1st PUC ENGLISH NOTES - AN OLD WOMAN - 2 MARKS / 3 MARKS / 4 MARKS - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1st PUC ENGLISH NOTES - AN OLD WOMAN - 2 MARKS / 3 MARKS / 4 MARKS - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
11 AN OLD WOMAN
Answer the
following questions 2 Marks Questions
1.
Who is the
central character in the poem “An Old Woman”?
Ans: The central character is an old
woman who follows the speaker, offering to guide him for fifty paise.
2.
Why does
the old woman follow the speaker?
Ans: She follows the speaker asking
for fifty paise in return for guiding him to the Horseshoe Shrine.
3.
What does
the poet compare the old woman to?
Ans: He compares her to a burr that
clings and cannot be shaken off easily.
4.
What is the
setting of the poem?
Ans: The poem is set in Jejuri, on
dry, barren hills near a historical temple.
5.
What does
the old woman offer in return for money?
Ans: She offers to take the speaker
to the shrine as a tourist guide.
6.
How does
the speaker initially feel about the old woman?
Ans: He feels annoyed, irritated,
and wants to get rid of her.
7.
What
changes the speaker’s attitude in the poem?
Ans: The old woman’s painful
question about her helpless condition changes his view.
8.
What do
the ‘cracks around her eyes’ represent?
Ans: They represent old age,
suffering, and the broken condition of society.
9.
What does
the phrase “so much small change” mean?
Ans: It means the speaker realizes
he is of little value compared to the woman’s strength.
10.
What does
the poet call the old woman in the end?
Ans: He calls her a “shatter-proof
crone,” meaning strong and unbreakable.
Answer the following questions 3 Marks Questions
1.
Describe
the encounter between the speaker and the old woman.
Ans: In the poem, the speaker meets
an old woman at a holy place in Jejuri. She grabs his sleeve and follows him
asking for fifty paise in return for guiding him to the shrine. Though the
speaker says he has already seen it, she continues to pester him. He finds her
irritating and tries to brush her off. But when she says, “What else can an old
woman do on hills as wretched as these?” it touches his heart and changes his
attitude. He begins to see her pain, dignity, and silent strength.
2.
How is the
old woman portrayed in the poem?
Ans: The old woman is poor, old, and
persistent. She clings to the speaker, asking for a small amount of money. She
is not a beggar but offers a service in return. Her eyes look like bullet holes
showing suffering. Her wrinkled skin has deep cracks, symbolizing the pain of
the poor and the aged. She is determined and strong despite her condition. The
poet finally sees her not as a burden but as part of India's forgotten legacy.
Her presence makes the poet reflect on society and his own attitude.
3.
What
realization does the speaker have at the end of the poem?
Ans: At the end, the speaker
realizes that the old woman is not just a nuisance. She represents the broken
condition of society, especially how we treat the old and the poor. Her suffering
eyes and cracked skin make him think about her dignity and strength. Though she
has nothing, she stands unshaken. The speaker feels small and worthless
compared to her. This moment brings a deep change in his heart. He gains
respect for the woman and feels humbled by her presence and patience.
4.
What is
the message of the poem ‘An Old Woman’?
Ans: The poem shows how we often
ignore or look down on the old and poor. The old woman in the poem may seem
like a beggar, but she is full of strength and pride. Her condition reflects
the problems of poverty, unemployment, and society’s failure to care for the
elderly. Through her, the poet wants us to open our eyes and change how we view
such people. The real heritage of a country is not only temples or monuments
but the people—especially the old—who have lived through hardships and still
survive with courage.
5.
What is
the symbolic meaning of ‘cracks’ in the poem?
Ans: The ‘cracks’ in the old woman’s
face symbolize more than just age. They show the harshness of her life, the
pain she has endured, and the ignorance of society. As the poem progresses,
these cracks seem to spread beyond her skin to the hills, the temple, and even
the sky. This symbolizes that society, heritage, and beliefs are also broken.
Yet, the old woman remains strong, showing that human spirit can survive even
when everything around is falling apart.
Answer the following questions 4 Marks Questions
1.
How does
Arun Kolatkar highlight the condition of old people in the poem ‘An Old Woman’?
