Comprehension I
1. Who do ‘you’ and ‘I’ in the poem refer to?
Ans: “You” refers to the speaker’s husband and “I” refers to the speaker / the wife of the farmer.
2. Why has the speaker’s husband committed suicide?
Ans: Due to the failure of the cotton crop.
3. What series of contrasts does the speaker draw between herself and her husband?
Ans: The speaker mentions that he is virtuous even when he has committed suicide while she is a sinner without having committed anything evil. At his death he cannot bend his head and outstretch his hand whereas she is used to bending her head as a woman and stretching her hand out for assistance. He found release with poison, but he poisoned their already bitter existence. She survived the extreme situations while he committed suicide. Though he chose to end his life, the speaker vows to live her life with all the challenges.
4. What expressions in the poem bring out the contrast between the speaker and her husband’s plight? What difference does this indicate?
Ans: The expressions like “ Unable to bend your head… But I was born with a head bent”, “You found release with poison poisoning my bitter experience”. They indicate the end of the road for the farmer whereas a difficult road ahead for the speaker.
5. The farmer’s wife in the poem is
a. complaining about her husband’s death. b. lamenting the death of her husband. c. angry that her husband has left her. d. bitter about her husband’s act. e. worried about her future. f. all of the above.
Ans: f. all of the above.
6. What memories of her husband trouble her now?
Ans: The memories of her husband abusing or reviling her and kicking her when he was drunk. She tolerated all this, for , she thought, he was a man!
7. What does the phrase ‘harvest of my womb’ suggest? Why is their plight compared to ‘worm-eaten cotton pod’?
Ans: “Harvest of my womb” suggests the produce or the children of the speaker. Their plight is compared to ‘worm-eaten-cotton pods’ because they have now lost the main support of the family, their father without which they are uncared for.
8. To what condition had her husband’s act of committing suicide pushed her?
Ans: To a condition where the debt remained, their dignity hit the dust and their hearts turned to water.
9. The poem ends with
a. an assertion. b. a deep sense of failure and despondency. c. a will to survive against all odds.
Ans: c. a will to survive against all odds.
II.
1. Many times the tone suggests the attitude of the speaker. What kind of attitudes are suggested by the words ‘virtuous’, ‘poor sinner’, ‘he is but a man’, ‘what of this?’, ‘Why is this?’
Ans: “The Farmer’s Wife” written by Volaga gives voice to the speaker as a woman who is in utter despondency over the suicide of her husband due to failure of the cotton crop. This plight of a woman can be seen at different levels. The speaker’s attitude to the situation draws readers’ attention. When she addresses him initially “You are virtuous”, her tone is satirical, for she does not accept the notion that though he has left the family in lurch he is still hailed because he is a man. She also attacks the very belief that she is a “poor sinner” as seen by the society having lost her husband. The speaker’s attitude takes various positions from disapproving the dogma of male chauvinism to raising serious questions condemning social norms. She continues to ask why there are still such practices and why they should not change. She on her part determines herself to teach her children to live better with different attitudes to life and living.
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