NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English (Flamingo) Chapter 8: Going Places (NCERT 2026–27)
Complete solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 8 – “Going Places” by A. R. Barton: an original summary, the theme and message, hard word meanings, and every textbook exercise – Think as you read, Understanding the text, Talking about the text, Working with words, Noticing form, Thinking about language and Things to do – answered in full. Questions are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT book; all answers are written originally in exam-ready style.
Class: 12Subject: EnglishBook: FlamingoType: Prose (Chapter 8)Author: A. R. BartonSession: 2026–27
A. R. Barton is a modern writer who lives in Zurich and writes in English. He is known for his sensitive exploration of the inner world of young people. In “Going Places”, Barton studies the universal phenomenon of adolescent fantasising and hero worship – the way teenagers escape from the limits of their real lives into a more glamorous, imagined world. Through the working-class girl Sophie, Barton shows how dreams, when cut off from reality, can become a private burden. His unhurried, observant style lets readers slip in and out of the heroine’s daydreams almost without noticing the shift.
Summary
Sophie, a school-leaving teenager from a poor working-class family, is a habitual daydreamer. Walking home with her practical friend Jansie, she announces grand ambitions – she will own a boutique, or become a manager, an actress or a fashion designer. Jansie, who knows that both of them are “earmarked for the biscuit factory”, gently reminds her to be sensible, but Sophie refuses to accept the dull future awaiting her.
At home, the cramped, steamy kitchen, the tired mother and the heavy-breathing father make Sophie feel suffocated. She is closest to her elder brother Geoff, a quiet apprentice mechanic whose silence she imagines hides an exciting world of unknown places and exotic people that she longs to enter. To impress him, she invents a thrilling story: she claims to have met Danny Casey, the brilliant young Irish footballer she idolises, in the arcade, and that he has promised to meet her again and give her an autograph.
Geoff is sceptical, and her father, who reveres footballers from a distance, dismisses it as another of her “wild stories”. Yet the family goes to watch United play, and Casey scores a brilliant goal – deepening Sophie’s fantasy. When Jansie hears the rumour, Sophie is annoyed that her private dream has leaked out.
Finally, Sophie slips away to wait for Danny on a bench by the canal. As time passes she slowly accepts that he will not come, yet she keeps replaying the imagined meeting in her mind. The story ends with her fantasy of Casey ghosting past defenders to score – her dreams remaining entirely in her own head.
Theme & message
The central theme is adolescent hero-worship and fantasising. Through Sophie, Barton shows the natural human tendency – strongest in teenagers – to escape a drab, restrictive reality into glamorous daydreams. The story also explores family relationships, class limitations and the gap between aspiration and circumstance. Its message is balanced: while dreaming gives hope and colour to a difficult life, fantasies that lose touch with reality can leave a young person lonely, disappointed and burdened by a truth only they can see.
Word meanings
Word / Expression
Meaning
incongruity
a thing out of place; mismatch (the delicate bow on the crooked back)
prodigy
a young person with exceptional talent
chuffed
(informal) delighted, very pleased
solitary elm
a single, lone elm tree
arcade
a covered passage with shops on both sides
amber glow
a soft yellowish-orange light
wharf
a landing place beside water where ships load and unload
pangs of doubt
sudden sharp feelings of uncertainty
earmarked
set aside / destined for a particular purpose
melancholy
deep, thoughtful sadness
tinkering
making small repairs or adjustments
disdain
contempt; a feeling that something is unworthy of respect
reverently
with deep respect and admiration
pilgrimage
a journey to a sacred place (here, the weekly trip to watch United)
ecstatic
filled with intense joy
inquisition
a prolonged, intense questioning
despondent
in low spirits; dejected
resignation
quiet acceptance of something unpleasant
envisage
to imagine or picture in the mind
shimmer
to shine with a soft, wavering light
gazelle
a small, graceful antelope (here, used for gentle, timid eyes)
approbation
approval; praise
Think as you read
1. Where was it most likely that the two girls would find work after school?
ANSWERIt was most likely that both Sophie and Jansie would find work at the local biscuit factory. They were “earmarked” for it because of their humble, working-class background, which left them few realistic options after leaving school.
2. What were the options that Sophie was dreaming of? Why does Jansie discourage her from having such dreams?
ANSWERSophie dreamed of owning the “most amazing” boutique the city had ever seen, of being a manager, an actress or a fashion designer – something “sophisticated”. Jansie discourages her because she is practical and realistic: she knows their poor families cannot fund such ventures, that shop work pays badly and Sophie’s father would never allow it, and that they are both destined for the biscuit factory. She gently urges Sophie to be sensible.
