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Class 6: Unit-9: The City of Tobors

  Setting of the Story

  • Place: A futuristic city controlled by machines (Tobors), especially The Centre.

  • Time: A future, technologically advanced society.

  • Atmosphere: Oppressive and controlled at first, later chaotic and hopeful.

Tone: Serious, thoughtful, and hopeful.

Mood:

  • Beginning: Fear and control

  • Middle: Tension and confusion

  • End: Victory and hope

Perspective (Point of View)

  • Third-person narration

  • Focuses mainly on Derf’s thoughts and actions.

Background: The City of the Tobors is a science-fiction story set in a future city where machines called Tobors control human beings known as Nems. The Tobors use computers and strict rules to keep power over the people. The story shows how humans live under fear and control, and how intelligence and questioning help them fight back and regain freedom.

Characters:

1. Derf: A brave and intelligent Nem who questions the Tobors and leads the rebellion.
2. Tobors: Powerful machine rulers who control and oppress the city.
3. Kram: Derf’s friend who helps him fight against the Tobors.
4. Nor: Another friend of Derf who supports the plan to destroy the Tobors.
5. Nems: Human workers forced to live under Tobor rule.
6. Female Nem with baby: Represents the suffering and injustice faced by the Nems.

Summary of the Story
  1. Derf cannot sleep because he wants to find a way to enter The Centre.
  2. The next morning, a Tobor stops a female Nem from entering her workplace with her baby.
  3. Derf feels angry but knows he must fight the Tobors intelligently, not with force.
  4. At work, Derf accidentally asks his computer a wrong question and notices it cannot answer.
  5. He becomes excited when the computer shows confusion and finally breaks down.
  6. Derf shares this discovery with his friends, Kram and Nor.
  7. The next day, they ask silly and forbidden questions to their computers.
  8. Other Nems copy them, and many computers stop working.
  9. The Tobors panic and rush to The Centre.
  10. Derf and his friends secretly enter the Centre with them.
  11. Derf fights a Tobor and discovers that it is only a machine.
  12. The Nems attack the Tobors and defeat them.
  13. The city becomes free, and Derf becomes a hero.
Central idea: The story shows how intelligence, questioning authority, and unity can overthrow oppressive systems, even those that seem powerful and invincible. In other words, the story shows that by thinking smartly, questioning power, and standing together, people can defeat even the strongest rulers.

Themes 

  • Oppression: The Tobors control and treat the Nems cruelly.

  • Power of Knowledge: Thinking and questioning help defeat the Tobors.

  • Man vs. Machine: Humans overcome machines using intelligence.

  • Freedom: The Nems fight to regain their freedom.

  • Courage: Derf dares to challenge the powerful Tobors.

  • Abuse of technology: Using technology in a wrong or harmful way to control or harm people. In the story, the Tobors misuse technology to control the Nems and take away their freedom.

Message of the Story:  Blind obedience to authority is dangerous. Questioning, thinking critically, and standing together can defeat even the strongest forms of oppression.

Title Justification: The title “The City of the Tobors” is appropriate because the city is completely ruled by the Tobors, and the entire conflict revolves around their control and eventual downfall.

Literary Devices
Symbolism:  Tobors → Oppressive authority / misuse of technology
The Centre → Power and control
Irony: Machines meant to control humans are defeated by human intelligence.
Conflict: Man vs. Machine,  Man vs. Authority
Imagery: Descriptions of flashing computers and the Centre create tension.

Inversion of Names in the Story (Connected to the theme of control and freedom)
  1. Many names in the story are words spelled backward, like Derf (Fred), Tobors (robots), and Nems (men).
  2. This shows the society is reversed or controlled, with machines ruling humans.
  3. The inverted names make the world seem unnatural and strange.
  4. They highlight how the normal order of life has been turned upside down.
  5. The names suggest that the situation can be reversed when people regain freedom.

Conclusion: The City of the Tobors is a powerful science-fiction story that warns against the dangers of uncontrolled technology and authoritarian rule. It celebrates human courage, intelligence, and the fight for freedom.

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