Macavity: The Mystery Cat: Summary
‘Macavity: The Mystery Cat‘ is a humorous poem written by ‘T. S. Eliot‘. In this poem, the poet describes the mischiefs of a mysterious cat name Macavity.
According to the poet, Macavity is a mysterious cat, because it commits various kinds of crimes, but it is never nabbed by the police. It commits the crime and vanishes. It acts as if it were a master criminal.
Really, it is a master criminal who defies both human and natural laws. The poet calls it the ‘Hidden Paw‘ because of its mysterious acts. It is sure that the crime was committed by Macavity. But the interesting thing is that no one can prove it.
It always commits crimes such as drinking milk, breaking glass. But it never leaves any type of clue at the place of occurrence. It commits crimes everywhere, but it is found no where.
It moves like a snake and it is always alert. It looks gentle, but cheats people easily. It is the leader of the gang of the criminal cats. In fact, it is the Napolean of crime.
Thus, the poet means to say that Macavity is a clever and cunning cat, who makes problems for anybody.
Objectives
1. Macavity is the pet cat of ………….
- D. H. Lawrence
- T. S. Eliot
- Walt Whitman
- None of these
Answer:- T. S. Eliot
2. Macavity The Mystery Cat is written by …………..
- Rupert Brooke
- Kamala Das
- John Donne
- T.S. Eliot
Answer:- T.S. Eliot
3. Macavity is a ……………
- cat
- dog
- lion
- rat
Answer:-cat
4. Macavity is called …………..
- the Exposed paw
- the Naughty paw
- the Hidden paw
- the Mysterious paw
Answer:- the Hidden paw
5. The poet compares Macavity to ……………
- Samudragupta
- Bismark
- Charles
- Napolean
Answer:- Napolean
6. ………………. is from his collection called old possum’s Book of Practical cats.
- The Mystery Cat
- Song of Myself
- The Soldier
- None of these
Answer:- The Mystery Cat
7. …………… is a ginger cat.
- Pacavity
- Macavity
- Ramavity
- None of these
Answer:- Macavity
8. Macavity is full of ……………[2018]
- happiness
- sadness
- deceitfullness
- None of these
Answer:- deceitfullness
The Soldier -Rupert Brooke
9. Who finds Macavity lazy and half asleep?
- T.S. Eliot
- D.H. Lawrence
- Kamala Das
- None of these
Answer:- T.S. Eliot
10. ………….. is a master of criminal.
- Rodger
- Racavity
- Nacavity
- Macavity
Answer:- Macavity
11. T.S. Eliot was born in ……………
- 1888
- 1885
- 1876
- 1891
Answer:- 1888
12. T.S. Eliot died in …………..
- 1915
- 1965
- 1955
- 1935
Answer:- 1965
13. Macavity is …………..
- Fat
- Short
- Tall and thin
- Dome shaped
Answer:- Tall and thin
14. T.S. Eliot got Nobel Prize for literature in …………..
- 1938
- 1948
- 1936
- 1946
Answer:- 1948
15. T.S. Eliot was a …………..
- poet
- verse dramatist
- critic
- All of these
Answer:- All of these
16. Macavity can defy or challenge …………..
- Anyone
- The food
- The law
- The dog
Answer:- The law
17. Mungojerrie and Griddlebone are also ……………
- dogs
- monkeys
- cats
- birds
Answer:- cats
18. ‘Ash wednesday’ is written by …………….
- W.B. Yeats
- Thomas Dekker
- T.S. Eliot
- S.T. Coleridge
Answer:- T.S. Eliot
Subjective
1. Describe Macavity in two or three sentences of your own.
Ans:- Macavity is a ginger cat, very thin with eyes sunken in and brows lined with thought. Macavity is very cunning and always wide awake even though people feel that it is half-asleep.
The physical appearance is not very appealing as its coat is dusty and whispers are uncombed.
2. What does the poet mean by power of levitation?
Ans:- Levitation means act of rendering light. Body can float in the air only when it becomes lighter than air. The power of levitation thus, means power to make the body light. This power is displayed by Macavity.
3. Why does the poet call Macavity a mystery cat?
Ans:- Macavity is a master criminal. He carries on his thievish activities so secretly that Scotland yard. And its flying squad fail to catch him red-handed. Macavity disappears from the place of theft before the police reach there. So, the poet calls him a mystery cat.
4. What are the adjectives that have been used to describe Macavity?
Ans:- The poet has used a number of adjectives and hyperbolic expressions to describe Macavity. He is soft footed, tall and thin, pensive in look with sunken eyes, skin, being dusky and head very high.
He is a friend shape, a monster of depravity, he is a cat of deceitfulness.
Explanation
1. “Macavity, Macavity. There is no one Macavity …………….. Macavity is not there”.
>>> In these lines, the poet T.S. Eliot is talking about the criminal activities of a cat named Macavity in a humerous tone. Macavity can be seen anywhere and every where.
This fiend in feline shape is a monster of crime. He commits crimes but he is never found at the crime-scene. Even the Scotland Yard fails to catch him.