Short Answer Questions:

1. Why does Taplow say Mr. Crocker Harris cannot be a sadist?

Answer: A sadist is a person who gets pleasure out of giving pain. Taplow says that Mr.
Cracker Harris cannot be even a sadist because that would mean that he has some feelings but
he has not at all. He is all shriveled up inside like a nut.

2. What did Mr. Crocker Harris do after Taplow laughed out at the joke that Mr. Crocker
Harris made to the class?
Answer: Mr. Crocker Harris told Taplow that he was pleased at the advance that Taplow’s
Latin had made because it was only Taplow who understood what the rest of th e class could
not.
Therefore, Mr. Crocker Harris told Taplow to explain the joke to the whole class so that they
could share the pleasure with him.

3. What does Millie Crocker Harris ask Taplow to do?

Answer: Millie Crocker Harris asked Taplow to take a prescription to the chemist and get the
medicine made up.

4. Why was Taplow horrified to find Mrs. Crocker Harris standing by the door screen
and watching Taplow and Frank?
Answer: Taplow had all the way been talking to Frank about Mr. Crocker Harris. Therefore,
he was horrified to find Mr. Crocker Harris’s wife standing by the door screen and watching
the two as he feared that she might had overheard what he had been saying.

5. Mention two-character traits of Taplow.

Answer: a. Taplow is humorous. He has keen power of observation.
b. He is critical about Mr. Crocker Harris for whom he has got a soft corner also in spite of his
crankiness.
6. Where did Millie send Taplow? What was her purpose?

Ans: Millie sends Taplow to get a prescription filled from a chemist’s shop. She wanted
to make him free from the boredom of waiting from her husband Crocker Harris.

7. Why did Taplow have to stay back at school?

Ans: Taplow have to stay back at school as a punishment given by Mr. Crocker Harris.
He had to do extra work for missing a day at school.

8.What impression of Frank do you get as a teacher?

Ans: Frank is a new science teacher. He is friendly with his students. He does not
discourage Taplow from talking about Crocker Harris. But does not allow him to be
disrespectful. He envies Crocker Harris for the effect he has on the students. Mr.
Crocker Harris is a source of inspiration for him.

9.Why is Taplow bitter?

Ans: Taplow is bitter because he has been asked to stay back after school on the last
day. He would rather be playing golf.

10.Where did Millie send Taplow? What was her purpose?

Ans: Millie sent Taplow to a chemist to bring medicine according to the prescription.
Thus he could do jobs for him and she can take blame if he came before Taplow
returned.

11.What is ‘remove’? How do students get it?

Ans: Remove is a certificate of passing a form in the school. As a rule, t he form results
should only be announced by the headmaster on the last day of school However, it
seems that most teachers leak it to their students before that date.

12.What leads Mr. Frank to comment, I’m sure you’re exaggerating?

Ans: Taplow says that Mr. Crocker Harris seems to hate people to like him. Yes, in spite
of everything, Taplow does rather like him. He can’t help him. He thinks that sometimes
Mrs. Harris notices it and that seems to shrivel him up even more. This observation of
Taplow seems farfetched. So, Mr. Frank remarks that he is exaggerating.

13. Where did Taplow meet Frank?

Ans. Taplow had been asked to do some extra work by Mr. Crocker Harris. He was waiting for the
master in the school. Frank also came there and met Taplow.

14. What subjects does Taplow want to opt for? Why?

Ans. Taplow feels if his grades are good, he would opt for science. He feels science is more interesting
than the study of classics.

15. What does Mr. Frank suggest Taplow to do because Mr. Crocker Harris is ten minutes late?
Ans. Frank asked Taplow not to wait for Mr. Crocker Harris and play golf but Taplow is really
shocked and is afraid that Mr. Crocker Harris may follow him home or do something else.

16. Why does Mr. Frank envy Mr. Crocker Harris?

Ans. Mr. Frank envies Mr. Crocker Harris for the effect he has on the boys in the class. Mr. Crocker
Harris does not tell the results before they are officially announced. And in spite of making students
take extra work they still like Mr. Crocker Harris.

