Page no. 42
1. What brought Captain Hagberd to Colebrook?
Answer:
2. Why did the people of Colebrook not have a
favourable opinion of Captain Hagberd?
Answer:
Page no. 46
1. What sort of a seaman had Captain Hagberd been?
Answer:
2. Captain Hagberd constantly hinted at something that
made Bessie blush. What was it?
Answer:
Page no. 49
1. What were Bessie’s reactions to old Hagberd’s ravings?
Answer:
2. What sort of a person was Mr Carvil?
Answer:
Page no. 52
1. What was the point of similarity between Captain
Hagberd and old Mr Carvil?
Answer:
2. Why did Bessie sometimes show signs of irritation
and disgust?
Page no. 58
1. Who was the stranger who met Captain Hagberd?
What was the Captain’s reaction to the meeting?
Answer:
2. What did young Hagberd think it meant when old
Hagberd said that his son would be coming home
‘tomorrow’?
Answer:
3. What reasons did Bessie give for encouraging old
Hagberd in his insane hopes?
Answer:
Page no. 64
1. What makes Bessie convinced that the young man is
indeed Harry?
Answer:
2. What kind of life had Harry lived after he left home?
Answer:
Page no. 66
1. What does Bessie tell Harry about his father’s plans
for him?
Answer:
2. What did Captain Hagberd call out to Bessie from
the window?
Answer:
Understanding the Text
1. What is the consistency one finds in the old man’s madness?
Answer:
2. How does Captain Hagberd prepare for Harry’s homecoming?
Answer:
3. How did Bessie begin to share Hagberd’s insanity regarding
his son?
Answer:
4. What were Harry’s reasons for coming to meet old Hagberd?
Answer:
5. Why does Harry’s return prove to be a disappointment for
Bessie?
Answer:
Talking about the Text
Discuss in small groups or pairs
1. ‘Every mental state, even madness, has its equilibrium based
upon self-esteem. Its disturbance causes unhappiness’.
Answer:
2. Joyce’s ‘Eveline’ and Conrad’s ‘Tomorrow’ are thematically
similar.
Answer:
Appreciation
1. Comment on the technique used by the author to unfold the
story of Captain Hagberd’s past.
Answer:
2. Identify instances in the story in which you find streaks of
insanity in people other than Hagberd. What implications do
they suggest?
Answer:
Language Work
A. Figures of speech: Allusion
Notice the comparison in the following sentence
With his maritime rig, his weather-beaten face, his beard of
Father Neptune, he resembled a deposed sea-god who had
exchanged the trident for the spade.
In this sentence there is a comparison made between Hagberd
and Neptune, the god of sea in Roman mythology who is shown
with a trident in his hand.
The figure of speech which makes a casual or indirect reference
to a famous historical or literary event or figure is called
allusion.