Volga’s poem “The Farmer’s Wife: Question and Answers” pdf is a powerful and moving lament about the plight of a farmer’s widow. The poem is written from the perspective of the widow herself, who recounts her story of hardship and loss.
The speaker in the poem is a young woman who has been widowed at a young age. She is left to care for her four children and to manage her husband’s farm. The speaker is struggling to survive, and she feels overwhelmed by her responsibilities. Read More Plus One English Question and Answers.
The Farmer’s Wife Question and Answers
Question 1.
Why and how does the farmer’s wife resolve to live?
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Describe the determination of the wife of the dead farmer who wants to carry on her and her children’s existence with dignity.
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How does ‘The Farmer’s Wife’ bring out the determination of the woman to survive?
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In what way does the farmer’s wife intend to solve the problem?
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How does the farmer’s wife resolve to live in ‘The Farmer’s Wife’?
Answer:
The poem ‘The Farmer’s Wife’ by the Volga begins with the lamentation of the farmer’s wife, who laments over the death of her husband. However, in her lamentation, it is clear that more than mourning over the death of her husband, she expresses her grief over the hopelessness of the situation. Her husband has committed suicide because he was unable to face the creditors. However, his act is not considered an irresponsible act. In fact, people may even think of his act as the virtuous act of a self-respecting man who did not want to bend his head and stretch his arm. But the woman points out that, by committing suicide he has left the woman behind, to bend her head and stretch her hand as she has to continue to live at least for the sake of her four children.
The woman ironically adds that bending the head and stretching the arm pose no problem to her as she has always done that. She has always done that as women are always pushed to the low level. But she cannot understand how her husband, who had always asserted his right over her, simply by virtue of being a man, could drink poison and get released from the worldly bonds in a cowardly way. The woman, in her questioning of his act, implies that his irresponsible act has poisoned her very existence. She suggests that when living was worse than death, embracing death was a selfish and even cruel act on the part of the man as he had no thought for the family that he left behind.
The woman is shocked that the man, who could kick and bully her with the claim of superiority over her, could give her the final death blow by committing suicide. At this point, the woman compares the hardship she suffered in the family over the years and the problem of the cotton crop being destroyed that year. She points out that the pain she had undergone was for a longer period of time, but she had withstood it. The problem of the cotton crop, as she says, ‘is but yesterday’s.’ The juxtaposition of the two problems is done to show that men buckle under pressure more easily than women. Men are self-centred too and when they take recourse to escapism, they don’t give any thought to what would happen to their family. They are not worried over the future of their children either. Hence it becomes double jeopardy for the woman.
On the one hand, she has to come to terms with the death of her husband, on the other she has to worry over the future of her children. Here also the poet draws an analogy between the natural crop and the children. The woman points out that when the crop failed, her husband committed suicide; if she were to do the same thing, her children wouldn’t have a bright future. She adds that she is not prepared to allow the harvest of her womb to perish. She cannot leave her children helpless like the worm-eaten cotton pods in the wind. The woman rightly points out that meeting one’s end is over in a moment. It’s not a long struggle. But the struggle in life, for life to sustain and continue, is a long struggle, full of perils. For this, one needs a brave heart.
Only the one with a firm heart will analyse the difficult situation with questions like, ‘What of this?’ or ‘Why is this?’ When a person asks, ‘What of this?’, he probably wonders about what would be the final outcome of all the struggle. When he asks, ‘Why is this?’, he definitely has a sense of self-pity. Yet he should never lose his reasoning ability and the determination to fight his misfortune. Otherwise, his children would become orphans. That is why the farmer’s wife asserts that she would continue to live to teach her children how to live.
She wants to instil in her children the fighting spirit which her husband lacked. That is why she says that she would continue to be alive to teach her children to fight with a clenched fist for not only the basic need of food but also more important things, attaining which might be nothing less than a battle. For this, she pledges to embrace life and not death, though life would present a long and painful struggle.
Thus the poem is a tribute paid to the dauntless spirit of the woman and a plea to the weak-hearted not to lose hope.
Question 2.
How did the farmer poison his wife’s existence?
Answer:
The woman was ill-treated and abused both physically and verbally by her husband when he was alive. But all this was accepted by the woman because society had made her believe that a man had the right to rule over his wife and even abuse her when displeased as he was the master who went out into the world while she was to deal with family problems. But this idea of the man takes a beating when the farmer is unable to withstand the pressure and commits suicide by consuming poison. He thereby poisoned his wife’s existence as, now, the woman has to shoulder the responsibility of both work and home.
She has to struggle hard to repay the loan suffering humiliation and also earn enough to keep her children and herself alive. Naturally, the woman has all negative memories of the man who did no justice to her when alive and did a greater injustice to her by embracing death. The poet wants to point out that while all of us sympathise with the man who was driven to commit suicide, the plight of the woman who has to fend for herself is worse than that of the man who is dead and thereby free of all problems.
Question 3.
How does the farmer’s wife resolve to live in ‘The Farmer’s Wife’?
Answer:
The woman points out that meeting one’s end is over in a moment. It’s not a long struggle. But the struggle in life, for life to sustain and continue, is a long struggle, full of perils. For this, one needs a brave heart. Only the one with a firm heart will analyse the difficult situation. Yet he should never lose his reasoning ability and the determination to fight his misfortune. Otherwise, his children would become orphans. That is why the farmer’s wife asserts that she would continue to live, to teach her children how to live. She wants to instil in her children the fighting spirit which her husband lacked. That is why she says that she would continue to be alive to teach her children to fight with a clenched fist for not only the basic need of food but also more important things, attaining which might be nothing less than a battle. For this, she pledges to embrace life and not death, though life would present a long and painful struggle.
Question 4.
How does the farmer’s wife embrace life with dignity?
Answer:
‘The Farmer’s Wife’ presents the pathetic and miserable predicament of a farmer’s wife whose husband had committed suicide for not having the courage to withstand the insults and humiliation of his money lenders. The poem is in the form of a dramatic monologue in which the farmer’s wife is pouring out her woes openly. In the first half of the poem, she admonishes her husband for letting her down and giving her a death blow. In the next part of the poem, the farmer’s wife declares that she would not let her children die like worm-eaten cotton pods, but with a firm heart, she would face the battle of life and not embrace death. She would teach her children to clench their fist not for begging for a handful of rice but to face the struggle for life and with courage and determination stay alive and not die like a coward.
“The Farmer’s Wife” is a reminder that we should all strive to create a more just and equitable society. We should all have the opportunity to reach our full potential, regardless of our circumstances. We should also all be treated with respect and dignity.