17. How does Mr. Crocker Harris differ from other masters in his reactions towards others?
Ans. Mr. Crocker Harris did not get pleasure out of giving pain. He was not a sadist. In fact, he had no
feelings. He was all dry like a nut. He seemed to hate the idea of people liking him.

18. Who is a sadist? Why is Taplow afraid of Mr. Crocker Harris even though the latter is not
a sadist?
Ans. A sadist is a person who gets pleasure while inflicting pain on others. Taplow says that he would
not be so frightened of Mr. Crocker Harris if he were a sadist. He would at least show his feelings. Mr.
Crocker Harris was indifferent and was like a nut.

19. Which incident does Taplow narrate to prove the fact that Crocker Harris does not like
‘being liked’?
Ans. Taplow narrates the incident about one day when Mr. Crocker Harris made one of his classical
jokes in the class which no one understood. Taplow laughed out of politeness. Instead of feeling
thankful, Mr. Crocker Harris asked Taplow to explain the joke to the class. This incident proved that
Mr. Crocker Harris did not like ‘being liked’.

20. What is Taplow’s attitude towards Mr. Crocker Harris?

Ans. Taplow is respectful towards Mr. Crocker Harris and likes him even though he is afraid of him
and dare not cut the extra work even on the last day of the term.

21. Does Frank seem to encourage Taplow’s comments on Crocker Harris?

Ans. Frank encourages Taplow to comment on Mr. Crocker Harris by cleverly asking Taplow several
questions. He appreciated Taplow’s imitation of Mr. Crocker Harris and also asks him to repeat it.

22. Who was Millie Crocker Harris? What was she like?
Ans. Millie Crocker Harris was the young wife of Mr. Crocker Harris. She was a thin woman in her
late 30s. She was more smartly dressed than the other school masters’ wives.

23. How does Millie Crocker Harris send Taplow away?

Ans. On seeing Taplow, Millie Crocker Harris points out that her husband was at the Bursar’s so he
could go away for a quarter of an hour. But Taplow does not move. Millie assures him that she would
take the blame. She takes out a prescription and requests him to bring some medicines from the
chemist for her.

24. How does Taplow react to Millie’s arrival?

Ans. Taplow is nervous. He is unable to control his emotions and whispers to Frank if he thinks she
has heard their conversation. Taplow feels that if she tells Mr. Crocker Harris, he would lose his form.
25. What do you gather about Mr. Frank from the play?
Ans. Mr. Frank is a young science teacher. He does not like the subject he teaches. He also admits that
he tells the result to the students before it is officially announced by the head master. He feels envious
of Crocker Harris because Taplow likes him.

Long Answer Questions:

1. Make a character sketch of Mr. Crocker Harris.
Answer: The small excerpt ‘The Browning Version’ revolves round the character of the school
teacher Crocker Harris although we do not meet him in the play directly. Whatever we get to
know about him is his impression in the mind of his student Taplow as described by Taplow
to Mr. Frank who is another teacher from the school where Taplow studies.
As it is described by Taplow, Mr. Crocker Harris is an unusual teacher. He is pictured as a
heartless teacher without any feelings and emotions. He is set apart from the other teachers
because like the other teachers he never lets the results of examinations known to the students
even a day before the formal announcement of the results. He abides by the rules perfectly. He
is such a person that he does not hesitate to call a student for extra duty as punishment eve n
on the last day of his tenure in a school as it is the case with Taplow that day. He has no
compassion and he never takes pain to pass a student by giving his extra marks out of
compassion. For such harshness on his part, he has been nicknamed the ‘Crock ’ by the
students.
Taplow opines that Mr. Crocker Harris is not even a sadist. Sadist is a person who obtains
pleasure from inflicting pain on others. It is so because had Crocker Harris been a sadist, it
would mean that he has a heart and emotion. But Crocker Harris has no emotion at all.
Taplow says that in spite of all these, he has got a soft corner for Crocker Harris and Crocker
Harris knows that and does not like it. That is why he has taken pain that Taplow actually hate
him. As a whole, Taplow’s description of Crocker Harris is very humourous.

