Jharkhand Board Class 10 English Notes | Footprints Without Feet Solutions Chapter 5
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q.1. Why was the arrival of the stranger in a village inn an
unusual event? Give two reasons.
Or. Why were all people attracted towards Grifīin at the village
inn?
Ans. It was a mid-winter. The air was bitterly cold. In this kind
of weather Griffin had chosen to come to the village of lping.
Naturally, the arrival of the stranger at the village inn was an unusual
event. His uncommon appearance and strange habits also made
him a talk of the village. He was wearing bandages round his
forehead, dark glasses, false nose, big bushy side-whiskers, and a
large hat. He never took off his bandages and clothes. He was
unsocial. He always kept the door of his room shut and locked
from inside. If anybody entered his room, he would get furious. Al
this appeared rather unusual.
Q.2.(i) How did the scientist look when he came to the inn?
Ans. When the scientist came to the inn, his forehead was
covered all over with bandages. He was wearing dark glasses and
thick bushy side-whiskers. All this made him look strange and
mysterious.
(ii) Scientist was a man of'irritable temper'. Give an example
to prove this.
Ans. The scientist was short-tempered. When Mrs. Hall put
him several questions, he was mad with anger. He became invisible
and hit the people with blows., He knocked the constable
unconscious.
Q.3.Griffin was not a true scientist as he misused a scientific
discovery. Discuss.
Ans. Griffin was not a true scientist and he misused his
scientific discovery. Once he had a quarrel with his landlord. He
tried to eject Griffin. In revenge, Griffin set fire to his house. To get
away without being seen, he had to remove his clothes. Thus it
was that he became a homeless wanderer, without clothes, without
money and quite invisible.
Then he hired two rooms at the village of Iping. He decided to
steal money from the Clergyman's home. One night he made himself
invisible and entered his study. The Clergyman and his wife woke
up when they heard a noise in their study. They went downstairs.
They heard the chink of money being stolen from the desk. They
opened the door with a poker but there was no trace of the burglar.
In this way Griffin misused his scientific discovery without
making benefit to the mankind.
Q.4."Griffin was rather a latthess person". Comment?
[JAC 2010(A); 2017 (A)]
Ans. Many facts in the story prove that Griffin was a lawless
person. He did many anti-social acts. But he never felt guilty.
First, he set fire to his landlord's house. He ran away after
making himself invisible. It was, howeverth, only the beginning of
a series of lawless actions. Since he was without clothes, the bitterly
cold London air troubled him much. So he slipped into a London
store for warmath. There he stole clothes and food. His next victim
was a shopkeeper of theatrical goods. Once again he stole the
goods from it. To escape without being seen, he attacked the
shopkeeper also from behind.
Q. 5. Mention two actions of Griffin in the village Iping after
becoming invisible. If you were invisible what two things would
like to do? Write your answer in about 100 words.
Ans. In the village Iping, Griffin stole the money of the
clergyman after becoming invisible. He beat the policeman and
others when they tried to get hold of him. This was the second
thing.
If I were invisible, the first thing I would like to do is to have
world tour. It is because my means would never allow me to see this
world. My second action will be to help humanity by destroying all
nuclear arms. As an invisible man, I would frighten those persons
who trouble the innocent persons. I would help the needy without
any selfish ends.
Q. 6. Describe the scene which took place after the arrival of
Mr. Jaffers, the constable, in the story "Footprints Without Feet'?
Or, Describe the scene when Mr. Jaffers tries to arrest the
man without a head'.
Ans. Mr. Jaffers was surprised to find that he had to arrest a
man without a head. Yet he was determined to do his duty.
It was a remarkable scene. Jaffers was trying to catch the man
who was becoming more and more invisible. He was also throwing
off one garment after another.
Finally a shirt flew in the air. Mr Jaffers found himself struggling
with someone invisible. Some people tried to help him. But they
found themselves hit by blows. These blows seemed to come from
nowhere. Clearly, the invisible man was hitting them.
In the end, Jaffers was knocked down unconscious as he made
a last attempt to catch the unseen man. There were nervous cries of
"Hold him ! But Griffin had gone. No one knew where to get him.
Q. 7. Describe Mr. Jaffer's fight with the invisible man.
Ans. Mr. Jaffer was the village constable. He was called in by
Mrs. Hall to arrest the scientist. But he was surprised to find that
he had to arrest a headless man. He however, decided to do his
duty. But as he tried to get hold of the headless man, he had
another surprise. The man started throwing one garment after
another and became invisible.
The constable had to struggle with a person whom he could
not see at all. Those who tried to help him received blows from the
invisible scientist. In the end Jaffers made an attempt to catch the
invisible scientist. But he was knocked down unconscious. Nobody
could catch the scientist.
