*7. Birth (A.J. Cronin)*
Main points of the
Chapter:
· This chapter is an extract from A.J. Cronin’s book, The Citadel.
· Andrew Manson is a young doctor.
· He has just begun his medical practice in the small Welsh mining town of Blaenelly.
· He is an assistant to Dr. Edward Page.
· Joe Morgan and his wife, who have been married for twenty years ago, are expecting their first child.
· They ask Andrew Manson for his help in the delivery of the child.
· It is about midnight when Andrew Manson reaches Bryngower.
· Morgan’s mother, who is a woman of seventy years, is sitting beside the patient.
· Andrew Manson has spent a disappointing evening with his girl friend, Christine. She quarreled with him at Cardiff station.
· He also remembers that his friend Bramwell was devoted to a woman but she deceived him.
· Edward Page loves Blodwen who is a shrewish woman.
· Denny is living unhappily apart from his wife.
· When he was thinking all these, the old man tells him that the time for delivery has come.
· After an hour of labour, the child is born but stillborn.
· He gave the child to the nurse and attended the mother first.
· The nurse places the baby under the bed among dirty newspaper.
· After half an hour’s terrible effort, Andrew Manson is at last success to revive the child.
· While going in the street, he keeps thinking, ‘I have done something; oh God! I have done something real at last.’
7. Birth (A.J. Cronin)
Very Short Type Q-Ans.
*1. Who is the writer of
‘Birth’?*
Ans. A.J. Cronin
*2. Who was Andrew
Manson?*
Ans. A young doctor
*3. Where did Andrew
Manson start his medical practice?*
Ans. In the small Welsh Mining town of Blaenelly
*4. Who was Andrew an
assistant of?*
Ans. Of Dr. Edward Page
*5. How long time had
Joe Morgan and his wife been married?*
Ans. For the twenty years
*6. Who was Christine?*
Ans. Andrew Manson’s girl friend
*7. Why did Andrew
Manson visit Joe Morgan’s house?*
Ans. Because Morgan’s wife was going to deliver a child
*8. Where did Joe Morgan
live?*
Ans. At Bryngower
*9. Who was Bramwell?*
Ans. Andrew Manson’s friend
*10. Who loved Blodwen?*
Ans. Bramwell
*11. How was the baby
when born?*
Ans. Dead
*12. Who did Andrew
Manson attend first?*
Ans. The mother
*13. What did Andrew
decide to do with the dead child?*
Ans. All possible efforts to revive the dead child
*14. What miracle
happened?*
Ans. The child gave one heave, then another
*15. Was the doctor
successful in saving the child’s life?*
Ans. Yes
*16. How did the doctor
feel when the child’s life was saved?*
Ans. Relieved, tired and satisfied
7.
Birth (A.J. Cronin)
Short Type
Q-Ans.
*1. Who was
Andrew Manson?*
Ans. Andrew Manson is a young man who has recently qualified as a doctor and
started his medical practice as an assistant to Dr Edward Page in the small
Welsh mining town of Blaenelly.
*2. Who was Joe
Morgan?*
Ans. Joe Morgan was a driller in the city and he was
waiting for Andrew Manson because he
was attending his first child which was born after twenty years from marriage.
In the small town of Bryngower, Andrew Manson was the most reliable doctor.
*3. What did
Andrew find when he entered the bedroom in Morgan’s house?*
Ans. It was nearly midnight. He found Joe Morgan waiting for him. His wife
needed immediate help. When he enters the room, he saw Morgan’s mother was
sitting beside the patient. There is still time to childbirth.
*4. Who was
Christine? What sad episode did Andrew remember about her?*
Ans. Christine was Andrew
Manson’s girl friend. Andrew loved her deeply. But she had quarreled with him at the Cardiff
station. It had made Andrew very sad.
*5. What did the
midwife do with the child and why?*
Ans. The elderly midwife was sure that the child was
stillborn or lifeless. She had
placed it beneath the bed. After attending the mother, he searched for
the baby among the dirty newspapers below the bed and pulled out him.
*6. What special
method did Andrew use to revive the child?*
Ans. First, he laid the child upon a blanket and gave it artificial respiration.
Then he dipped the child alternately in hot and cold water.
*7. What last
effort did Andrew make to revive the child?*
Ans. He then made another last effort. He rubbed the child with a rough towel.
He went on pressing and releasing the baby's little chest with both his hands.
At last the baby responded.
Long Answer
*1. “I have done
something; oh, God! I’ve done something
real at last.” Why does Andrew say this? What does it mean?*
Ans. Andrew Manson is a
young man who has recently qualified as a doctor and started his
medical practice as an assistant to Dr Edward Page in the small Welsh mining
town of Blaenelly. Joe and his wife, who have been married for twenty years,
are expecting their first child. They called Mr. Andrew Manson for the
delivery. After delivery Andrew gave the child to the nurse. The elderly
midwife thought that the child was stillborn or lifeless. So she had placed it beneath the bed. After
attending the mother, the doctor searched the child among the dirty newspapers
below the bed and pulled out him. First, he laid the child upon a blanket and gave it artificial respiration.
Then he dipped the child alternately in hot and cold water. He then made another
last effort. He rubbed the child
with a rough towel. He went on pressing and releasing the baby's little
chest with both his hands. At last the baby responded. When he was leaving the
house, he thought, ‘I’ve done something real at last’.