the Dark, Ruskin Bond | Page 9

his life, scrambled down the path running blindly through the trees in
direction of the school building.
Question (iii): What did Oliver answer the watchman’s questions in the
extract above?
Answer (iii): Oliver told the watchman that he had encountered
something horrible in the forest. He said he had seen a boy weeping in
the forest who had no face, eyes, ears, nose or mouth.
Question (iv): The story ends with a thrilling climax. Do you agree?
Why?
Answer (iv): Panicked by the horrified scene, Oliver dropped his torch
and blindly ran away from the faceless boy. He called for help and was
pleased to see it coming his way as a night watchman swinging a lantern
in middle of the path. He stumbled up to the watchman and told him
about the strange encounter with a faceless boy. The story ends with a
thrilling climax when the watchman raised the lamp and showed Oliver
that he too was faceless, with no features or even eyebrows. The climax
is reached when the wind blew out the lamp and it becomes dark again.
No clue is given by the narrator about the reaction of Oliver when he
encounters another faceless person. The narrator ends the story abruptly
leaving the readers to suspect that something bad might have happened
to Oliver.
Question (v): Comment on the appropriateness of the title.