ON THE FACE OF IT- assignment

Theme: This play focusses on various themes:

 Treatment meted out towards the people with disabilities as people always view them
with sympathy and pity.
 People with disability yearn to be treated with inequality and want to uphold their
dignity and self-respect.
 Relationship between two people with disabilities Mr. Lamb and Derry.
 Feeling of isolation, low self-esteem, alienation and withdrawal from the society.
 Optimism vs Pessimism
Mr. Lamb
 Very optimistic, hopeful, full of vitality, vigour and enthusiasm.
 Enjoys the beauties and bounties of nature.
 He sees positivity in everything like the humming of bees instead of buzzing of bees.
 Greats Derry normally like he greets others, without making him realize about the
deformity of his face.
 Encourages and motivates Derry to come out of his cocoon and unfurl his wings into
the world of possibilities.
 Everyone who enters the garden is his friend and warmly greets them.
 The gate of his garden is always open and there are no curtains on the windows.
 Children call him Lamey Lamb and mock and jeer at him but he does not pay heed to
them.
 Acts as a harbinger of hope and happiness in the life of Derry and truly transform
him.
Derry
 Very pessimistic, introvert with low self-worth and low self-esteem.
 He loves being isolated and alienated and believes that everyone looks at him with
contempt and hatred.
 He has overheard people saying vile things about him due to his burnt face.
 He feels that his life will never transform like in the Beauty and the Beast as no girl
will ever kiss him which infers that no girl will ever love him for his intrinsic
qualities.
 In the end Derry breaks free from the shackles of his own inferiority complex and
returns to Mr. Lamb to make a new start but unfortunately by that time he is dead.
Attempt all the questions in your register
1. What is Derry’s belief about what people think of him?
Derry believed that nobody liked to look at him and play with him. People commented at his
face. They took pity on him and called him ‘a poor boy’. He heard somebody saying that he
had a terrible face which only a mother could love. He felt that his mother kissed him because
she had to, and even she kissed him on the other side of the face. He even doubted his
mother’s love which is the purest form of love on Earth. All his thoughts were enveloped by
an aura of pessimism which engulfed his entire self-confidence and made him a person full of
despair and despondency.
2. What terrible complex does Derry suffer from?
Derry suffered from an acute lack of self-esteem and rejection. He did not want to meet
anybody as he believed that people did not want to be friendly with him and flinched back on
seeing him. Due to all this he had self-alienated himself and avoided the company of other
people. His burnt face made him believe that he was ugly and thought that people could only
take pity on him or ridicule him. He had a pessimistic outlook towards life and failed to
realize his self-worth.
3.Why does Mr. Lamb tell the story of the man who locked himself up in the room?
Mr. Lamb wanted to emphasize that negative thoughts and fears shut you away from the
world and deter the growth of an individual. One must learn to accept all the aspects of life
and find joy in whatever is available. We need to have the power of resilience and combat
obstacles that come in our path. Indirectly he guided the boy to abandon his complex, hatred
and the malice in his heart. He wanted Derry to come out of his cocoon and realize his true
potential.
3. How does Mr. Lamb attempts to change Derry's attitude?
Mr. Lamb tries to show the positive side of living happily despite his physical impairment.
He makes an endeavour to take the boy out of his complex and self-hatred. Mr. Lamb gave
Derry the confidence to face the world and explore it. He wanted him to embrace the world
and fight all obstacles that have been holding him back from befriending other people. He
inspires and motivates him to accept himself and to move on in life.
4. What were the similarities in the lives of Mr. Lamb and Derry?
Mr. Lamb and Derry both suffer from physical impairment and both are lonely. They suffer
from isolation and yearn for friends. Both have faced a lot of criticism and ridicule in life.
Mr. Lamb is called ‘Lamey lamb’ and Derry has been called ‘a poor boy’ with a face which
only a mother could love. They both have to struggle in life but only differ in their
perspective as Mr. Lamb has a positive outlook towards life and Derry is full of pessimism.
5. What is Derry’s reaction when people call him ‘a poor boy’?
Derry hates being a subject of pity. He detests it when people make nasty remarks behind
him calling him ‘a poor boy’. Derry cannot understand why people keep looking at his burnt
face and wonder about the life he would lead. As a consequence of all this he isolates himself
and prefers to stay alone all the time.
