An Alien Hand - NCERT Class 7 English - Chapter 6, I Want Something in a Cage

Class 7, English Supplementary Reader

AN ALIEN HAND

Chapter 6, I Want Something in a Cage

Comprehension Check (Important Questions-Answers only)

Q.1: Why is Mr. Purcell compared to an owl?

Ans: Mr. Purcell is compared to an owl because he was a short man with a big tummy, red cheeks, a tight melon stomach and magnified eyes and he sat on the top of a high stool which gave him the appearance of an owl.

Q.2: From the third paragraph pick out

(i) words associated with cries of birds

(ii) words associated with noise

(iii) words suggestive of confusion and fear

Ans:

(i) Twitters, squeals, cheeps, squeaks.

(ii) Rustling, squeals.

(iii) Scampered, frantic, frightened, bewildered, pulsed.

Q.3: Do you think the atmosphere of Mr. Purcell’s shop was cheerful or depressing? Give reasons for your answer.

Ans: The atmosphere of Mr. Purcell’s shop was depressing. The continuous cries of frightened birds and animals and their never-ending movement in restricted cages gave the shop a depressing atmosphere.

Q.4: Describe the stranger who came to the pet shop. What did he want?

Ans: The stranger was wearing a loose suit and shiny shoes. He appeared to be a poor man. He had a shuttling glance and his hair was cut very short. He wanted something in a cage.

Q.5:

(i) The man insisted on buying the doves because he was fond of birds. Do you agree?

(ii) How had he earned the five dollars he had?

Ans:

(i)     No, I don’t think the stranger was fond of birds. I think that the stranger had sympathy for the birds because even if they had wings they could not fly. They were caged against their wishes. The man himself had been in a jail for ten years.

(ii)   He had given those five dollars on being released from jail after ten years of imprisonment. 

Exercises Questions Solutions (Important Questions only)

Q.1: Why, in your opinion, did the man set the doves free?  

Ans: The man has himself spent the last ten years of his life in jail. He knew the pain of being locked up in custody. He had sympathy for the birds that were kept in small cages against their wishes. He knew how important freedom was. So he set the doves free. 

Q.2: Why did it make Mr. Purcell feel “vaguely insulted”?

Ans: Mr. Purcell felt vaguely insulted because the man bought the doves from his shop for five dollars and then went outside and set the birds free. It was Mr. Purcell who kept these birds in cage and sold them. So he felt insulted. The man had only just five dollars with him and he gave them all to buy the birds and then set them free.