The Little Girl

 

Introduction

The title of the story refers to the main character named Kezia. The theme of the story is about the relationship between children and their parents. Kezia has a strict father and a stern mother. She has a grandmother who understands her and loves her. Kezia is afraid of her father. The story deals with the change of opinion of Kezia on her father.

The writer Katherine Mansfield tells us that children have a very important bond of love with their parents. When children are young, sometimes they may not feel that their parents love them because their parents are strict. Children may think that many actions of parents are unjustified. But soon children realize that all the actions of their parents are beneficial for them. They will know that parents are concerned about them. Beneath the outward strictness parents have hearts full of love and affection for the children. The bond of love between parents and their children has been highlighted throughout this story.

Summary

‘The Little Girl’ is the story of a little girl, Kezia who could not understand her father’s strictness. She was scared of him. She kept a distance from him, whenever he would be at home. She considered him to be as big as a giant. She would often get nervous and stutter while talking to him. She longed for his love and affection like her neighbor Mr. Macdonald.

Once she was kept indoors as she was affected by cold. Her grandmother suggested that she make a gift for her father’s birthday next week. They decided that Kezia would make a pincushion for him. Kezia made a beautiful pin-cushion, but she accidentally made a mistake. She filled it with bits of paper that she got by tearing her father’s important speech. She was punished for that. This incident further estranged Kezia from her father.

She would often look at the neighbors, the Macdonalds playing joyously in their lawn. Mr. Macdonald was such a good father and played so lovingly with his children. She wondered he might be a different sort of father.

Once her mother fell ill and was hospitalized. She was left alone at home under the care of the cook. At night she had a nightmare and woke up screaming. She found her father standing by her bedside. He picked her up and took her to her room. He tucked her up in his bed and soon fell asleep. Kezia felt secure lying near her father. She realized that her father was not as big as a giant. She felt the beating of her father’s loving large heart. Finally, she realized her father was very loving and had a generous heart.

Meanings to some new words and phrases

a figure to be feared: a person to be feared
Glad sense of relief: feeling relaxed
Fainter and fainter: to lessen or reduce
slip down: come down quietly and unwillingly
Stutter: to stammer, to speak with pauses
given it up: stopped doing it
Trying so hard: making a lot of efforts
Wretched: unhappy, sad
on the brink of suicide: about to commit suicide
suicide: kill oneself
Snoring: the sound produced by some people when there are asleep.
Gravely: seriously.
Laboriously: with lot of effort or difficulty.
Wandered into: went into, by chance
Scraps: small pieces of cloth or paper etc that are not needed.
shadowed room means that as it was dark, there was a light outside the room which was making shadows in the room.
a sad little pattern refers to the sad atmosphere in the room.
The damned thing: used to express anger at something.
Hue and Cry: angry protest.
given it up: stopped doing it
Trying so hard: making a lot of efforts
Bedclothes Refers to the sheets, the top sheets that you cover yourself when you are sleeping.
Clung: to attach yourself to something.
Nightmare: a bad dream. A Butcher is a person who cuts animals, who cuts meat.
tucked up: covered up nicely in bed
Snuggled: moved into a warm, comfortable position, close to another person

Question and Answers

I. Given below are some emotions that Kezia felt. Match the emotions in Column A with the items in Column B.

A	B
1. fear or terror 2. glad sense of relief 3. a "funny" feeling, perhaps of understanding	(i) father comes into her room to give her a goodbye kiss (ii) noise of the carriage grows fainter (iii) father comes home (iv) speaking to father (v) going to bed when alone at home (vi) father comforts her and falls asleep (vii) father stretched out on the sofa, snoring

Ans.

A	B
fear or terror	(iii) father comes home (iv) speaking to father (v) going to bed when alone at home (vii) father stretched out on the sofa, snoring
glad sense of relief	(i) father comes into her room to give her a goodbye kiss (ii) noise of the carriage grows fainter
a “funny” feeling, perhaps of understanding	(vi) father comforts her and falls asleep

II. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences.

1. Why was Kezia afraid of her father?

Kezia was afraid of her father because he was strict. He scolded her for her mistakes and even gave physical punishment. He looked at disapprovingly when she stammered before him. Kezia wanted her father to be affectionate with her. She thought that her father looked like a giant.

2. Who were the people in Kezia’s family?

In all there were four members in Kezia’s family – her father, her mother, her grandmother and Kezia herself. They had a cook named Alice.

3. What was Kezia’s father’s routine

(i) before going to his office?

(ii) after coming back from his office?

(iii) on Sundays?

i) Before going to the office, Kezia’s father would visit Kezia in her room. He would give her a kiss and then leave for work in his carriage.

ii) After coming back from the office in the evening, Kezia’s father would ask for tea to be brought for him in the drawing-room. He would also ask for his slippers and the newspapers loudly.

iii) On Sunday afternoons, he would stretch out on the sofa with his handkerchief on his face. He would keep his feet on one of the best cushions and sleep.

4.In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?

Ans. Kezia’s grandmother wanted Kezia to have a strong bond of love and affection with her parents. In order to develop that, she encouraged Kezia to go downstairs every Sunday afternoon to spend time with her parents and to get to know them better.

III. Discuss these questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers in two or three paragraphs each.

1.Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?

Ans. Kezia’s grandmother suggested that she make a surprise gift for her father as his birthday was approaching. They planned that Kezia would make a pin cushion for him and her grandmother gave her a piece of yellow-colored silk fabric for it. Kezia stitched the cushion from three sides and was looking for pieces of torn cloth or paper to stuff into the cushion.

As her grandmother was out in the garden, the Kezia reached her parents’ room. She found some sheets of fine paper lying on the bed table. She thought that the paper would be suitable for the pincushion. So, tore the sheets of paper into tiny bits and stuffed it into the cushion. Kezia was glad that finally, the surprise gift was ready. Sadly, she did a serious mistake of destroying her father’s speech that was prepared for the Port Authority.

Kezia’s father was angry with her and wanted to teach her a lesson, not to touch anything that did not belong to her. So, he hit Kezia’s palms with a ruler.

2. Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr. Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?

Ans. Mr. Macdonald, Kezia’s neighbor had five children. One day, she saw them having fun. Baby Mao was sitting on Mr. Macdonald’s shoulders. His other two daughters stuck to his coat’s pockets and they ran all around the flower beds, laughing and having fun. His sons opened the water hose on him.

This happy scene made her decide that there were different kinds of fathers. Mr Macdonald was different from her father. He was not strict, played with his children and they laughed all the while.

On the other hand, Kezia’s father was always angry at her. He stared at her, scolded her for stammering and being silly.

Her father’s strict nature made Kezia wonder that what for had God made fathers.

3. How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?

Ans. One day, Kezia’s mother was ill and went to the hospital with her grandmother. Kezia was left alone with the cook, Alice. At night, Alice put Kezia to bed but Kezia was reluctant to sleep as her grandmother was not at home. She needed her grandmother in case she got scared by a nightmare. Alice ordered her not to scream and disturb her father who was asleep in the next room.

She got a nightmare. A butcher with a knife, a rope, and a dreadful smile scared her. Kezia screamed and shouted for her grandmother. Her father woke up. He took her to his room and comforted her. He lay Kezia in his bed. Kezia snuggled him. She realized that her father had fallen asleep. Then Kezia realized that her father worked hard. He was also a human being who needed sympathy.