Std 10 unit 5

ADOLF :D H Lawrence POSSIBLE DISCOURSES

1.Character sketch of father Father in the story Adolf by D H Lawrence is introduced at the beginning as a dominant figure. He is a miner who works on night shifts. He loves long walks through the dewy fields. He is a heavy built man with yellow grey eyes , a beard and red lips. His very presence in the family makes the children uneasy. His is a disturbing presence in the house. May be he never gave them freedom. But actually he has a soft feeling towards his children. So he brings them a rabbit .It is obvious that he loves pets and has sympathy for the little wild animals. Even though his wife objects to keeping Adolf at home he takes the side of children. Unlike the mother he can adjust with Adolf's pranks easily. He faces his wife's irritating comments with a laugh. He seems to be more patient. The father in this story is skilful in finding a solution at the end by sending Adolf to the coppice .He knows that Adolf has a kind of wilderness within him .But he constantly keeps an eye on him after he has left Adolf in the wild wood. 2One day the father brings a rabbit to the children. His wife feels annoyed. What would be her thoughts? Again a nuisance in the house. Oh God. How silly these children are. He has brought another little one. This time it is a rabbit. I don't think it will survive. Then there will be another outcry. What will happen if it dies?My children can not bear it. I have seen such scenes many times. Really fed up with his wantonness. This morsel has been dropping his tiny pills on the bed,making it dirty. It puts its nose in the food,overturns the creamjug,wanders out and even destroys my curtains. What shall I do?Nobody is ready to send him away. 3The children are so sad when Adolf is sent away to the coppice. They narrate the whole incident to their friends at school. Prepare the narrative. It was a fine morning when Adolf came to our family. Father brought him when he returned from walk. We were so happy .A tiny morsel ,who had escaped from death. Our mother was so irritated at his arrival. She was afraid that it wouldn't survive and would bring tears again. But father ignored her words and supported us. At first it sat unmoved and frightened ,not ready to drink milk. It seemed to us that the rabbit was unwilling to accept our love. So we decided to leave it alone for that day. But when we came back from school it was still sitting still with the milk untouched. We kept it in a cloth and put it under the fireplace to make it warm. By the evening he was slowly tamed ,though a sort of wilderness kept him away from us. Disregarding our mother's protest we kept him inside our house and he started his pranks. Adolf put his nose in the food,lifted lumps from sugar basin and overturned the cream jug. Sometimes he was shooed by the mother and he treated it with indifference. Once he had a narrow escape from the attack of a cat. Besides mother was angry when he dropped his pills on the bed. She just burst out when he destroyed her curtains. Finally as he was developing wilderness within him father left him in the wild woods. We were so worried about him ,but we knew that it was inevitable . We were sure

that soon he would become part of that wilderness. 4The children were so heartbroken when Adolf was set free in the coppice. What would be their thoughts? Poor Adolf. What a helpless creature is he!We left him in the coppice all alone. Who will feed him? Will he be safe there?The cat is always hiding behind the bush. Will the other rabbits like him?He is now a tamed little one. So they may attack him. Oh god we are worried. But father says it is good for him. He has been wild and loveless till the end. A heartless wilderness has always kept him away from us. Let us hope he will be happy 5.The children in the family were more considerate than the elders towards Adolf and they succeeded in making feel at home. Prepare a write-up on how they did it. When the father brought Adolf home it was a little morsel unable to move. It continued to sit like that without drinking milk the whole day. The children held the milk to its nose ,but of no use. They wetted its mouth with milk. The rabbit sat unmoved .They were so worried. Seeing the still position of Adolf they decided not to disturb it by showing their affection and care. So the brother asked his sister and mother not to love it or look at it.Adolf had been placed in a dark corner of the house when they went to school. When they came back they were so desperate to see it sitting there without any response.They even felt to cry out.As a last attempt they covered it in an old cloth and put under copper fire place,to make it feel the comfort of a burrow.They even placed many cups of milk here and there on the floor.Nobody was allowed to meet it at night.So with care they got its confidence .To make it feel at home they kept it inside their house. Gradually Adolf became a part of the family

Prepared by Leena V, H S A English GHSS Kodungallur.Thrissur

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