Summary: The Hero
The Hero is poem narrated by a young boy. It is a fantasy he has about being a strong and brave
warrior who is praised and loved by all, especially his mother. The poem is addressed to the
speaker’s mother. It starts with the speaker describing the imaginary landscape he and his
mother are travelling through. Mother is on a palanquin and the speaker is on a horse, riding
along to protect her. The sun has set and the land around them is empty and barren. There is
hardly any light to see where they are going. The dramatic and eerie landscape described is the
perfect setting for the adventure to come.
Suddenly dacoits burst on to the scene and come to attack the palanquin. The palanquin
bearers hide themselves and Mother is terrified. She begs the speaker to stay away, but he
continues on bravely. He fights a bloody battle with the dacoits and gets rid of them. He returns
to his mother, stained all over with blood, and she kisses him proudly, thankful to have a son
like him.
Here, the speaker stops his fantasy momentarily to wonder bitterly why his fantasy cannot
come true when a thousand other useless things do. The fantasy would be like a story from a
book, he thinks, and imagines people’s response to it. His brother would be surprised as he had
thought that the speaker was too delicate to fight. Even the villagers would be amazed and call
it lucky that the speaker was with his mother at the time of the attack.
The poem is filled with the intense longing of the speaker to be thought brave and be loved by
everyone. The hero that the speaker is in the fantasy is probably someone he cannot be in real
life. In real life, he is probably too delicate and young. For this reason, the poem has a touch of
sadness—the speaker thinks that these dreams cannot come true but he imagines them
anyhow. The speaker is an imaginative boy and probably a voracious reader. He lives out his
dreams through fantasies inspired by the books he has read.
POEM THE HERO
A. 1. b
2. When the dacoits attack, Mother begs the speaker to stay away from them. During the fight,
Mother sits crouched in the palanquin, saying her prayers.
3. When they see the dacoits coming, the palanquin bearers hide in the bushes.
4. When the dacoits attack, the speaker on his horse gallops towards them and they fight fiercely.
Many of the dacoits run away in terrors and many are cut to pieces by the speaker. By the time the
fight is done, the speaker is covered all over in blood.
5. After the fight, Mother is thankful that her son is still alive. She hugs and kisses the speaker and
tells him how grateful she is to him and that she doesn’t know what she would have done without
him. She is very proud of her son.
6. The villagers are amazed and say that it was lucky that the speaker was with his mother.
B. 1. a. The speaker’s journey with his mother, the dacoits’ attack and the speaker’s brave actions—all
these would be like a story.
b. Such a story would be a part of a book about adventure.
c. The speaker’s real life is nothing like the story. In real life, he is quite delicate.
2. a. The speaker’s brother says these words.
b. He thought that the speaker was delicate.
c. ‘He’ or the speaker wants to prove his brother wrong by being a hero and saving his mother
from danger.
C. 1. ‘You clutch my hand and say, / ‘Dear boy, for heaven’s sake, keep away from them.’
‘I know you are thinking, sitting all by yourself, / that your boy must be dead by this time.’
2. The speaker dreams of being a hero because he wants to impress his mother by rescuing her.
He wants her to be proud of him. We know this because his fantasy is about saving his mother’s
life and when he saves her, she says in gratitude, “I don’t know what I should do if I hadn’t my
boy to escort me.” The speaker has also read many books about adventure and this probably
has influenced him and he wants to have an adventure himself. We can see this in the line, ‘It
would be like a story in a book.’ The speaker would probably not be able to do such a thing in
real life. We can see this in the line, ‘A thousand useless things happen day after day, and why
couldn’t such a thing come true by chance?’ In real life, the speaker is probably a little delicate.
We can tell this from the speaker’s brother’s words, “‘Is it possible? I always thought he was so
delicate!”
3. Free Response; Suggested answer—The Hero is a suitable title for the poem because that is what the
speaker wants to be. The poem is about a fantasy the speaker has about being brave in the face of
danger and rescuing his mother. The name of this fantasy is The Hero.
