NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English (Woven Words) Short Stories 1 The Lament

Class : 11th
Subject : English
Chapter : 1
Chapter Name : The Lament

Q1 Comment on the indifference that meets Iona’s attempts to share his grief with his fellow
human beings.

Answer. The protagonist of the story, Iona Potapav is in deep grief, the reason being his son's
unexpected demise. As a general human characteristic, he also wants to talk about the hardship
that he is facing, what all he felt through the entire event, but he's unable to find someone to
vent out. He wants to share the flood of emotions that he has been storing inside him. But the
problem resides in the fact that the people that he's surrounded by, are either in a hurry being
the passengers wanting to reach the destination or are simply not interested in giving an ear to
him. So whenever Iona starts sharing about the death of his son, he's ignored by everyone.
Finding no other resort, Iona shared everything to his horse.

Q2 What impression of the character of Iona do you get from this story?

Answer. Iona, the protagonist of the story, is a cab driver. After the sudden death of his son, he
is miserable and he wants to share his feelings but he's unable to find a person to vent out. He
wants someone to hear about the loss that he has been suffering but it's observed that
everyone is either busy or uninterested thus he becomes a miserable figure and in the end
shares everything with his horse. In the starting of the story, it's explained that how unaware he
has become of his surroundings that even the snow wasn't bothering him, all he was looking for
was an individual to hear about everything that has been happening with him. He also states
that death came to his son instead of him. So after the loss of his son, he has turned into a
miserable man who finds earning a living difficult and is looking for support in every individual he
comes across.

Q3 How does the horse serve as a true friend and companion to Iona?

Answer. Iona just wanted someone to hear about all the grief that he has been suffering from.
He started talking to everyone that he came across but the problem was that no individual was
either interested nor anyone had the time to hear what he was saying. Everyone was just
focused on getting out to their own ways. He wanted to talk about everything, the way he died,
how he went to collect the clothes of his dead son, how he has been feeling, but he was unable
to find someone. This was the time when he resorted to telling everything to his horse. The