Non-Fiction: Freedom NCERT Solutions | Class 12 English Kaleidoscope - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Understanding The Text

Q1: Point out the difference between the slavery of man to Nature and the unnatural slavery of man to Man.
Ans: Man’s slavery to nature is joyful. We feel greatest pleasure in fulfilling our natural needs. it is pleasant to eat, drink, to sleep. But the slavery of man to man is unnatural. It is hateful both physically and spiritually. It leads to class war between the rich and the poor, the slaves and their masters, the workers and the capitalists. Obviously, there cannot be any peace in society unless this class war ends.

Q2: What are the ways in which people are subjected to greater control in the personal spheres than in the wider political sphere?
Ans: People are subjected to greater control in personal spheres than wider political sphere because common people are not interested in representing political sphere and they are fond of living in a safe zone than entering into political zone and common people are busy in their personal matters other than entering to political sphere.

Q3: List the common misconceptions about ‘freedom’ that Shaw tries to debunk.
Ans: The major misconception about freedom that Shaw point out is that the people of England don’t know what freedom is, and they never enjoyed real freedom yet so that are misleading themselves without the real knowing real meaning of freedom Always call freedom by its old English name of leisure, and keep roaring for more leisure and more money to enjoy it in return for an honest share of work.

Q4: Why, according to Krishnamurti, are the concepts of freedom and discipline contradictory to one another?
Ans: Discipline and freedom are contradictory to one another and that in seeking real freedom there is set going quite a different process which brings its own clarification so that you just do not do certain things. Freedom and discipline are contradictory to each other since they can be taken as two sides of same coin that is they are interrelated to each other and real freedom is acquired through discipline.

Q5: How does the process of inquiry lead to true freedom?
Ans: The process of inquiry leads to real freedom because to think deeply and to go into things and discover for oneself what is true is, is very difficult it requires alert, perception, constant inquiry but most of the people have neither time nor energy for doing so constant inquiry help us to understand which one is true and which is false.

Talking About The Text

Q1: According to the author, the masses are prevented from realizing their slavery; the masses are also continually reminded that they have the right to vote. Do you think this idea holds good for our country too?
Ans: According to the author, the masses are prevented from realizing their slavery because the master class through their newspapers, schools and parliaments makes the desperate efforts to prevent us from realizing our slavery. According to them we all are free and the freedom was won for us by our forefathers and even today common people are not actually free they are only given the right to vote but the important decision is taken by the authorities without consulting the voters the same situation is prevailing in our country too.

Q2: ‘Nature may have tricks up her sleeve to check us if the chemists exploit her too greedily.’ Discuss.
Ans: Nature may have tricks up her sleeve to check us if the chemists exploit her too greedily is really related to today’s context because overexploitation of resources is the hazard to nature today. In today’s world we have technology to cultivate both sky and land but these methods if used without any control we will have to face severe problems in the future that is if we try to exploit nature for our greed then nature will resist it by its own way.

Q3: Respect for elders is not to be confused with blind obedience. Discuss.
Ans: Respecting elders is not to be confused with blind obedience because respecting elders is not of the meaning that to obey them blindly. Respecting and obeying elders is the usual tradition of our society and if we follow this tradition it is very helpful to us but obedience and blind obedience has different meaning. All individuals will have their own ethics in their mind and we should check whether the advice of the elders is matching to our own views on the topic and blind obedience is slavery, not freedom.

Appreciation

Q1: Both the texts are on ‘freedom’. Comment on the difference in the style of treatment of the topic in them.
Ans: Both the text is on the topic freedom but both refer on the same topic with a different style in the first text George Bernard Shaw treats freedom as a condition when an individual is free from external control over his thoughts and actions. Independence includes the complete freedom to live peacefully and people must be free from all the problems that they are facing otherwise it is slavery and the text discusses various aspects of freedom with reference to human society.
In the second text freedom and discipline and interrelation among both the aspects with great concept, clarity is being discussed by the author. According to the author the more you resist or struggle against something, the less you comprehend it. Surely, it is only when there is freedom, real freedom to think, to discover—that you can find out anything. Freedom has wider aspects to think and real freedom is beyond the reach of a common man.

Q2: When Shaw makes a statement he supports it with a number of examples. Identify two sections of the text which explain a statement with examples. Write down the main statement and the examples.
Notice how this contributes to the effectiveness of the writing.
Ans: In the story of Shaw, he always supports his statement with examples like –
(I) slavery of man to nature and the slavery of man to man. Example: He explains this statement by saying that slavery of man to nature is very pleasant because man has daily needs like a drink, sleep, and eat there is no harm in it but in the slavery of man to man, the upper-class people exploit the lower class people.

Q3: Notice the use of personal pronouns in the two texts. Did this make you identify yourself more with the topic than if it had been written in an impersonal style? As you read the texts, were you able to relate the writer’s thoughts on the way you lead your own life?
Ans: The use of personal pronouns has really enriched both the text the usage of personal pronouns helps us to identify ourselves in the text with the context of real freedom and as both the texts are written using personal pronouns it helps us to relate with the writer's thoughts with our own life.