Alternative Title: Free Response
D. 1. ‘a strange and dangerous country’; ‘It is evening and the sun goes down’; ‘The waste of Joradighi
lies wan and grey before us.’; ‘The land is desolate and barren.’; ‘The meadow is prickly with spiky
grass and through it runs a narrow broken path. There are no cattle to be seen in the wide field’; ‘It
grows dark and dim on the land and sky.’
2. Free Response;
a) a sad event—grey skies, mild rain, dark room
b) a boring day—hot summer day, no current in the house, people sitting around yawning and
waving fans to keep themselves cool.
THE HERO POEM
A. Answer in brief.
Why is the mother frightened? How does her son comfort her?
Ans: The mother is passing through a lonely, depressing and dull field in a palanquin. Though she is
escorted by her son, she is afraid as the place is deserted, it is getting dark and they are lost, and there
is also the fear of dacoits attacking them at any moment.
B. Answer in detail.
Pick out the lines in the poem that tell you that the boy was imagining everything. Why do you think
he was fantasising?
Ans: ‘A thousand useless things happen day after day,
And why couldn’t such a thing come true by chance?’
The boy wanted to be praised by everybody. Like any boy of his age he wanted to be strong and
brave. Probably, in reality, he was delicate and timid as implied by his brother. So he could only
imagine all that he secretly wished.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
You clutch my hand and say,
‘Dear boy, for heaven’s sake, keep away from them.’ (The Hero)
a. Who is ‘you’ in the above lines?
b. Why does the person warn the speaker?
c. How did the speaker react?
Ans: a. ‘You’ refers to the speaker’s mother.
b. She warns the speaker because she is afraid that the dacoits would harm her son.
c. The speaker was fearless and asked her to watch him fight the dacoits and drive them away.
D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)
Why do you think the boy wanted to be a hero in his imaginary world?
Suggested Ans: The boy may have been called timid and weak by his brother and this may have
offended his pride. He may have wanted to be the hero he never could be in real life. Perhaps he
longed to be admired and be looked upon as a heroic person by the people of his village.
E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)
What is the point of view and theme of the poem ‘The Hero’?
Ans: Written in the first person, the poem takes the speaker’s point of view. It reflects a small boy’s rather
one-dimensional idea of heroism. As his true personality is gentle, he turns into a violent conqueror in
his imagination. In his perfect daydream, he wins over impossible odds and is admired by everyone.
Heroism to this child is all about fighting thugs to save the woman he loves the most—his mother.
The theme captures the longing to fit in and be admired. So a delicate boy dreams of being brave and
strong, as he believes that is what society wants. It also reflects how heroes are often associated with
machismo and violence.
POEM THE HERO
A. 1. b
2. When the dacoits attack, Mother begs the speaker to stay away from them. During the fight,
Mother sits crouched in the palanquin, saying her prayers.
3. When they see the dacoits coming, the palanquin bearers hide in the bushes.
4. When the dacoits attack, the speaker on his horse gallops towards them and they fight fiercely.
Many of the dacoits run away in terrors and many are cut to pieces by the speaker. By the time the
fight is done, the speaker is covered all over in blood.
5. After the fight, Mother is thankful that her son is still alive. She hugs and kisses the speaker and
tells him how grateful she is to him and that she doesn’t know what she would have done without
him. She is very proud of her son.
6. The villagers are amazed and say that it was lucky that the speaker was with his mother.
B. 1. a. The speaker’s journey with his mother, the dacoits’ attack and the speaker’s brave actions—all
these would be like a story.
b. Such a story would be a part of a book about adventure.
c. The speaker’s real life is nothing like the story. In real life, he is quite delicate.
2. a. The speaker’s brother says these words.
b. He thought that the speaker was delicate.
c. ‘He’ or the speaker wants to prove his brother wrong by being a hero and saving his mother
from danger.
