NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Chapter 2 - Short Stories

Stop and Think

1. Why did Eveline review all the familiar objects at home?

Ans: Eveline went through all of the familiar objects in her house because she felt nostalgic as she prepared to go with her lover Frank. All of her happy and wonderful memories from her youth flashed before her eyes.

2. Where was Eveline planning to go?

Ans: Eveline intended to flee from her home with her lover and begin a new, respectable life in Buenos Aires, far away from her father and his boring lifestyle.

3. Who was Frank? Why did Eveline’s father quarrel with him?

Ans: Frank was a talented Irish sailor whom Eveline admired. He was a sweet, open-hearted man who wished to marry her. Eveline’s father had a falling out with him after he found out about his romance with Eveline.

4. What significance does Eveline find in the organ player's appearance on the day she had decided to leave?

Ans: Eveline was reminded of the street organ that played the night before her mother died, as well as her mother's way of life. She remembered the vow she made to her mother before she died as she had made her decision to go. She vowed to keep the house in order for as long as she was able. 

Understanding the Text

1. Name the two characters in this story whom Eveline liked and loved, and who did not. What were the reasons for her feelings towards them?

Ans: The two characters in the story who were liked by Eveline were her mother and Frank. She loved her mother as she used to take care of everyone in the family, for her mother’s family was above all. Her mother used to bear torture inflicted by her husband. Frank was her love. He wanted to marry Eveline and he promised her to give her happiness and fill the loneliness of her life. The two characters she most disliked were her father and Miss Gavan. She was never loved by her father, he would get drunk and had always been harsh to her. Miss Gavan was always rude and tried to criticize her.

2. Describe the conflict of emotions felt by Eveline on the day she decided to elope with Frank.

Ans:  Eveline loved Frank. Both have decided to marry and start a new life. It was not simple for her, on the day when she had to elope with Frank, all memories of her childhood flashed in front of her eyes like a movie. She remembered how her brothers Ernest and Harry played together. Little Keogh used to keep an eye like nix, to inform them of their father’s arrival. If their father found them playing, he used to beat them with a stick. Now nobody was there to protect her. Ernest and her mother had passed away now and Harry was in the decorating business of the church and was almost always down somewhere in the country. She wanted to escape and start a new life with her love Frank and wanted to enjoy life. On other hand, she remembered the promise given to her mother that she would keep the home together as long as she could. This thought shook her and made it difficult for her to go with Frank.

3. Why do you think Eveline let go of the opportunity to escape?

Ans: Eveline missed the opportunity to escape with her liver Frank due to her responsibilities towards her home. She hated her father and at the same time, she was worried about him. She had promised her mother that she would never let her home separate and will keep the family together. Her duties to the wards of her family were more important than escaping from her house for her own happiness.

4. What are the signs of Eveline's indecision that we see as the hour of her departure with Frank neared?

Ans: She became restless when the day of escaping with Frank approached, thousands of thoughts came into her mind that whether she was doing right or not. She felt nausea and turned pale out of fear. She prayed to God to show her divine light and the right path. God listened to her prayer and showed her the right path then she decided not to move away from her duties and skipped the idea of running away with Frank.

Talking about the Text

1. Deciding between filial duty and the right to personal happiness is problematic. Discuss.

Ans: Eveline had a great opportunity to lead a happy life but she faced a constant dilemma of choosing her responsibilities and happiness. She could not run away from the promise given to her mother. She could have ignored her duties and promises given to her mother but she was kind-hearted. She chose her family, not her dreams. It shows that she was not selfish. Many times a person has a dilemma of choosing between personal happiness and duties towards family. Eveline had gone through a similar experience and had quarrelled between thoughts of past and present. She made a great decision which shows she was not selfish.

2. Share with your partner any instance of your personal experience where you, or somebody you know, had to make a difficult choice.

Ans: There are many occasions when a person faces the dilemma of making the right decision. I am sharing an incident in my best friend's life.

