2ND PUC ENGLISH NOTES - TO THE FOOT FROM ITS CHILD

 

TO THE FOOT FROM ITS CHILD

 

Comprehension I

1) What would the foot like to be?

Ans: The foot would like to be an apple or a butterfly.

 

2) ‘The child’s foot is not yet aware it’s a foot’ (line 1 of the poem) conveys

a) the immense possibilities of life   b) the unrestricted nature of a child’s imagination                                  c) the child’s ignorance of harsh realities.

Ans: b) the unrestricted nature of a child’s imagination and  c) the child’s ignorance of harsh realities.

 

3) What does time teach the child?

Ans: Time teaches the foot that it cannot fly and also cannot be a fruit on the branch of a tree.

 

4) The line ‘stones and bits of glass, streets, ladders and the paths in the rough earth’ a) indicates hardships one has to face in life.         b) provides a mere description of a road. c) suggests the good and bad experiences of growing up.

Ans:a) indicates hardships one has to face in life.

 

5) Why does the child’s foot feel defeated?

Ans: The child’s foot has to live like a prisoner, condemned to live in a shoe, and it can never be free to escape from the difficulties of life. So, the child’s foot feels defeated.

 

6) Mention the words that convey the real experiences of the foot.

Ans: The words earth’ convey the real experiences of the child’s foot are stones and bits of glass, streets, ladders, and the paths in the rough.

 

7) Identify the lines in the poem that suggest the transformation of the foot.

Ans: Lines 17 – 28 suggest the transformation of the foot. “These soft nails of quartz ……… ……… a coarsening hard to accept.”

 

8) “….. condemned to live in a shoe” suggests that the foot is

a) a prisoner                  b) a criminal        c) forced to give up its dreams

Ans: a) a criminal and c) forced to give up its dreams.

 

9) What does the line ‘until the whole man chooses to stop’ mean?

Ans: The line, ‘until the whole man chooses to stop’ means until the person dies.

 

10) What does the foot do throughout life?

Ans: Throughout its life, the foot keeps walking without respite. It walks through fields, mines, markets, and ministries until death.

 

11) What does the phrase ‘condemned to live in a shoe’ mean?

Ans: The phrase ‘condemned to live in a shoe’ means it has to live like other human beings, in human society.

 

12) Where did the foot descend after it ceased to be?

Ans: The foot descends underground after it ceased to be.

 

13) What did the foot find when it descended underground?

 Ans: When the foot descended underground, it found everything dark there.

 

14) What form do the detailed toes of a child take on as they grow?

Ans: The pitied toes of a child grow bunched and out of trim, take on the form of eyeless reptiles with triangular heads, like worms.

 

15)  Where is the child’s foot condemned to live?

Ans: The child’s foot is condemned to live in a shoe.

 

16) What teaches the foot that it cannot fly?

Ans: As the child’s foot grows in time and starts walking on stones and bits of glass, streets, ladders, etc., it learns that it cannot fly.

 

17) Where did the foot descend?

 Ans: The foot descended underground after its death.

 

18) What does the foot not realize at the end of the poem?

Ans: The foot does not realize that it is dead and has ceased to be a foot at the end of the poem.

 

19) What, according to the speaker, is the child’s foot not yet aware in ‘To the Foot from its Child’?

Ans: In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the child’s foot is not yet aware that it is a foot.

 

20) What is out of touch with its fellow in the poem, ‘To the Foot from its Child’?

Ans: In the poem, ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the child’s foot is out of touch with its fellow.

 

21) Who feels out life like a blind man in the poem, ‘To the Foot from its Child’?

Ans: The child’s foot having been imprisoned in a shoe feels out life like a blind man.

 

22) How long does the foot walk, in ‘To the Foot from its Child’?

Ans: In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the foot walks until the whole man chooses to stop and descends underground.

 

23) In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, the foot scarcely takes time to bare itself in

a) rest or peace    b) love or sleep    c) death or dream.

Ans: b) love or sleep.

 

24) In ‘To the Foot from its Child’, when descending underground, the foot finds everything a) dark       b) rough     c) coarse

 Ans: a) dark.

 

Comprehension II

1) We think of a foot as a part of the human body, but Neruda says ‘To the Foot From its Child’. Why?

Ans: We think about a foot actually as having a place with an individual yet Neruda finds in a philosophical manner and says "To The Foot From Its Child". In spite of the fact that it has a place with an individual truly, thoughtfully like the youngster who is the image of honesty, the foot additionally thinks about its future. In any case, in adulthood, it faces numerous difficulties of life and gets a general encounter and has a significant existence until the end. At last, it is assaulted by diseases and gave up to death.