1. Why did Sophie wriggle when Geoff told her father that she had met Danny Casey?
ANSWERSophie wriggled because she felt awkward and uneasy. The meeting was a secret she had shared only with Geoff, expecting him to keep it. When he blurted it out to their father, she feared her father’s disbelief and disapproval – and her own fabrication was suddenly exposed to a sceptical, scolding audience.
2. Does Geoff believe what Sophie says about her meeting with Danny Casey?
ANSWERNo, Geoff does not really believe her. He listens with interest, but says “It’s never true”, “I don’t believe it” and “It’s the unlikeliest thing I ever heard.” However, he wishes it were true and would like to believe her, which is why he keeps asking questions about Casey.
3. Does her father believe her story?
ANSWERNo. Her father is openly disdainful and disbelieving. He dismisses it as “another of your wild stories” and warns her aggressively that one day she will “talk yourself into a load of trouble.” He has no faith in such tales from his daydreaming daughter.
4. How does Sophie include her brother Geoff in her fantasy of her future?
ANSWERIn her daydream, Sophie imagines riding behind Geoff through a vast world that awaits her. She pictures him in “new, shining black leathers” and herself in “a yellow dress with a kind of cape that flew out behind”, with the world rising to greet them in applause. Geoff, whose silence she believes hides exciting unknown places, becomes her companion and gateway into that glamorous imagined life.
5. Which country did Danny Casey play for?
ANSWERDanny Casey was a young Irish footballer; he played for Ireland. (He came from the west of Ireland and played in England for United.)
1. Why didn’t Sophie want Jansie to know about her story with Danny?
ANSWERSophie wanted the story to remain something “special” and “sacred”, shared only between her and Geoff. She knew that “gawky” Jansie was nosey and could not keep a secret – tell Jansie and “the whole neighbourhood would get to know it.” She also feared a “right old row” if her father heard about it.
2. Did Sophie really meet Danny Casey?
ANSWERNo, Sophie did not really meet Danny Casey. The entire encounter is a product of her vivid imagination and hero-worship. This becomes clear when she waits in vain by the canal and then relives the “meeting” only in her mind – it exists nowhere but in her fantasy.
3. Which was the only occasion when she got to see Danny Casey in person?
ANSWERThe only occasion she actually saw Danny Casey in person was at the football match on Saturday, when she went with her father and little Derek to watch United play. United won two-nil and Casey scored the second goal – but she saw him only from the stands, as one of the crowd, never face to face.
Understanding the text
1. Sophie and Jansie were class-mates and friends. What were the differences between them that show up in the story?
ANSWERThough classmates and friends, the two girls are opposites. Sophie is an incurable daydreamer – ambitious, imaginative and unrealistic, dreaming of boutiques and fame and refusing to accept her likely future. Jansie is practical, level-headed and down-to-earth; she has already accepted that they are both bound for the biscuit factory and tries to bring Sophie back to reality. Jansie is also “nosey” and talkative, while Sophie guards her private fantasies as secrets. In short, Sophie lives in dreams, Jansie lives in facts.
2. How would you describe the character and temperament of Sophie’s father?
ANSWERSophie’s father is a hard-working, tired labourer – “plump”, grimy and sweat-marked from his day’s toil. He is rough, blunt and short-tempered, eating his food “as hard as he could go” and reacting to Sophie’s claims with disdain and aggression. Yet he has a softer, admiring side towards football: he speaks of players like Tom Finney and Casey “reverently”. He is realistic about life’s hardships and impatient with Sophie’s flights of fancy, dismissing them as “wild stories”. He represents the dull, no-nonsense reality from which Sophie longs to escape.
3. Why did Sophie like her brother Geoff more than any other person? From her perspective, what did he symbolise?
ANSWERSophie liked Geoff most because he was almost grown-up and quietly mysterious – words had to be “prized out of him like stones out of the ground.” She was fascinated, even jealous, of his silence, believing it concealed unknown places and exotic, interesting people she had never met. From her perspective, Geoff symbolised freedom, adventure and the wider, unexplored world waiting beyond her narrow, restricted life. She longed to be admitted into his secret world and carried away into that exciting unknown.
