GOING PLACES BY A R BARTON SUMMARY AND NCERT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

POINTS TO REMEMBER: GOING PLACES

• Sophie’s Ambition and Unrealistic Dreams

– wants to start a boutique

– to earn money by becoming a manager, an actress or even a fashion designer

– she belongs to the weak socioeconomic background

– doesn’t have a decent house.

• Her Friend Jansie

– simple and nosey

– wants Sophie to be happy and realistic

– can’t keep information or secrets to herself

• Sophie’s Dad

– is strong, sweaty and hardworking

– Loves to watch football matches

– Does not believe in Sophie’s imaginary stories.

• Sophie’s brother - Geoff

– is an apprentice mechanic

– speaks less

– sophie trusts him and shares her secrets with him

• Sophie lives in a world of her own/her fantasizing

– Sophie is fond of hero worship and fantasizing

– Sophie’s hero is an Irish player Danny Casey

– Dreams of meeting him

– Is so much obsessed with meeting him

– Starts believing her imaginations as real

– Nobody believes her

– Feels disappointed

– She still believes that she has met him.

NCERT QUESTIONS -GOING PLACES

Q1. What did Sophie dream of after leaving school?

Ans Sophie dreamt of owning a boutique, becoming a Manager or an actress.

Q2. Why did Jansie discourage her from entertaining such dreams?

Ans. Jansie was aware of Sophie’s poor socioeconomic condition.Jansie discouraged her from entertaining such dreams because her dreams were wild and can never be realised. Moreover,   she knew that they were earmarked to work in a biscuit industry.

Q.3 Why was Sophie jealous of Geoff silence?

Ans: Sophie’s brother Geoff was an apprentice mechanic. He was almost grown up yet he hardly spoke any thing of his own. Words were prized out of his mouth like stones from the ground. She could only suspect areas of his life which she wanted to hear from him. So she was jealous of his silence. She took him to be out there in the world, when he was not speaking.

Q4How does Sophie include her brother Geoff in her fantasy of the      future.?

Geoff had always been the first one with whom she shared her fantasy of her future. She told him about her meeting with Danny. She also shared her plan of meeting him the next week. She longed to know more about Geoff and wished that someday he might take her with him. She imagined herself riding behind Geoff one day.

Q5. Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met  Danny Casey?

Ans   Sophie felt uncomfortable because she knew that she was lying and her

   father would not believe her story. She knew that he would get angry.

Q6 Does Geoff believe what Sophie says about  her meeting with Danny  Casey ?

Geoff does not believe in Sophie’s story about her meeting with Casey. Though he listens to her story, he cannot draw himself into believing her story. He dismisses it as the most unlikeliest thing. He even tries to make Sophie see the reality by telling her her that Danny would never keep his promise of meeting her again.

Q7Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?

Q8. Do you think Sophie had really met Danny Casey?

No, Sophie had never met Danny Casey in reality. She was a dreamer. The story of her meeting Danny Casey was one of the wild stories by her.

Q9 Which was the only occasion when she got to see Danny Casey in   person?

Ans: Sophie only got to see Danny Casey in person when she had gone to  watch the football match with her family. Sitting amongst the spectators she had only seen Danny Casey from a distance.

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

Q1.Sophie and Jansie were classmates and friends What were the differences between them that showed up in the story?  

Sophie : Imaginative , day dreamer, live in the world of fantasy , harbours unrealistic dreams, escapist ,optimist , romantic , hero worships Danny Casey, good at concocting stories

Jansie; Mature , sensible , realistic, practical , well wisher of Sophie : dissuade her from living in the world of fantasy, did not nurture big dreams ,accepted her reality , nosey , gossip monger .

Q2. How would you describe the character and temperament of Sophie’s Father ?

Ans Sophie’s father is a hardworking man  who toils the whole day to make  his family comfortable ,however he does not indulge in self –pity nor  does he blame his circumstances . His face is grubby and sweaty after  the day’s hard work .

 He is a practical man who frowns upon Sophie’s   flights of fantasy and insensitive towards her daughter’s dreams. When Geoff told him about Sophie’s meeting with Danny Cassey, he dismisses as one of her ‘wild stories’.. Sophie is somewhat scared of him  and does not want any of her stories to reach him. However, there is  a lighter side to him. He is a   sports enthusiast, he loves watching football .Watching United    each Saturday was like a weekly pilgrimage for him. He also cheered    for Danny Casey  and even celebrated his victory in a pub .    

Q3. Why did Sophie like her brother, Geoff more than any other person?   From her perspective what did he symbolize?