6. What is the relevance of the story ‘Beauty and the Beast’?
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and the intrinsic beauty of an individual is more
important than the outer superficial beauty. Derry believes that this happens only in stories
for the beautiful princess loved the beast whole-heartedly and the beast changed into a
handsome prince, which can never happen to Derry. He believed that he would look the same
even when he grew old. He felt that no one will ever kiss him and his mother also kissed him
because she was his mother and was compelled to do so.
7. Why is one green-growing plant called a ‘weed’ and another ‘flower’?
 Green plants refer to the people who are all the same created by God. Weeds are unwanted
plants that are uprooted and cast aside and flowers are looked after. Handicapped people are
like weeds who are isolated and ostracized from the mainstream of the society and seeds are
the normal people who receive all the love, care and attention in the society. Weeds and seeds
also symbolize our perspective towards things which determines our fate and impacts our
action. This also symbolizes the fact whether we want to become a seed full of hope,
optimism and lead a meaningful existence or be a weed which is unwanted by the society and
is unproductive.
8. How did Mr. Lamb make Derry feel that he was better off than the others?
Mr. Lamb reminds Derry that his handicap did not prohibit him from enjoying life. Some
people are born deaf, some are blind, others move around in wheelchair and some are insane.
So, Derry was definitely better off than the others.
9. Why does Derry tell Mr. Lamb that he is afraid of seeing himself in the mirror?
Derry got acid all down on one side of his face. The acid burnt it all away. Whenever he
looked at his face in the mirror, it looked terrible and very ugly. He is afraid of seeing himself
in the mirror and suffers from inferiority complex because of which he isolates himself and
withdraws from the company of people. He thinks that people too are scared when they look
at his horrible face.
10. Why does Mr. Lamb have a tin leg?
Mr. Lamb has a tin leg because one of his leg was blown off in the war. He has to walk on an
artificial tin leg but Mr. Lamb does not feel like a physically handicapped person. Nor does
he suffer from any inferiority complex and when children call him ‘Lamey Lamb’ he did not
mind it. He is very friendly and always leaves the garden door open so that anybody could
come and he could enjoy their company.
11.What peculiar things does Derry notice about the old man Mr. Lamb?
Derry notices certain peculiar things about the old man when he meets him. He has got a tin
leg as the real leg got blown of years back in the war. However, Mr. Lamb does not allow his
physical disability come in the way of enjoying his life fully. He keeps his gates and garden
open for the kids and the kids are not afraid of him. He likes to learn things and kids come for
apples, pears and toffees. He has a warm heart that welcomes all and enjoys the company of
people. He has developed an optimistic approach towards life and things and believes in
overcoming all obstacles and hurdles with his sheer willpower and determination.
12. What is the bond that unites the two -the old man Mr. Lamb and Derry, the small boy?
The old man Mr. Lamb and the small boy Derry have differences of age, attitude and
behaviour. Mr. Lamb has a positive outlook towards life and things and is very optimistic
whereas Derry is pessimistic and suffers from a complex that he has a horrible and ugly face.
However, there is a bond that unites the two as both of them have been victims of terrible
accidents. They both have faced rejection and ridicule and have been isolated by the society.
Lamb got one of his legs blown off and Derry got one side of his face burnt as acid fell on it.
These physical deformations unite the two inspite of the age difference.
13. What tells you that Derry has changed for the better?
 Derry now wants to experience the world as it is and no longer feels afraid after his meeting
with Mr. Lamb. He returns to meet Mr. Lamb in the garden. We feel he will not go back to
his old seclusion even though Mr. Lamb is no more and he would change his entire
perspective and outlook towards the world by adopting a positive approach.
14. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr. Lamb?
Derry finds himself drawn towards Mr. Lamb as Mr. Lamb was not afraid of his disfigured
face. Mr. Lamb was willing to talk to him and he wanted his company. Mr. Lamb too was a
handicapped person and expected people to understand him and give him company but he
received none. In Derry he found an understanding and friendship and moreover Derry too
found it was necessary that he should get someone to talk to him and come out of self-
isolation which was a consequence of his withdrawal from the society. Hence, he found
himself drawn towards Mr. Lamb as he paid no attention towards his burnt face and even did
not flinch back after seeing him.