 

2) Pick out the expressions that suggest the child’s imagination is fertile.

Ans: The expressions, ‘to be a butterfly’, or ‘an apple’, ‘cannot fly’, ‘cannot be a fruit bulging on the branch’ suggest that the child’s imagination

3) What contrasting descriptions of the foot does the poem offer? Why?

 Ans: The artist Pablo Neruda presents a differentiating depiction of a kid's foot and a grown-up's foot in order to outline the progressions that are found in an individual's life as the person changes from a baby into a grown-up, until his demise. At first, the kid or the baby's foot has delicate nails of quartz and its toes are small, delicate, and adjusted at the tips like the petals of certain blossoms. As the youngster figures out how to walk and starts strolling on stones, pieces of glass, roads, ladders and the harsh surface of the earth, the kid's foot gets mindful of its job. It discovers that it is a foot and can't turn into a butterfly or a swelling natural product on a tree. When it understands that it is a foot, it is crushed in understanding its goals and gets detained in a shoe. Inside the shoe, it attempts to comprehend the world in its own particular manner, alone, similar to a visually impaired man grabbing in obscurity. During this period its delicate nails of quartz become obscure, are grouped together, and seem as though eyeless reptiles with three-sided heads, become callused, and are covered with faint volcanoes of death. These progressions happen in light of the fact that, when the kid's foot turns into a grown-up's foot, it strolls as the foot of a man or lady and continues to stroll in the fields as a rancher, or as a food merchant in the business sectors, or as a digger in the mines or as a congregation serve or an administration specialist, until its demise. Accordingly, the foot encounters the difficulties of life and loses its 'delicate' and extravagant petal-like structure.

4) The poem begins with the idea that a child’s foot is not yet aware that it is afoot; at the end, the foot is unaware that it had ceased to be afoot. What is the poet trying to convey through these statements?

 Ans: In this sonnet, 'foot' is metaphor for ‘life’. The poet Neruda utilizing the foot as a similitude to investigate 'life' through its different stages from outset through childhood till the very end. At the point when the poem starts, the 'foot' is the baby's foot which recommends man's 'adolescence'. The kid's foot doesn't realize that it is hatching. This state alludes to the innocence of youth where 'Man' has numerous fantasies and desires. The kid's desire to turn into a butterfly or an apple represents man's yearnings and dreams. When the youngster's foot enters this present reality, it kicks off strolling more than stones, pieces of glass, roads, stepping stools, and the unpleasant surface of the earth. Consequently, as the youngster develops throughout some stretch of time, the kid's foot understands that it is just a 'foot' and can't become organic product or a butterfly. At that point, since it needs to serve its part as in progress, it is detained in a shoe. Inside the shoe, it attempts to comprehend the world alone, in segregation. The kid's foot, as it develops old, fills in as the foot of a man or a lady working in the fields, or market or mines or services and works hard day and night until it passes on. At the point when it bites the dust, the foot loses its human mindfulness and that is the reason when it is covered the foot again gets its youngster like honesty. It again fantasies about turning into an apple or a butterfly. It is this excursion from adolescence through adulthood and the last demise that the sonnet centers around. Pablo Neruda is saying that life and demise are essential for a constant cycle. Furthermore, the artist wishes to say that the opportunity of adolescence is lost when an individual turns into a grown-up and faces an existence of steady work and battle. Accordingly, life removes individuals' nonconformists until they are liberated again by death.

 

5) How does Neruda describe the busy life of the individual as represented by the foot?

 Ans: The 'foot' is utilized as a metaphor for life and the foot alludes to the foot of a person. When the child develops into an adult, the adult continues strolling without break either as a man or as a lady. The individual consumes his time on earth working either as a farmer in a field, or as a miner in mines, or as a sales rep on the lookout or as an administration servant or as a church minister. This way the individual works hard in the public eye until his demise.

 

6) What does the last stanza of the poem mean? Can you think of parallels in nature?

Ans: In this poem, 'foot' is utilized as a metaphor for ‘life’. Life alludes to the existence of a person as seen from his outset until his passing. Pablo Neruda gives his perspective on 'life' and 'passing' in this sonnet. The sonnet doesn't start with the start of life in the belly of its mom yet from the time after it has taken birth on the earth. The sonnet covers the time of its earliest stages to death and past. The 'foot' as depicted in the sonnet alludes to the youngster's foot. Since a kid doesn't know about its restrictions and lives in a fantasy universe of creative mind, the kid's foot wishes to fly like a butterfly or become a bulging apple on the part of a tree. Over a period of time, it understands that it is just a foot and its job is just to fill in as a foot.

