SEVEN ELEVEN SCHOLASTIC SCHOOL

ACADEMIC YEAR 2023-24

NOTES

SUBJECT: ENGLISH LITERATURE

CLASS: VIII A/B

CHAPTER: FELLING OF THE BANYAN TREE

DATE:

NOTE: These notes are to be done in the notebook. The students must also read the
chapter thoroughly. Questions can be asked from any part of the chapter.

Summary (NOT TO BE WRITTEN IN NOTEBOOK)

This poem is based on the theme of how cutting down a tree is similar to murdering a
person. It is a strong indictment against the destruction of the environment that occurs
with the felling of the banyan tree. The tree itself becomes a symbol of the life we are
losing in our bid for modernization. The lingering image of the tree haunting the speaker
in his nightmares sends out a strong message.

A. Answer the questions with reference to context. (TO BE WRITTEN IN NOTEBOOK)

1. Trees are sacred my grandmother used to say/Felling them is a crime but he massacred them all

.a. Who is the speaker in these lines? Who is the person referred to as ‘he’?

Ans. The poet Dilip Chitre is the speaker.

Here ‘he’ is referred to the poet’s father.

b. Name the trees that were cut down. Why are ‘his’ actions referred to as a

‘crime’?
 Ans. The sheoga, the oudumber and the neem trees were cut down.

This was a crime because trees also have lives and this act was similar to killing a person.
Moreover, cutting down trees is also harmful for the environment, making it an even more
heinous act.

c. What else had this person done?

Ans. The poet’s father had asked the tenants to leave and demolished the structures, except for
their own house and the banyan tree.

d. What do you conclude about the speaker’s feelings from the lines?
Ans. The speaker was attached to the trees he had grown up seeing. He did not think what his
father did was correct.
2. My father ordered it to be removed.

a) What does the word ‘it’ refer to? Describe it in your own words.

Ans. ’It’ is referred to the banyan tree.

The banyan tree is three times tall than the poet’s house and its trunk bears a circumference
of fifty feet. It also had long aerial roots that hung to the ground.

b) What is ‘it’ compared to? Explain the figure of speech used here in your own words.
Ans. The banyan tree is compared to a problem.
The figure of speech used is a simile. The tree was like a situation that presents some
difficulty is being resolved. The banyan tree was not easy to cut down; therefore it is
compared to a problem.
c) How was it removed?
Ans. The woodcutters sawed off the branches over the period of almost one week. Then, fifty
men came to chop the tree down. It was a very long process.
d) What happened when it began to be ‘removed’?
Ans. The insects and birds who lived on that banyan tree began to leave, when that felling
began.
3. We watched in terror and fascination this slaughter.

a) Why did the speaker experience the opposing feelings of ‘terror’ and ‘fascination’?

Ans. The speaker uses the word ‘terror’ to indicate his fear at the merciless way in which the
gigantic banyan tree was chopped down. ‘Fascination’ indicates his awe at the strength and
majesty of the tree, and the sheer effort required to cut it down.

b) What did the ‘slaughter’ reveal?

Ans. The tree stump exposed to the world the age of the tree, two hundred years, as indicated by the
rings on it.
 c) Why is the slaughter referred to as ‘raw mythology’?
Ans. The word ‘raw’ indicates the hard truth, or reality, just the way it is. The stump of the tree
revealed the incredible age of the tree-two hundred years. It was so old that it was almost
mythical, and the hard facts about its age was laid bare before them when the tree was chopped
down.

d) Which other word in the poem, apart from ‘mythology’, suggests the special nature of the
banyan tree?
Ans. Apart from ‘mythology’, the word ‘great’ suggests the special nature of the banyan tree.
4. Where there are no trees except the one/Which grows and seethes in one’s dreams.

a) Which place does the word ‘where’ refer to? Where did the speaker’s family originally stay?

Ans. ’Where’ refers to the city of Bombay.

The speaker’s family originally stayed in a house on a hill in Baroda.

b) Which tree does the speaker refer to in the given lines? Is it a real tree?

Ans. The poet refers to the tree he keeps seeing in his dreams.
It is a vision of a tree seen in recurrent nightmares and not a real tree.

c) What does the tree do? Explain the phrase ‘grows and seethes in one’s dreams’.

Ans. The tree seems to be looking for ground to strike its roots, as if it wanted to take root once
more.
The image is of a banyan tree that seems to grow in size and vents its frustration at not being
able to strike roots on safe ground.
Figures of Speech in the Poem (Write in notebook- find one example for each from the
poem)
1. Imagery - Imagery is language used by poets, novelists and other writers to create images in
the mind of the reader. Imagery includes metaphorical language to improve the reader’s
experience through their senses.
2. Metaphor- It is a figure of speech that makes a comparison by directly relating one thing to
another unrelated thing. Unlike similes, metaphors do not use words such as “like” or “as” to
make comparisons.
3. Personification - Personification is a kind of metaphor in which you describe an inanimate
object, abstract thing, or non-human animal in human terms. It is used to create more
interesting and engaging scenes or characters.
4. Simile – Simile is a figure of speech where one uses “like” or “as” to compare two different
things and show a common quality between them. A simile is different from a simple
comparison in that it usually compares two unrelated things.
Note: The banyan tree has been personified by the poet as this is the tree that grows in his
dreams. The banyan tree is personified by the poet as the one that grows big in his dreams.
The trees seethe in his dream implying that he is writhing in agony in his dreams.