Keeping It From Harold

Keeping it from Harold

Characters:

Mrs. Jane Bramble

• Good natured, Affectionate,
• Very caring towards husband, Bill and son, Harold
• Ever ready to hear Harold's Lessons/poem
• Held truth as a principle of life
• Sensitive to Harold's feelings- Told lie about Bramble's profession, felt he would be embarrassed to knew his father was a professional boxer
• Extremely concerned about Harold's future- Not willing to give up the last fight as it would fetch them sufficient money to educate Harold.

Mr. Bill Bramble

• Thirty-one year old, professional boxer but mild natured, obliging, fondly called 'young Porky';had now planned to give up boxing after the last fight at the national sporting club
• yield to other's requests
• gave his wife's desire to name son Harold
• Jane, senir curate of parish and brother-in-law suggested he should not reveal his profession to Harold
• agreed to hid his real profession from Harold
• agreed  not to fight at the National sporting club
• agreed to fight when asked by Harold to continue with his profession

before Harold was born

• Was proud of being a professional boxer
• enjoyed great publicity through newspaper

once Harold began schooling

• kept his profession secret
• told Harold he was a commercial traveller
• decided to give up boxing and become an instructor

Harold

• Child prodigy- seemed a class above parents
• unlike parents- brilliant at school
• focused- worked hard to attain perfection
• meticulous- kept books and things in order
• courteous- even shut doors softly
• talented- sang in the choir, won prize for spelling and dictation

Major Percy Stokes

• Mrs. Bramble's brother, belonged to salvation army
• persuasive- persuades Bill to keep profession secret from Harold because he did not consider boxing a dignified profession
• aggressive- compelled Bill not to fight against jimmy Murphy

Jerry fisher

• Bill Bramble's trainer
• did not allow people to meet people he trained
• aggressive temperament- wanted to fight with Percy for influencing Bill
• Revengeful- wished to avenge bill for letting him down,

1.What kind of boy was Harold.

-Intelligent boy – deep interest in academics.

- Self absorbed, self occupied- did not take much interest in his parents.

-interested in boxing, has deep knowledge about it.

2. Who was major Percy Stokes? What kind of man was he?

- Brother of Mrs. Bramble

- Trouble maker

- Seems to not have involvement in any constructive work..

- - Instigates Mr. Bramble into quitting boxing before the big fight.

3. Harold’s parents were too perceptive and concerned. Yet they failed to see the reality of their son’s interests. Bring out the truth of this statement by giving evidence from the text.

 Ans. Harold’s parents were extremely proud of his intelligence. They knew that he was a prodigy and were highly concerned that Bill’s profession should be hidden from him. They regarded him as a person showing a bit too much class for them. But they failed to see the reality of their son’s interests. This is evident from the reaction of Harold when he comes to know the reality. He cries and says that it was a rotten thing to hide everything from him. He tells them that he had a bet with his friend, Dicky Saunders, that Jimmy Murphy would not last ten rounds. Harold also tells Jerry that he’s been interested in all these things since he was a kid. He also says that all the fellows with him were very keen on discussing about the boxers' performances. Harold himself names the boxers one after the other, which amazingly shows his field of interest which his parents were completely unaware of.

4. Do you agree that Mrs Bramble is obsessed of dominating not only her husband but also her son?

I do believe that Mrs. Bramble is obsessed with dominating both her husband and her son. She refers to herself in the third person when she talks to her son. Harold doesn’t like this because he feels that she does so as she considers him a baby. While talking to her husband too, Mrs. Bramble is quite blunt. When she sees Bill who has come home while he was supposed to be training, she gets angry and says, “I want a plain answer to a plain question. What are you doing here, Bill, instead of being at the ‘White Hart?” When Bill tells her that he is not going to fight with Murphy, she’s furious and says, “How about the money?” She also says,“ Goodness knows I’ve never liked your profession, Bill ....” These instances show clearly that she fully dominates and controls the life of her husband too.

