The Eyes Have It - Ruskin Bond

The eyes have it is a short story by Ruskin Bond. The presentation contains the details about the author, the story, character sketches of the main characters and the ironies in the story.

1. The Eyes Have It BY: RUSKIN BOND

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ruskin Bond, born in 1934 at Himachal Pradesh is an Indian writer of British descent. A prolific and powerful writer, he has added huge stack of short stories, essays, novels and children books to the library of contemporary Indian English writers. Dehra has been the setting of most of his novels. The story is a first person narrative and keeps the reader elevated from beginning to the end! A versatile writer and a man of colorful personality, he is still active. No surprise that the short stories are timeless, let his powerful pen run long!

3. The narrator of this story is a blind man on his way to Mussoorie by train. He is alone in the train when a girl boards his compartment. The girl’s parents bid her goodbye at the station, anxious about her well-being and advising her regarding where to keep her belongings, not to lean out of the windows and to avoid talking to strangers.

4. Once the train leaves the station, the narrator starts a conversation asking if she too is going to Dehradun. The voice startles her as she thinks herself to be the only occupant in the compartment. She answers in the negative and tells him that she is en route to Saharanpur to visit her aunt. He informs her that he i s travelling to Mussoorie.

5. After conversing for quiet some time now, the narrator appreciates her daringly saying that she has an interesting face. She is happy at this and surprised as it was a welcome deviation from the often repeated phrase: " You have a pretty face".

6. Soon it’s time for the girl to bid goodbye as her destination comes into view. After her departure, a man enters the compartment and apologizes, for not being as attractive a travelling companion as his predecessor. When the narrator asks him if the girl had her hair long or short, he replies with interest that he had noticed only her eyes, which were beautiful but of no use, as she was completely blind. It is only then that the narrator realises that the girl too, was blind.

7. In this story the narrator’s eyes was sensitive only to light and darkness. While going to Dehradun by train he comes across a girl. He starts conversation and gradually becomes interested in her. He tactfully hides his blindness from the girl to impress her. But the conversation does not last long. The girl bids him good-bye as the train arrives at her destination. After her departure, a new male passenger comes into the compartment. From that man the narrator learns that the girl was completely blind. The revelation shocks the narrator. He feels that he has deceived himself. This is an ironical twist that makes the end of the story so appealing. CHARACTER SKETCH

8. The narrator was blind and fond of talking, he wished to hide his blindness from girl. While the girl was smart and and focused. The narrator was a romantic fool who was ready to believe a girl by her ringing laughter and vibrant voice. The narrator represents men in common who love the company of a woman. While, the girl represents women in common who love the safety in the presence of a man and vanish without a goodbye because she has reached safely. Ruskin Bond kept the pulse of the reader high with the narrator’s attempts to escape the chances of his being caught by the girl’s smart questions and remarks. At the end, the reader realizes that it was not the girl that the narrator had been fooling but it was the reader that the author had just fooled .

9. IRONY IN THE STORY This story is an excellent example of situational irony . Ironically, the author employs two blind people as his main characters, yet neither knows that the other is blind. Even after listening to the parent’s conversation with the daughter, the narrator could not distinguish any unusual advice or information that led him to believe the girl had any handicap herself .

10. Hoping to keep her from realizing that he is blind, he describes the scenery from his memories. To continue the ruse, the narrator tells the girl that she has an interesting face . The narrator fooled himself. Apparently, he also misleads the girl because she did not realize that her fellow traveller was blind either.   

11. PRESENTED BY: DEEKSHA RAINA (A2305213046) NAVLEEN KAUR(A2305213036) MANDVI KACKER(A2305213487) MARPREET KAUR(A2305213069)