Manhood

1. Discuss some problem-questions.

1. What were the relations between the three members of the family? Does the attitude of the father and the mother to Rob seem typical to you?

2. Do fathers and mothers usually have different views on how to bring up a child?

3. Is the mother's attitude to boxing usual for women?

4. Why was the father so keen on making an athlete out of Rob?

5. Why did Rob make up a story about his going in for boxing? Do you think it was proper of him? clever of him?

6. What will the father do, to your mind, after the telephone talk with the teacher?

2. Explain how the characters of the father and the son become revealed in the following quotations.

the father – 1. Mr Willison dismounted with exaggerated steadiness, laid his bicycle carefully on its side, and spread his jacket on the ground before sinking down to rest. (2) 2. Mr Willison, aware that he was beginning to sound like a nagging, over-anxious parent, allowed himself to be defeated and did not press the suggestion about Rob's coming to sit on his jacket. (4) 3. When I was a boy ... it was just work, work, work, pass this exam, get that certificate. Well, I did it and now I'm qualified and in a secure job. But you know as well as I do that they let me down. (9) 4. No son of mine is going to grow up with the same wretched physical heritage. (9) 5. You're taller than I am. This is a great landmark. (13) 6. "Come on, love," he said coaxingly. "Don't spoil my big night." (24) 7. With lead in his heart and ice in his fingers he dialed the number. (31)

the son – 1. Rob, falling silent, pushed doggedly at his pedals. (2) 2. His eyes were surprisingly mild: there was no fire of rebellion in them. (6) 3. Rob took the gloves, put on the right-hand one, and gave the punch-ball one conscientious blow. (12) 4. Rob picked up his shirt and began uncertainly poking his arms into the sleeves. (14) 5. "I'll die if you don't get the doctor!" Rob suddenly hissed. "Mum!" he shouted. (28)

3. Say what the writer is trying to emphasize in the following description.

"Rob, with his hand over his eyes, lay motionless on the grass. His legs looked thin and white among the rich grass... Rob lay like a sullen corpse by the roadside. He looked horribly like the victim of an accident, unmarked but dead from internal injuries." (5)

4. Explain what the implication of the following is:

1. the title of the story.

2. Mr Willison parried, uneasily aware that the television set was quacking and signalling on the fringe of his attention, turning the scene from clumsy tragedy into a clumsier farce. (25)

5. Say if you agree or disagree with the following statements of the characters and give your reasons.

1. But it (boxing) injures their brains! All those blows on the front of the skull. (19)

2. There is a law. The unalterable law of nature that says that the young males of the species indulge in manly trials of strength. (25)

6. Say which of the following phrases could be said to be:

1. the theme of the story

Generation gap.

What we want our children to be. Life of a family and a family conflict.

2. the message of the story

Every family is unhappy in its own way. Every man has his own life to live.

You can take a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink.

Don't make out of your child a compensation for your own losses.

7. Speak on or write an essay about your assessment of the story and your impressions of it.