QnA 1
‘His very perfection had led to a series of ‘evasions’ on the part of Mr and Mrs Bramble.
Explain.
Bill and his wife knew that their son Harold was a child prodigy. He was excellent in his studies and behaviour. Both were made to believe that Harold would be ashamed to know that his father was a boxer. So, they were a bit afraid of him. They continued to hide the truth from Harold.
When Mr Bramble came to know that he was to become a father what were some of the names he decided upon ? Why ?
Mr Bramble thought about the names of famous sports persons for his child. He wanted to name his child John, if a boy, after Mr John L Sullivan, or if a girl, Marie, after Miss Marie Lloyd. It was so because he wanted his child to earn name and fame as a sportsperson.
'My dear sir, do nothing hasty. Think before you speak. Don't go and be so silly as to act like a mutton-head. I'd be ashamed to be so spiteful. Respect a father's feelings.'
(i) Who is speaking to whom?
(ii)Explain ... 'to act like a mutton-head'.
(iii) The statement "I'd be ashamed to be so spiteful' implies what?
(i) Bill Bramble is speaking to Jerry Fisher.
(ii) "To act like a mutton-head' means behaving like a fool.
(iii) He would be ashamed by causing an intentional injury to his son.
What was a constant source of amazement to Mrs Bramble?
The constant source of amazement to Mrs Bramble was that how Harold was so different from his father, who is a professional boxer and Harold did not possess any character trait of his father, who has been nationally acclaimed, 'Young Porky', the boxer. Unlike his father, he was a model student of his class.
Which event was Mrs Bramble waiting for that could end all her anxieties ?
Mrs Bramble was waiting for the last fight her husband would have with Murphy. Even if Mr Bramble would lose he was to get a hundred and twenty pounds. That amount, Mrs Bramble thought, would end all her worries and enable them to lead a comfortable life.
How did Mr Percy try to dissuade Mr Bramble from taking part in the boxing contest ?
Mr Percy, Mrs Bramble’s brother, tried to dissuade Mr Bramble from taking part in the boxing contest. He sent him letters and tracts. He told him about the bad consequences if his son Harold came to know about his real profession.
'Yet Harold, defying the laws of heredity, had run to intellect as his father had run to muscle. He had learned to read and write with amazing quickness. He sang in the choir.
(i) Explain ......... 'Defying the laws of heredity'.
(ii) Harold's intellect is known by____
(iii) The difference between Harold and his father is____
(i) 'Defying the laws of heredity means that he became an intellectual, unlike his boxer father.
(ii) Harold's intellect is known by learning to read and write with amazing quickness, as well as his singing in the choir.
(iii) Harold loved studies and his father loved boxing. Harold was unaware of his father's ability while his father was aware of Harold's abilities.
Justify the title "Keeping it from Harold"
The title 'Keeping It From Harold' clearly describes that there must be a secret that has been kept away from Harold. The secret was the real identity of Harold's father's profession. He was a professional boxer and it was a secret because of Harold's extraordinary skills and his intellectual ability. His father got afraid, thinking that Harold would be hurt to know about his father's profession.
What was strange about the manner in which Mrs. Bramble addressed her son? What did he feel about it?
Harold did not like the manner in which Mrs. Bramble addressed her son. Nor did he relish the habit of his mother referring to herself in the third person. She spoke as if she were addressing a baby .Harold was a young man of 10 and he felt bad about it.
What tells you of Harold’s interest in boxing ?
Harold himself speaks about his interest in boxing and boxers. He tells how one of his friends has a snapshot of Jimmy Wilde. He wants his father to defeat Jimmy Murphy to get a chance with Sid Sampson for the Lonsdale belt.
A chap takes the trouble to study form and saves up his pocket money to have a bet on a good thing and then he goes and gets let down like this . It may be funny to you, but I call it rotten. And another thing I call rotten is you having kept it from me all this time that you were, 'Young Porky', pa.
(i) Who is speaking to whom?
(ii) 'It may be funny to you, but I call it rotten'. What does this statement imply?
(iii) What is the irony here?
(i) Harold is speaking to his father.
(ii) The statement implies that Harold studied hard and saved his pocket money to bet on boxers but he got let down because Bill was not fighting the bout now.
(iii) Here the irony is that he was fond of boxing celebrities and the fact that he himself was the son of a celebrity was kept secret from him.