Q. 8. Give a character sketch of Griffin. (JAC 2018 (A)]
Ans. Griffin was a brilliant scientist, he had carried out a number
of experiments to develop a technique of turning human body
transparent and making it invisible. It was really a great discovery.
Griffin did not use it for the benefit of mankind. He misused it. He
was not a true scientist. As a matter of fact he was a lawless person.
He set fire to the landlord's house, entered a London store where
he broke open the boxes and put on warm clothes. In Iping village,
he stole the clergyman's money and hit Mrs. Hall first with a hat
and then with a chair. He hit the policemen and the people who
tried to help the policemen.
Q.9. Scientific discoveries have made life easier, but insecure.
Discuss.
Ans. It is a fact that scientific discoveries have made life easier.
Take any field of human activity. Electricity, telecommunication,
electronics etc., have totally changed man's life. We can talk and
see men sitting thousands of miles away. Man has already walked
on the moon. We can fly like birds, fly more than the speed of light
and sound. Man lives for more years than before because of
wonderful drugs. But despite all these discoveries, we are greatly
insecure. Think of the weapons of mass destruction, like atom
bombs, chemical or biological bombs. One small chemical bomb is
needed to finish the life on this earth.
Q. 10. Who was the invisible man? Describe his adventures
in your own words.
Ans. The invisible man was Griffin. He was naked and without
money. London air was very cold for him. So he entered a big
London store for warmth. He put on warm clothes. It was morning.
The shop assistants came, saw and chased him. He escaped from
there. Then he robbed a shopkeeper of his money and went to
Iping.
In Iping he broke open the clergyman's desk and stole money.
People called the village constable. The constable tried to catch
him. He became invisible, he knocked the constable down
unconscious and escaped.
Q.11. Describe the scene which took place after the arrival of
Mr. Jaffers, the constable, in the story 'Footprints Without Feet'.
Or, Describe the scene when Mr. Jaffers tries to 'arrest the
man without a head'. (V.Imp.)
Ans. Mr. Jaffers was surprised to find that he had to arrest a
man without a head. Yet he was determined to do his duty.
It was a remarkable scene. Jaffers was trying to catch the man
who was becoming more and more invisible. He was also throwing
off one garment after another.
Finally a shirt flew in the air. Mr. Jaffers found himself struggling
with someone iny Some people tried to help him. But they
found themselves hit by blows. These blows seemed to come from
nowhere. Clearly, the invisible man was hitting them.
In the end. Jaffers was knocked down unconscious as he made
a last attempt to catch the unseen man. There were nervous cries of
"Hold him!'But Griffin had gone. No one knew where to get him.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q. 1. What did the scientist do when he became furious? Why
were the people in the bar horrified? [JAC 2005 ]
Ans. The scientist was furious. In anger he threw off his
bandages, whiskers, spectacles and false nose. Within moments he
became headless. His head became invisible. So the people in the
bar were horrified to see a headless man.
Q. 2. Why were the two boys in London surprised and
fascinated?
Ans. The two boys in London were surprised and fascinated
because they saw the fresh muddy footprints on the steps of a
house. Fresh foot marks appeared but the bare footed man was not
visible.
Q.3.(i) What happened when Griffin did not wake up in time?
[JAC 2006 (S)]
Ans. (i) It was morning. Griffin was still sleeping. The shop
asisstants arrived and made for him. When Griffin saw two of them
approaching, he got confused and began to run. They chased him.
(ii) How did he escape from the London store?
Ans. (ii) He quickly took off his clothes, became invisible and
escaped from the London store.
Q. 4. What was the curious episode' that took place in the
clergyman's study?
Ans. One morning the clergyman and his wife were awakened
by noise in the study. But when they opened the doors, they found
it empty. Yet, the desk had been opened and the money was
removed.
Q.5.(i) Why were the landlord and his wife surprised to see
the scientist's door wide open? [JAC 2006 (A)]
Ans. The scientist always kept his door shut and locked from
inside. If anybody entered his room, he got angry. So, the landlord
and his wife were surprised to see his door wide open.
(ii) Three extraordinary things happened in the room. What
were they?
Ans. First, Mrs. Hall heard a sniff quite close to her ear. Second,
the hat on the bedpost leapt up and struck her in the face. Then the
bedroom chair sprang into the air and pushed them out of the room.
Q. 6. Mrs. Hall almost fell down the stairs in hysterics. Pick
out an example of humour from what follows this incident.
Ans. The example of humour is the reaction of Mrs. Hall. She
is grieved to think that her mother used to sit in that chair and the
same chair had tried to hit her.
Q. 7. Who was Griffin and what type of a man was he?
[JAC 2006 (S), 2015 (A)]
Ans. Griffin was a brilliant scientist. He had invented a thing by
which he could make himself invisible. But he was a lawless
scientist. He was a selfish and short-tempered person. He didn't
bother about law. He set the house of his landlord on fire without
any of his fault.