4. What socio-economic background did Sophie belong to? What are the indicators of her family’s financial status?
ANSWERSophie belonged to a poor, lower middle-class / working-class family. Several indicators reveal their modest means: she and Jansie are “earmarked” for the biscuit factory; their home is a small, cramped, steamy room with dirty washing piled in the corner; the father eats shepherd’s pie and returns grimy from manual work; Geoff is an apprentice mechanic; Jansie wishes for “a blessed decent house to live in”; and Sophie’s brother wears a “shiny and shapeless” jacket. These details together paint a picture of financial hardship.
Talking about the text
Discuss in pairs.
1. Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind.
ANSWERThis statement is entirely true. Every dramatic event in Sophie’s emotional life happens inside her imagination. She never really meets Danny Casey; the meeting in the arcade, his promise of an autograph and the proposed canal-side rendezvous are all invented. She experiences the thrill of “meeting” him, the suspense of waiting, the “pangs of doubt” and the final sad resignation – yet none of it has a real, external cause. Even her grand career ambitions exist only as fantasies, untouched by reality. Both her joys and her disappointments are self-created, confirming that her whole adventure is purely mental.
2. It is natural for teenagers to have unrealistic dreams. What would you say are the benefits and disadvantages of such fantasising?
ANSWERBenefits: Dreaming is natural and even healthy for teenagers. It fuels ambition and hope, gives colour and escape from a dull or difficult life, sparks creativity and imagination, and can motivate a young person to work towards a better future.Disadvantages: When fantasies lose touch with reality, they can lead to disappointment, self-deception and loneliness, as with Sophie. They may make a person neglect practical effort, distance them from family and friends, and leave them carrying a private burden of unfulfilled longing. The key is to balance dreaming with realistic, sustained action.
Working with words
Notice the following expressions. The highlighted words are not used in a literal sense. Explain what they mean.
• Words had to be prized out of him like stones out of a ground.
ANSWERIt means Geoff was extremely reserved and silent; getting him to speak was as difficult as digging hard stones out of the earth. He shared his thoughts very reluctantly.
• Sophie felt a tightening in her throat.
ANSWERIt means Sophie was suddenly overcome with emotion – a mix of sadness, pity and suffocation – on seeing her mother’s tired figure and the dreary home. She felt choked, on the verge of tears.
If he keeps his head on his shoulders.
ANSWERIt means if Danny Casey stays sensible and level-headed – not letting fame and the “distractions” of the game spoil him – he will succeed and become a great player.
• On Saturday they made their weekly pilgrimage to the United.
ANSWERIt means watching United play every Saturday was a sacred, devoted ritual for the family, just like a religious pilgrimage. It shows their deep, almost worshipful love for the football team.
• She saw… him ghost past the lumbering defenders.
ANSWERIt means Danny Casey glided past the slow, heavy defenders so smoothly and effortlessly – like a ghost – that they could not stop him. It highlights his swift, graceful, skilful play.
Noticing form
Notice the highlighted words in the following sentences.
1. “When I leave,” Sophie said, coming home from school, “I’m going to have a boutique.” 2. Jansie, linking arms with her along the street, looked doubtful. 3. “I’ll find it,” Sophie said, staring far down the street. 4. Jansie, knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit factory, became melancholy. 5. And she turned in through the open street door leaving Jansie standing in the rain.
Analyse the other examples in the same way.
ANSWERIn each sentence the present participle (the “-ing” word) describes a second action happening at the same time as the main action, letting two ideas be expressed in one sentence:2. Main action – Jansie “looked doubtful”; simultaneous action – “linking arms with her along the street.”3. Main action – Sophie “said”; simultaneous action – “staring far down the street.”4. Main action – Jansie “became melancholy”; simultaneous action / reason – “knowing they were both earmarked for the biscuit factory.”5. Main action – “she turned in through the open street door”; simultaneous action – “leaving Jansie standing in the rain.”
Pick out five other sentences from the story in which present participles are used in this sense.
ANSWER1. “I’ll find it,” Sophie said, staring far down the street. (already given – further examples below)2. Sophie watched her back stooped over the sink and wondering at the incongruity of the delicate bow.3. He was kneeling on the floor in the next room tinkering with a part of his motorcycle.4. Their father had washed when he came in … tossing one of little Derek’s shoes from his chair onto the sofa.5. “I met Danny Casey,” Sophie said, coming into the room. / She sat down to wait, imagining his coming.(Any five sentences from the story showing a present participle expressing a simultaneous action are acceptable.)
