GOING PLACES.........
By___A.R.Barton
Introduction::
This chapter has been written by A.R.Barton, a London based pilot cum writer. Going Places deals with the features of adolescence period like day dreaming, fantasizing, hero worship etc. Here we find a concrete contrast between reality and imagination. Geoff & Jansie are realistic where as Sophie roams in her own dream world. She is an ambitious girl. She has a dream to owe Danny Casey, the Irish football player. Her dreams are, in fact worthless since she belongs to a middle class family background.
About the author:
Anthony Richard Henry Barton ( 17 Dec/1913--- 4 April/1943) was an English author who served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the second world war.. This dynamic officer & author died in an accident in 1943.
Textual Question Answer::
PAGE-79- (THINK AS YOU READ)
1. Where was it most likely that the two girls would find work after school?
Answer--
Only a few months were there that Sophie and Jansie would complete their school. Jansie knows very well they were earmarked for the biscuit factory. There is, of course, chances that they would get some work in shops. In fact, in spite of Sophie's wild dreams, Jansie is sure of what they would do after school.
2.What were the options that Sophie was dreaming of ? Why does Jansie discourage her from having such dreams?
Answer--
Sophie dreamt of other options. She wanted to open a boutique. She also wanted to have the most amazing shops that the city had ever seen. She also wanted to be an actress or a fashion designer.
However, Jansie had her feet firmly set on the ground; for she was a girl of realistic temperament. She wanted that Sophie should drop her baseless plans.
PAGE--81 (THINK AS YOU READ)
1. Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey?
Answer--
Danny Casie was a star football player. Sophie was crazy to meet him. However, once she told her brother Geoff that she met Danny. Geoff informed this to their father. On hearing this the father turned his head and looked at Sophie scornfully. Sophie just wriggled from where she was sitting at the table.
2. Does Geoff believe what Sophie says about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Answer--
Sophie's brother does not seem to believe that Sophie met Danny Casie. In this respect he says::
" It's never true,
"I donot believe."
"Alright, what does he look like?"
From these lines it is clearly understood that Geoff is not convinced at Sophie'e claim.
3. Does her father believe her story?
Answer--
Like Geoff, Sophie's father also does not believe Sophie's story. In spite of being himself a fan of Danny Casey, He (father) is not convinced at Sophie's story. When Geoff tells him about Sophie's meeting with Danny, their father just turns his head to look at Sophie. He ignores it thinking that it is of Sophie's wild stories.
4. How does Sophie include her brother Geoff in her fantasy of her future?
Answer--
Sophie always lives in a world of fantasy and day dream. But her brother Geoff lives in a real world. He is an apprentice mechanic by profession. He does not share Sophie's wild dreams. He does not like Sophie's style of artificial description of false story.
On the other hand, Sophie does not like Geoff's silence. She wants to include him in her world of fantasy. She wants to share her thoughts with Geoff. She imagines that she would ride behind Geoff in the world of dreams wearing shining leather and yellow dress respectively.
5. Which country did Danny Casey play for ?
Answer--
Danny Casey played for Ireland (United)
PAGE-85-(THINK AS YOU READ)
1. Why did not Sophie want Jensie to know about her story with Danny ?
Answer---
It is Jansie who told Sophie that Geoff got the news of her meeting with Danny Casey. Sophie knew that her father know about it from Geoff. On hearing this Sophie got shocked and cursed Geoff. She thought that the whole neighborhood would come to know the entire story.
2. Did Sophie really meet Danny Casey?
Answer--
As found in the text, Sophie met Danny Casey only on one occasion in person.
However, Sophie was very much fascinated by the young football player of Ireland. She dreamt and imagined her meeting with him. Although it was not possible in real life, she kept on making stories involving Danny Casey.
3.Which was the only occasion when she got to see Danny Casey in person?
Answer--
Sophie got an opportunity to meet Danny Casey once. It was when her father, brother Geoff and little Derek and Sophie herself went to watch the match on Saturday. She watched how the united own two hits. She was thrilled seeing how Danny Casey scored a goal. It was, indeed, a moment of pride for her.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
1. Sophie and Jansie were class-mates and friends. What were the differences between them that show up in the story?
Answer--
Sophie and Jansie were classmate and friend. They had only a few months left that they would pass out of school. Although they were good friends in taste, they were originally poles apart.