Q. 8. Describe Griffin's discovery. How did he make it
successful?
Or, How do you assess griffin as a scientist? [JAC 2004 (S)]
[JAC 2009 (A); 2014 (A); 2016 (A)]
Ans. Griffin was a brilliant scientist. He discovered how to make
the human body transparent. He conducted various experiments to
prove that the human body could be made transparent. For that he
swallowed some rare drugs. His body became transparent like a
sheet of glass.
Q.9. Why did Griffin set fire to the house of his land-lord? How
did he escape ?
Ans. Griffin's landlord disliked Griffin. So he wanted to eject him
out of his house? But Griffin set his house on fire in revenge. Then
he became invisible by swallowing rare drugs. He escaped from
there.
Q. 10. Why did Griffin go to the store? What did he do there?
[JAC 2004 (A) (JAC Sample Paper 2009 & 2010)]
Ans. Griffin was feeling cold without clothes as he had become
invisible. So he went to the store for warm clothes, Shoes, and an
overcoat. He was hungry also. So be took cold meat, coffee, sweets
and wine. Then he settled down to sleep on a pile of quilts.
Q. 11. What did Griffin do in the shop of a theatrical company?
Ans. Griffin entered the shop of a theatrical company. He wore
bandages round his forehead. He also wore dark glasses, a false
nose, big bushy side whiskers, and a large hat. He attacked the
shopkeeper from behind. He also robbed him of his money and
escaped.
Q. 12. Why didn't Griffin like to be friendly with Mrs. Hall ?
Ans. Griffin did not like to mix with people. He didn't want to
talk to them. So he told Mrs Hall that he wanted loneliness. He told
her that he did not want to be disturbed in his work. Besides, his face
had been affected in an accident.
Q. 13. "Shortly afterwards a curious episode occurred". What
was this curious episode?
Ans. Griffin had spent the money. So he entered a clergyman's
house in Iping for getting some money. The clergyman and his wife
heard the clinking sound of money. Griffin was stealing this money
from the clergyman's desk invisibly. he flung open the door. But no
one was there. However, their money had gone.
Q. 14. The landlord's wife was convinced that Griffin was “an
eccentric scientist". What made her think of Griffin in these
terms ?
Ans. Griffin came to Iping in winter. The arrival of a stranger in
winter was unusual. He had strange looks. He told Mrs. hall that he
desired solitude. He did not want to be disturbed, all this convinced
the landlord's wife that Griffin was an ecentric scientist'.
Q. 15. Why was Griffin suspected of having stolen money from
the clergyman's house?
Ans. Soon the news of the clergyman's money having been
stolen spread in Iping. The suspicion fell on Griffin because he had
said that he had no money. But after a short time, he suddenly
produced it.
Q. 16. What happened to Jaffers when he tried to catch the
invisible scientist ?
Ans. Griffin had become invisible by removing his clothes.
Jaffers, the constable, had found himself struggling with someone
who couldn't be seen at all. He was being hit with the blows. These
seemed to be coming from nowhere. Soon Jaffers fell down
unconscious.
Q. 17. How did the invisible man first become visible?
Ans. The invisible man first became visible mysteriously when
Mrs. Hall in Iping went to him.
Q. 18. Why was he wandering the streets? (V.Imp.)
Ans. He was wandering the streets of London because two
boys had been following him. They had seen his footsteps but no
man was there. Griffin had been wandering in London streets for a
safer place.
Q.19. Why does Mrs. Hall find the scientist eccentric?
Ans. Mrs. Hall found the scientist eccentric because she wanted
to be friendly with him. She desired to talk to him. But he did not show
any interest in that. He told her that he desired solitude.
Q. 20. What curious episode occurs in the study?
Ans. The curious episode occurs in the study. One early morning
the clergyman and his wife find that someone has taken away the
chink of money from the desk. But there was no one around there.
Q.21. What other extraordinary things happen at the Inn?
[JAC 2010(C), 2011(A)]
Ans. Many other extraordinary things happened in the Inn. Some
of them are that the landlord and his wife found the scientists's door
open but there was no one in the room. Then Mrs. Hall heard sniff
close to her ear. After a moment the hat on the bedpost leapt up and
dashed itself to her face. The chair began moving automatically.
These things made people furious.
Q. 22. 'Griffin was rather a lawless person". Comment.
[JAC 2010(A)]
Ans. Griffin was rather a lawless person. He set fire to a house
which did not belong to him. He took away clothes from the store
without paying for them. He hit a shopkeeper and stole his money.
He stole money from the clergyman's house also. He also struck Mr.
Jaffers, the constable, on duty.
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