Ans: Arun Kolatkar uses the old
woman in the poem as a symbol of all elderly people who are ignored,
mistreated, or forgotten in society. She is old, poor, and helpless, but she
tries to earn something by working as a self-appointed guide. She holds onto
the speaker’s sleeve and follows him, asking for just fifty paise. He is
irritated and thinks she is a burden. However, when she asks, “What else can an
old woman do on hills as wretched as these?” he suddenly sees her life
differently. He realizes she has strength and dignity. The lines about the
“cracks around her eyes” spreading to the hills and sky show the deep pain she
carries, and how society itself is full of cracks. Despite all this, the old
woman stands unbroken. The poet calls her a “shatter-proof crone,” meaning
someone who has survived life’s toughest conditions. The poet wants the reader
to understand the value of old people. They are a part of our living heritage
and should be treated with care and respect. The poem encourages us to reflect
on how we look at the elderly and see the strength and courage in their
survival.
2.
Narrate
the experience of the speaker in ‘An Old Woman’.
Ans: In the poem, the speaker visits
Jejuri, a famous holy place. There, he meets an old woman who clings to his
sleeve and offers to take him to the shrine for fifty paise. Though the speaker
is irritated and says he has already seen the shrine, the woman continues to
follow him. She behaves like a guide, not a beggar, trying to earn with
dignity. Her persistence annoys him, and he tries to brush her off. But
suddenly, the woman asks, “What else can an old woman do on hills as wretched
as these?” This simple question shocks the speaker and changes his attitude. He
starts to see her differently. Her wrinkled face, cracked skin, and sunken eyes
make him realize the pain she has endured. These cracks spread to the hills,
the temples, and even the sky—showing how broken everything is. Yet, the old
woman remains firm and unshaken. The speaker feels humbled. He understands her
dignity and strength and feels he is nothing more than “small change” in her
hand. The poem ends with deep respect for the woman. The speaker learns to
value people, not just places.
3. Narrate the experience of the speaker in ‘An
Old Woman’.
OR
Discuss the plight of an old woman in reference to the
poem ‘An old woman’?
OR
How does the speaker’s attitude undergo a change in the
poem ‘An Old Woman’?
Ans: In ‘An Old Woman’ the narrator presents
a very common incident most tourists experience when they visit a historical
shrine. Such tourist places are usually crowded out by beggars, vendors and
tourist guides pestering tourists to give them alms or buy toys and trinkets or
to hire them as guides respectively. The first four stanzas portray the old
woman as ‘a burr’. The first stanza describes the narrator’s reaction. The
sixth and seventh stanzas describe the narrator’s reaction and also signal a
change in his attitude as well as his perspective towards old women. The poem
is a recollection of the narrator’s experience when he visited a historical
place on the barren hills of Jejuri town, which houses the famous legendary
‘Horseshoe’ shrine for Khandoba, the presiding deity at Jejuri. The poet
presents his experience dramatically helping the reader visualize it instantly.
As soon as he had landed in the place, an old beggar woman grabbed hold of his
sleeve and hobbled along with him, pestering him to give her a fifty paise coin
in return for which she would guide him to the horseshoe shrine. Though he told
her that he had already seen It, she persisted and did not let him go. At that
moment, the poet’s previous experience of dealing with old women coupled with
that incident makes the narrator express his annoyance and scorn for such old
women saying that they are like ‘a burr’ which cannot be brushed off easily. The
narrator, then turned around to face her and send her away with a decisive
look. Immediately, the old woman expressed her predicament stating that there
was nothing else to do on those wretched hills except begging. Her statement
shocked the narrator slightly. The old woman’s words triggered the moment of
transformation in him. This made him look at her eyes sunk deep inside her face
like two bullet holes and look right at the sky clearly through them. Her skin
is wrinkled and cracks begin to appear around her eyes and spread beyond her
skin. He feels that everything is falling apart. Everything is cracked and in
ruins. The cracks spread beyond her skin to the hills and the sky. There is a
catastrophe. The hills crack, the temples crack and the sky falls and shatters
like a sheet of glass except for the “shatterproof crone who stands alone”. At
this moment the poet realizes his own value. He has been reduced to a fifty
paisa coin in the hands of poverty, It is at this moment that the poet’s scorn
for the old woman changes to respect.
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