NIGHT OF THE SCORPION
Answer the following questions.
1) How was the mother bitten by the scorpion?
Ans: The poet remembers the night
his mother was stung by a scorpion,
which bit the mother because of its predatory impulse,
while hiding beneath a bag of rice to escape from the rain.
2) How did the villagers come to the aid of the woman?
Ans: They uttered the name of the God to paralyze
the Evil One that had entered the mother's body.
3) How did the peasants view the stinging in a positive manner?
Ans: The peasants of the
village believe in Karma theory. They believe that the sins committed in
the previous birth will be purified if only the concerned person suffers in
this birth. They say that the mother’s suffering by the scorpion burns
away her sins in the previous birth.
4) What type of man was the father? How did he treat his wife?
Ans: The father was a sceptic.
He was a rationalist. So he did not compromise with the beliefs of the
villagers. He applied different kinds of medicinal herbs and a certain
curative powder. He also melted paraffin and poured it on the bitten toe
and set fire to it. The father tested every scientific way to find the
recovery. After twenty hours, the mother was saved. Again the
writer keeps a neutral position. He doesn’t say whether the father’s
treatment cured the mother or the belief and rites of the villagers.
5) How did the mother respond after the recovery?
Ans: The mother found
recovery after 20 hours of treatment. We don’t know whether the father’s treatment
cured the mother or the belief and rites of the villagers. But the poet
implies that it is the mother’s love for her children that saved her. She
thanks God because the scorpion has bitten her, not her children.
6) What is the theme of the poem?
Ans: The
key theme of "Night of the Scorpion" is community, as
demonstrated through the selfless dedication of the hordes of villagers who
spend their time praying over the woman who has been stung by a scorpion.
7) Under what circumstances did the scorpion sting the poet’s mother?
Ans: Ten hours' of steady
rain had filled the scorpion's hiding place with water; saving its
life it hid under the sack of rice in the
kitchen. When the poet's mother went to the kitchen, it
accidentally stung her.
8) How did the scorpion “part with its poison?”
Ans:
The scorpion parted with its poison by stinging the toe of the poet's
mother, thus injecting its poison into her veins.
9) Why are the peasants compared to a swarm of flies?
Ans: The comparison is the
poet’s expression of discontent with the peasants. He hated them because they
made the night a hell for him, his father and most importantly, for his mother.
10) Who is the Evil One here? Why is it evil?
Ans: The Evil
One is the scorpion that stung the poet's mother. It
is considered Evil because the people associated the sting
of scorpions with that of the evil power.
11) Why do the peasants’ prayers sound like buzzing in the poet’s ears?
Ans: Though the peasants
meant good and swarmed around the poet’s house to help the family and the
victim of the sting, their actions and intentions brought endless pain to the
poet’s mother.
Explain the following statements with reference to their context.
1) “I remember the night my mother…. He risked the rain again”
Ans: "He" refers to the scorpion. He
came inside the house to seek protection and shelter from the rain. He hid
himself beneath a sack of rice. The sting of the scorpion's tail caused much
pain to the poet's mother. He is therefore calling its tail diabolic or devilish.
The poem starts with the reminiscence of a terrible event in the childhood of
the poet when his mother was stung by a scorpion. This incident in retrospect
brings forth the poet’s gall of criticism against the irrationality of the
average uneducated person. The poet brings out the unavoidable circumstance in
which the insect had come into contact with the mother. The rains had flooded
the nests of the insect and thus to save itself it hid under a sack of rice.
When the mother had gone there to fetch rice the insect afraid of its life had
stung the mother in self-defense. The sting was quick and the insect ran away
but the news brought more nuisances in the form of the peasants.
2) “They clicked their tongues…. Be burned away tonight.”
Ans:
"They" in the above passage refers to the villagers. They attributed
the mother's sufferings to her sins in some previous birth. They said that her
present suffering would burn away her sins of her previous birth. They thought
that the poison in the mother's blood moved swiftly as the scorpion moved.
They, therefore wanted the scorpion to sit still. These peasants who were
uneducated village folk could do nothing but to make a tiny incident snowball
into a big issue where these people found fertile ground to propound their
stupid superstitions. Some people said that the more the scorpion moves the
quicker the poison will spread in the body of the victim. In fact, the
villagers actually take their candles and lanterns to search for the Scorpion.
From this absolutely foolish assumption, the people soon moved onto philosophy
where in the metaphysical scale of universe acts of redemption balances sins.
3) “May the poison purify your flesh….. the peace of understanding on
each face”
Ans:
The scorpion had stung the mother on her toe and thus the poison entered the
mother's body. The villagers hoped that the poison would purify the mother's
body of desire and her spirit of ambition. These peasants who were uneducated village
folk could do nothing but to make a tiny incident snowball into a big issue
where these people found fertile ground to propound their stupid superstitions.
Some people said that the more the scorpion moves the quicker the poison will
spread in the body of the victim. In fact, the villagers actually take their
candles and lanterns to search for the Scorpion. From this absolutely foolish
assumption, the people soon moved onto philosophy where in the metaphysical
scale of universe acts of redemption balances sins. Although the villagers were
sad to see the mother suffering, the understanding that it was doing some good
to both her body and her spirit - brought peace on their faces.