 Ans Sophie idolized her brother who was three years out of school. She  was very fond of her elder brother who was an apprentice mechanic.    He was reticent, hence she felt comfortable sharing her secrets with  him .In spite of the fact that she was always concocting fantastic stories  of imagination, he was a patient listener and never made fun of her. He  carried an air of mystery which intrigued her.

She felt when he was  silent, he was journeying through unknown exotic and beautiful places  which were beyond her reach. She wanted to go with him to all those   wonderful places. He was always the first one to know her secrets   because she wanted to be a part of his affection. Sometimes his silence  made her jealous because she couldn’t know what he was thinking. In order to attract his attention, she created a fantastic story about meeting  Danny Casey, the  football star, knowing that he idolized him

To Sophie .Geoff symbolized a pathway to the world of romance and excitement, a world which was drawn away from her and beyond her reach. He also symbolized freedom from her drab and impoverished existence.

Q.4 What socioeconomic background did Sophie belong to? What are the indicators of her family’s financial status?

Ans. From the story ‘ Going Places’ we come to know that Sophie belonged to a lower middle class family, i.e. a poor socio-economic background.

Geoff’s occupation of an apprentice mechanic and Sophie being earmarked for working in a biscuit factory reflects the poor socio economic background. Both her parents as well as her brother lacked sophistication.Her father worked hard for a living and his labour was reflected on his face which was grimy and sweaty.Her mother was bent , her back got crooked with the burden of the household work. Sophie wishes that Geoff takes more care of his appearance .

The house that Sophie lives in was not in a decent locality because when Sophie was fantasizing about buying a boutique, her father said that if money comes, the first thing that was to be done was to buy a decent house for the family. The small room that they lived in was steamy and cluttered with dirty washing piled up in a corner. Her father went to the pub on his bicycle to celebrate.

All the above indicate that Sophie belonged to a poor socio-economic background.

EXTRA QUESTIONS : GOING PLACES

Q1What did Sophie tell  Geoff about her meeting with Danny Casey?

Q2. On the news ‘Sophie met Danny Casey’ how did their father react?

Ans: Father looked at Sophie with sadness on their face, he did not believe it. He called it another of her wild stories. He warned her that one day she would put herself into a lot of troubles because of her talks

Q3 “Damn that Geoff, this was a Geoff thing not a Jansie thing” Why did Sophie say so?

Q4 What thoughts came to Sophie's mind as she sat by the canal?

(– thought Danny Casey would come to meet her

– saddened to realise that such a thing is impossible

– perfect place to meet)

Q5. How did Sophie come to know that her dad was not at home? Why was she glad to know it?

Sophie came to know that her father not at home when she passed by the pub. She saw her father’s Bicycle propped against the wall of the pub. She was glad because she would not have to see her father when she reached home disappointed.

Q6 Sophie is a typical adolescent hero-worshipper who carries her fantasizing too far .Comment.

Yes, Sophie is a typical adolescent who worships Danny Casey, the football star. She fantasizes about meeting him and taking his autograph which is quite normal for an adolescent. But she crosses the border of normalcy when she tells her family that she actually met him and that he wants to take her on a date. And then she actually goes to the place and literally waits for him to appear which is abnormal

Q7.How is the title ‘Going Places’ most appropriate?
A. The title is appropriate as Sophie the protagonist- a teenager fantasizes and goes to places in her imagination in the story and Geoff’s ‘areas of his life’ which unknown to her holds a special fascination for her about which she romanticizes.

Short Questions

1.       Who was Sophie? What do you know about her family? (2008)

2.       Sophie flits from one dream to another. What trait of hers is brought out by this action?

3.       What made Sophie dissatisfied with her life?

4.       The unknown things are always a fascination for human beings. How is it true in the case of Sophie?

5.       Did Geof keep his promise? How do you know? (2008)

6.       What made her heave a sigh of relief when she knew that Geoff had not divulged all what she said?

7.       According to Sophie’s father, what dangers does Danny Casey face in his career as a football player

8.       *. Who is responsible for Sophie’s tears ? Why do you think so ?

Long Answer type Questions :

1.       Fantasy is a pleasant relief at times but at times it can take a serious turn, which may prove detrimental to mental growth. . Elucidate with reference to the text focusing on the negative impact of fantasizing?

2.       What in your opinion is the reason behind her weaving a fantasy, is it a crush for an ace footballer or is it the love for glamour of a celebrity, if not at least the glamour of a person associated with a celebrity. Elucidate

3.        Bring out various aspects of the brother-sister relationship with instances from the lesson ‘Going Places’.

4.       “Going Places” is a story that borders on fantasy and reality. Discuss.

5.       What was Geof’s reaction when Sophie told him about Danny Casey?

             OR

Contrast Sophie’s real world with her fantasies (2009)