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Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 6 Important Questions the Tale of Melon City by Vikram Seth for CBSE session 2024-25. Get extra important practice questions of Class 11 English Supplementary Reader Chapter 6 Extra Questions for the preparation of exams.
Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 6 Extra Question Answers
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What was King’s purpose of constructing the arch? Why did he get angry post construction?
King’s purpose of constructing the arch was to enlighten the people. When king rode down the arch, it hit his head and his crown fell down because its height was too low. The king got angry and thought it was dishonorable and thus commanded the chief of builders to be hanged.
How is the King in the poem just and placid?
King was famous for his calmness and justice in his state. The decisions taken so far must have been taken under a judicial process in which the culprits must have been punished. But after the arch was built, the king was caught in a complex problem where his mind and the understanding of his ministers were to be put to the test. But the king completely failed in this test because he could not take the right decision and finally hanged himself to get the verdict of his justice.
Where the ministers went wrong in choosing the next king?
The king’s ministers were of an Orthodox nature. Even after the death of the king, they were shouting slogans of ‘Long Live The King’. This shows that the king had an army of great fools. Its ministers set the best example when they choose such a selection process to make their next king that makes us laugh at their mental bankruptcy. They followed the traditional custom of choosing the new monarch by the first person to pass through the gate. Unfortunately the next to pass through the gate was a fool and he suggested to make “Melon” as the next king and that too without thinking. And this decision of the ministers proved to be completely disastrous.
Was it justice for King to be hanged just to placate the public?
It was unfair in every way to hang the king. It was not the king’s fault. The mistake of the king was that he was unable to catch the culprit. When all the arch makers in the king’s court went away hiding their blame and blaming others; the king was left with calling the wisest man of the state for permanent solution.
When even that did not solve the doubt, the decision to hang anyone was foolish because they wanted to show justice to the furious public and in continuation of the tradition that has been going on for a long time. King agreed to the gallows only because the noose was of his size. The King, known for justice became a victim of injustice.
