Updated on 06/06/2025
5. On the Face of it (Susan Hill)
Main Points of the chapter:
This is a play about a young boy Derry, an old man Mr. Lamb and Derry’s mother.
The first and the last scene of the play are placed in Mr. Lamb’s garden and second scene at Derry’s house.
Mr. Lamb is an old man; he has lost one of his legs in a bomb explosion during the war and has a tin leg in its place.
He lives alone in his house with a garden, keeps his doors open for everyone and kids call him lamely- Lamb.
Derry is a fourteen years old boy; his face got burnt by acid when he was a child.
His face looks ugly; so he avoids people because he cannot bear their staring looks, cruel remarks.
He thinks that people are afraid of him as if he is a ghost.
He wants to spend his time in lonely places where people would not stare at him.
One day, he enters Mr. Lamb’s apple garden by climbing over the wall, thinking that there is no one.
When he saw to Mr. Lamb, he wanted to run away from there.
But Mr. Lamb welcomes him. He speaks words of love and hope.
He also reminds Derry of the fairy tale 'Beauty and the Beast'.
Derry is impressed by the encouragement given to him by Mr. Lamb.
Derry rushes home to inform his mother that he is going back to live and learn with Mr. Lamb.
Despite his mother’s warnings, he runs back to the garden only to find that Mr. Lamb has fallen from the ladder while picking crab apples and has died.
Derry is permanently changed and no longer fears his face or the world.
Very Short Type Q-Ans.
1. Who is the author of the play, ‘On the Face of It’?
Ans. Susan Hill
2. Who is Derry?
Ans. A fourteen-year-old boy
3. What is wrong with Derry’s face?
Ans. One side of his face is burnt
4. How was one side of Derry’s face burnt?
Ans. By acid
5. Why do people avoid Derry?
Ans. His face is burnt and looks ugly
6. What is Mr. Lamb’s deformity?
Ans. He has an artificial tin leg
7. What do children call Mr. Lamb?
Ans. Lamey-Lamb
8. How does Derry enter Mr. Lamb’s garden?
Ans. By scaling the garden wall
9. To whom does the garden belong?
Ans. Mr. Lamb
10. How does Mr. Lamb talk to Derry?
Ans. In a kind tone
11. Which fairy tale does Mr. Lamb remind Derry of?
Ans. The Beauty and the Beast
12. How has Mr. Lamb learnt so much?
Ans. By watching, listening and thinking
13. Why does Mr. Lamb keep his house doors and garden gates always open?
Ans. To welcome everyone inside, as he loves meeting people, talking to them, and hates being lonely.
14. How does Mr. Lamb spend his time despite living alone?
Ans. By sunbathing, reading books, listening to the bees singing, and making jelly from crab apples.
15. Why does Derry's mother try to stop him from going back to Mr. Lamb?
Ans. She holds prejudices against Mr. Lamb based on baseless rumors she had heard from others.
16 How does the play end for Mr. Lamb?
Ans. Mr. Lamb falls off a ladder while picking crab apples from the tree and dies on the spot.
Textual Questions
1. Who is Mr. Lamb? How does Derry get into his garden?
Ans. Mr. Lamb is an old man. He owns a big garden and a country house. He keeps the gate of his garden always open. Derry comes there by scaling the garden wall.
2. Who is Derry? Why does he go to Mr. Lamb’s garden?
Ans. Derry is fourteen years old. He is a young boy. One side of his face is burnt due to acid. He thinks that garden is empty. To hide himself, he enters the garden by scaling the wall.
3. Why does Derry say people are afraid of him?
Ans. One side of Derry’s face was burnt. Now he looks ugly. People keep away from him. That is why he says that people are afraid of him.
4. What qualities of Mr. Lamb attracted Derry to him?
Ans. Derry found Mr. Lamb was very different from others. He didn’t show any shock on seeing Derry’s burnt face. He encouraged Derry to face the world bravely. All this attracted Derry towards Mr. Lamb.
5. How did Derry get his face burnt?
Ans. It was not a fire that had burnt his face. He got acid all down that side of his face. It burnt my face all the way. It ate up his face.
6. What idea does the story of Beauty and the Beast convey?
Ans. It conveys the idea that it doesn’t matter what you look like. It is what you are inside. Handsome is that handsome does.
7. Why does Derry’s mother warn him not to go to see Mr. Lamb?
Ans. Mr. Lamb is an old man who had lost one of his legs in war. He lives alone in a house that has a garden. People have spread many stories about him and no one ever comes to visit him. This is the reason that Derry’s mother warns him not to go to Mr. Lamb.
8. Why does Derry go back to Mr. Lamb?
Ans. Derry sees that Mr. Lamb is quite different from others. Mr. Lamb expresses no feeling of repulsion on seeing Derry’s burnt face. Rather, he talks to him in a loving manner. He even welcomes him to his garden. Naturally, this draws Derry towards Mr. Lamb.
9. What happens to Mr. Lamb in the end?
Ans. Mr. Lamb puts a ladder against the branch of an apple tree. He tries to pluck apples When he pulls a branch, his ladder falls back. He falls with the ladder and dies.
Essay Type Q-Ans.
1. Write a brief summary of the play ‘On the Face of It’.
Ans. There are three characters in this play: Mr. Lamb, Derry and Derry’s mother. Mr. Lamb is an old man. He has lost one of his legs in war. Now he has a tin leg in its place. He lives alone in a house that has a garden. People have spread many stories about him and no one ever comes to visit him. Derry’s state is also not much different. He is a fourteen years old boy. One side of his face is burnt and he looks very ugly. People look at him with a sense of shock and fear. Everyone makes him conscious of his ugliness and it gives him much mental pain. Once he comes into Mr. Lamb’s garden thinking that no one lives there. Mr. Lamb sees him enter the garden. They talk heart to heart. Derry is so impressed by Mr. Lamb’s encouraging words that he decides to leave his home and start to live with Mr. Lamb. He goes back home to tell his mother of what he has decided. But when he comes to the garden, he finds Mr. Lamb is already dead.
Important spelling
Friendly
Beautiful
Occasion
Handicapped
Deformity
Trespassing
Encouragement
Opportunity
Curtains
Appearance
Behaviour
Disappointment
Artificial
Ladder
Word-meanings
Scrump - steal, pilfer
Underneath - below, under
Lamey - lame
Daft - mad
Peculiar - strange
Steady - firm, strong
Trespassing - illegal entry
Scale - to climb up a high wall