NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English (Vistas) On the Face of It: Susan Hill (NCERT 2026–27)

Complete solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 5 – “On the Face of It” by Susan Hill: original summary, theme and message, word meanings, and every textbook exercise (Reading with Insight and How about…) answered in full, exam-ready detail. The questions are reproduced exactly as printed in the NCERT Vistas book, while all answers, the summary and the practice material are written originally by ClearStudy in CBSE board-answer style.

Class: 12 Subject: English Book: Vistas Type: Play (Chapter 5) Author: Susan Hill Session: 2026–27
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About the author

Susan Hill (born 1942 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England) is a celebrated British novelist, playwright and short-story writer. She began writing while still at school and published her first novel at eighteen. Her work often explores loneliness, fear, human suffering and the inner lives of outsiders, treated with great sensitivity and psychological depth. Among her best-known books are I’m the King of the Castle, The Woman in Black and In the Springtime of the Year. “On the Face of It” is a radio play adapted from her own short story “The Boy Who Was a Friend”, in which she handles the theme of physical disability and the alienation it brings with compassion and understanding.

Summary

“On the Face of It” is a moving play about an unusual friendship between two people whom society has pushed to its margins. Derry, a boy of fourteen, has had one side of his face badly burned by acid. Convinced that everyone is repelled by his appearance, he has grown bitter, withdrawn and angry, avoiding people because he cannot bear their stares and pity.

One afternoon Derry climbs the wall into Mr Lamb’s garden, believing it to be empty. Mr Lamb, an old man with a tin leg, gently startles him with a warning about the crab apples. Instead of recoiling from Derry’s face, the old man speaks to him as an equal. Mr Lamb keeps his gate always open, welcomes everyone, grows ‘weeds’ alongside flowers, and listens to his bees “singing”. He has long accepted the cruel nickname ‘Lamey-Lamb’ and refuses to let other people’s opinions imprison him.

Through patient, unusual conversation, Mr Lamb urges Derry to look beyond his disfigurement, to value what he can think, feel, hear and do, and to choose his own future rather than accept the judgement of others. He warns that hatred and self-pity can “burn you away inside” far worse than acid ever burned Derry’s face. Slowly Derry warms to him and, despite his mother’s objections, decides to return to the garden – declaring that if he does not go back, he will never go anywhere in the world again.

Derry races back, only to find that Mr Lamb has fallen from his ladder while reaching for the crab apples and lies still on the grass. The boy kneels beside him, calls his name and weeps, having found and lost a true friend in a single day. The play closes on this poignant note, leaving the change in Derry’s outlook as Mr Lamb’s lasting gift.

Theme & message

The play’s central theme is that the real handicap of a disabled person is not the physical impairment itself but the loneliness and alienation caused by society’s pity, fear and prejudice. Mr Lamb and Derry are both physically scarred, yet Mr Lamb has triumphed over his ‘tin leg’ by refusing to be defined by it, while Derry is still trapped inside his bitterness. Susan Hill suggests that a positive attitude, openness to people, and the courage to take risks matter far more than appearance. The message is one of acceptance, empathy and self-worth: every person deserves to be treated as a complete human being, and true beauty lies in what one is and does, not in how one looks.

Word meanings

Word / PhraseMeaning
windfallsfruit blown down by the wind
crab applessmall, sour wild apples
tentativelyhesitantly, cautiously
startledsuddenly surprised or frightened
scrumpto steal fruit, especially apples
defiantboldly resisting authority or others
withdrawnshy, keeping to oneself
weedswild plants growing where unwanted
tin legan artificial (metal) leg
relativeconsidered in comparison to something else
monstroushideous, frightening, ugly
signifyto matter, to be important
particularsdetailed personal information
trespassingentering someone’s land without permission
peculiarstrange, unusual, odd
seclusiona state of being isolated or shut away
alienationfeeling of being cut off from others
daftsilly, foolish, crazy
fussto show unnecessary worry or concern
weepto cry, to shed tears

Reading with Insight

1. What is it that draws Derry towards Mr Lamb inspite of himself?

ANSWERWhat draws Derry to Mr Lamb, almost against his will, is the old man’s complete lack of pity, fear or revulsion. Unlike everyone else, Mr Lamb does not stare at Derry’s burned face, recoil from him or treat him as an object of charity. He talks to the boy frankly and as an equal, even revealing his own disability – his tin leg – so that Derry no longer feels singled out.Mr Lamb’s warm, open-hearted nature, his cheerful acceptance of life, his strange but stimulating ideas about weeds, bees and friendship, and his refusal to let appearance “signify” make Derry feel valued for who he is. For the first time Derry meets someone who is genuinely interested in him as a person, not in his scar. This honesty and acceptance touch the lonely, defiant boy and slowly pull him out of his shell, drawing him back even after he tries to leave.

2. In which section of the play does Mr Lamb display signs of loneliness and disappointment? What are the ways in which Mr Lamb tries to overcome these feelings?

