Introduction - The Accidental Tourist | English Literature for Grade 9 PDF Download

INTRODUCTION

This is a narrative piece by Bill Bryson about his experiences during air flights. He has many bad experiences during these flights. He recalls all those experiences and we come to know how he fails to enjoy his air travels and being a frequent traveller not able to get any air card due to his carelessness. He says that travels have never been easy for him.

Introduction (2)

Travelling is not everybody’s cup of tea. Some people are so unorganized and clumsy while travelling that they often end up getting into funny situations. However, their tendency to cause unintentional accidents makes travelling a humorous experience.

THEME

The story is based on the theme that it is important to be well-planned and organised while travelling. In the absence of preparations before setting off, the traveller is bound to encounter accidents. Bill Bryson carried jumbled articles in his bag while travelling and in the process misplaced the most important ones. He would fumble even while carrying out the simplest tasks and would end up causing some clumsy accident. Another theme of the story is that one should have the humility to admit one’s shortcomings. Bryson’s ability to laugh at himself and see his actions in a lighter vein helped him to overcome embarrassment. This cheerful temperament kept him content and he never felt jealous of others.

Theme (2)

Not all of us can do things properly in everyday life. We find it hard to do carry out even some simple tasks. The narrator, Bill Bryson, finds himself in such a situation. Some people also find travelling a difficult task to accomplish. They find it hard to locate places, use digital cards, secure their things, etc. They say that the world today is a small place because now it is easy to travel from one place to another by different modes of transport. But not everybody finds it easy to travel.

TITLE

The title suggests that the story is about a tourist who is accidental i.e. finds himself involved in difficult or embarrassing situations as a tourist. On reading the text, one finds that the tourist, Bill Bryson, travels frequently but ends up causing one or the other accident every time. He does not learn from his mistakes and keeps repeating the same follies. He forgets to place his frequent flyer card at the proper place, he spills drinks while extending his hand to get one, leaves a big part of his coat outside while closing the door of the car, smudges his light-coloured trousers many times over without realizing it, and many such ordinary things cannot be handled by him without making a mess of them. The title, “The Accidental Tourist” is thus apt because it is amusing to see Bryson getting frequently into accidents at a time when travelling is so easy that it has made the world a small place.

Justification of the Title

The author is very clumsy in his behaviour during his travels. He commits a lot of accidents while he is travelling. He spills his drinks on the woman sitting in the next seat. While trying to zip his bag he spills all the items on the floor. He experiences many catastrophes while flying on planes. Often, he could not even, locate his hotel room. So, since the author’s travels are full of accidents the title is appropriate. Character Sketch Bill Bryson, the narrator: The narrator of the story ‘The Accidental Tourist’ is a clumsy man who finds it hard to do even simple things, especially while he is travelling. He is neither able to zip his bag properly nor he is able to remember the room number of his hotel. Once he spilt a soft drink on a woman sitting next to him in an aeroplane. He is also not able to use discount cards. He is constantly filled with wonder at the number of things other people do without any evident difficulty. The narrator finds it very hard to carry on living in the real world. To him, travelling is a challenging task which he cannot go smoothly.

Vocabulary

Outstanding—extraordinary; Constantly—continuously; Beyond—at or to the further side of; Self-locking—automatic lock; Confused—in a fix; Recently—in recent past; Grunt—a low, animal-like noise; Consternation—fear resulting from awareness of danger; Abruptly—suddenly; Extravagant—in disorderly manner; Dumbstruck—surprised; Flutter—flapping; Oblivion—total forgetfulness; Disgorge—to vomit; Cascade—sudden downpour; Gash—deep wound; Hysterics—a wildly emotional or exaggerated reaction; Panic—fear; Exasperation—great irritation; Catastrophe—hard time; Free—not under the control of another; Occasion—event; Attendant—air hostess; Perch—sit; Repeatedly—again; Drench—to make very wet; Thoughtfully—while thinking; Attractive—nice; Scatter—to spread; Lavatory—toilet; Resistant—offering resistance to something; Ache—pain; Seismic—related to earthquake; Trouser—a piece of clothing that covers the whole of your both legs; Hood—a type of cap; Unexpectedly—all of a sudden; Frustration—annoyance; Accumulate—to gather; Entitle—to give the right to have or do something; Venerable—impressive by reason of age.

WORD-MEANINGS

Constantly = continuously. निरंतर रूप स े; evident = clear, स्पष्ट; beyond =out of reach,से पर े; lavatory =toilet,शौचालय; alley =a narrow passage,तंग रास्त ा; en famille = with family, सपरिवार; yanked = pulled with a jerk,झटके से खींचना ; grunts and frowns = growling with anger, गुस्से के साथ गुर्राना ; consternation =surprise. विस्मय; budge = move slightly,सरकन ा; abruptly =suddenly, अचानक; gave way =broke,टूट गई; ejected =came out,बाहर निकल आना Dumbstruck = unable to speak, मूकदर्शक; sorted =separate/selected, छांटे हुए ; cascade= a small waterfall,एक छोटा झरना ; oblivions = forgetful ,भुलक्कड़ ; concourse = airport, हवाई अड्डा ; disgorging = pouring out.बाहर उड़ेलते हुए ; gashed = wounded,घायल ; shedding = flowing, बहना ; lavish = very much,बहुत अधिक ; exasperation = irritation,परेशानी ; catastrophes =calamities, आपदाएं ; clawing =searching with nail,नाखून से खुरचना ; perch = place,स्थान  ; drenched =made wet,गीला कर दिया Amused =entertained, मनोरंजन किया ; urbane =courteous, शिष्ट ; bons mots = jokes,चुटकले ; striking =strange,विचित्र ढंग ; suave = polite, भद्र ; seismic event = a calamity like an earthquake,आपदा ; frustration = confusion,परेशानी ; accumulated =collected,एकत्र करना ; venerable =holy,पवित्र