My Grandfather

(7)

W. B. Yeats.

My Grandfather

                            QUESTION # 1

            What type of childhood memories the writer had?

.        The initial memories of the writer did not have any sequence.  He remembered his past as something in smoke, with no definite form or shape.  Most of his recollections were related to places and emotions but they were without any sensibility or understanding of time.  He did not know the sequence and division of events as being first or second.

            Little children have undeveloped minds and their ability to reason is less that’s why they cannot vividly recall their past.  They only remember their feelings, emotions and sometimes the places. The writer too remembered some places related to his childhood. He could also recall his agonized feelings. His initial memories were related to windows and his toys.  With the passage of time his mind got developed and he even remembered people, his relation to them and their reactions to him. In fact this essay is a study of gradual maturation of a child's mind and personality.  He grows physically as well as mentally.  Age and experience make him self-assured and confident and he is able to reason the things on merit.

             The early memories of the writer show that he was a keen boy with extreme sensitivity and a strong capability to learn.

Q No. 2:          What did the writer remember about windows?

            The Writer’s early memories include some events related to the windows.

      The first window was in front of a wall that was covered with falling and cracked plaster. The writer was sitting on someone’s knees but he did not know anything about that wall.  Later he came to know that some of his relatives lived there. 

            The second window was in London at Fitzroy Road.  He was looking out of it and enjoying the game of some boys in the street.  Among them was a boy in uniform.  The writer asked his servant about the identity of that boy and he was told that the boy would blow the town up.  It was told by the purpose of scaring the writer and he went to sleep in terror.

            The windows play a very important role in writer's memories. The recollection of little details of his childhood may be symbolically taken as a window to his sunken memory.  These windows bring out the forgotten reports form his conscience, unconscious and sub-conscious. They provide a deep insight to his personality and its foundations.  So everyone should have these windows to ventilate the suppressed emotions and pains from one’s mind.

Q No3:            What happened at the Rosses Point?

The writer had twice mentioned Rosses Point in connection with his past memories. The first event was related to his grandfather's life.  Once, when they were about to cast anchor at the Roses Point, the captain of the ship reported something wrong with the rudder.  Writer’s grandfather asked the captain to send someone down to check the problem but no one obeyed. Then his grandfather asked the captain to go down himself but he also refused to comply with. So the grandfather jumped down himself and sorted out the problem of rudder.  It showed his moral courage and strength that he never ordered anything to any one that he would not do himself.

            In the second event his uncle asked him to get to Rosses Point to borrow a railway pass from a cousin.  At midnight he set out on a horseback. He delightedly rode in the moonlight and awoke his cousin to get the pass.  He retuned at two or three in the morning and the coachman was waiting for him in the street.

            These events from his childhood memories were related to the Rosses Point.

Q No 4:           What did the writer remember about punishment?

            The writer had a very painful childhood because he was very sensitive. Main cause of his miseries was his faulty concept of God that He would punish him for his sins.  And as he thought himself to be a wicked boy, so his fear of punishment was tremendous.  Another thing that caused fright in him was fear of his grandfather, William Polexfen whose towering personality created the rays of awe and respect in others.

            The writer always remained afraid of punishment.  Once he broke the wing of a duck and was mentally quite ready to get punishment but he was astonished when the duck was cooked and he was not punished.

            Similarly, once his grandmother punished him for some of his childish indecency and as a punishment he had to take his dinner alone.

            These events and expectations of being punished sometimes by God, sometimes by grandfather or grandmother caused much disturbance in the writer’s childish mind. He was unable to cope with this situation so he remained distressed throughout his childhood.

Q No.5:           Draw the character sketch of the writer’s grandfather?

            W.B.Yeats is a consumate artist who truthfully describes the minute details of his experiences.  This essay is an extract from his autobiography and is the witness of writer’s retentive memory, vivid observation and an affectionate attachment with his maternal relatives.  Writer’s childhood memories are strongly stamped with the towering character of his grandfather, William Ploxfen.  His grandfather belonged to some younger branch of an old Cornish family.  Everyone living around him was greatly impressed by him. He had a strong hold on all his relatives and acquaintances.  Not only had the members of his family but the whole community respected him. When he returned from any journey and specially after taking the waters at "Bath", people lighted bonfires along the railway line for miles to welcome him.

            William Polexfen's father was in army who became the owner of many sailing ships when he retired.  William Polexfen himself was a brave man and had won the freedom of some Spanish city.