Thinking about language
Notice these words in the story: • “chuffed”, meaning delighted or very pleased • “nosey”, meaning inquisitive • “gawky”, meaning awkward, ungainly. These are words used in an informal way in colloquial speech.
Make a list of ten other words of this kind.
ANSWERTen other informal / colloquial words and their meanings:
Colloquial word
Meaning
1. kid
a child
2. grumpy
bad-tempered, irritable
3. posh
elegant, upper-class
4. snooty
arrogant, looking down on others
5. wonky
shaky, crooked, unsteady
6. dodgy
dishonest or risky
7. cheeky
rude in a playful way
8. fishy
suspicious, doubtful
9. broke
having no money
10. goofy
silly, foolish
Things to do
Look for other stories or movies where this theme of hero worship and fantasising about film or sports icons finds a place.
ANSWERThis theme of hero-worship and fantasising about icons appears widely. Some examples to explore and discuss:Films:Fan (Hindi, 2016) – an obsessive fan idolising a film star; Guru and Iqbal (a deaf-mute boy who dreams of playing cricket for India); Lagaan; the Hollywood film The Fan (1996) about a fan’s obsession with a baseball star.Stories / books: Walter Mitty’s daydreams in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber; the dreaming heroine of “The Luncheon”-style fantasies; characters in “The Last Leaf”-era short fiction who idealise artists.(This is an activity task – list and discuss any such stories or films you know, in any language.)
Extra questions
Short answer
1. Who was Danny Casey?
ANSWERDanny Casey was a young, brilliant Irish footballer who played for United and for Ireland. He was Sophie’s idol – the “young Irish prodigy” whom she fantasised about meeting.
2. Why was Jansie melancholy on the way home?
ANSWERJansie became melancholy because she knew that both she and Sophie were “earmarked for the biscuit factory.” Sophie’s grand, impossible dreams reminded her of their poor, limited future, and she wished Sophie would stop talking like that.
3. How did Sophie’s father react to football players?
ANSWERThough gruff and disbelieving about Sophie’s story, the father spoke about football players “reverently”. He recalled having once known a man who knew Tom Finney and admired Casey’s talent – showing his quiet, distant hero-worship of footballers.
4. What happened at the football match on Saturday?
ANSWERThe family made their weekly pilgrimage to watch United. United won two-nil and Danny Casey scored the second goal – “a blend of innocence and Irish genius” – rounding two defenders before beating the goalkeeper. Sophie “glowed with pride” and Geoff was ecstatic.
5. Why did Sophie go to the canal after dark?
ANSWERSophie went to a wooden bench under a solitary elm by the canal to wait for Danny Casey, believing he would come to meet her there as “promised”. She thought it the perfect, secluded place for such a meeting – but it was, of course, only part of her fantasy.
Long answer
6. “Sophie is a victim of her own imagination.” Discuss with reference to the story.
ANSWERSophie is indeed a victim of her own imagination. Trapped in a poor, dreary, working-class life, she escapes into fantasies of owning a boutique, becoming an actress, riding into a glamorous world behind Geoff and, above all, meeting her idol Danny Casey. Because she cannot accept reality, she builds an elaborate lie – an arcade meeting and a promised rendezvous – that even she begins to believe. She experiences genuine excitement, suspense and finally heartbreak waiting by the canal for a man who was never going to come. Her imagination distances her from her practical friend Jansie and her sceptical family, leaving her isolated with a private “burden” of sadness. The story shows that while dreaming is natural, fantasies cut off from reality ultimately deceive and wound the dreamer. Sophie’s self-created disappointments prove that she suffers not at the hands of others but at the hands of her own overactive imagination.
7. Compare and contrast the characters of Sophie and Geoff.
ANSWERSophie and Geoff are siblings who differ sharply in nature. Sophie is talkative, imaginative and a compulsive daydreamer who spins glamorous fantasies and even invents a meeting with Danny Casey. She is restless, impatient and emotionally expressive. Geoff, three years out of school and an apprentice mechanic, is the opposite – intensely quiet and reserved, with words “prized out of him like stones”. Sophie believes his silence hides a thrilling secret world, which is why she idolises and is jealous of him. Yet there are similarities: Geoff too seems to long for a wider world “out there”, and he secretly wishes Sophie’s story were true, showing a quiet streak of dreaming beneath his practical exterior. While Sophie lives openly in her fantasies, Geoff keeps his dreams hidden – together they reflect two responses to the same dull, confining life.