 

The poet at that point alludes to the 'adult food' after death or a person in the afterlife. When an individual bites the dust, the person is regularly covered. It is this entombment of the dead body of the person that is communicated in the line “it descended underground unaware, for there, everything was dark”. When the 'foot' or the individual dies, it loses its human mindfulness and returns to its youngster like honesty. This is communicated in the sentence 'It never realized it had stopped to be a foot'. That is the reason, similar to a kid's foot which doesn't know that it is just a ‘foot’; it tries to turn into a butterfly and fly or become an apple.

 

One can discover several parallels in nature. All living creatures brought into the world on the earth go through the pattern of birth and demise. A seed germinates to give a seedling. The seedling develops into a grown-up plant, may turn into a tree or a bush, and pass on. Its seeds rejuvenate a comparable plant once more. Essentially, the eggs of creatures incubate and deliver their young ones which develop, develop, lay eggs and later bite the dust. Their eggs rejuvenate back comparative animals to life again.

 

 

Comprehension III

1) Examine how Neruda’s poem works out the contrast between colorful dreams and the humdrum reality of life.

 Ans: The poem, 'To the Foot from its Child', presents a difference between beautiful dreams and the uninteresting truth of life. The writer passes on his perspective on life through his portrayal of a foot. The foot is an allegory for communicating the squashing of a kid's soul through the difficulties and limitations that life places upon him. One can without a doubt gather that the sonnet is essentially an analysis of how individuals power kids to fill in the public arena and fail to remember everything they could ever want and minds.

 

With the end goal of depicting the powers that catch the kid's opportunity and desires, the artist starts the sonnet saying something straightforwardly that the kid's foot, which doesn't know that it is a foot, might want to be a butterfly or an apple. From this one can induce that man's soul fantasies about getting a charge out of limitless opportunity in this world yet it comes to realize that it can't appreciate limitless opportunity and needs to go through a few hindrances before it develops into a grown-up. However, on schedule, stones and pieces of glass, roads, stepping stools, and ways in the unpleasant earth continue showing the foot that it can't fly. As the baby is developing and forming into a develop grown-up, he is presented to the unforgiving real factors of life which are allegorically communicated as stones, pieces of glass, stepping stool, road, and so on These are the issues and hindrances an individual needs to confront. Accordingly, when the youngster turns into a kid, a juvenile, and a grown-up, the issues of life encourage the person that he is a 'mortal' and his forces are restricted and can just serve the general public as a part like other individuals. This sense is communicated in the line 'that it can't fly, can't turn into a leafy foods crushed, falls in the fight, is a detainee sentenced to live in a shoe'. Here, the 'shoe ‘can be interpreted as meaning the human culture that manages his brain and exercises.

 

Wearing the shoe alludes to the baby turning into a develop grown-up. Not long after entering adulthood, the individual investigates 'life ‘within the shoe. He puts some distance between the truths of the rest of the world however encounters the world through the eyes of society. This again implies that a ton of limitations are forced on the person. Since he is a grown-up he continues strolling without rest through the fields, mines, markets, and services. The line 'this foot works in its shoe, hardly setting aside effort to exposed itself in affection or rest' communicates the way that once he understands that he is a man bound to live in a general public, he figures out how to confront the unexceptional real factors of life. He has no an ideal opportunity to allow his human soul to enjoy 'love' and 'rest'. He is a prisoner and keeps on working until he dies. When he kicks the bucket his soul loses its human mindfulness and is by and by as free as the youngsters.

 

2) Neruda’s poem is a salute to the ordinary human being, who continues with life braving all odds. Do you agree? Give reasons.

Ans: Yes. In this poem, Neruda attempts to portray the excursion of human 'existence' from its early stages to death and past. With the end goal of communicating the progressions that the 'existence soul' goes through its excursion from a baby to a grown-up and past death, Neruda utilizes 'foot' as a similitude. That is the reason he calls 'life' during early stages as the baby foot and the existence soul of a grown-up as the grown-up foot. The entire sonnet can be summarized as the 'give up' of life power to cultural pressing factors. During outset, the kid's soul longs for endless prospects and thus fantasies about turning into an organic product or a butterfly. When it begins filling in the public eye the brutal real factors of life communicated as 'stones, pieces of glass, stepping stool, and unpleasant surface of the earth', instruct the baby soul that it is a 'foot' which signifies ‘you have a role’ to play in the society and ‘you are an individual subservient to the whims and fancies of the society’.

