Non-Fiction: Why the Novel Matters NCERT Solutions | Class 12 English Kaleidoscope - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Understanding The Text

Q1: How does the novel reflect the wholeness of a human being?
Ans: According to the author, the novel reflects the wholeness of human beings’ life by helping humans to get an instinct about their life. The novels are encompassed by the characters. Characters are the soul players in a novel just like a human being in reality. As, In the novel, the characters always just not stick to only one trait being bad or being good but they constantly evolve.  On the basis of their characters, the novel is alive completely. The novel allows its reader to have a proper understanding of every character in detail not by just showing one side not the other. It doesn't show what is absolutely wrong or right but it shows all good deeds and flaws of the characters because what is right today has the chances to be wrong tomorrow. It helps the human to know whether they are just walking the corpses or are alive in a true manner.

Q2: Why does the author consider the novel superior to philosophy, science or even poetry?
Ans: According to the author, the novel is the bright and true book of life.  Philosophy, poetry, or science fiction are just a piece of life, not the whole life.  They are just tremulation on the part of either. On the other hand, the novel provides wholeness of life. It helps the human to know whether they are just walking the corpses or are alive In a true manner. Thus, make the whole human alive tremble.  Other books like poetry, philosophy, and science fiction concentrate on soul, mind, or the anatomical part but the novel reflects the whole life. The novel affects the whole life of a man and makes it alive rather than just nurture growth in one direction.

Q3: What does the author mean by ‘tremulations on ether’ and ‘the novel as a tremulation’?
Ans: The author means by 'tremulation on ether' to most of the books like philosophy, science-fiction, or poetry to just the pieces of life because these are like news or messages which man can read or listen. These do not affect the whole human alive. They just feel pity or happy about reading or listening to it for some time. But they can't identify or relate themselves with it. On the other hand, novels provide the wholeness of life. The novel as a tremulations reflect the whole life. It provides a multidimensional view of the character without marking the absolute right or absolute wrong. It doesn't show only one side of the character but all the good deeds and flaws of them that definitely helps the reader to comprehend what is right or wrong for them that must be avoided. Man can grow well by molding decisions of the important moments of his life as the novel helps to get an instinct about life.  It helps man and woman to have an insight of the full play of life without actually having the experience.

Q4: What are the arguments presented in the essay against the denial of the body by spiritual thinkers?
Ans:  Lawrence says that the body is just like vessels containing the soul or spirit in it.  People are just limited to the body who overlook the significance of the body because one day the body will be discarded just like an empty bottle of wine.  Life is most significant and being alive is the most amazing thing.  For the philosopher, only thoughts of the mind-matter but that are themselves actually dead. Same with the Saints as they treat their body as a thing which is meant to be a sacrifice. But these are just the pieces of life as they act as messages or news that isn't alive and are just meant to be read and listen as tremulation on the ether. Novels are the tremulation which help human to get an instinct about life.

Talking About The Text

Q1: The interest in a novel spring from the reactions of characters to circumstances. It is more important for characters to be true to themselves (integrity) than to what is expected of them (consistency). (A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds—Emerson.)
Ans: It is a fact that the backbone of any given novel. The plot, storyline and the events all roll around the characters. So it is very essential for the characters to be true to their integrity. If they aren’t true to their own integrity, then they will lose their luster and become flat characters. There are basically two types of characters. Round characters and flat characters in any novel. Flat characters are those who remain consistent in their behaviour all through the plot. No incident changes them. Nothing has an impact on them. But round characters are those that constantly keep changing or rather say developing themselves throughout the storyline. They help the keep the reader glued to the novel and helps the reader understand the motive of the plot.
If every character is stuck to ‘what should be done’ rather than being true to their own character trait, the novel will become a straight line and lose its charm. Hence it is mandatory for the characters to stick to their integrity rather than doing what is expected.

Q2: ‘The novel is the one bright book of life’. ‘Books are not life’. Discuss the distinction between the two statements. Recall Ruskin’s definition of ‘What is a Good Book?’ in Woven Words Class XI.
Ans: Author mentioned that 'The novel is a bright book of life'. By saying that he means that novel provides man the wholeness of life. It helps the human to get an instinct about life. The novel portrays the insight of life play through the story and events that help one to understand and learn the real aspects of life. One can mold his/her important decisions of life and understand what needs to be done or avoided without actually experience them. But the author also posts a reminder that it is not a life on real bases, it is just the real-life portraying of the events. It is just meant to guide the important aspects of the life. This line of the author took us in a flashback to what Ruskin had said in 'What is a good book?'.   The Ruskin bond meant by saying this the good book is underlying with some deep meaning in between the line that a good author wants to say that is necessary and crucial for the reader to read in order to understand the meaning of the lines. 

Appreciation

Q1: Certain catch phrases are recurrently used as pegs to hang the author’s thoughts throughout the essay. List these and discuss how they serve to achieve the argumentative force of the essay.
Ans: The catch phrases are-

• Body- the author describes the importance of the body and discusses how the body is the ultimate phase of being in learner mode.
• Spirit- the spirit according to the author is a misleading concept which makes a man get into vagueness. It leads man to things that are unreal to the imagination.
• Man alive- this is the realistic concept of the author in which he says that everything happens because man is alive.
• Tremulations- Here tremulations are the talks that the saints and philosophers do because of which man-alive may be influenced to change
• Change- the only constant.

Q2: The language of argument is intense and succeeds in convincing the reader through rhetorical devices. Identify the devices used by the author to achieve this force.
Ans: Given below are the list of rhetorical devices used to intensify the language of argument-

• Allusion- The mention of the Bible.
• Amplification- The repetitive use of words like man alive, spirit, tremulations etc.
• Metonymy – By saying that books ‘The novel is the one bright book of life’.