C. 1. ‘You clutch my hand and say, / ‘Dear boy, for heaven’s sake, keep away from them.’
‘I know you are thinking, sitting all by yourself, / that your boy must be dead by this time.’
2. The speaker dreams of being a hero because he wants to impress his mother by rescuing her.
He wants her to be proud of him. We know this because his fantasy is about saving his mother’s
life and when he saves her, she says in gratitude, “I don’t know what I should do if I hadn’t my
boy to escort me.” The speaker has also read many books about adventure and this probably
has influenced him and he wants to have an adventure himself. We can see this in the line, ‘It
would be like a story in a book.’ The speaker would probably not be able to do such a thing in
real life. We can see this in the line, ‘A thousand useless things happen day after day, and why
couldn’t such a thing come true by chance?’ In real life, the speaker is probably a little delicate.
We can tell this from the speaker’s brother’s words, “‘Is it possible? I always thought he was so
delicate!”
3. Free Response; Suggested answer—The Hero is a suitable title for the poem because that is what the
speaker wants to be. The poem is about a fantasy the speaker has about being brave in the face of
danger and rescuing his mother. The name of this fantasy is The Hero.
Alternative Title: Free Response
D. 1. ‘a strange and dangerous country’; ‘It is evening and the sun goes down’; ‘The waste of Joradighi
lies wan and grey before us.’; ‘The land is desolate and barren.’; ‘The meadow is prickly with spiky
grass and through it runs a narrow broken path. There are no cattle to be seen in the wide field’; ‘It
grows dark and dim on the land and sky.’
2. Free Response;
a) a sad event—grey skies, mild rain, dark room
b) a boring day—hot summer day, no current in the house, people sitting around yawning and
waving fans to keep themselves cool.
THE HERO POEM
A. Answer in brief.
Why is the mother frightened? How does her son comfort her?
Ans: The mother is passing through a lonely, depressing and dull field in a palanquin. Though she is
escorted by her son, she is afraid as the place is deserted, it is getting dark and they are lost, and there
is also the fear of dacoits attacking them at any moment.
B. Answer in detail.
Pick out the lines in the poem that tell you that the boy was imagining everything. Why do you think
he was fantasising?
Ans: ‘A thousand useless things happen day after day,
And why couldn’t such a thing come true by chance?’
The boy wanted to be praised by everybody. Like any boy of his age he wanted to be strong and
brave. Probably, in reality, he was delicate and timid as implied by his brother. So he could only
imagine all that he secretly wished.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
You clutch my hand and say,
‘Dear boy, for heaven’s sake, keep away from them.’ (The Hero)
a. Who is ‘you’ in the above lines?
b. Why does the person warn the speaker?
c. How did the speaker react?
Ans: a. ‘You’ refers to the speaker’s mother.
b. She warns the speaker because she is afraid that the dacoits would harm her son.
c. The speaker was fearless and asked her to watch him fight the dacoits and drive them away.
D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)
Why do you think the boy wanted to be a hero in his imaginary world?
Suggested Ans: The boy may have been called timid and weak by his brother and this may have
offended his pride. He may have wanted to be the hero he never could be in real life. Perhaps he
longed to be admired and be looked upon as a heroic person by the people of his village.
E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)
What is the point of view and theme of the poem ‘The Hero’?
Ans: Written in the first person, the poem takes the speaker’s point of view. It reflects a small boy’s rather
one-dimensional idea of heroism. As his true personality is gentle, he turns into a violent conqueror in
his imagination. In his perfect daydream, he wins over impossible odds and is admired by everyone.
Heroism to this child is all about fighting thugs to save the woman he loves the most—his mother.
The theme captures the longing to fit in and be admired. So a delicate boy dreams of being brave and
strong, as he believes that is what society wants. It also reflects how heroes are often associated with
machismo and violence.
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