by Susan Hill
One young boy, one old man, their unlikely short friendship, and a stunning transformation.
“[Hatred] would do you more harm than any bottle of acid.”
Answer the following questions:
1) Who is Mr. Lamb? How does Derry get into his garden?
Mr. Lamb is an old man with a big garden in the same plot as his house. He is a wise and practical person with a unique perspective on life. He has got a tin leg, because his right leg got blown off in the war a long time ago.
Derry liked the garden, and he thought that it was empty. So, he climbed the wall to get into the garden even though the gate was open.
2) Do you think that during the conversation Derry's attitude towards Mr. Lamb changed?
When Mr. Lamb came to know that Derry was deeply affected mentally due to the scar on his face, he tried to counsel him using his positive outlook. He told him the story of the man who locked himself in the room, illustrated the differences and similarities between plants and weeds, brought up the fairy tale of 'The Beauty and the Beast' to teach him about perspectives, and even not to focus on everything he hears. Initially, Derry was stubborn and he eventually returned to focus on his problem of people staring at him, talking about him, being afraid of him and feeling pity for him which he didn't want. However, Mr. Lamb was equally up to the task. He never relented, and continued to motivate Derry with further philosophical words. He urged Derry to look at the world differently. One of the major points that he taught was to focus on what he had rather than what he had lost. Eventually, Derry was impressed by Mr. Lamb's ideas and suggestions, and began to somewhat admire him. Although he revealed a little doubt about him, and told him crazy towards the end, the conversation had genuinely affected him. His attitude towards him changed drastically, and finally he promised him to come back.
3) What is it that draws Derry towards Mr. Lamb in spite of himself?
Derry and Mr. Lamb are similar in one sense that both of them are victims of physical impairment. Derry has got a disfigured face due to an acid burn while Mr. Lamb has got a tin leg because his actual leg got blown off during the war. However, both of them are poles apart when it comes to dealing with their condition.
Derry has become secluded and does not like being near people. His personality has shrunk and mostly wants to remain by himself. He has grown to believe that he cannot get along well in the world because of his burnt face, and that is what others think of him. The burn has eaten him up, and he would never be the same again. On the other hand, Mr. Lamb has a totally opposite outlook towards his condition, life and the world. His open-mindedness, practical approach and friendliness despite a tin leg appealed to Derry. He seems to be living his life fully in spite of the physical impairment. Mr. Lamb tells stories, gives realistic and anecdotal examples to prove his point. His ideas and philosophies are something that Derry has never heard before. Not only that it is strangely comforting, but it inspires Derry to look at things differently. He even wishes to have a garden like his. For Derry, Mr. Lamb slowly becomes an image to look up to and follow, all due to the similarity and the differences at the same time.
4) In which section of the play does Mr. Lamb display signs of loneliness and disappointment? What are the ways in which Mr. Lamb tries to overcome these feelings?
At first, when we come to know that the gate is always open and anyone is welcome in his garden, we get the first sign of his loneliness, and desire to interact with people. His house also does not have curtains as he does not want to shut things in or out. He does talk about many people coming into his garden, but he never mentions any details about them. Mostly he talks about his experiences with things: he loves to sit in the sun, read books, hear the wind and the bees, get the apples down, prepare toffies with honey etc. This reflects both his loneliness and his ways of overcoming it.
On another occasion, when Derry asked him about strangers becoming friends, he claimed that people who met only once can also be friends as they have done nothing to be enemies. Upon being asked names by Derry, Mr. Lamb did not reveal any names, but only used the most common names Tom, Dick and Harry which is a phrase meaning it could be anybody in general. This tells us that there is a faint possibility that Mr. Lamb actually does not have hundreds of friends as he had claimed.
Further, when Derry is leaving the garden, he keeps saying that he would come back. However, Mr. Lamb murmurs to himself or to his bees that all of them make promises of coming back, but none of them returns.
5) The actual pain or inconvenience caused by a physical impairment is often much less than the sense of alienation felt by the person with disabilities. What is the kind of behaviour that the person expects from others?
As Mr. Lamb suggested and even practically demonstrated that he had got used to his disability, and learned to do things his own way. Although it had taken years, he finally learned to live with it. Derry had not reached that stage yet, and was deeply hurt when people talked about his disfigured face, called him ugly, and his burned face became the only highlight for people when he was around.
Mr. Lamb felt mockery at the hands of some children who had nicknamed him 'Lamey-Lamb' due to his tin leg. However, with his maturity and wisdom, he had taken that in the right spirit and claimed to have become friends with all of them. He said that they were not afraid of him because he was not afraid of them. Although he ignored the mockery, it truly does make a person feel alienated. In case of Derry, everyone seemed to be noticing only his burnt face, and started feeling pity for him. They even worried what he would do with his life when he grew up. Both the characters depicted here were stared at, made fun of and got alienated due to their physical disability.
The kind of behavior they expect from others is of inclusivity. They would like to be treated just like we treat normal people. Staring at them would be unkind and rude. Bringing up the topic of their disability, and always feeling only pity for them would just make them feel bad about themselves. Their disability is not their only identity, and they would like to be acknowledged for who they truly are beyond their disability.
[a real life example illustrating the point made in the above answer:]
Stella Young, a comedian, journalist and disability rights activist, was suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as Brittle Bone Disorder. She once revealed in her TED Talk that when she was 15 years old, a member of her local community approached her parents. They wanted to nominate her for a community achievement award. Her parents acknowledged them and told them that it was nice. But then they told them that she hadn't actually achieved anything. The community wanted to nominate her only because she had got through fifteen years of life with disability, and her parents did not agree with that. This approach of Stella Young and her parents reflect their attitude that they do not want to be treated special only because of the disability. They want them to treat the disabled people with equality, inclusiveness and normalcy.
Here's the YouTube link of her mentioned TED Talk
Here's a link of TED Talk by Sparsh Shah who also suffered from the same disorder and went on to become a musician
6) Will Derry get back to his old seclusion or will Mr. Lamb’s brief association effect a change in the kind of life he will lead in the future?
It is unlikely that Derry will get back to his old seclusion. His words towards the end of the play 'I came back. Lamey-Lamb. I did... come back' signify his transformation. It not only means that he has returned to the garden, but it also suggests that the old Derry who was self-confident, outgoing and cheerful has returned as well. Mr. Lamb's words had a pronounced effect on Derry and he dared to come back to the garden despite his mother's refusal. His return is symbolic of the courage that he needed to get on in the world, to overcome the challenges and to do best to his abilities, the courage he lacked earlier. Although his mother would be too protective and anxious about Derry, and his association with Mr. Lamb was very brief, his words would have a long-lasting and deep impact. Even after Mr. Lamb's death, Derry would lead a life according to his ideas. To put it into Derry's words, what Mr. Lamb had said were the things that mattered. And Derry had made up his mind to focus on those.
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