“I’m tired of people telling me I have a pretty face.” Who said this, to whom and when? What did the person speak to reply?

The girl said the line mentioned above to the narrator when the narrator complimented her by saying that she had an interesting face. 

In the course of the journey, the narrator was speaking tactfully in order to prevent the girl from discovering that he was blind. Once he became quite daring and said to the girl, “You have an interesting face.” Hearing this, like all other girls the girl failed to resist flattery. She laughed pleasantly and replied that the narrator’s remark was nice to hear as she was tired of hearing that she has a pretty face. The girl also addressed the narrator as a very gallant young man.

“But the thought of laughter only made me feel troubled and lonely.”- Why did the narrator feel so?

The narrator in the short story ‘The Eyes Have It written by Ruskin Bond thought that he should laugh for the girl when she asked him why he was so serious. At the same time, another thought that came to his mind was that it would stimulate his cordial feelings which would make the pangs of separation from the girl unbearable. He knew that the girl would get down from the train in a while and would forget about this brief meeting of theirs whereas he would treasure this experience for quite some time. The narrator’s blindness had isolated him from the rest of the world. He knew that the moment the girl would leave him he would be left alone in his world of loneliness and darkness again. The departure of the girl would shut the door to the outer world which opened just momentarily. In such a mental state, the thought of laughter only made him feel troubled and lonely.


“The voice had the sparkle of a mountain stream”- Who thought so? Whose voice is referred to here? Why was the voice so special?

“She would forget our brief encounter;”—Who said this and about whom? What is the brief encounter referred to here? Why did the speaker think so?


“She was standing very close to me”- Whom does ‘she’ refer to? When and why was she standing very close to the narrator? What was the effect of her proximity to the narrator?

“The man who had entered the compartment broke into my reverie”- Whose reverie is referred to here? What was the reverie about? How was the reverie broken?


“She was an interesting girl.”-Who said this to whom and when? What else did the person say? What reply did he get?

“She was completely blind. Didn’t you notice?” Who said this to whom? When was this said? Explain the irony in the line.


She was completely blind. – Explain the irony in the given line.

Give a brief sketch of the conversation between the narrator and the girl.


What attempts did the narrator make to prevent the girl from discovering that he was blind? 

Is the narrator somewhat cautious about not revealing too much about himself? Support your point with instances from the text.


How could the narrator talk to the girl and answer her questions so confidently in spite of being blind?

Describe the girl as visualized by the narrator.


Describe the parting of the girl from the narrator on the train.

What was the chain of thoughts that ran through the narrator’s mind when the train approached the station? How was it affected by the man’s conversation?


Describe the exchanges between Ruskin Bond and his last fellow-passenger in the train.

How was a game of deception played between the narrator and the girl?


Though the narrator was visually impaired yet he was very sensitive Discuss with examples from the text.

Does the author help us anticipate the ironical twist in the end during the course of the narrative? If yes, give examples from the text to support your argument.