9. Dick went into the street, and was rapturously received by Binkie.

10. Binkie wagged his tail joyously.

Thus we see that the only living being that was with him at the moment was his dog. This stroke in the narration accentuates Dick’s loneliness.

11. “We’ve got it very badly, little dog!”

12. “We’re to be shut up…”

The use of the pronoun “we” is of interest here. It might simply reflect the usual address to a dog, it might reflect Dick’s attempt to share his tragedy with someone if only a dog.

13. “How could it have come without any warning?”

“Could + Perfect Infinitive” expresses Dick’s incredulity, his refusal to believe in the coming blindness.

Note that “could” is used to express doubt, incredulity only in interrogative and negative sentences.

14. “We’re to be shut up in the dark… and we shan’t see anybody, and we shall never have anything we want…”

We observe here such an arrangement of similarly built clauses (parallel constructions) which is called climax. It means that each clause (phrase or sentence) is more significant in meaning than the previous one. The stylistic value of this figure of speech is emphasis. And indeed the emotional tone of this sentence where each clause surpasses the previous one in intensity of expression is suggestive of great nervous strain.

Discussion of the text

1. Speak of the text stating whether it presents an account of events, a description, a dialogue or portraiture. If you find several components, name all of them.

2. In what key is the extract written: is it lyrical, dramatic, pathetic, ironical?

3. Into what parts could it be split? Characterize each.

4. What brought Dick to the oculist? With what feelings did he enter the oculist’s waiting-room?

5. Note the incongruity between the tragic verdict pronounced on Dick by the oculist and the trifling character of his worries about Maisie’s displeasure at his wearing spectacles. Does it stress the finality, the tragedy of his position?

6. Study Dick’s remark: “I can see as I ever could’.

7. What effect does the author achieve by making Dick affirm the very opposite of what he feared might be the truth?

8. How did his collision with another patient contribute to the growing tension? What figure of speech helps the author achieve it?

9. How could you account for the reiteration of the word “fear” throughout the extract? Pick out all the sentences in which it occurs. Could we call it the key-word of the text under study?

10. List all the artistic devices that help the author create an atmosphere of impending tragedy.

11. Speak about Dick. How did he behave at the crucial moment of his life when all his moral powers were put to test? Did he give way to his feelings or did he retain his self-control and dignity despite the terrible shock?

12. What ways of moulding a portrait does Kipling use? Does he resort to direct characterization? How do Dick’s conduct and speech characterize his nature?

13. What is the role of the little dog Binkie in the scene discussed? Why did Dick use the pronoun “we” while speaking to the dog? Did it help him fight the coming loneliness of the blind?

14. Study the syntax of the passage beginning with the words “How could it have come without any warning?” What figures of speech are used there? Account for their use.

15. What fills the scene discussed with vitality and dramatic tension?

16. Give a summary of your comments on the text.