8. How does the theme of hero-worship and fantasising develop through the story “Going Places”?
ANSWERThe theme builds steadily from small daydreams to a full-blown fantasy. It begins with Sophie’s career dreams – boutiques, acting, fashion – that ignore her real circumstances. It deepens with her idealisation of Geoff as a symbol of the exciting unknown. The hero-worship comes to a head with Danny Casey: she imagines meeting him, describes his eyes “like a gazelle’s”, and dreams of riding behind Geoff into an applauding world. The real match, where Casey scores, feeds the fantasy further. The climax is the canal scene, where Sophie waits for a meeting that exists only in her head, slowly moving from hope to “pangs of doubt” to resignation. By ending on her replayed image of Casey’s goal, Barton shows how completely hero-worship has shaped this lonely teenager’s inner life – and how such fantasising, though natural, leaves her with a private, unshareable disappointment.
MCQs & Assertion–Reason
1. “Going Places” is written by:
(a) Anees Jung (b) A. R. Barton (c) William Douglas (d) Stephen Spender
2. Sophie and Jansie were most likely to find work at:
(a) a boutique (b) a film studio (c) the biscuit factory (d) a football club
3. Which footballer did Sophie idolise?
(a) Tom Finney (b) Danny Casey (c) Geoff (d) Mary Quant
4. Danny Casey came from:
(a) the west of Ireland (b) Scotland (c) Wales (d) the north of England
5. Geoff worked as an:
(a) actor (b) apprentice mechanic (c) shop manager (d) footballer
6. Sophie claimed she met Danny Casey in the:
(a) stadium (b) factory (c) arcade (d) school
7. In the Saturday match, United won by a margin of:
(a) one-nil (b) two-nil (c) three-one (d) two-one
8. Sophie waited for Danny Casey on a bench beneath a:
(a) solitary elm (b) lamp post (c) bus stop (d) shop window
Assertion–Reason – choose: (a) A and R true, R explains A; (b) A and R true, R does not explain A; (c) A true, R false; (d) A false, R true.
1. Assertion (A): Sophie did not really meet Danny Casey.
Reason (R): The meeting and the promised autograph were inventions of her imagination.
2. Assertion (A): Jansie discouraged Sophie from dreaming of a boutique.
Reason (R): Jansie was jealous of Sophie’s success and wanted her to fail.
3. Assertion (A): Sophie did not want Jansie to know about her “meeting” with Danny Casey.
Reason (R): Jansie was nosey and could not keep a secret, so the news would spread.
4. Assertion (A): Sophie idolised her brother Geoff.
Reason (R): She believed his silence hid an exciting unknown world she longed to enter.
5. Assertion (A): Sophie’s father admired footballers like Tom Finney and Danny Casey.
Reason (R): He readily believed every story Sophie told about meeting Casey.
Answer Key – Assertion–Reason: 1-(a) 2-(c) A true, R false (Jansie was practical and caring, not jealous) 3-(a) 4-(a) 5-(c) A true, R false (he dismissed her stories as “wild”)
Exam tips
Score better in “Going Places”
Remember the key idea: the whole “meeting” with Danny Casey is imaginary – questions often test whether you realise Sophie is a fantasist.
Learn the Sophie vs Jansie contrast (dreamer vs realist) and the Sophie–Geoff relationship – these are frequent long-answer questions.
Use textual evidence: “earmarked for the biscuit factory”, “words prized out of him like stones”, “pangs of doubt”, “ghost past the lumbering defenders.”
For value-based answers, balance the benefits and dangers of fantasising rather than condemning dreams outright.
Keep summaries original; never copy lines from the textbook into answers except short quoted phrases for analysis.
FAQs
Did Sophie actually meet Danny Casey in “Going Places”?
No. The meeting in the arcade and the promised autograph are entirely imaginary. The only time Sophie actually saw Casey was from the stands at the Saturday match.
What is the main theme of “Going Places”?
The main theme is adolescent hero-worship and fantasising – how teenagers, especially those in dull or restrictive circumstances, escape into glamorous daydreams.
Why did Sophie idolise her brother Geoff?
She believed his quietness hid an exciting, unknown world of interesting people and faraway places, so Geoff symbolised freedom and adventure for her.
Questions are taken verbatim from the NCERT Flamingo textbook; summaries and answers are written originally by ClearStudy.