As Tanya’s father was not alive and her brother was an alcoholic, she was the sole bread earner of her family. She was working in a firm. Her life was restricted between the office and home, dull without any dreams. She always tried to work hard for her family. Her boss fell in love with her and proposed to her. She refused his proposal as she said she had responsibilities of her mother, younger sister, and elder brother. Then her boss took out a solution to this, he offered a job to her brother, he made him aware of his responsibilities to his family. Something happened that made Tanya’s brother realize his duties. He accepted a job and his life started to get on track. Now Tanya was so happy and she decided to move on with her life and get married. Destiny plays its role. Unfortunately on the day of the wedding, Tanya's brother died in an accident. All of sudden everything changed. Tanya's boss tried to persuade her that he would shoulder all of her family's responsibilities but again Tanya was back in her life, she refused to marry and decided to go with duties towards her family at the cost of the happiness of her life.

Appreciation

1. The description in this story has symbolic touches.

What do you think the 'window', the ‘gathering dusk', the 'dusty cretonne and its odour' symbolize?

Ans: The different symbolic terms give different meanings, ‘Window’ – It is narrated that the outside world is unfamiliar to her. She was comfortable with people familiar to her for a long time. She had accepted her life as it was, aimless, full of miseries. She thought the whole world outside would never accept her. Dust represents end and lifelessness. Eveline always worked hard to fulfil the demands of her father. She always paid her wages of seven shillings to her father. In return, her father never gives her money saying that she had no head. Eveline was leading a dull and paralyzed life. Dust gives a sense of similarity as it always returns to her like her memories. She tried to dust her previous memories but the next moment again it comes back. Dusty cretonne and its scent - Cretonne has a substantial cotton texture having a floral pattern on it. In the initial scene, it was portrayed that her head was inclined toward the window blinds and in her nose was the smell of cretonne.

2. Note how the narrative proceeds through the consciousness of Eveline.

Ans: It would be right to say the narrator proceeds through Eveline’s consciousness. The story starts with an opening scene in which Eveline went through the stream of her life journey. There was a glow of memories from her childhood. In real life, most of the actions don’t take place. When a person’s thoughts and conscious reactions to the event then consciousness is considered as a literary device. The writer has narrated the emotions of Eveline in a precise way.        

3. In the last section of the story, notice these expressions

(i) A bell clanged upon her heart.

(ii) All the seas of the world tumbled upon her heart.

(iii) Her hands clutched the iron in a frenzy.

(iv) She sat her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. 

What are the emotions that these images evoke?

Ans: All the above-depicted expressions had emerged as emotions of confusion and helped consciousness. Eveline was in trouble cognizance befuddled about whether she should move forward with Frank for her happiness or proceed with her obligation towards her family. Then she remembered the promise given to her mother of not separating the family. These thoughts filled her heart with heaviness and could see her boundaries, it made it difficult for her to escape with Frank.   

4. Do you think the author indicates his judgment of Eveline in the story?

Ans: There was a continuous flow of thoughts and conflict between past and present. These thoughts could not allow Eveline to cross the boundaries and run away with her lover. This is the theme of the story. The author could not make a judgment on Eveline.

Language Work

A. Grammar: Parallelism

Notice the following sentence

One was to Harry; the other was to her father.

When you coordinate two or more elements in a sentence, they are in the same grammatical form, that is they are parallel. This ensures balance in the sentence.

In the sentence above, there is a reference to what was said in the previous sentence: two letters.

The predicative pattern is the same and the two parts are separated by a semi-colon. Parallelism is a basic rhetorical principle. Equal form reinforces equal meaning. By placing equally important ideas successively you emphasise their relationship to one another. It can show either similarity or contrast as in

Then a man from Belfast bought the field and built houses in it—not like their little brown houses but bright brick houses with shining roofs.

Sometimes the choice of words establishes the parallel and reinforces equal meaning as in

Ernest had been her favourite but she liked Harry too.

TASK

Underline the parts that are parallel in the following sentences

(a) She had consented to go away, to leave her home.

Ans: She had consented to go away, to leave her home.

(b) Strange that it should come that very night to remind her of the promise to her mother, her promise to keep the home together as long as she could.

Strange that it should come that very night to remind her of the promise to her mother, her promise to keep the home together as long as she could.

(c) She prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty.

She prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty.

(d) Frank would take her in his arms, fold her in his arms.

Frank would take her in his arms, fold her in his arms.

(e) Her time was running out but she continued to sit by the window, leaning her head against the window curtain, inhaling the odour of dusty cretonne.

