The Little Girl (Beehive)

Contents:

Important Questions with Answers

Title Justification

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FROM EXAMINATION POINT OF VIEW

1. What did the father ask for when he returned home from work?

The father, in a loud voice, asked for his tea to be brought into the drawing room. He also demanded for his slippers and the newspaper.

2. Why was Kezia afraid of her father?

Kezia was afraid of her father because he was a strict disciplinarian. He wanted Kezia to be perfect in everything. Also to Kezia, her father seemed to be a giant with big hands, neck especially his mouth when he yawned. He had never expressed his love for Kezia or spent some time with her or played with her because of which Kezia had never felt that fatherly affection when he was around.

3. In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?

Kezia’s grandmother was worried to see that Kezia didn’t share a loving bond with her father. So, she used to encourage Kezia to go to her father and mother in the drawing room on Sunday afternoons and have a nice talk with them. Grandmother also suggested that she should make a pin-cushion for her father as a gift for his approaching birthday.

4. What did Kezia’s mother ask her to do when her father returned from work? Do you think Kezia did that willingly? How can you say that?

Politely , Kezia’s mother would call her down and ask her to take off her father’s shoes when he returned from work. No, Kezia didn’t come down from her room willingly when father arrived. She walked slowly and timidly towards the drawing room where her father sat and reluctantly took off his shoes.

5. What sort of conversation happened between the father and the daughter in the evenings?

The father and the daughter didn’t have any affectionate conversation. In the evenings, when father returned from work, he would strictly ask Kezia if she had been a good girl that day or not. He would order her to take his teacup back and reprimanded her for not answering him clearly. He would even scold Kezia for being so unhappy.

6. Sundays are usually spent with the family, eating, playing or watching movies together. But for Kezia Sundays were different. Elaborate.

Sunday is usually a family day. Families sit together and talk, laugh, cook or go for an outing on a Sunday. Time spent together like this helps to bring the family members close to each other. But for Kezia Sundays were different. At the insistence of her grandmother, she used to go to the drawing room on Sundays to sit with her parents and spend some good time with them. But she always found her father sleeping on the sofa with his handkerchief on his face & feet on one of the best cushions. Even her mother paid no attention to the child and kept herself busy reading. Kezia used to sit on a stool nearby and wait for her father to wake up but when father woke up, he rather scolded Kezia for sitting there and staring at him.

7. Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?

Kezia always felt nervous in front of her father. She wanted to please him. When grandmother told her to make a pin-cushion out of yellow silk for her father on his birthday, she readily agreed. With much effort, she stitched the three sides of the cushion and then needed something to fill in the cushion. Since grandmother was out in the garden, she went to her mother’s bedroom and found a bundle of sheets lying on the bed-table. Finding nothing else, she took those sheets, tore them and stuffed them into her cushion and sewed the fourth side. Those were the sheets of her father’s important speech. When father was not able to find his speech, he became angry and called Kezia. Her father became so upset at this that he hit Kezia on her palms with a ruler without even listening to her.

Thus, all her effort to please her father resulted in upsetting him even more.

8. Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. Why?

One day Kezia saw her neighbour Mr. Mcdonald playing with his five children in their garden. He was laughing with them. The baby was sitting on his shoulders, the two girls were hanging on to his coat pockets running round and round. She also saw the boys turning the hose towards him but Mr Mcdonald didn’t scold them. He rather laughingly caught the boys and played with them. Looking at them having fun with each other, she felt that there must be different types of fathers, some like Mr. Mcdonald and some like her father.

9. What kind of father was Mr Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?

Mr. Mcdonald was a loving and caring father. He had five children. He was often seen playing and having fun with his children. He was never angry or irritated with them, not even when his boys turned the hose towards him. He was always in a jolly mood with them. On the other hand Kezia’s father was a strict disciplinarian. Kezia had never seen him smiling. He didn’t play with Kezia like Mr. Mcdonald. Even on Sunday’s he preferred to sleep rather than spend some time talking to his daughter. When Kezia had torn his speech because she needed something to fill the cushion, he hit Kezia on her little pink palms. Kezia never felt secure in the presence of her father, she always dreaded him.

10. One night there was a hue and cry in the house. What was the reason for it?

One night father was not able to find his very important speech for the Port Authority. Father was very angry because of this. All the rooms were searched, servants were questioned and then Kezia was asked. Kezia admitted to her mother that she had taken those papers, and torn them for her surprise. She was taken to her father, who was pacing up and down the room in rage by this time. He didn’t listen to her explanation and punished her by hitting on her little palms with a ruler.

11. How did Kezia react to her father’s scoldings?

Father was very angry at Kezia for tearing his important speech. He was so furious that he didn’t listen to any of her explanations. Kezia cried bitterly and couldn’t speak anything. She kept sobbing inside her room all evening. But father wanted to teach her a lesson so that she would never touch anyone’s things without their permission. He hit her with a ruler on her soft pink palms. She screamed with pain and cried. Later, she was consoled by her grandmother but she became so scared of her father that whenever she came across him, she hid both her hands behind her back and her cheeks became red with fear.

12. What nightmare haunted Kezia and what do you think it signified?

Kezia was a sensitive girl. She was haunted by a nightmare in which she saw a butcher with a knife and a rope, who came nearer and nearer and smiled dreadfully at her. The nightmare was so terrifying that she couldn’t move, just stood still and shouted for her grandma. She would then wake up shivering.

