CBSE CLASS 9 - English (Lit.) - The Lost Child - Questions and Answers (#ebsenotes)(#eduvictors)

The Lost Child

Author: Mulk Raj Anand

(Q & A)

Q 1: What are the things the child sees on his way to the fair? Why is he lagging behind?

Answer: Moving from the wintry shades of lanes and alleys, walking into the narrow streets of the fair, the child saw several petty things, for instance he saw toys and got stuck there. Sweets, garlands, balloons etc. attracted his eyes. Everywhere, he stopped to have a closer look at some of his favourite things at different shops of the fair . So, he lagged behind every time.




Q 2: In the fair he wants many things. What are they? Why does he move on without waiting for an answer?

Answer: The child, while going through various shops of the fair, gets tempted to many attractive things. He wants a toy, sweets, a garland of Gulmohar and some colourful balloons. He wants to listen to the snake charmer and enjoy every little charm of the fair. He knows that his parents won't permit him to have these things and as a little boy, he has assumed the reasons on perhaps some prior experiences of the parents' denial over his non-stoppable desires, which every kid of his age have. So he moves on without waiting for an answer.



Q 3: When does he realise that he has lost his way ? How has his anxiety and insecurity been described?

Answer: The child gets tantalized to see the roundabout ride and starts moving into its direction. When he turns himself to get permission from his parents, he gets no response. To his shock, his parents weren't standing there and he cannot see them anywhere. He realises that he has lost his way. He starts crying there loudly and runs haphazardly here and there in search of his parents.


Q 4: Why does the lost child lose interest in the things that he had wanted earlier?

Answer: The child has lost the way in the fair and gets separated from his parents. He is constantly searching for their presence and is running haphazardly crying and wailing. Nothing attracts him now. He wants his parents before anything else. The boy feels this that the value of parents is the most precious aspect in one's life. So he repeatedly says: "I want my mother, I want my father."


Q 5: What do you think happens in the end? Does the child find his parents?

Answer: A generous man was trying to help the little crying child and was showing concern for him by showing him the charming attractions of the fair, which could keep the boy calm down for a while. Due to the constant cries of the boy that he wants his mom and dad right now, the man must have searched for them. As the man seemed kind-hearted and caring, I believe that he must have helped the boy to find his parents in the crowded fair. There are certain loud speaker announcements in the fairs, he probably have used them to approach the boy's parents. With the loud announcements, the parents would have come to find their poor little love. They might have thanked the man for keeping their boy safe and for saving all from the losing.