Her time was running out but she continued to sit by the window, leaning her head against the window curtain, inhaling the odour of dusty cretonne.

(f) Not long before, when she had been laid up for a day, he had read her a ghost story and made toast for her at the fire.

Not long before, when she had been laid up for a day, he had read her a ghost story and made toast for her at the fire.

B. Pronunciation

A word has as many syllables as it has vowels.

man (one syllable)

manner   (two syllables)

The mark( ) indicates that the first syllable in ‘manner’ is more prominent than the other.

In a word having more than one syllable, the one that is more prominent than the other syllable(s) is called the stressed syllable.

TASK

Mark the stressed syllables in the following words chosen from the lesson. Consult the dictionary or ask the teacher if necessary.

photograph escape changes

threaten excitement farewell

illumined sailor sacrifice

invariable

Ans: 

Important Questions For Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Chapter 2 Eveline

Very Short Answer Type Questions

• Where did Eveline use to work?

• How much did Eveline use to earn?

• What promise did Eveline make to her mother?

• Why was Eveline willing to leave her father?

Short Answer Type Questions

• What responsibility does Eveline have to take on in her house?

• What was Mr Hill's reaction to the relationship between Frank and Eveline?

• Why was Eveline reviewing all the family objects carefully at her home?

• Why did Eveline choose not to elope with Frank?

Long Answer Type Questions

• What was Eveline's reaction on the day she had decided to elope with Frank?

• Name the two characters in the story whom Evine used to like and love. Mention the reason for his feeling toward them.

• Describe the main characteristics of Eveline in the story.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Chapter 2 Short Stories - Eveline PDF

The NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Chapter 2 are available in PDF format for free downloading on the main website of Vedantu. It is a great opportunity for students to have these PDFs and revise whenever they want at their own pace. These are also beneficial for further education or competitive exams in the future. The NCERT English Class 12 Chapter 2 PDF contains the entire lesson with a detailed explanation.

Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Chapter 2 Eveline- Short Summary

English Class 12 NCERT Solutions Chapter 2 Short Stories explain the second chapter to the students in an exciting way. This story is written by a famous Irish writer, James Joyce. He wrote several short stories, and Eveline is one among them. It is the story of a young woman. She's living in Ireland and wants to memorise her memories desperately. The writer wants to explain to readers that the memories may get us stuck to stay unhappy, and we should not allow those memories to do that. 

Eveline is sitting in a room near the window and spending a lot of her life remembering old memories. She started smelling the dust and returned to the street, which has no buildings or malls. She remembers her childhood days, as the street is full of fields and trees where she used to play with her friends. She enjoyed those days very much. Also, she started remembering her father, who is an arrogant man. He always shouted at Eveline not to play outside as he wanted his daughter to be at home.

Class 12 English NCERT Solutions Kaleidoscope Chapter 2 aims to inject the story's exact meaning into students' minds. From this lesson, the students should understand the variation between the olden days and the present days. There was no pollution at all in those days as the roads were full of plants and trees. But nowadays the roads are filled with vehicles which produce a lot of pollution.

In the NCERT Class 12 English Chapter 2, Eveline has moved the story into the present scenario. Eveline thought that her mother had died suddenly, and some of her friends were from there. Few friends suffered from illness and hunger. She was alone in that home and got depressed by thinking of these memories. And then, she decided to leave home and move further to reinvent herself. Also, she wants to clean and dust the house because after she returns home, she wants to find it clean.

NCERT Solutions Class 12 English Kaleidoscope Chapter 2 also reveals another angle of the story that Eveline has moved back to a young man called Frank. Since his father was addicted to alcohol, she stayed alone in the home. So she wants to start a new life. While cleaning and adjusting the whole house, she thinks that, even though she is the last sibling in her house, she doesn't have anyone to look after. Also, she narrated the beauty of her man, Frank, who is a sailor. He's very handsome, charming and good-looking.

Further, the chapter explains the continuation of the story in this way. The next morning Eveline started following Frank. They went to the harbour, and she prayed to God sincerely to provide the right choice for her. She is totally confused about whether she is doing the right thing or not. As a young girl, she could not decide whether going along with Frank is the right option or not. Also, she is thinking of the consequences if she leaves Frank and gets back to her home.

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• Well-experienced subject professionals prepared the material and is available on the main website to clarify all doubts.

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