Portrait of a Lady

 Understanding The Text

Mention 

1. The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad. 

Answer:

The three phases of the relationship of the author with his grandmother before leaving the country to study abroad are:

(i) Early childhood – His grandmother helped him while getting ready and went to the village school along with him.

(ii) Boyhood – He shared a room with his grandmother when he studied at the city school. She was not able to help him in his studies.

(iii) Early youth – The link of their friendship snapped when he was provided a separate room at the university.

2. Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school.

Answer:

The three reasons why the grandmother of the author was disturbed when he went to the city school are:

1. She did not like Western learning and Science.

2. She was hurt when she came to know that there were no scriptures and teachings of God there.

3. She did not like music and thought that it was not for gentlefolk and decent people. In her opinion, it was the monopoly of beggars and prostitutes.

3. Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up. 

Answer:

Three ways how the grandmother of the author spent her days after he grew up are:

1. She accepted the loneliness and lived unaccompanied in the room.

2. She would recite prayers while sitting at the spinning wheel.

3. She fed the sparrows for half an hour every afternoon.

4. The odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died. 

Answer:

The grandmother of the author did not speak to them before her death. The night before she died, she did not pray while singing homecoming songs and beating the drum, as she was not ready to waste time. She laid peacefully in her bed praying and telling beads and ignored the protests of her family members.

5. The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.

Answer:

The dead body of the author’s grandmother was surrounded by thousands of sparrows which did not chirrup. They did not even notice the bread crumbs which were thrown by the author’s mother to feed them. They quietly flew away once the corpse of the grandmother was carried away. Hence, this way the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.