ANSWERMr Lamb’s loneliness and disappointment surface most clearly in his final speech at the end of Scene One, after Derry has run off promising to return. Speaking to himself and his bees, he says, “I’ll come back. They never do, though. Not them. Never do come back.” These words quietly reveal that, for all his cheerfulness, Mr Lamb is a lonely old man who lives by himself in a big house and has been let down before by people who promised to return but did not.Mr Lamb overcomes these feelings through a deliberately positive outlook on life. He keeps his garden gate always open and welcomes everyone – children come for apples, pears and his honey toffee. He keeps himself busy by sitting in the sun, reading books, making jelly and toffee, tending his bees and growing fruit, flowers and even weeds. He finds beauty and interest in everything God made, listens to the bees “singing”, and tells himself that everyone who comes is a friend. By staying active, curious and welcoming, he keeps his loneliness at bay.

3. The actual pain or inconvenience caused by a physical impairment is often much less than the sense of alienation felt by the person with disabilities. What is the kind of behaviour that the person expects from others?

ANSWERA person with a disability does not want others’ pity, fear, false sympathy or curious, prying stares; these only deepen the sense of alienation. The play shows that the physical pain of Derry’s burned face or Mr Lamb’s lost leg is far less hurtful than the loneliness caused by how people react to them.Such a person expects to be treated as a normal, complete human being – to be accepted naturally, spoken to as an equal, and valued for what they think, feel and can do rather than for how they look. They want others to look beyond the impairment, neither ignoring it awkwardly nor making a fuss over it, and to offer ordinary friendship, respect and genuine interest. In short, they expect understanding, dignity and equality – exactly the treatment Mr Lamb gives Derry – not condescension or avoidance.

4. Will Derry get back to his old seclusion or will Mr Lamb’s brief association effect a change in the kind of life he will lead in the future?

ANSWERMr Lamb’s brief but powerful association is very likely to change Derry permanently, even though the old man dies at the end. By the close of the play Derry has already transformed: he defies his protective mother, insists that his face and looks are “not important”, and declares that if he does not return to the garden he will “never go anywhere in this world again.” This shows he has begun to value living fully over hiding in seclusion.Mr Lamb’s ideas – that beauty is relative, that hatred harms more than acid, and that one must choose one’s own life – have clearly taken root in the boy. Although Mr Lamb’s death is a tragic blow, it is likely to strengthen Derry’s resolve rather than push him back into bitterness, for the old man’s message has already given him a new sense of purpose and self-worth. He will most probably carry forward Mr Lamb’s spirit, face the world with courage, and refuse to return to his old life of isolation.

How about…

Using your imagination to suggest another ending to the above story.

SAMPLE ANSWERAn alternative, hopeful ending: Derry races back into the garden and finds Mr Lamb lying beside the fallen ladder, dazed but alive, having only injured his arm. Derry helps the old man up, fetches water, and supports him to a chair. Steadying Mr Lamb, he says, “You see – I came back. And it is a good thing I did.” Mr Lamb smiles and replies that this time someone really did return. Derry then climbs the ladder himself and brings down the ripe crab apples, and the two of them sit together making plans to turn the fruit into jelly. The boy who once shut himself away has found a friend, a purpose and a place where he belongs – and the garden gate stays open. (Accept any imaginative, well-written alternative ending.)

Extra questions

Short answer (30–40 words)

1. Why does Derry climb into Mr Lamb’s garden?

ANSWERDerry climbs the garden wall because he likes the look of the place and believes it is empty. Avoiding people, he wants a quiet spot to be alone, and is startled to find Mr Lamb already there.

2. How did Derry get his disfigured face?

ANSWERDerry’s face was disfigured when acid splashed down one side of it and burned the skin away. As he puts it, “it ate my face up,” leaving him with a permanently scarred half-face that frightens people.

3. What is the significance of the ‘weeds’ in Mr Lamb’s garden?

ANSWERMr Lamb grows weeds deliberately and asks why one growing plant is called a ‘weed’ and another a ‘flower’. The weeds symbolise that all life is equal and valuable – just as Derry, though ‘different’, is no less worthy.

4. Why does Mr Lamb keep his gate always open?

ANSWERMr Lamb keeps his gate always open to show that everyone is welcome. He loves company, refuses to shut people out, and treats anyone who enters as a friend – reflecting his open-hearted, accepting view of life.

5. Why does Derry’s mother forbid him from returning to the garden?

ANSWERDerry’s mother has heard gossip and warnings about Mr Lamb and distrusts the old man. Anxious and over-protective, she fears for her son and insists he stay home, but Derry defies her and goes back.

Long answer (100–120 words)

6. Compare and contrast the characters of Derry and Mr Lamb.

ANSWERDerry and Mr Lamb are both physically scarred, yet their attitudes are opposites. Derry, a boy of fourteen with an acid-burned face, is bitter, defiant and lonely; he is convinced everyone is repelled by him, so he avoids people, nurses self-pity and even calls himself a devil. Mr Lamb, an old man with a tin leg, has accepted his disability cheerfully – he shrugs off the cruel nickname ‘Lamey-Lamb’, keeps his gate open, welcomes everyone and finds joy in books, bees and his garden. Where Derry shuts the world out, Mr Lamb embraces it. Through their contrast, Susan Hill shows that a positive, accepting attitude, not the impairment itself, decides whether a person leads a full or an isolated life.