4) “My father, sceptic, rationalist… upon the bitten toe and put a math
to it”
Ans:
Although the poet's father was a sceptic and rationalist, he was too grieved
with the mother's situation to think practically. So, he tried whatever anyone
around suggested to him which would help to relieve the mother's pain and
suffering. It shows that during a crisis, human beings will do anything
suggested to them, by others, to help them overcome the crisis. The people wax
more philosophy by saying that the sufferings of this birth would mitigate the
sufferings of the next. According to them, pain is directly proportional to the
sins of the past life and inversely proportional to coming life. While the
mother was in mortal pain some people pretended to understand her pain and do
nothing. But the father was very much a rational man who instead of taking the
mother to a doctor actually tries various herbs and medicines to get rid of the
poison. In fact, he burns the toe of the mother. Yet all the all patient earth
she forebears and to our amazement thanks the heavens since it was her that was
stung and not her children. The father put a little paraffin upon the bitten
toe and put a match to it (lit it) because it was thought that it would burn
the poison of the wound.
5) “I watched the flame feeding on my mother… it lost its sting”
Ans:
"I" here is the poet who is the narrator. "The flame"
probably reminds the poet of the funeral or burning or cremation of a dead body
according to funeral rites. In it, the dead body is consigned to flames. So the
burning of the mother's toe, probably reminds the poet of that. After twenty
hours of suffering in pain, the poison finally subsided, and the mother got
relief. While the mother was in mortal pain some people pretended to understand
her pain and do nothing. But the father was very much a rational man who instead
of taking the mother to a doctor actually tries various herbs and medicines to
get rid of the poison. In fact, he burns the toe of the mother. Yet all the all
patient earth she forebears and to our amazement thanks the heavens since it
was her that was stung and not her children.
Answer the following questions.
1) Show the different qualities in the poet’s father and mother that are
brought out in the poem.
Ans:
The father is logical and scientific in his thinking and does not believe in
superstitions and blind beliefs. Yet when his wife is bitten by the scorpion he
is anything but logical. He tries out every curse and blessing, every possible
antidote. He summons the holy man to perform his rites and even pours paraffin
on the bitten to and ignites it. The mother suffers the bite of the scorpion.
She groans and moans on the mat twisting and turning in pain. As soon as the
poison loses its effect she thanks god for sparing her children. She epitomizes
motherhood and like a typical Indian mother is selfless in her love for her
children.
2) Examine the theme of the poem “Night of the Scorpion”.
Ans:
The theme of the poem is presented through an incident in which the poet's
mother is bitten by a scorpion on rainy night. The villagers on hearing of this
unfortunate event come to see her, praying to god and giving all kinds of
justifications for her suffering. With their prayers and words they try to
console the victim. The victim’s husband who is otherwise a sceptic and a
rationalist also gives in to every curse and blessing. The poem shows how when
a critical situation arises, human beings are always willing to help one
another. Common villagers show their simplicity and sympathy; though they are
not of much help, and give in to superstitions and false beliefs, they try to
help out. The father, though a sceptic and rationalist in normal circumstances,
yet in this moment of crisis, he gives in to the villagers' advice. The mother
bears the pain and suffering for twenty hours, writhing in pain and when she
recovers, she is thankful that she was bitten and not her children, bringing
out the maternal love of a mother for her children.
3) How did the peasants view the stinging in a positive manger?
Ans:
The peasants believed that the suffering would cleanse some of her sins of the
poet birth or of the next birth. With her suffering the balance of evil in this
world would be reduced. It would cleanse her soul and kill the spirit of desire
which is the root cause of suffering in the world. The hunt that the peasants
embark on in an effort to find the scorpion. They search with both candles and
lanterns, which throw shadows on the wall in the shape of a scorpion. This
image of the scorpion still being in the room (only in the form of shadow)
helps set the scene for the next lines as the peasants struggle to help the
mother. The shadow is representative of their primitive fears, that something
Evil is lurking just where they cannot see it. The search for the scorpion has
failed, they do not know, as the reader does, that the scorpion fled the house
at the beginning of the poem. This puts the reader in a position above those in
the poem; he/she has a greater knowledge of the situation than those
experiencing it.
4) How does the poet express his unsympathetic feelings towards
illiterates and their superstitions?
Ans:
Here Nissim Ezekiel in his poem night of the Scorpion, depicts a are very
tender situation of every Indian family. But though dealing with a very
sensitive theme - the theme of the speaker's mother, stung by a Scorpion, is
given multiple treatment, bringing in its sweep the world of magic and
superstition, science and rationality and above all material affection. He deliberately
withholds his own emotional colouring and this he does only to make us aware,
while reading the poem, of a traditional world of superstitions as against
another of scepticism and rationalism.
5) Critically appreciate the poem “Night of the Scorpion”.
Ans: The poem "Night of the Scorpion by
Nissim Ezekiel depicts the selflessness and unconditional love of a mother who
is stung by a scorpion. It also explains the care and affection of the
villagers and their efforts to comfort the pain of the mother. In the
poem poet tells about the love of a mother for her children. He depicts the
love in a very aesthetic way. The poet tells that once a mother was bite by a
scorpion due to which was in the pain but she was still very happy that her
child was not bite by the scorpion. After hearing the news about it the people
gathered and search for the scorpion but did not find it. In the end poet tells
about the views of the about mother's suffering of people. Everyone had the own
opinion. The poet shows that the love of a mother is countless no matter what
happens and a mother never think twice if she has to face situation like this.
This poem shows the value of the love in the world.