 

When the baby soul steadily acknowledges its loss and attempts to live in similarity with the standards of the general public, it turns into a grown-up. This is communicated allegorically as the 'foot being detained in a shoe'. When you become an individual from the general public you figure out how to live like others, surrendering your delights and continuously you become acquainted with the real factors of life. You continue trudging for the duration of your existence without enjoying 'love and rest' which emblematically address your privileges on this planet. You forego your privileges and live like a grown-up and serve the general public until you pass on and you get your opportunity after your demise. However long your life soul is in your body you have human mindfulness and you know about your limits. When you pass on you lose human mindfulness and your soul is allowed to make the most of its opportunity. In the sonnet, Neruda doesn't discuss the prospects of the human soul 'revolting'. Nor does he say that human soul is being squashed by severe powers; the human soul doesn't end it all. Actually, he portrays the excursion of the human soul as a newborn child's foot until it turns into a grown-up foot and after its demise how it turns out to be free once more. From this, it tends to be contended that Neruda's sonnet is a salute to the human soul for overcoming all chances and finishing one's pattern of life and demise calmly, and not rebelliously.

 

3) Is Neruda criticizing how society crushes childhood dreams and forces people into rigid moulds?

Ans: Yes, in this story clear sonnet, Neruda has endeavored to outline the quandary of man as a detainee oppressed by society. Utilizing 'foot' as an analogy forever', 'he portrays the excursion of life from that of a 'baby foot' to an ‘adult foot' until its passing and after. In the initial two lines itself; the writer pronounces the wish of adolescence. The baby's foot doesn't know that it is a 'foot' and subsequently might want to be a butterfly or an apple. These two items 'butterfly' and 'apple' together recommend that the baby's foot considers total opportunity to turn into anything it desires. Being conceived a person it can't try to turn into a butterfly or an apple. From this, we can derive that there is some limitation forced on us by birth itself. This is communicated in the line 'it doesn't know that it is brewing'. The newborn child food, when it begins developing, is presented to the available resources of the world. We live in human culture and nature, the words 'stones, pieces of glass, roads, stepping stools, and the ways in the harsh earth' allude to man's methods of living. This openness to man's way of living gets mindfulness the youngster that it is a foot. The artist recommends that the baby's foot is occupied with a fight with the general public and 'grown-ups' pulverize the youngster's perky soul and detain it in a shoe. This stage alludes to the manner in which the youngster gets accustomed to living in human culture.

 

Once it wears the ‘shoe’, which means, it accepts its identity as ‘man’, a member of the human society, he starts exploring the human world alone, groping in the dark like a blind man. There is a difference in the way an adult explores the world. As a child, it thinks of infinite possibilities; but, as an adult, it is aware of its limitations. This means the society has been successful in crushing childhood dreams and forcing the life spirit into the rigid moulds of society.

 

Since the entire poem just portrays different changes gone through by the human soul, we can't say that Neruda is censuring society for its stranglehold on the human soul. Furthermore, Neruda additionally says that the kid's foot doesn't realize that it is a foot. This implies, even Neruda realizes that the kid is conceived a person and is going to live in human culture. Thirdly, no place in the poem does Neruda say anything against cultural powers. Nonetheless, Neruda identifies with 'Man' at a certain point. He says, 'this foot works in its shoe hardly setting aside some effort to expose itself in adoration or rest'. These lines demonstrate that Neruda just feels for man's problem and doesn't scrutinize society.

 

4) ‘Foot’ is a keyword in the poem. Comment on Neruda’s skillful use of the word and its associations in terms of imagery to convey his ideas.

Ans: Pablo Neruda is the pen name and later the legitimate name of the Chilean writer representative and government official Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. The writer utilizes 'foot' as an allegory forever and centers around the progressions found in the change of a baby's foot into adulthood lastly passing. Generally we consider 'foot' as actually having a place with an individual however Neruda finds in a philosophical manner. In this sonnet, foot is a similitude forever. The artist utilizing the foot as an illustration investigates life' through its different stages from outset through adolescence till' the very end. The artist utilizes 'foot' as an illustration for the kid and depicts the fantasies and real factors of life. The child in the beginning.