4.2 The Rising of the
Moon
By:- Lady Gregory
Textual
Activities
1. Find out the reason of the man for staying at the
place.
Ans: To make a few shillings the man stayed at the place.
2. The stranger stays with the Sergeant. Find a way ...... by him to allow
him.
Ans: The stranger stays with the Sergeant by telling him that he would wait
for sailors. The sailors would buy a ballad off him.
3. Write about the persuasive approach of the man?
Ans: The man wanted to stay at quay .He persuades the sergeant to allow him
to sit on the steps .Then he tells the sergeant that he knows the man he is
waiting for.
4. The man and the Sergeant need each other’s support. Find such examples.
Ans: The following conversation shows they need each other’s support:-
Sergeant : You know him? Come back
here. What sort is he?
Man : Come back is it, Sergeant?
5. The man tries to enforce the Sergeant in favour of the criminal Find the
sentence from the text.
Ans: I wouldn’t be in your shoes if the reward was ten times as much.
6. Find the life of the singer that is mentioned in the extract.
Ans: He is a poor man. He sings on the streets and in fairs. He walked
through the hills to view rocks and streams.
7. The wavelength of the man and the Sergeant goes together find the
evidences from the text.
Ans: The man sings patriotic songs. The Sergeant remembers the songs.
8. The discussion about patriotic songs goes on. Find the points from the
extract.
Ans: The man starts to sing a traditional, sentimental song about lovers
and the beautiful Irish countryside. Then he begins a ballad about a legend, an
oppressed old Irishwoman named Granuaile. Thus the discussion about the
patriotic songs goes on.
9. There is a reference of a criminal. Find sentences in the context and
write
Ans: breaking goal and hiding in the dark, myself would be trying maybe to
put a bullet in his head, or to take up a lump of a stone the way you said he
did.
10. The Sergeants reaction surprises the audience. Write your opinion.
Ans: The Sergeant is the leader of the company of police officers, and he
is in charge of recapturing the prisoner. During the play, we learn that in the
past he had been something of an Irish patriot, but due to family responsibilities
he had become a police officer, working for the British government. Thus, the
Sergeant is shown to be an honest police officer doing his duty. He does not
allow the man to go down the steps towards the landing place. Up to this time
the audience is led to believe that he will capture the prisoner but suddenly
his feeling of patriotism and his support of the convict and his act of
allowing him to escape surprises the audience.
11. The Sergeant support the man by misguiding his comrades. Write your views.
Ans: The man has been chatting with the Sergeant, and has very cleverly
made him forget his duties and turn patriotic. Thus the Sergeant decides to let
the man escape, and hence misguides his comrades. He does this to get freedom
for his country from the oppressive British rule. I agree with his actions. We
did similar things in India to gain our independence from the British.
12. Write your opinion about the man and the Sergeant. Ans:
The man:- the man
is an escaped convict fighting for Irish freedom. He very smartly plays on the
emotions and fears of the simple Sergeant. He first frightens him into letting
him stay on the quay with him. Then, by singing patriotic songs and reminding
the sergeant about his youth, he bonds with him to the extent that the Sergeant
finally forgets his duties, turns patriotic, and allows him to escape.
The Sergeant:-
the Sergeant is the leader of the company of police officers, and he is in
charge of recapturing the prisoner. He is a simple and honest man, working hard
to support his family. Though he is working for the British as a policeman, at
heart he is still something of an Irish patriot. When he finally gets an
opportunity to do something for his country, he does so by letting the convict
escape, maybe to start fresh uprisings elsewhere.
13. The man and the
Sergeant need each other’s support. Find such examples
Ans: The Sergeant is
frightened that the escaped convict is a dangerous man; hence he wants the
man’s help to catch the convict as well as to protect himself. The man is
actually the escaped convict himself. He needs the Sergeant’s support to escape
from the place, using the boat that he is waiting for.
BRAINSTORMING
(A1) There are some dialogues which are short, but quite
effective. They give us enjoyment and add beauty to the main story. Find some
more from the text.
(A2) Theme:
(i) Comment on the given statement after reading the given dialogue-
a. And if we get him itself, nothing but abuse on our heads for it from
the people, and maybe from our own relations - you may begin like this.
Ans:- We do not think about society at large because people do not
understand how difficult
time we face in force. They abuse us even if we obey
the orders.
b. It’s a pity some honest man not to be better of that.
Ans:- When we are doing something that we thing will be profitable for
us. In this way
human beings are selfish.
c. I wouldn’t be in your shoes if he reward me ten times as much. People
generally fall
victim to incentives. Some people stick to values.
Ans:- They do not give
importance to reward but the nationalism. d. But when I saw a man in trouble, I could never help trying to set him
out of it. Its
human to help others. Here the statement tells us that
Ans:- we should help the people
in trouble to come out of it.
(ii) The priorities of the Sergeant are shifted. Complete
the given table by using the given clues.
(iii) Find
sentences from the play related to the given points.
a. Loyalty in Irish Nationalism.
Ans:-
(1) May be Sergeant you’ll be on the side of the country yet.
(3) In spite of your belt and
your tunic that it might have been as well for you to have
followed Granuaile.
(4) Sergeant puts hat and wig
behind his back.
b. Tension between different loyalties.
Ans:-
(1) It’s little we get but abuse from the people, and no choice but
to obey our orders.
(2) Indeed it’s a hard thing to
be in the force, out at night and no thanks for it,
(3) But when I saw a man in
trouble, I could never help trying to set him out of it.
(4) There’s many a thing a man
might know and might not have any wish for.
(A5) The description of the character is given below. Identify the character
from the play. Find some sentences which support your choice.
(a) He is a brave but irresponsible person.
Ans The character is the Sergeant. He is brave - I don’t want it. Bring it
with you, He is irresponsible Sergeant (after a pause) - no one.
(b) He is a major character. He dominates in the story.
Ans:-
(1) Character : Man , A ballad singer : Jimmy Walsh a man who broke
the jail
(2) A story is woven around
the a ballad singer.
(c) He is smart as well as brave.
Ans:-
(1) Character: Man
(2) Proof : You might be
standing there, looking out that way, thinking you saw him coming up this side of the quay (points), and
he might be coming up this other side (points), and he’d be on you before you knew where you were.
(d) He is the centre of the play.
Ans:-
(1) Character : The Sergeant
(2) Maybe, Sergeant, you’ll be
on the side of the country yet.
(e) He is obedient and simple.
Ans:-
(1) Character : Policeman B
(2) We had no order to go back to
the station; we can stop along with you.
