[Answered] "The Face on the Wall" by E.V. Lucas - Short Questions and Reference to the Context - ICSE Class 8

 Questions-Answers based on "The Face on the Wall" :

The Face on the Wall Q-A for class 8 :

Q. Where and when were the narrator and his friends talking?   

or,

What was the topic of discussion at Dabney’s? 

 Ans. The topic of discussion was events that could not be explained naturally, which were more supernatural in nature. 

Q. What did Dabney do to include the short man into their conversation?   

 Ans.  Dabney asked the little man if he had any unusual experiences to share, drawing him into the discussion.

Q. What did the people at Dabney’s ask the little man to do? What was his reply? 

 Ans. The little man was asked whether he had any story or event to share.

He replied that he had a true story which was of the supernatural in nature that had occurred to him very recently, but nothing like most of the stories that had been shared earlier.

Q. What kind of story did the little man claim he would tell?

 Ans: The little man claimed he would tell a true incident from his own life which had strangely completed itself only that afternoon.

Q. What was the setting and time period of the short man's story?   

 Ans:  The short man's story took place a year or two earlier, in his room in an old house on Great Ormond Street.

Q. Describe the condition of the room in Great Ormond Street.

 Ans: The room in Great Ormond Street was damp, and the bedroom walls had been painted by the previous tenant. It had great patches on them.

Q. Why did the face on the wall attract the narrator’s attention?

 Ans: The face attracted his attention because it looked exactly like a human face and, unlike other patches, never changed its shape.

Q. How did the narrator’s illness affect his thoughts about the face?

 Ans: While suffering from influenza, he had nothing to do but read or think, and the face gradually filled his thoughts day and night.

Q. How did he spend his time when he was ill with influenza?   

 Ans: While ill with influenza, the little man spent time observing and thinking about the face on his wall, which became an obsession for him.

Q. What made the narrator believe that the face belonged to a real man?

 Ans: The face appeared too real and individual to be imaginary, and he became convinced that the real man must exist somewhere.

Q. What was the man's explanation as to why the face had to exist?   

 Ans: The man believed that the face existed because of a mysterious, fated connection to a real person, Mr. Ormond Wall, whose life events seemed linked to the face.

Q. How did the man try looking for the face? Was he successful?   

 Ans: The little man searched relentlessly, watching crowds and attending public gatherings, driven by a compulsion to find the real person. 

Finally, he did find a man who resembled the face, Mr. Ormond Wall, but only briefly before the man's tragic accident.

Q. How did the search for the man affect the narrator’s life?

Ans: The search became an obsession for the little man; he neglected everything else and spent his time watching crowds in public places.

Q. Where did the narrator finally see the man he was searching for?

Ans: The narrator finally saw the man travelling in a taxi along Piccadilly.

 Q. What did he find on the wall of his room? 

 Ans. The man found the likeness of a face of a man on the wall of his room. The face seemed to be so realistic that it was almost like having a roommate.

 Q. Why and where all did the narrator look for the man? 

 Ans. When the narrator fell ill with influenza, the face began to get a firmer hold of him. It grew more and more remarkable. It seemed like the face of an uncommon man, one in a thousand. The narrator began to search for this man, convinced that the real man and he were in some way linked by fate. He often went to places where people gathered in large numbers- political meetings, football matches and railway stations. He stood at busy corners watching the crowd until people thought he was mad and the police began to be suspicious. The narrator finally saw this man in a taxi, driving east along Piccadilly. 

 Q. What did the narrator ask the man? What happened after the narrator read the card? 

 Ans. The narrator asked the man to give him his card because he wanted to know about him and find out how his face resembled the patch on the wall. 

On reading the name on the card, the narrator fainted and remembered waking up in a hospital, where he stayed in broken condition for weeks. 

Q. What happened to the narrator after he read the visiting card?

Ans: After the narrator had read the visiting card, he could not remember anything and later found himself in a hospital at Boulogne, where he remained for several weeks in broken condition.

 Q. What happened to the face on the wall ultimately? 

 Ans. The face on the wall started fading slowly and then it disappeared indefinitely after the death of the man who shared the same face whom the narrator had met. 

Q. What news did the narrator read in the newspaper?

Ans: In the newspaper the narrator read about an American millionaire, Mr. Ormond Wall, and his party while motoring in Italy, were hit by a wagon and the car overturned. Mr. Wall’s condition was critical.

Q. How did the listeners react to the narrator’s story?

Ans: The listeners found the story most remarkable and extraordinary and were deeply impressed by it.

 Q. There were three things that were extraordinary about the story. What were they? 

 Ans. The three extraordinary things were: 

 • It was possible for a patch on a wall in London to bear the likeness and shape of the face of a man in America and be so closely associated with his life.  

• It was extraordinary that the real name of the man would bear such a strong influence over the place where the likeness existed. 

 • The third extraordinary thing was that the little man had made up the entire story and none of it was true.

"The Face on the Wall" by E.V. Lucas Reference to the Context:

1. "We begged him to begin."

a. Who is 'him'? Where are 'we'?   

Ans:  "Him" refers to the little man who was a stranger to the group with anxious face.

They are at Dabney’s place, where people are sharing stories of strange events.

b. How was the room where he was living? What was one usual thing about this room?   

Ans:   His room was in an old, damp house in Great Ormond Street, with walls showing damp patches. One patch looked exactly like a human face.

c. How was it unusual?   

Ans:   The face-like patch remained constant in shape, where the other damp patches typically changed over time.

d. How did he spend his time when he was ill with influenza?   

Ans:   When he was ill with influenza and had nothing to do but keep looking at the face on the wall laying on the bed. It was at that moment that the face took a very strong hold over him. 

e. What was remarkable and curious about this unusual thing?   

