Class 10 Two Stories

Story 1: "His First Flight" by Liam O'Flaherty

• Central Idea: A young seagull overcomes fear and learns to fly.

• Themes: Courage, self-reliance, fear of failure, growth.

• Message: One must overcome fear to discover one’s true potential.

• Setting: A cliffside nest and the open sky above the sea.

• Perspective: Third-person limited, focusing on the young seagull.

• Characters: The young seagull, his parents, and siblings.

• Title Justification: The title highlights the bird’s significant milestone—his first flight.

Story 2: "Black Aeroplane" by Frederick Forsyth

• Central Idea: A pilot is mysteriously guided to safety through a storm.

• Themes: Mystery, faith, supernatural help, gratitude.

• Message: Help sometimes comes from unknown or divine sources in times of need.

• Setting: A night flight over France during stormy weather.

• Perspective: First-person narrative from the pilot’s point of view.

• Characters: The narrator (pilot), the mysterious pilot of the black aeroplane.

• Title Justification: The black aeroplane is central to the plot, representing the mystery and miracle of the story.
  
  Question 1.

  Why was the young seagull afraid to fly? Do you think all young birds are afraid to make their first flight, or are some birds more timid than others? Do you think a human baby also finds it a challenge to take its first step?
  Answer:
  The young seagull was afraid to fly because it was his first flight and he feared of falling and hurting himself. He thought that his wings would not support him while flying. Yes, it is natural that doing something for the first time is a bit challenging and fearful. All birds must be afraid to make their first flight.
  Similarly, a human baby is also afraid of taking the first step and find it challenging when he learns to crawl or stand up without support.’

  Question 2.
  “The sight of the food maddened him.” What does this suggest? What compelled the young seagull to finally fly?
  Answer:
  The young seagull was very hungry. It was this hunger that ultimately compelled it to fly. Its hunger intensified when it saw its mother tearing at a piece of fish that lay at her feet. It cried to her, begging her to get some food. When its mother came towards it with food in her beak, it screamed with joy and anticipation. However, she stopped midway. It wondered why she did not come nearer. Not being able to resist or controfits hunger any longer, it dived at the food in its mother’s beak. At that moment, his hunger overpowered his fear of the great expanse of sea beneath the cliff. Finally, this plunge was followed by the natural reaction of its body, i.e. to fly.
  
  

  3. They were beckoning to him, calling shrilly.” Why did the seagull’s father and mother threaten him and cajole him to fly?
  Answer:
  Seagull’s parents had tried everything but he was reluctant to fly due to fear of falling down. He looked at his brothers and sister but wouldn’t make any efforts. Thats why the whole family had left him alone and threatened and cojoled him to come but every effort went in vain.

Question 1:

“I’ll take the risk.” What is the risk? Why does the narrator take it?

Answer:

The pilot of Dakota DS 088 plane was keen to reach home in England to spend a holiday with his family. On the way, his plane was engulfed in a huge storm of black clouds. So, he decided to fly straight into the storm as he did not want to miss the opportunity to meet his family for a good English breakfast. Thus, he took the risk of flying through the storm even when the visibility was almost nil.

Question 2:

Describe the narrator’s experience as he flew the aeroplane into the storm.

Answer:

As the pilot (author) entered the big storm of clouds, his plane started to jump and twirl in the air. He could not see anything outside the plane as it was engulfed by completely black storm clouds. When he looked at the compass and other instruments, they had stopped functioning due to the turbulent weather. It was a fearsome and frightening experience for the pilot. The fuel tank of his plane was also almost empty and he could not fly more than ten minutes in it. Suddenly out of nowhere, he saw another black aeroplane with no lights on its wings appear by his side, and the pilot of that plane beckoned him to follow. The narrator obediently followed the other black plane that had no light. He followed the strange black aeroplane without any choice through the storm and soon landed on the runway safely.

Question 3:

Why does the narrator say, “I landed and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota…”?

Answer:

The pilot was delighted to land safely after being caught in a dense storm of dark clouds and was not sorry to walk away from the old Dakota. He was filled with gratitude for the pilot in the other black aeroplane and desperately wanted to thank him for helping him in such a fearsome situation. He felt sorry that he could not thank his benefactor enough for helping him land on the runway safely.

HOTS

Who do you think helped the narrator to reach safely? Discuss this among yourselves and give reasons for your answer.

Answer:

There is no definite explanation for the appearance of the unknown pilot who helped the narrator. We can assume that it was probably the narrator himself who overcame his fear in the midst of a storm as no other plane was visible in the radar except the narrator’s Dakota DS 088. In that frightening situation, the pilot might have fantasized that someone had come to his help. However, he was a good pilot, brave enough to fly through a dense and turbulent storm and land on the runway safely.

VBQ

Question 5.
Fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things. Do you agree? How did these two traits of the young seagull make him coward? How did he overcome these short comings?
Answer:
Yes, It is true that fear and lack of confidence stop one from learning new things as in the story, the young seagull lacked the value of courage and confidence in his character. He was too scared of flying. His family tried hard to make him fly but he refused to do so because of his fear of sinking in the seawater. They even scolded him for his cowardice. They tried to tempt him with food but he was not willing to learn flying. Once he dived, his fear disappeared and he enjoyed his first flight.
It is a fact that unless we try for something and overcome our fear, we can’t learn anything. Confidence and motivation are two most important traits that make any learning possible.