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The Little Girl Class 9 English Chapter 3, The Little Girl Introduction, The title of the story refers to the main character that we will come across- the little girl named, Kezia. The theme of the story is the relationship between children and their parents and the, writer Katherine Mansfield wants to tell us that children share a very important bond of love, with their parents. Although when children are small, when they are young they do not feel that, their parents love them because their parents are strict and many actions of the parents seems, unjustified. But as children grow up they realise that all the acts done by their parents were, beneficial for them. The parents were concerned for them and beneath the strictness lies a, heart full of love for the children. And this bond of love between parents and their children has, been highlighted through this story., Do you feel you know your parents better now, than when you were much younger? Perhaps, you now understand the reasons for some of their actions that used to upset you earlier., When we are small, when we are very small,we do not know why our parents are being strict, with us. But as we grow older we become mature and we realize why they were being strict, with us and when we realized that thing then we also realize that our parents love us. So even, the reader can also relate to this. You all can also feel that when you were younger, the action, you parents did, the strictness that they had towards you was for your betterment.And as you, will grow older and older you will realize that in the past whatever acts your parents did were, for your betterment and in fact they really love you., This story about a little girl whose feelings for her father change from fear to understanding will, probably find an echo in every home., Now what do we mean by “will probably find an echo in every home”. This means that all the, children will feel the same way. So, you all can relate to the feeling of little girl Kezia. Just like, Kezia is full of fear towards her father and later on she understands his behavior and feels that, he was concerned, and he loved her. All the children also have the same feeling towards their, parents and you can relate to Kezia’s story very well., , The Little Girl Summary, The Little Girl Summary – ‘The Little Girl’ is the story of a little girl, Kezia who misunderstood, her father’s strictness and usually remained scared of him. She kept a distance from him,, whenever he would be at home. She considered him to be as big as a giant. She would often, get nervous and stutter while talking to him. She longed for his love and affection like her, neighbour Mr Macdonald., Once she was kept indoors as she was affected by cold. Her grandmother suggested that she, make a gift for her father’s birthday next week. They decided that Kezia would make a, pincushion for him. Kezia made a beautiful pin-cushion; but she accidentally made a mistake., She filled it with bits of paper that she got by tearing her father’s important speech. She was, punished for that. This incident further estranged Kezia from her father.

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She would often look at the neighbours, the Macdonalds playing joyously in their lawn. Mr., Macdonald was such a good father and played so lovingly with his children. She wondered he, might be a different sort of father., Once her mother fell ill and was hospitalized. She was left alone at home under the care of the, cook. At night she had a nightmare and woke up screaming. She found her father standing by, her bedside. He picked her up and took her to her room. He tucked her up in his bed and soon, fell asleep. Kezia felt secure lying near her father. She realized that her father was not as big as, a giant. She felt the beating of her father’s loving large heart. Finally, she realized her father was, very loving and had a generous heart., Answer the following questions in one or two sentences., 1.Why was Kezia afraid of her father?, Ans. Kezia was afraid of her father because he was strict. He stared at her and even gave her, physical punishment. Instead of the love and affection that Kezia sought from her father, he, gave her scoldings which instilled a fear in her mind. Her father’s giant structure also terrified, little Kezia., 2. Who were the people in Kezia’s family?, Ans. In all there were four members in Kezia’s family – her strict father, her stern mother, a, loving grandmother and Kezia herself., 3. What was Kezia’s father’s routine, (i) before going to his office?, (ii) after coming back from his office?, (iii) on Sundays?, Ans., i) Before going to office, Kezia’s father would visit Kezia in her room, give her a kiss and then, leave for work in his carriage., ii) After coming back from office in the evening, Kezia’s father would order that tea be brought, for him in the drawing room. He would order for his slippers and the newspapers in a loud, voice., iii) On Sunday afternoons, he would stretch out on the sofa, his handkerchief on his face, his, feet on one of the best cushions, and would sleep soundly and snore., 4.In what ways did Kezia’s grandmother encourage her to get to know her father better?, Ans. Kezia’s grandmother wanted Kezia to have a strong bond of love and affection with her, parents. In order to develop that, she encouraged Kezia to go downstairs every Sunday, afternoon to spend time with her parents and to get to know them better., III. Discuss these questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers, in two or three paragraphs each., 1.Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much.How did this, happen?, Ans. Kezia was at home as she was down with fever. Her grandmother suggested that she make, a surprise gift for her father as his birthday was approaching. Kezia and her grandmother, planned that Kezia would make a pin cushion for him and her grandmother gave her a piece of, yellow–coloured silk fabric for it. Kezia stitched the cushion from three sides and was looking, for pieces of torn cloth or paper to stuff into the cushion., As her grandmother was out in the garden, the innocent child reached her parents’ room. She

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found a heap of paper lying on the bed table, tore the sheets of paper into tiny bits and stuffed, it into the cushion. Kezia was glad that finally, the surprise gift was ready but, in fact she had, committed a serious mistake of destroying her father’s speech that he had prepared for the, Port Authority., Kezia’s father was angry with her and wanted to teach her an important lesson, not to touch, anything that did not belong to her. So, he hit Kezia’s palms with a ruler to teach her a lesson., 2. Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr, Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?, Ans. Mr Macdonald, Kezia’s next door neighbour had five children. Kezia often saw them, playing in the garden., One day, she peeped through a gap in the fence and saw them having fun. Baby Mao was, sitting on Mr Macdonald’s shoulders, his two daughter stuck to his coat’s pockets and they ran, all around the flower beds, laughing and having fun. His sons opened the hose on him and he, tried to catch them., This fun scene made her conclude that there were different kinds of fathers. Mr Macdonald was, different from her father. He was not strict, played with his children and they laughed all the, while., On the other hand, Kezia’s father was always angry at her. He remained busy with work and, later, was too tired that he slept most of the time. He stared at her, scolded her for stammering, and being silly., His strict nature made Kezia wonder that what for had God made fathers., 3.How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?, Ans. One day, Kezia’s mother was taken ill and went to the hospital. Grandmother too, accompanied her. Kezia was left alone with the cook, Alice to look after her. At night, Alice put, Kezia to bed but Kezia was reluctant to sleep without her grandmother as she would go to her, in case she got scared by a nightmare. Alice put Kezia to sleep all alone and ordered her not to, scream and disturb her father who was asleep in the next room. But she was again bother by, the nightmare of a butcher with a knife, a rope and a dreadful smile. Kezia screamed and called, her grandmother. Upon hearing her screams, her father woke up. He was holding a candle and, lifted Kezia in his arms. He took her to his room and comforted her. He lay Kezia in his bed and, told her to rub her feet against his legs to make them warm. Kezia felt his affection and, snuggled towards him. At that moment, Kezia realized that her father worked really hard was a, tired poor man who needed sympathy and concern. There was no one to look after him., Although he was big and not as soft as his grandmother, Kezia realized that he loved her, and, she had affection for him.