Who was Jerry Fisher? How did he persuade Bill to take the fight?
Jerry Fisher was the trainer of Bill Bramble. He was angry with Bill for deciding not to fight. He tried to convince him that he would earn a lot of money if he fought. He said he should also think of all the troubles he had gone through to earn name and fame as a boxer
Comment on the note of irony in the resolution of the story ‘Keeping it from Harold’.
Keeping it from Harold abounds in irony. Brambles tried their best to hide the true profession of Mr. Bramble from Harold. Even though Bill Bramble was proud of his boxing, he kept on underestimating it for years with a sense of superiority for his son’s intellect without knowing that a celebrity boxer’s autograph was a bit achievement for Harold’s generation. Harold was hurt that even though he was the son of a celebrity boxer, he had been deprived of the opportunity to show it off in his school.
Harold was a model child but for one thing that marred his ‘perfe ction’. What was it ?
Harold was a model child, different from ordinary children. He was fully devoted to his books. He was a model of good behaviour. But his ‘perfection’ was marred by deliberate falsehood on the part of his parents. His parents evaded the truth and lied to him about his father’s profession.
One chap's got a snapshop of Jimmy Wilde. At least he says it's Jimmy Wilde, but I believe it's just some ordinary fellow. Anyhow, its jolly blurred, so it might be anyone. Pa, can't you give me a picture of yourself boxing? I could swank like anything. And you do't know how sick a chap gets of having chaps call him. 'Goggles'.
(i) Who is Jimmy Wilde in the extract?
(ii) Why is Harold not sure that the person in the photograph is Jimmy Wilde?
(iii) Why does Harold want Bill's snap?
(i) Jimmy Wilde is a famous boxer.
(ii) Harold thought that snapshot was just of an ordinary person because he could not imagine that it can be of a famous boxer, Jimmy Wilde, as it was very blurred.
(iii)Harold wanted his father's snap because he wants to boast of being the son of a boxing legend and he does not want to be called 'Goggles'.
“Before him on the tablecloth lay an open book. His powerful brain was plainly busy.”
Who is he referred to here?
What kind of person he is?
Give the meaning of ‘plainly’
He is Harold, Mr. Bramble’s son.
He is a studious lad, an intellectual type.
‘clearly’
Why did Bill decide not to fight American Murphy?
Bill was keeping his profession from Harold. He was reluctant to be in the limelight as it could let the cat out of the bag. When Percy explained to him that his fight with Murphy would be a national affair he realized that it could create a media frenzy and therefore reveal his true identity to Harold. Bill couldn’t bear this very possibility and decided to quit his last fight with American Murphy even though it could have provided for Harold’s education.
Was Mr Bramble ashamed of his profession ? Why did he agree to the suggestion that he should conceal his professional identity from his son ?
Mr Bramble had been proud of being a professional boxer before the birth of Harold. He was the most obliging of men. After Harold's birth, when he was asked to suppress his profession for the better development of his child by the senior curate of the parish and his brother-in-law Percy, he agreed to the suggestion without demur.
He was a self-centered child and accepting the commercial traveller fiction, dismissed the subject from his mind and busied himself with things of more moment.
(i)More moment here means ____
(ii)Explain 'accepting the commercial traveller fiction'.
(iii)Which subject is regarded as trivial?
(i) Here 'more moment' means importance.
(ii) 'Accepting the commercial traveller fiction' means that Harold believed the story of Bill being a commercial traveller.
(iii) The subject regarded as trivial is the profession of professional boxing (his father's actual job). The parents and the story treat boxing as something lowly or undignified, contrasting it with Harold's academic and refined pursuits, even though the father is a skilled and successful boxer
“Percy, if you don’t keep quiet, I’ll forget I’m your sister and let you have one. What do you mean, Bill, you’ve come home? Isn’t there going to be the fight next week, after all? …The fight’s over… said the unsuppressed Major, joyfully, and Bill’s won, with – me seconding him.”
Why was Mrs. Bramble angry ?
What had Bill told her?
Give the meaning of ‘unsuppressed’.
Mrs. Bramble was angry at her husband for his withdrawal of the match which in turn would affect the prize money that is essential for their son’s education.
Bill had told her that Mr. Bramble had come back with the idea of not to fight.
‘not preventing oneself to express feelings’.