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Question
Not seeing the obvious could lead a perceptive mind to reflect upon more philosophical issues. Discuss this with reference to the ‘snail on the wall’.
Solution
Yes, it is true that not seeing the obvious can lead a perceptive mind to reflect upon more philosophical issues and the story ‘Mark on the Wall’ is its perfect example. Although the mysterious mark on the wall sets a plot to the story its content revolves in a very different direction.
The narrator could have easily solved the mystery by standing up and inspecting the mark more closely in less than a minute but she chose to solve the mystery without any physical effort. So, she chooses to spend the time to think of the various possibilities that could have caused this mark, and while guessing these fanciful guesses she finds herself lost in some serious philosophical thoughts.
The snail is identified just at the end of the story but is the titular hero who provides a plot to this story. The vast streams of consciousness are a result of this snake sitting on the wall and the narrator sitting on her chair.
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(i) Can you say which words are content words in the examples below, and which are function words? All the examples are from the text in this unit.
(ii) Can you name the kind of word (its category as a noun, pronoun, etc.?). A dictionary may help you to do this. You can work in pairs or groups, discussing the reasons for your analysis.
- Ants carry a blade of straw so feverishly and then leave it.
- They wanted to leave this house because they wanted to change their style of furniture.
- I don’t believe it was made by a nail after all; it’s too big, too round, for that.
- There was a rule for everything.
- The tree outside the window taps very gently on the pane.
