My Old Home
📚 Answer the following questions
a. How does the narrator describe his feeling at the arrival of his old home?
=> Answer: Reaching his old home causes the narrator to experience conflicting emotions. The place he carries in his memory is green, pleasant, and full of vitality, but the village he now sees has lost that appearance. The surroundings look grey, deserted, and gloomy, and the condition of his former house is also disappointing. This striking difference between the remembered past and the present reality leaves him deeply nostalgic and saddened.
b. What were the three kinds of servants in China then? What does it indicate about contemporary Chinese society?
=> Answer: The servants mentioned in the story belonged to three groups: dailies, yearlong and busy-mothers. Dailies were employed for a single day or a limited period. Yearlong servants worked for one household for a whole year or even longer. Busy-mothers were landowners who served one family during particular occasions, such as New Year festivals or periods of rent payment.
This arrangement reveals the existence of a hierarchical social structure. Employment depended on economic circumstances and social position, showing that the society was strongly influenced by class distinctions and unequal opportunities.
c. What makes the narrator nostalgic? What did he do with Runtu in his teenage years?
=> Answer: Hearing his mother speak about Runtu causes the narrator to revisit the memories of his youth. He remembers the adventurous life he once shared with his childhood friend. They spent their time catching birds, hunting Zha, gathering colourful shells, and searching for badgers and porcupines. Such memories remind him of a carefree period before poverty and social differences affected their relationship.
d. How did Runtu hunt a Zha at a young age?
=> Answer: Runtu hunted the Zha while guarding the watermelon field. He stayed alert beside the watermelons and waited for the animal to come near. As soon as he got the chance, he struck the Zha suddenly with a pointed knife.
e. How does the narrator make a humorous picture of Mrs Yang?
=> Answer: The narrator presents Mrs Yang in an intentionally comic manner. He describes her narrow cheekbones and lips and notes that she used powder on her face. Her unusual appearance is made even more amusing through the comparison of her face to two compasses in a geometry box. This exaggerated image creates humour in the description.
f. According to the narrator, what were different factors that made Runtu a poor man throughout his life?
=> Answer: Runtu's poverty is connected to the difficult conditions surrounding his entire life. He faces social obligations, discrimination, limited opportunities, and economic weakness. His problems are intensified by poor harvests, famine, heavy taxation, a large number of children, and pressure from the gentry. Because of these combined difficulties, he remains trapped in poverty despite his efforts to survive.
g. How does the narrator help Runtu before leaving the old home?
=> Answer: Before departing, the narrator considers Runtu's financial difficulties and decides to give him several useful possessions. He provides two large tables, a few candles, an incense burner, and a set of scales. In this way, he tries to offer practical assistance and make his friend's household life slightly easier.
h. How does the author differentiate two kinds of idols?
=> Answer: The author places superstitious idols and hope in contrast. Superstitious idols are connected with people's desire for immediate results and temporary solutions. Hope, however, represents a more lasting belief that can sustain people even when they are facing hardship. The distinction therefore separates short-term dependence on superstition from enduring faith in a better future.
🌏 Reference to the Context
a. While reading the friendship between the narrator and Runtu, Hindu readers remember the friendship between Krishna and Sudama. Which particular description reminds you of the mythological example?
=> Answer: The relationship between Xun and Runtu brings to mind the traditional friendship of Krishna and Sudama because both friendships exist despite a great difference in wealth.
Xun enjoys a better economic position, whereas Runtu lives in poverty. This resembles the relationship in which Krishna is a wealthy king and Sudama is a poor Brahmin. Runtu struggles to provide even basic necessities for his family, much like Sudama experiences serious financial hardship.
The two poor friends also feel uncomfortable before their wealthy companions. Runtu becomes shy and embarrassed when meeting Xun, knowing that their social and economic situations are now very different. Sudama similarly feels hesitant when he approaches Krishna.
The response of their wealthy friends provides another parallel. Krishna welcomes Sudama affectionately and helps him improve his life. Likewise, Xun treats Runtu generously and gives him useful household goods.
Both stories emphasize that genuine friendship is not based on wealth, status, or social rank. It survives through affection, respect, kindness, and willingness to help.
b. How does the story support the proposition that the relationships of childhood are innocent, impartial and disinterested?
=> Answer: The childhood bond between Xun and Runtu shows how freely children can form friendships without considering social divisions. As young boys, they do not measure one another according to wealth or class. Their friendship develops naturally through the experiences they share.
They play, explore, collect shells, catch birds, and hunt together. None of these activities is motivated by financial advantage. Their companionship is based on curiosity, enjoyment, and genuine affection.
Later, society changes the circumstances of their lives. Xun and Runtu become separated by economic inequality and social status. Runtu suffers from poverty, while Xun occupies a comparatively comfortable position.
Nevertheless, the narrator still remembers their childhood bond and tries to assist Runtu. The story therefore demonstrates that childhood friendship can be pure, unbiased, and selfless, while social and economic systems may later create barriers between people.
c. After reading the story, what inferences can you make about the contemporary Chinese economic and social system?
=> Answer: The story offers a critical picture of a society where poverty and social inequality strongly affect ordinary people's lives. The contrast between Xun and Runtu reveals that economic circumstances can determine a person's opportunities and social position.
Agriculture appears to be an important means of livelihood, yet people involved in it face severe difficulties. Famine, poor harvests, taxation, family responsibilities, and pressure from the gentry contribute to the continuing poverty of people such as Runtu.
The division of servants into dailies, yearlong and busy-mothers further indicates that labour was organized according to particular social and economic conditions.
The story also shows that class distinctions could interfere with human relationships. Xun and Runtu begin as equals in friendship, but their adult lives become separated by economic circumstances. This suggests a society characterized by class barriers, discrimination, poverty, and unequal opportunities.
d. What does the story indicate about the geographical features of the narrator’s hometown?
=> Answer: The narrator remembers his hometown as a green, rural, and lively place. His childhood memories include grassy land, vegetables, birds around the garden and house, and the blue-black sky above the village.
The seaside is also an important part of the landscape. During childhood, the narrator and Runtu went there to gather shells of different colours. The natural surroundings also allowed them to observe birds and hunt Zha.
After many years away, however, the narrator finds that the familiar landscape has changed. The lively environment of his childhood has become grey, gloomy, deserted, and seemingly lifeless.
The physical transformation of the village therefore strengthens the narrator's feeling of nostalgia. His old home is not merely a geographical place; it represents a lost period of childhood that can no longer be recovered.