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Question
Compare and contrast the main characters, Aksionov and Makar Semyonich, in the story
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Solution
Aksionov, a handsome man, full of life, enjoyed the music. He loved his family and did honest business. He is innocent to the core. The very sight of the blood-stained knife found in his bag sends a chill down his spine. He is deeply sensitive. When he realizes that his wife too suspected him, he gives up petitioning the Tsar for mercy. He recognized Makar Semyonich the person who had murdered the merchant and had him framed in murder charges and unjustly punished for twenty-six long years. When an opportunity presents to wreak vengeance on him, he keeps quiet. He does not show any interest in his belated freedom and restoration of justice. He seeks refuge in God.
Makar Semyonich is a cold-blooded murderer and scoundrel. Knowingly, he hides the blood-stained knife in Aksionov’s bag and tips of the police. He doesn’t confess his guilt on the day he meets Aksionov. It is only when he realizes that Aksionov is a noble soul and does not want to expose his plan to escape from the prison that he changes his attitude to Aksionov. He is haunted by guilt that he had wronged a noble soul. He confesses but it is in vain. The pardon arrives but Aksionov passes away in prison before release.
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| a) Baldwin who returned home after meeting Gresham, informed his family that Gresham had offered a hundred thousand, if he would utter the words ‘I don’t remember’ in court, during the trial. |
| b) The family members tried to justify Gresham’s act and enticed Baldwin into accepting the money. |
| c) Thus ‘The Hour of Truth’ had dawned relieving Baldwin of the heavy burden and guilt. |
| d) Baldwin was an honest and upright man, working under John Gresham, in a bank. |
| e) To save Baldwin, Mr. Marshall, President of the Third National, visited him and informed him that Gresham had confessed his crime, in order to free him from betraying his trusted friend and testifying painfully against him. |
| f) Gresham and Baldwin had been thick friends for over 30 years and Baldwin had even named his son after Gresham. |
| g) Baldwin felt disgusted with himself and the attitude of his family members. |
| h) Gresham had been arrested for misappropriation of money at the bank and Baldwin was to testify against him. |
| i) Mr. Marshall also offered Baldwin a job in his Bank, to reward him for his honesty and integrity. |
| j) The family members who were initially against Gresham, changed their mind on hearing the huge sum offered by him. |
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Group Work
The play revolves around a ‘perceived threat’ and how Lord Weston and Lady Weston react to it. Let’s reverse their roles. Imagine a panic-stricken Lady Weston and a frivolous Lord Weston. Read the following piece of dialogue from the play and rewrite it to suit the changed roles.
| WESTON | My dear, your husband’s life is in grave danger. |
| LADY WESTON | The last time it was in danger you had been eating game pie. What is it this time? |
| WESTON (annihilating her flippancy with one broadside) | Assassination! |
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| WESTON | What do you mean? |
| LADY WESTON | They don’t assassinate anybody. |