Ans:   The face on the wall had distinctive features, giving the impression of an uncommon, unique man’s face.

2. "The search became a madness with me."

a. How did the search become 'a madness' for the narrator?   

Ans:  The narrator was obsessed with finding the man in real life. He was convinced that the real man must exist and that he must meet him. So, he spent hours watching crowds, going to public gatherings, and neglecting everything else. In this way, the search became a madness to him.

or

The narrator became obsessed with finding the man in real life. He spent hours watching crowds and went to public places and neglected everything else, and gradually the search turned into a madness.

b. Where did the narrator see him at last?   

Ans:   He saw the man in a taxi driving east along Piccadilly.

c. How did the narrator catch up with the man and where?   

Ans:   He took a taxi and followed the man to Charing Cross station. As he could not approach him there, he bought a ticket to Folkstone hoping to catch him before he boarded the ship. However, he failed, and so the little man boarded the ship himself by buying a ticket to Boulogne.

d. Where was the man going?   

 Ans:  The man was heading to France with his family.

e. What did the narrator do in haste so as to not lose the man from Charing Cross?   

 Ans: The narrator quickly bought a ticket to Folkestone, hoping to approach the man before he boarded the boat.

3. 'Excuse me, I stammered, but do you mind giving me your card? I have a very important reason for asking it!'

a. Who is being addressed here in the aforementioned lines?   

Ans:   The narrator is addressing the man whose face resembles to the face on the wall.

b. What was the very important reason for asking it?   

Ans:   The narrator wanted to confirm if the man’s identity had any connection to the face.

c. What was written on the card?   

Ans:   The card read: "Mr. Ormond Wall," with an address in Pittsburgh, U.S.A.

4. 'I went back to my room and sat on the bed looking with unseeing eyes at the face on the wall. And even as I looked, suddenly...'

a. What were the changes visible on the face on the wall, with time?   

 Ans:  The face on the wall grew fainter and eventually disappeared entirely.

b. What did the headlines of the early editions of the paper read?

Ans:  The headline of the early edition of the newspaper read : ‘American Millionaire’s Motor Accident.’

c. What did the man notice when he went back to his room?   

Ans:   The man noticed that the face on the wall had become very faint.

d. What did he find out later?   

Ans:   He learned that Mr. Ormond Wall had died of his injuries and guessed that it was around the same time the face disappeared.

e. What were the reactions of the listeners when the story was complete?   

 Ans:  The listeners found the story remarkable and extraordinary, but the narrator then surprised them by revealing he had made it up.

5. Truth, I always believe, is not only stranger than fiction, but also more interesting. 

 a. Who said this and to whom? 

Ans. The strange little man at said this to the people at Dabney’s who were discussing events that cannot be explained by natural causes. 

b. When did the speaker say this? 

Ans. The speaker said this when Dabney asked him to join the conversation by asking if he had any story or event to narrate which cannot be explained by natural causes. 

c. What was he talking about? 

Ans. He was talking about an event that happened in his life and seemed so strange despite being a true occurrence that it seemed even stranger than fiction. The event ended yesterday afternoon.

6. It was then that the face began to get a firmer hold of me. It grew more and more real and remarkable. 

a. What is referred to as ‘the face’ here? 

Ans. The ‘face’ refers to the patch on the wall that closely resembled a real face.

b. When did the face begin to get a firmer hold of the speaker? 

Ans. When the speaker was ill in bed with influenza and had nothing to do but keep looking at the face on the wall, it was at that moment that the face took a very strong hold over him. 

c. Why did the speaker call the face ‘remarkable’? 

Ans. The speaker called the face remarkable as it seemed to look so real and uncommon like the face that one might see as one in a thousand. There was a curious curve of the nose and the forehead was remarkable, that of an uncommon man. 

d. How did this affect the speaker’s thoughts?

Ans: The face filled his thoughts day and night. Naturally he became obsessed with it and somehow convinced that the real man must exist and that he must meet him.

7. “One of these – as indeed often happens – exactly like a face.”

a) What does the word “these” refer to?

Ans: “These” refers to the great damp patches on the bedroom wall of the little man’s room in Great Ormond Street.

b) Where was this face seen?

Ans: The face was seen on the wall of the speaker’s bedroom in Great Ormond Street.

c) Why did this particular patch attract the speaker’s attention?

Ans: It attracted attention because it looked exactly like a human face.
d) What was strange about this patch compared to the others?

Ans: Unlike the other patches, this one never changed its shape with time.

8.“There was no mistaking the face, every line was the same.”

a) When does the speaker say this?

Ans: The speaker says this when on the ship, he meets the man whose face resembles to one of the patches in his house wall.

b) Whom is he referring to?

Ans: He is referring to Mr. Ormond Wall.

c) What did he do then?

Ans: The speaker gathered his courage and approached the man and asked for his identity card.

9. “My eyes grew dim; my head reeled.”

a) What caused this reaction?

Ans: The shock of reading the name on the visiting card of the person whose face resembles to the patch on the wall, caused this reaction. 

b) What did the speaker read at that moment? / What was written on the visiting card?

Ans: The name Mr. Ormond Wall with an address in Pittsburgh, U.S.A.

c) Where did he find himself afterwards?

Ans: He later found himself in a hospital at Boulogne.

10. “Last night it had been clear as ever – almost I could hear it speak.”

a) What is being referred to here?

Ans: It refers to the face on the wall.

b) What change does the speaker notice in the morning?

Ans: In the morning, the speaker notices that the had become faint and ghost-like.

c) How does this affect his mood?

Ans: He feels confused and sad.

d) What discovery he made after that?

Ans: After the speaker notices that the had become faint and ghost-like, the man discovered through the newspaper that Mr. Ormond Wall, an American millionaire, had met with a serious motor accident and his condition was critical.

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