2. Comment on the attitude shown by Taplow towards Crocker-Harris.

Ans. Taplow is a student of Crocker-Harris. Crocker is a very strict and disciplined teacher. But he
has his own principles. He is true to his duty. It is the last day of the term. Crocker is going to leave
the school for good. Yet he gives Taplow some extra work to do. He does so because Taplow had
missed a day during the week for being ill. Most teachers tell the students about their result before
the headmaster declares it. But Crocker never does that. He is a man of principles. Taplow is a little
boy. But he understands all this. He has all respect for his teacher. He is afraid of him but he does not
dislike him. He loves to go and play but doesn’t dare to leave without Crocker’s permission. His fear
is tinged with respect not hatred.

3. Does Frank seem to encourage Taplow’s comments on Crocker-Harris?

Ans. Both Frank and Crocker-Harris are teachers in Taplow’s school. Crocker is a very strict and
disciplined teacher. He has his own principles. He never does any favour or disfavour to his students.
He gives what one deserves. Students are scared of him but they don’t dislike him. They have deep
respect for him. Frank feels jealous of Crocker. So he encourages Taplow to say things against Crocker
and mock at him. But Taplow does nothing of the kind. His act of imitating Crocker is no sign of
disrespect. It is simply an act of mimicry. It is only by way of humour that he does so. There is no
disrespect in it. But the way Frank encourages Taplow to do it is not like a teacher. In trying to
degrade Crocker-Harris, he degrades himself only.

4. Give a brief character-sketch of Taplow.

Ans. Taplow is a student of Mr. Crocker-Harris. He has to stay behind even on the last day of the
school. Mr. Crocker-Harris has given him extra work to do because he had been ill for a day during
the week and missed the class. It is already very late. Mr. Crocker-Harris has not come yet. But Taplow
is afraid of Crocker. He dares not leave the class until Crocker comes. Although he is afraid of Crocker,
he doesn’t dislike him. He laughs at Crocker’s poor joke only out of respect. We can say that Taplow
is a very obedient student.

5. Give a brief character-sketch of Millie.

Ans. Millie is Mr. Crocker-Harris’s wife. She is a thin woman and is in her late thirties. She dresses
herself in smart clothes. She sees Taplow imitating her husband’s voice. But she takes it lightly. She
finds Taplow waiting for her husband. She can understand very well that Taplow likes to go and play
like other boys. She tells him that her husband is at the Bursars. It could take him a lot of time there.
Thus, she indirectly hints to Taplow that he could go and play. Even then Taplow dare not go. Then
she sends Taplow to a chemist to get some medicine. Her chief purpose is not to get the medicine.
She only wants to help the poor boy enjoy his freedom for some time at least. Thus, we can say that
Millie is a loving and intelligent woman of helping attitude.

6. Compare and contrast the characters of Mr. Crocker-Harris and Frank.

Ans. Crocker-Harris and Frank are both teachers in Taplow’s school. But they are poles apart in their
characters. Crocker is a very strict teacher. He is a man of discipline. He has his own principles. He is
true to his duty. He never does any favour or disfavour to his students. On the other hand, Frank is
not true to his duty. He teaches science. He himself does not like the subject he teaches, but he calls
his students slackers. He is jealous of Crocker. He encourages Taplow to say things against Crocker
and mock at him. It does not behave a teacher to encourage a student against another teacher. In
trying to degrade Crocker-Harris he degrades himself only.

7. Taplow is shown to be a sincere and dedicated student. How far do you agree to it?
Ans. Taplow is a boy of sixteen. He is pure at heart. He is a boy with no whims and fancy of his own.
It is his frank nature which make us appreciate him all the more. It is great to watch that even after
absenting himself from school for a day, he is ready to wait the next day to meet his teacher. His
patience is all the more most attractive feature. Taplow paints before us a picture of a boy with divine
nature. In spite of having many good qualities Taplow is also good at flattery. He is waiting for the
teacher because he wants extra marks for the test. Still in spite of follies he behaves in a simple,
innocent manner. In fact, he has not been touched by modernism and has a pure, serene heart.