7. How does Mr Lamb’s philosophy of life help Derry overcome his bitterness?

ANSWERMr Lamb gently offers Derry a whole new way of seeing himself and the world. He insists that physical differences do not “signify” – a tin leg and a burned face are no barrier to a full life. He teaches that beauty is relative, that weeds and flowers are equally alive, and that one must “wait, watch and listen” to discover meaning. Above all, he warns that hatred and self-pity can “burn you away inside” far worse than acid. By treating Derry as an equal and a friend, and by urging him to choose his own future, Mr Lamb makes the boy value his mind, senses and possibilities. This restores Derry’s confidence and pulls him out of his bitter seclusion.

MCQs & answer key

1. Who is the author of ‘On the Face of It’?

(a) Kalki   (b) Susan Hill   (c) Pearl S. Buck   (d) Jack Finney

2. How old is Derry in the play?

(a) Thirteen   (b) Fourteen   (c) Fifteen   (d) Sixteen

3. How did Derry’s face get disfigured?

(a) In a fire   (b) In an accident   (c) By acid   (d) From a disease

4. What kind of leg does Mr Lamb have?

(a) A wooden leg   (b) A tin leg   (c) An injured leg   (d) A normal leg

5. How did Mr Lamb lose his leg?

(a) In a road accident   (b) It was blown off in the war   (c) By illness   (d) In a fall

6. What nickname do the children call Mr Lamb?

(a) Old Lamb   (b) Lamey-Lamb   (c) Tin-Leg   (d) Garden Man

7. What does Mr Lamb make from the crab apples?

(a) Pie   (b) Juice   (c) Jelly   (d) Wine

8. According to Mr Lamb, what do the bees do when they hum?

(a) Sleep   (b) Sing   (c) Fight   (d) Buzz angrily

9. Why does Derry’s mother not want him to return to the garden?

(a) It is too far   (b) She has heard warnings about Mr Lamb   (c) Derry is unwell   (d) It is dangerous to climb

10. How does the play end?

(a) Derry never returns   (b) Mr Lamb falls from the ladder and dies as Derry weeps   (c) They make jelly together   (d) Derry leaves home forever

Answer key: 1-(b)   2-(b)   3-(c)   4-(b)   5-(b)   6-(b)   7-(c)   8-(b)   9-(b)   10-(b)

Assertion–Reason & answer key

Choose: (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A; (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A; (c) A is true but R is false; (d) A is false but R is true.

1. Assertion (A): Derry avoids the company of other people.

Reason (R): He believes everyone is afraid of and repelled by his burned face.

2. Assertion (A): Mr Lamb keeps his garden gate always open.

Reason (R): He wants children to steal his crab apples.

3. Assertion (A): Mr Lamb is not troubled by the nickname ‘Lamey-Lamb’.

Reason (R): He refuses to let other people’s opinions and fear define him.

4. Assertion (A): Mr Lamb tells Derry that hatred can harm him more than acid.

Reason (R): Acid only burns the face, but hatred can burn a person away inside.

5. Assertion (A): Derry decides to return to Mr Lamb’s garden.

Reason (R): His mother encourages him to go back and make new friends.

Answer key: 1-(a)   2-(c)   3-(a)   4-(a)   5-(c)
Notes: (2) Mr Lamb keeps the gate open to welcome everyone, not so apples are stolen – R is false. (5) Derry returns by defying his mother, who forbids him – R is false.

Exam tips

How to score full marks

Quote selectively: short, apt lines such as “They never do come back” or “you can burn yourself away inside” strengthen answers – do not copy long passages.

Link both characters: most questions reward a Derry–Mr Lamb contrast, so always connect appearance, attitude and the theme of alienation.

Keep length to the marks: short answers in 30–40 words, long/value-based answers in 120–150 words with a clear point, support and conclusion.

Stress the message: examiners look for the idea that disability’s real pain is social alienation, not the impairment – state it explicitly.

FAQs

What is the main theme of ‘On the Face of It’?

The main theme is that the real suffering of a disabled person comes not from the physical impairment but from the loneliness and alienation caused by society’s pity, fear and prejudice. A positive attitude, as shown by Mr Lamb, matters more than appearance.

Who are the two main characters in the play?

The two main characters are Derry, a fourteen-year-old boy with an acid-burned face, and Mr Lamb, a cheerful old man with a tin leg who befriends him.

How does the play ‘On the Face of It’ end?

Derry runs back to the garden as promised, only to find that Mr Lamb has fallen from his ladder and lies dead on the grass. Derry kneels beside him and weeps, having found and lost a true friend in a single day.

Questions are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT Vistas textbook; the summary, answers, MCQs and practice material are written originally by ClearStudy.

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