            He never ordered anyone to do anything that he would not do himself.  Once at Rosses Point, his ship developed some problem in the rudder.  He ordered his captain to send a man down to know the problem.  The captain told that nobody was ready to go down. So he asked the captain to go down himself.  On being disobeyed he himself jumped in water to know the problem.

            He was physically very strong and had a violent temper.  He would knock a man down instead of going to law.  He kept a small axe for the burglars at his bedside.  The writer saw him hunt a party of men only with a whip.

            He had a very few friends. Only two of them were in writer’s memory; the Campbell of Islay and William Middleton.  He was a solitary and silent man.  He was very proud and disliked his neighbours. 

            He had been to many parts of the world and had souvenirs from the whole world.  He was a well-travelled man. The writer thought that he was not literate.   He could recall only two books on his table; one was his "Bible" and the second was Falconer’s “Shipwreck”.  He could not properly study because he ran to the sea when he saw very young, “Gone to sea through the hawsehole” as he himself phrased it.

            He had a strong personality but it didn’t mean that others obeyed him fully.  He himself was a naive person so he never suspected anyone.  He had ordered to lock the stable door with servants inside due to some incident but in spite of all the ceremonious bringing of the key to him, the door was never locked.  It was the thing that all knew but he did not.

            All these characteristics made him a loveable character with ideal qualities of truth, simplicity, valour and charisma.  The writer still cherished his memory as something sacred and elevated.

Q No. 6:          Draw a character sketch of the writer’s grandmother?

            The writer’s memories of Sligo included the sunny and pleasant figure of his grandmother.  She seemed to him like someone extremely soft and loving.  He still remembered here with affections and reverence.

            Writer’s grandmother belonged to the Middleton family.  She was a very kind and polite lady.  She did many charities to needy people living around her because she was considerate by nature.

            She was in habit of fear and never talked freely even to her husband.  She was also afraid of the bedside hatchet of her husband and every day she took a round of the house with a candle in hand to save the burglars form it.

            She was an artistic lady. She loved her garden and in her youth days, she would choose some flowers from the garden and copy them on rice paper.  Recently writer saw her handiwork and was amazed to see the skill and mastery of handling, tasteful delicacy of colours and the elegance of from. These drawings were so minute that a magnifying glass might be needed to see them.

            He remembered his grandmother punishing him once.  In horseplay a servant pulled out his shirt at the same moment when his grandmother entered the room.  His grandmother accused him of childish indecency and he had to take his dinner alone as a punishment.  His grandmother was like the rays of a bright sun in a freezing morning.  He loved to remember her soft and delicate personality that provided some benevolent and benign aspects in his rather cold and painful childhood

 No. 7: Compare and contrast the characters of the writer’s grandfather and grandmother?

            W. B. Yeats used to spend his summer holidays in Sligo with his grandparents.  They were very kind and loving with him.  Both the characters had their own specific qualities and were clearly distinguished in the writer’s mind.

            The grandfather was a fearless man with physical strength and initiative while grandmother was a soft and kind lady.  She was also in habit of fear.  His grandfather hated his neighbours and lived a solitary life with no friends around.  But the grandmother was a social lady and she made many charities to her neighbours and took care of their needs.

            William Polexfen was a brave man and had won the freedom of a Spanish city.  He was strong enough to hunt a party of men only with a whip.  He kept a hatchet at his bedside for knocking the burglars down while the grandmother was an artistic lady and she loved her garden.  She made drawings of the flowers on rice paper with extraordinary delicacy and skill.

            Though both grandmother and grandfather were different in some aspects of life but overall they were kind and loving.  They both had ideal human qualities.  And this blend of soft and hard gave a colour to their lives and made them an ideal couple.

Q No. 8:          What is the conclusion of this essay?

            Basically this essay shows the love and emotional attachment of the writer to his grandparents but it throws some light on the character of writer himself as a child.  The thesis of the writer is to highlight the troubles of children.  We should pay attention to the mental tangles and troubles of little children.

            The personality of a man is like a building and its foundations are laid in the early years of a man’s life.  So the importance of these years should be realized.  Their loneliness and insecurity should be properly dealt with to give a sound foundation to their personality.  The writer himself was a worried child with many troubling factors around him.  The false and faulty learning of different concepts should be clearly checked to make life easier and more pleasant for the little children.

            Moreover, the characters of family elders like grandparents cast a strong effect on the personalities of the kids.  Their kindness and love can be the source of strength and confidence for kids.  So they should have a close relation with children to give them the energy to go on in life.

            On the whole this is a very deep essay with a strong insight into the construction of human mind and emotions.