So far Sophie's activities are concerned, she does not seem to be a girl of this realistic world. She constantly lives in the world of dream.Her dreams are so fantastic that she did not like to come out of it. She is an escapist from the world of reality. Whereas, Jansie is a realistic girl who knows about the cruel realities of this world. When Sophie dreams of becoming an actress or a fashion designer or opening a boutique, Jansie advises Sophie to come to the real world. They have difference in thoughts. Jansie understood the realities of life whereas Sophie did not even know how to make her dreams come true.
2. How would you describe the character and temperament of Sophie's father?
Answer--
Sophie's father is a man having plumy face. He looks grimy and sweaty due to hard work. He is presented as a man of aggressive manner.
Like many other fathers he knows his daughter Sophie very well. He does not believe in her wild stories. But in one aspect the father has a similarity with the daughter. Like Sophie, he is also a crazy football fan of Danny Casey.
When the father came to know about Sophie's meeting with Danny Casey, he did not pay attention to the matter. He just turn his head to see Sophie with utter dislike. Reacting to this Sophie wriggled from where she was sitting. Overall, the father ignored his daughter and went on watching the television.
Sophie's father was a true football lover. Once on Saturday he went to watch the match with Geoff, little Derek and Sophie. The united won two nil and Danny drove in the second goal. Being overjoyed at this, Sophie's father went to a pub to celebrate the victory.
3. Why did Sophie like her brother Geoff more than any other person? From her perspective, what did he symbolize?
Answer--
Sophie considered her elder brother Geoff trustworthy than any other person. Geoff listened to her attentively but talked less. Sophie shared her wild dreams with Geoff. Of course Geoff maintained secrecy. Sophie was ready to share even those areas of her life with Geoff that she herself was not sure of. She talked to him about Danny Casey. Geoff understood her passion and obsession for the celebrity player but Geoff did not like her ideas. He reminded Sophie that many young girls like her run after celebrities but in vain.
Thus, Geoff symbolizes him as a guardian for Jansie whereas Sophie considered him as her guide.
4. What socio-economic background did Sophie belong to? What are the indications of her family's financial status?
Answer--
Sophie came from a middle class family. Her father is a hard working person. Still he is a fan of Danny Casey. They had a small, untidy kitchen. Her mother looked busy with her household works which eventually indicates that they did not have well to do family.
EXTRA QUESTION ANSWERS---
1.Who is the author of Going Places?
Answer-- A.R.Barton
2.What is the theme of this story?
Answer-- Adolescent fantasizing and hero worship.
3.What are Sophie's dreams ?
Answer--- To be a Manager or actress or Fashion Designer. She also wants to open a boutique.
4.Whom does Sophie want to be like?
Answer-- Mar Quant.
5.What does Jansie know about their future career?
Answer-- Jansie knew that they have to work in Biscuit factory.
6.Name Sophie'e two brothers?
Answer-- Geoff and Derek.
7.What is Geoff by profession?
Answer-- An apprentice mechanic.
8.Who is Dany Casey ?
Answer--- An Irish Football player? Irish Prodigy.
9. Where did Sophie claimed to have seen/ meet Dany Casey?
Answer--In Royce's./Arcade
10. Whom does Sophie's father knew long ago?
Answer-- Tom Fanney.
11.Which team did Dany Casey play for?
Answer-- United.
12.Which day did the family go to watch match ?
Answer-- Saturday.
13. Whom does Sophie rely on?
Answer- Sophie relied on her brother Geoff.
14. What was her father's reaction to Sophie's wild stories?
Answer-- He neither believes in Sophie's stories nor looked attentive to her. He rather considered it as her stupid dreams.
15. What did Sophie expect from Geoff ?
Answer-- Sophie expects that Geoff should take her to the outside world on his bike. But Geoff told her that she was too young to go and understood the outer world.
