Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in midcountry. If he closed his eyes and stood very still, frozen, he could imagine himself upon the center of a plain, a wintry, windless Arizona desert with no house, in a thousand miles, and only dry river beds, the streets, for company.

1. What kind of picture of the street is presented here? Which figure of speech is used in presenting it? (Analysis)
2. Who is ‘he’ referred to here? How could he feel standing here? (Understanding and Analysis)
3. What kind of person is ‘he’? (Analysis)
4. Where is ‘he’ wandering? Why is there a reference to Arizona? (Understanding and Analysis)
5. Who encounters him later in the context, and why? (Understanding and Analysis)

Answer 1

1. The street is shown as silent, deserted, empty and lifeless. A simile is used when Mead’s shadow is compared to “the shadow of a hawk”.
2. ‘He’ refers to Leonard Mead. He would feel alone and isolated, yet he enjoys the peacefulness of the deserted streets.
3. Mead is independent, observant and nonconformist. He enjoys walking outdoors and does not follow the behaviour of the rest of society.
4. He is wandering through the empty streets of the city at night. Arizona is mentioned because the deserted streets remind him of a vast, empty and windless desert.
5. Mead is later encountered by an automated police car. It stops and questions him because his unusual habit of walking alone at night is considered suspicious.