Summary of Forgetting
Forgettingis a remarkable personal essay by the famous British writer, Robert Lynd. His essay written in a polished style, are always witty and humorous. In the present essay, he has analysed the reasons behind forgetting, a habit common to all.
The writer points out that a man generally remembers almost everything that he is expected to remember but he forgets to do some right things at right time in several cases. One the one hand, he remembers the telephone numbers of his friends, the appointments for lunch and dinner the names of great footballers, cricketers, film stars and even criminals and murderers.
One the other hand, he forgets some ordinary things to do such as posting letters, taking medicines and taking pens and sticks and umbrellas while leaving. Psychologists say that we forget those things that we hate. This is true of taking medicines.
Poet forgets because they live in the world of imagination. Lost in the feelings of defeat or victory cricketers forget to take their bats and balls. In the same way, anglers forget to take their fishing-rods. Politicians are masters in forgetting.
However, the writer does not see any connection between forgetting and memory power or intelligence. Forgetting is common to all.
Objectives
1. ‘Forgetting’ has been written by ……….
- J.C. Hill
- Robert Lynd
- A.G. Gardiner
- Stephen Leacock
2. Robert Lynd has described about ……….
- Forgetting
- Driving
- Playing
- None of these
3. Forgetting is predominantly found in ……….
- childhood
- adulthood
- young age
- none of these
4. Devoid of good memory leads to ……….
- accentric behaviour
- joyfulness
- intelligence
- none of these
5. What is required for survival in any great modern city?
- efficient memory
- absent mindedness
- forgetting
- none of these
6. Whose essays are characterized by humour, wit and a polished style?
- Robert Lynd
- Jim Corbett
- Stephen Leacock
- None of these
7. Who often forgets his/her walking sticks pen and umbrellas?
- Jim Corbett
- Robert Lynd
- Stephen Leacock
- None of these
8. Who suffers from forgetting?
- The young man
- The old man
- Everyone
- None of these
9. Why do poet forget?
- due to imagination
- due to always writing
- laughing
- None of these
10. Who have worst memories?
- Doctors and teachers
- Professors and businessman
- Politicians and Sportsman
- None of these
11. Who have good memories?
- Poets
- Doctors
- Teachers
- None of these
12. Who does not carry an umbrella due to losing it?
- Robert Lynd
- J.C. Hill
- Stephen Leacock
- None of these
13. ‘Man is nothing but a bundle of errors’ has been taken from which essay?
- Forgetting
- Our own civilization
- Good Manner
- None of these
Answers:- 1. (B) 2. (A) 3. (C) 4. (A) 5. (A) 6. (A) 7. (B) 8. (C) 9. (A) 10. (C) 11. (A) 12. (A) 13. (A)
Subjectives
1. What has the writer said about the memories of poets and politicians?
Answer:- To the mind of the writer, poets have good memories. They write out of their imaginations and experiences. Politicians on the other hand, have worst memories because of their statements which create a lot of controversies.
2. What are the things that the writer often loses because of forgetting?
Answer:- He loses his pencils, pens, umbrellas and walking sticks in trains and taxies while travelling. He does not carry an umbrella because of the fear of losing it.
3. Are most people absent minded?
Answer:- We are living in a tumultuous world today. Multi-tasking is the order of the day. Some people lead their lives in different situation serving conflicting aspirations. They face difficulties from time to time.
In this process, many anxieties crop up that leads to absent-mindedness. Human brain has more unconscious space in comparison to consciousness. So, it is aptly said that most people are absent-minded.
4. Make a list of things which people often forget to do.
Answer:-Robert Lynd, the famous personal essayist, of Britain has given a marvellous treatment to the topic of “forgetting”. “Man is nothing but a bundle of errors,”is aptly said.
A man can remember a lot of things related to him and the people around but at the same time he forgets also the most common things like posting letters in a letter box, taking pills (medicine) on time, taking walking sticks, books and spectacles and many other things. The essayist, himself is no exception to this. He often forget his walking sticks, pens and umbrellas.
We can conclude as forgetting is common to all.
5. What are the some of the commonest forms of forgetting?
Answer:- The commonest form of forgetting lies in posting letters and taking medicine on time. Letters remain in pockets for many days before they are actually posted. We usually forget our pens, books, umbrellas, walking, sticks etc.
6. Why do we not take medicines on time?
Answer:- It is because of our anti-pathy to the bitterness of the pills, we do not take medicine on time. We do not wish to be dependent on medicine for our health. This delays our recovery and fosters the business of doctors and chemists.
7. What does the list of articles lost by passengers in trains show?
Answer:-This shows our habit of forgetting. It also shows that it is the young rather than the adult who forget things more.
8. When does absent mindedness become a virtue? [2018]
Answer:- It is not good to crowd one’s mind with a lot of memories of prosaic things. There is left no space for lofty and grand thoughts in that case. Here absent mindedness becomes a virtue for a creative person.
9. What has the writer said about the memories of politicians and sportsmen?
Answer:-The writer has said that politicians and sports men have worst memories. Sportsmen are lost in the vision of the playing field. They always think of their victory or defeat.
So, they became oblivious of their game-equipment while leaving the field. Politician’s bad memories result in controversies in their biographies or auto-biographies.
10. Describe the most interesting episode in the essay ‘Forgetting’.
Answer:-The most interesting episode narrated by the writer in the essay is where the lady expected her husband to apologize to her for letting the baby in the pram outside uncared because of his forgetfulness but the husband oblivious of his mistake asks her for lunch.