Question

Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.

But the door was already closing. “Afraid to be in the elevator alone?” said his father. “Grow up, Martin”. The door slammed shut.

1. Why did the father not want Martin to visit the neighbour along with him? (Analysis)
2. Why did father seem to be quite strict and unsympathetic? (Analysis)
3. On which floor did the woman live? What was her name? (Understanding)
4. Where did the elevator stop and why? (Understanding)
5. What surprise awaited Martin in the elevator? How did the lady treat him there? (Understanding and Analysis)

Answer 1

1. Martin’s father wanted him to become independent and overcome his fear of elevators. He therefore did not want Martin to accompany him to the neighbour’s apartment. He expected Martin to use the elevator alone instead of depending on him.
2. Martin’s father seemed strict and unsympathetic because he did not take Martin’s fear seriously. He repeatedly called him timid and told him to “grow up” instead of trying to understand his anxiety. His approach was more critical than supportive.
3. The woman lived on the eighteenth floor. Her name is not clearly revealed in the story; she is referred to simply as the fat lady.
4. The elevator stopped at the fourteenth floor because the fat lady entered there. Martin had already been travelling in the elevator, and she got in when it stopped at that floor.
5. Martin was surprised to find the fat lady entering the elevator and later pressing the button for the eighteenth floor instead of the fourteenth. She did not speak to him but silently watched him while breathing loudly. Her strange behaviour made Martin feel threatened and increased his fear.