The Bishop's Candle Sticks
by
Victor Marie Hugo
a. The Bishop loved his plants more than his silver. [✓]
b. The Bishop did not care about the poor. [ ]
c. The Bishop was haughty and cruel. [ ]
2. Which of the following statements would the author of the passage be most likely to agree with?
a. The poor take undue advantage of the rich, even to the extent of stealing from them. [ ]
b. Society is unjust particularly towards the weak and the disadvantaged. [ ]
c. Policemen are generally kind, helpful and considerate. [✓]
3. We know that the silver was stolen from the house because the Bishop found the basket in the garden. Can you identify two other clues that prove that a theft had taken place?
= i. The coping of the wall had been torn away.
ii. The man was gone with out letting anyone know.
Reference to context:
4. "And in the first place, was that silver ours?"
a) Who asks these questions?
= The Bishop Monseigneur Bienvenu asks this questions.
b) Does the speaker truly not know the answer to the question?
= The speaker knew the answer to the question. But he was just pretending to be unaware of the fact that the silver was theirs.
c) To whom is this question asked?
= This question was asked to Madame Magloire.
d) Where are the speaker and the listener? What is the occasion?
= The speaker and listener was in the garden.
The Bishop was in the garden most likely to pluck flowers, then Madame Magloire ran up and told her that she was not getting the basket of silver and if he knew anything about it.
e) Is there a subtle message the speaker wished to convey by asking the question? What was this?
= The speaker is a Bishop. For obvious reason, he is an intellectual person. he has conveyed the very subtle message by asking this question to Madame Magloire as well as to the readers.
He signed about the fact that we are the children of Almighty God and we are very much mortal. We have come to this world when we born and certainly return back to God when we will be dead. Nothing belong to our own in this world. We born alone and without anything, we die alone and can take nothing back with us. here the Bishop actually wanted to ask that the silver was really theirs or not.
5. ". . . one really does not need either fork or spoon, even of wood, in order to dip a bit of bread in a cup of milk."
a) Name the types of spoons that the speaker wanted to use.
= The type of spoons that the speaker wanted to use are - 'pewter spoons'; 'iron spoons'; and 'wooden spoons'.
b) Outlined the excuses one of the listeners made against these.
= The excuses one of the listeners made against these are - the pewter spoons had an odour, the iron spoons had a taste and an individual does not need even a wooden spoon to dip a bit of bread in a cup of milk.
c) When, where and why was this final observation made by the speaker?
= In the morning, at breakfast table, Madame Magloire made this observation as the Bishop was indifferent about the lost silver spoons.
d) Did the listeners agree with the final observation? How did both of them react?
= The listeners did not agree with the final observation. Rather they were pretending to agree and mocked the Bishop's observation to take the man, Jean Valjean like that way and trying very best to hide the fact that Jean Valjean could steal.
Read, reflect and write:
6. How did the Bishop protect Jean Valjean? Why did he do so?
= The Bishop projected jean Valjean as an innocent poor man. He knew it well that Jean Valjean actually stole those silver stuffs yet he wanted to shower his forgiveness for him. From the early morning he was pretending such a way that he did not know anything about the fact. He was a Bishop. His main focus was to forgive and promote forgiveness among people. According to the Christian religion, forgiveness is the greatest virtue. So, he showed in front of the two other members and the police officials that he intentionally had given all those silver stuffs to Jean Valjean.
7. You just read about the interaction between Monseigneur Bienvenu and Jean Valjean. In your own day-to-day interactions, consider all factors in a situation before making a decision on how to react. While you are on your way home from school, a lady carrying a squirming toddler and a large bag bumps into you. Juice from the child's bottle splatters all over your shirt. She tries to keep walking without apologizing. What do you do next?
= I would call the woman and me, myself would apologize to her for the incident. I will try to convince her that it was my fault that I bumped into you. And her baby's food was wasted only because of me. And will I also make her sure that I would be careful while walking on road in future.