NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Chapter 5 Pappachi’s Moth

Ans : The relationship shared by Mammachi and Pappachi is like the one where there's no visible intimacy between the two but also they cannot live without each other. Having a difference of 17 years in age, both of them have grown into each other. Although there are pieces of evidence in the chapter that show the brutal ways in which Pappachi would treat Mammachi. Despite all these factors, Mammachi cried bitterly not because she loved him but because she was habitual of his presence. She was attached to him that she missed his presence in the way he used to supervise the pickle factory or simply in the way he used to sit all by himself. The beating was overlooked by all this. 

Ans : Mammachi stood out as an independent
and resilient woman despite the fact that she was never supported by her husband, rather she was always downgraded by him. The husband was jealous of the talent of his wife and did not want her to be self-dependent. The reason behind this was that he did not get the desired attention for the discovery of the moth and thus the lack of recognition haunted him. Despite no support from her husband, Mammachi continued with the work with pickles as that kept her busy throughout the year. Thus by keeping herself busy with what she liked, Mammachi stood out as an independent woman. 

Ans : John Ipe considered retirement to be a dishonour because he had retired from an honourable post. After retirement, he was reduced to nothing, just a normal person who was once a very high ranking officer. He missed the respect that he enjoyed. At the same time, he was also affected by the fact that he has retired but his wife was still young as she was 17 years younger to him. Thus the negligence that was struck to him suddenly was the reason that he considered retirement to be a dishonour. 

Ans : The underlying reason for John Ipe's disgust with the world was that he did not get the desired name for his discovery. This is with respect to the moth, that was discovered and not named after him. This took the cost of his pride and at the same time when his wife was getting credit for this work, he felt even more disgusted. So he started removing that frustration by beating his wife who bore everything without saying a single word. 

Ans : Chacko, the son of the retired man, was an individual with a strong body. He was back home from his study at Oxford. One day he saw his father beating his mother and found that behaviour very irrational. He stopped his father from hitting her just by forcefully holding his hand. The way in which he dealt with his father was very firm as the act done by his father was completely wrong as he was just using power against the silent mother. That was the only way to stop him that a more assertive figure made an action to stop the same, which was clearly done by Chacko. The father's ego was broken to pieces when the son used the muscular power over him as he never faced anything like this.