A Face in the Dark

Where did Mr.Oliver find the boy? What did he notice about the boy?

Walking through the pine forest on his way back to school, Oliver found the boy sitting on a rock. He noticed that the boy was crying with his head hung down and his face held in his hands and his body shook convulsively. It was a strange, soundless weeping.

What strange revelation took place when the boy finally looked up at Oliver?How did Mr Oliver react to it?

When the boy finally looked up at Oliver, it was revealed that the boy had no face. It was without eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a round smooth head with a school cap on it.Mr. Oliver started trembling with fear.The torch fell from his trembling hand. He turned and, scrambled down the path, running blindly through the trees calling for help.

What did Oliver encounter while coming back to school one night? What did he do after that?

While walking back to school one night, he encountered a boy sitting alone on a rock whose head was hung down and whose face was held in his own hands, convulsively shaking, and silently sobbing.After seeing the boy, Oliver stopped and moved closer to the boy so that he could recognize the miscreant asked him what he was doing there and why he was crying.

The story ends with a thrilling climax. Do you agree? Why?

Yes, Oliver ran away from the faceless boy and called for help. He saw a lantern swinging in the middle of the path. What followed next was a thrilling climax as Oliver while running stumbled up to a watchman only to find that he too was faceless, with no features or even eyebrows. The climax is reached when the wind blew out the lamp, leaving the readers to imagine what might have happened to Oliver.

How did Mr.Oliver express his concern for the boy? How did the boy react to it?

.Mr.Oliver asked him sharply what he was doing out there. Well, what was the matter he asked his anger giving way to concern and why he was crying.The boy did not answer or look up. His body continued to be racked with silent sobbing.Oliver again enquired what was troubling him and asked him to look up.The boy looked up.

Why do you think the boy was called a miscreant? In what condition was he found by Oliver?

A miscreant is a person who has done some mischief.Boys in that school were not supposed to be out after dark. The boy was out in the forest after dark, so he was called a miscreant. Thus, the boy sitting alone on the rock in the night forced the author to call him a miscreant.Oliver found him sitting alone with a school cap. Refer the previous answer.

Who was Mr.Oliver? What was his usual leisure activity?

Mr.Oliver was an Anglo-Indian teacher who was teaching in a school, located three miles away from Shimla.He would usually walk down to the Shimla Bazaar and would return after dark by taking a shortcut through the pine forest.

Whose "trembling hand" is referred to in the above extract? Why was it trembling?

Mr.Oliver's"trembling hand" is referred to here. It was trembling, as Oliver was horrified to see that the boy's face was featureless, without eyes, ears, nose or mouth.

What answer did Oliver give for the watchman's questions in the extract above?

Oliver told the watchman that he had encountered something horrible that night, a faceless boy weeping in the forest.

What was called 'Eton of the East'? Why?

The all-boys school in Shimla, in which Mr.Oliver was a teacher had been called 'Eton of the East 'by "Life Magazine".Eton college is one of the most reputable and expensive English boarding schools for boys in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor (U.K). Mr.Oliver's school was called 'Eton of the east' because the school had been run on English Public-School lines and the boys were mostly from wealthy Indian families.Life Magazine, in a feature on India, had called it so.

How can you explain the boy's "strange, soundless weeping"?

The boy's' strange, soundless weeping' hints the supernatural element of the story. Oliver was concerned for the boy and asked him why he was crying but his body continued to be racked with silent sobbing.It is strange because it was a featureless face with a cap. The' strange, soundless weeping' that Oliver heard could be explained on the basis that Oliver was lonely man caught in psychological fears who was imagining frightening and scary things. Thus, all Oliver encountered was' soundless weeping' and 'faceless' faces.

Explain the sentence."He turned and scrambled down the path, running blindly through the trees....."Why did Mr.Oliver do so?

The faceless boy terrified Oliver so much so that he immediately turned and in panic ran blindly through the forest calling for help.Mr.Oliver reacted in the manner which he did because when the boy looked up, Oliver realized that boy had no face. It was without eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a round head with a school cap on it.