UNIT – IV
GOOD MANNERS –
BY J.C.HILL
About the
author: John C Hill (1888 – 1943) is a famous British writer. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, and was
eventually ordained as a priest.
Introduction: J.
C. Hill’s “Good Manners” is an adaptation from his famous book “An Introduction
to Citizenship”.
In his essay “Good Manners”, the famous British writer John C. Hill stresses on
the importance of thoughtfulness and courtesy towards common people. Human life
on this planet is not permanent. Hence one must try, as far as possible, to
behave politely and to help others.
Good
manners are based on having sympathy for others and acknowledging one’s own
limitations. We should strive to maintain cordial relations amongst one
another.
Q1.How did the attack of influenza
change the young man’s attitude towards old men?
Q2. What made the young man lose his
strength?
Ans: Hill begins
the essay with a story of a young man. Once there lived a young man
who was very strong and healthy and carried on his work very actively. He was
proud of his strength and had no sympathy for the “uninteresting folk” i.e. the
old and the helpless people. One day he got an attack of influenza and became
seriously ill. When he recovered, he became very weak. He could hardly walk.
After a few days, he started working again. But he felt very tired while
returning home from work. He felt sad looking at the strong young men sitting
comfortably in the train or bus. It was then that he understood the misery of
the weak and old people who were standing beside him throughout the journey. He
realized that he will get back his strength after some days but those old
people will never get back theirs. After recovering, he promptly gave up his
seat for the weak and the aged in the bus or train. One should not feel proud
of himself and look down upon the weak.
Q3.
Why should one not call an old man “an old fool”?
Ans:
J.C.Hill gives a
beautiful illustration saying that supposing an old man is hesitating to cross
the road when young cyclist is racing fast. The cyclist should not get
irritated and call him an old fool. He should not scold him for walking slowly.
The man may be weak and tired or he may not be able to see or listen well. In
the past, he might have been a famous soldier in war or perhaps lost one leg.
Someday the young cyclist may face a similar situation. How would he feel if
some school boys made fun of him in his old age?
Q4. What odds
did the parents and teachers face in their lives?
Ans. Hill wants all the young boys and girls
to learn that they are all fragile little things in this dangerous world. We are staying on this planet only for a very short time. We
will never see those who we live with again in our lives. During our short
stay here, we should help the world as much as we can. So we should behave politely and try to please and help as
many people as possible.
A child would not know about the sufferings of his
parents, teachers or older people because they never disclose them. They might
have experienced severe blows in life and may be very tired. But they never
complain about them. Instead parents try to invest everything they have for the
well being of their children. So children should make life easy for them. Good
manners come from sympathy with others and from understanding our own
limitations.
Q5. What good manners should we follow
when we are with friends?
Q6. It takes two to speak the truth-one to speak and another to hear. Explain.
Q7. What did Thoreau say about uttering
the truth?
Q8. How should
one speak to others? Why?
Q9. Why does one
have to express truth differently to different people?
Q10. What
precautions should one take while speaking in company?
While in company, we should be very careful in observing good manners. We should speak clearly and sufficiently loud for others to hear us. It is our duty to make ourselves understood. We should not talk too much and should always give others a chance to speak. Good listeners get enough time to think so that when they speak, they can speak clearly.
When
in a company, one must watch out for certain signs in order to be labeled as a
well- mannered person. Some people are delighted to speak continuously wherever
they are. They think that everyone is delighted by their company, but in fact
everyone there would be exhausted and angry at their behaviour. Hence one
should not do all the talking for himself; he should instead give equal
opportunity to others to express their views and feelings. We should always
give the other person a full and patient hearing. If they do not speak, it means that they do not want us to
talk too.
Strange as it may seem, many
times, what we speak will not be the truth. . If we speak of some subject, we
should be aware of the fact that the listener might have a different idea about
what we are talking.
The well known American writer Thoreau once
said that “It takes two to speak the truth – one to speak and another to hear”.
Truth differs from person to person. Socialism might be the State control of
commerce and industry to some, but to some others, it might be robbing the rich
and serving the poor. What we think to be true needn't always be true. We
should not assume that we alone know the whole truth as there is always a
possibility that we are mistaken.
Q11. Why did the Boy Scout make a joke of the Lady’s question?
Q12.
Why do some people take remarks too literally?
Ans:
Hill remarks that we
should train ourselves to remain calm even if some persons ask us annoying or
irritating questions. This is especially crucial in dealing with elderly
people. We should also not take remarks too literally. Instead we should look
for the real meaning in the statements.
Once an old lady asked a little boy whether he was
a Boy Scout. He was irritated as his
uniform was enough to tell that he was a Boy Scout. He rudely answered that he
was 'two eggs on toast'. Perhaps she only meant that he looked nice in his
uniform and in fact there was really nothing silly in her remark. Such rude and
impolite behaviour towards older people is incorrect.
Similarly, when a friend asks you, “You will not be
going past the post office, will you?”, he actually expects you to go a little
out of your way to oblige him. Try to help him if possible.
Q13. What signs should one watch out for in a company?
Ans: When in a company, one must watch out for certain signs in order to be labeled as a well- mannered person. Some people are delighted to speak continuously wherever they are. They think that everyone is delighted by their company, but in fact everyone there would be exhausted and angry at their behaviour.
Hence one should not do all the talking for
himself; he should instead give equal opportunity to others to express their
views and feelings. We should always give the other person a full and patient
hearing. If they do not speak, it means that they do not want us to talk too.
We should not say unpleasant things about someone
behind his back. Such remarks will usually find its way to that person. Always
adjust your remarks as there’s always a possibility that the very person would
be overhearing you. Hence never gossip about other people.
Q14. How could we save a lot of argument and anger?
Q15. Explain the writer’s remark: “No man really understands himself”.
Ans: J C Hill advises us to
understand ourselves before teasing or talking ill about others. Many times we
fail to understand our selves. There is always a possibility of us being mistaken. People look at everything from their own
perspective. J.C. Hill sites an example.
Some
students were once shown a picture of a bull-fight and asked later to describe
it from memory. One said, a bull's tongue was out. Actually the bull's mouth
was closed, but because its head was turned to the side, its ear had looked
like a tongue. So whenever we argue with somebody about a point, think that
always there is always a chance of us going wrong. Hence we
should take care of what we argue and speak.
If we understand this truth, a lot
of argument and anger could be avoided.
Q16. Where do good manners ultimately come from?
Ans: Good manners come from having sympathy with others and from understanding our own limitations. We should realize that our version of truth is always a part of the Larger Truth. We should realize that we are unimportant little people on this earth who are going to pass this earth only once. Hence we should give up pride and learn to be humble. We should try to help the world as much as we can in the short time that we are going to spend here.
Q17. Bring out the significance of good manners in life according to this writer.
Ans: Introduction: J.
C. Hill’s “Good Manners” is an adaptation from his famous book “An Introduction
to Citizenship”.
In his essay “Good Manners”, the famous British writer John C. Hill stresses on
the importance of thoughtfulness and courtesy towards common people. Human life
on this planet is not permanent. Hence one must try, as far as possible, to behave
politely and to help others.
Good
manners are based on having sympathy for others and acknowledging one’s own
limitations. We should strive to maintain cordial relations among one
another.
Hill’s
begins the essay with a story of a young man and points out that one should
not feel proud of oneself and look down upon the weak.
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