The nightmare was actually a reflection of Kezia’s subconscious mind. She was afraid of her father to such an extent that she couldn’t speak properly in front of him. She would avoid all such situations where she had to face him. Thus, the butcher in her nightmare actually represented her father.

13. How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?

One day Kezia’s mother got ill and was taken to the hospital. Grandmother had to stay in the hospital to take care of her mother. So Kezia was left alone at hme in the care of her father and their cook, Alice. Sometimes while sleeping, Kezia had a nightmare and grandma would come and take her to her bed. But now grandma was not there. This made Kezia nervous. At night Kezia had that same dream and she called out for her grandma. When she opened her eyes, she found her father standing there with a candle in his hand. He took Kezia to his room and laid her on his bed by his side. Kezia felt secure and comfortable with her father. She snuggled her head under his arm and held tightly to his shirt. She realized that her father was hard from outside but had a very soft heart. He worked from morning till evening and thus was too tired to play with her. She understood that she had made him angry by tearing his important speech. With her head on his heart, she appreciated the big heart of her father and felt that he too needed their attention and care.

14. The story ‘The Little Girl’ presents Kezia’s mother as an insensitive mother. Discuss.

In the story ‘The Little Girl’ Kezia makes every effort to come close to her parents. She fears her father to such an extent that she stammers in front of him. But Kezia’s mother doesn’t try to help her daughter overcome her fear. She is never seen talking or counseling her daughter. Even on Sunday afternoons, when Kezia went to the drawing room to spend some time with her parents, at the insistence of her grandmother, her father kept sleeping and mother kept reading rather than talking to or playing with her. Her mother’s insensitivity is highlighted when she doesn’t stop Kezia’s father from hitting her. She doesn’t even go to check upon Kezia after father had hit her with a ruler. Mothers are always protective about their children and raise them with love, care and affection. Even when a child makes a mistake, mothers correct the child patiently and calmly. However , Kezia's mother doesn’t seem to be loving and caring towards her.

15. Kezia’s mother’s illness proved to be a blessing in disguise for Kezia. Justify.

Kezia was very scared of her father. She used to stammer in front of him. She could never think of spending time with him. One day Kezia’s mother became ill and had to be hospitalized. Kezia’s grandmother stayed at the hospital to take care of her. Because of this Kezia was left alone at home in the care of her father & their cook. At night Kezia had a nightmare and she screamed for her grandmother. Listening to her screams, father came to her room and carried her to his bed. He laid Kezia by his side and slept with her. Kezia crawled close to her father and held on to his shirt for security. She could hear her father’s heartbeat next to hers. Her father comforted her in the absence of her mother and her grandmother. At that moment, Kezia realised that her father was not that bad. He was too tired from the day’s work to play with her. Kezia felt that it wasn’t necessary for her father to be like Mr. Macdonald. For the first time she experienced the warmth of fatherly affection. Thus, her mother's illness truly proved to be a blessing in disguise for her.

16. For Kezia her father was a figure to be feared and avoided. Determine.

Kezia was a sensitive little girl. She didn’t share a loving bond with her father. Her father came to her every morning to give her a goodbye kiss before going to work. But it used to be just a casual kiss to which she too answered coldly. It was a relief for her to hear her father’s carriage go. When her father returned in the evening, she didn’t show even the slightest excitement. Rather she stood nervously on one side and pulled off father’s shoes as asked by her mother hesitantly. Her father’s looks frightened her, he seemed to be like a giant to her. She was so scared of her father that she stuttered in front of him. After the incident when her father had hit her on her little pink palms with a ruler, she became terrified of his presence. Whenever she saw her fathehide her after this, she used to quickly hide her hands behind her back. The innocent child even questioned her grandmother about the need for fathers. Thus, for Kezia her father was a figure to be feared and avoided.

17. How did father make Kezia comfortable in the absence of her grandma?

Since grandma had gone to the hospital to take care of Kezia’s mother who was not keeping well, Kezia was alone at home with her father at night. At night she had the same frightful nightmare and she shouted for her grandmother. She woke up shivering and found her father standing beside her bed with a candle in his hand. Her father understood that she had a dreadful dream. So he picked her up and took her to his room and carefully tucked up his daughter. He then lay beside her. Kezia was still horrified, so she crept close to her father and snuggled her head under his arm and held tightly to his shirt. She was feeling secure with her father. She was not afraid of the dark anymore. Father asked her to rub her feet against his legs for warmth because she was shivering with fear. Since father was tired because of the day’s work, he slept before Kezia but only after making her comfortable.

18. Justify the title ‘The Little Girl’.

The story ‘The Little Girl’ revolves around a little girl named Kezia. It traces the emotions of the little girl from fear & dread of her father to sympathy for him. Kezia, in the story, is so scared of her father that she stutters in front of him. She tries to win his affection by making a present for him but ends up making him angry. The story talks about the extent of the fear and pain that the little girl goes through because of the strict and indifferent behaviour of her father that she questions her grandmother about the need of fathers. The little girl feels why her father cannot be like Mr. Mcdonald. Amidst such emotions, when she is left alone with her father one day, the way her father takes care of her, the way she feels secure with him, makes her realise that her father has a big heart. She finds that her father works hard for them and thus is too tired to play with her. The little girl understands in the end that of course there are different sorts of fathers and every father cannot be like Mr. Mcdonald. However this doesn’t mean that her father is not caring and loving. Thus, the little girl’s heart is filled with affection and care for her father. Hence the title is justified.