5. Give a character-sketch of Harold. OR Harold was just like any other child. How was his personality reflected in the end different from what you had read in the beginning? Discuss. [CBSE 2010 (Term-II)]

 Harold is just ten-years old, and for his age he has achieved far more. He is a ‘prodigy’, a child who has exceptional intellectual qualities, and so his parents regard him as ‘being of a superior order’. He is hard working and a brilliant student, who is devoted to his books. His behaviour is also exemplary, and he is a model of goodness and perfect intelligence. In spite of all this, he is not proud of his intellectual level. In fact, when he comes to know of his father’s boxing profession, the way he associates so much value to it, is amazing for everybody present there. He is an absolutely down-to-earth person, with no airs about himself. His character surely reveals that he believes in perfection and has a lot of respect for excellence, be it in the field of studies or sports. He is not a dumb bookworm, but an active and smart person who carries his own opinion, and knows how to express it too.

6. Do you think Bill Bramble was cut out to be a professional boxer on all counts?

Ans. Bill Bramble’s character reveals that to be a professional boxer one need not be violent in nature, specially with people in one's private life. So far as his profession was concerned, he was a tough boxer to fight with. This is evident from the admiration millions of people had for him, and from the way newspapers liked to cover his achievements. So his nature and his profession can be considered as absolutely contradictory to each other. But his ability to hit his fellow-man in the eye while apparently aiming an attack on his stomach, and vice versa, had won him laurels. Among the London’s teeming millions there was not a man, weighing eight stone four, whom he could not overcome in a twenty round contest. Thus in my opinion he was surely cut out to be a professional boxer on all counts.

7. Do you think that Harold’s parents did the right thing by hiding that his father was a professional boxer?

 The bond between parents and a child is not only very close and emotional, but also based on the firm ground of total trust. All ethics, values are imparted to the child by his parents. Love, tender care grows manifold as the child grows. In case of the Bramble family, they thrived in the glory of their prodigy–Harold. No wonder, Harold always performed better than their expectations. He was of keen intellect, winning prizes everywhere. In fact they basked so much in the sunshine of his achievements that they started getting an inferiority complex. They hesitated to do anything that would bring disgrace or make him feel that they were less respectable than others. Bill Bramble had immense pride in his boxing skills. Media, fame, money that once attracted him the most, faded away once Harold was born. They thought that boxing was uncultured, was meant for “men of wrath and they could never bring anything of this type to Harold’s notice. So began the season of deceit, hiding secrets, though it is all for their dear son’s welfare. In the process of hiding the truth, they end up hurting their son the most. Parent’s achievements means the world for the children. This falsehood had caused permanent scars on the psyche of Harold. He may not show, but deep within, he would never forgive his parents. In their over protectiveness, they had failed to note that Harold was a young boy, with natural craze for games and betting. He suffered due to peer-pressure; his natural desire was the subject of envy among his classmates, which his parents had deprived him of. So parents should be cautious, shield their child from problems, but not overshadow his growth. Honesty and trust are the most important factors for any relationship to grow.

8. How was Mr. Bramble’s nature in total contrast to his physical abilities?

Ans. Mr. Bramble was a successful boxer by profession, which requires immense physical strength to defeat the opponent. He was a tough fighter and was affectionately known to a large section of the inhabitants of London, as “Young Porky”. Among all London’s teeming millions, there was not a man, weighing eight stone four, whom he could not overcome in a twenty round contest. But Mr. Bramble’s nature was a total contrast to his physical abilities. In private life, he was the mildest and the most obliging of men, and always yielded to everybody. At one place in the story, the writer describes his walk as that of a ‘diffident crab’ implying that he did not have much self-confidence. His sensitive nature and sense of sacrifice for his son also show how soft he was at heart.
 9. Harold's reaction to Parent's sacrifice of truth

• Harold was extremely disappointed that Bill's true profession had been kept a secret 
• other children had autographs and pictures of famous boxers
• he was mockingly called 'goggles' and wouldn't  be if children in school knew he was young Porky son
• wished he had known his father was the famous professional boxer people talked about
• felt cheated, wished he would continue boxing and win the match at the National sporting club he would feel proud to be called Young Porky's son