Explaining the lesson The Eyes Have it!

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About the
Author
 Ruskin Bond, born in 1934 at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, is an
Indian writer of British descent.
 He is an outstanding figure of international repute among the
contemporary Indian English writers.
 He is a prolific and powerful writer.
 He has written short stories, essays, novels and children books.
AWARDS:
 He has received many awards. His first novel, The Room on the
Roof brought him the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957.
• He received the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for his short
story collection, Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.
 He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 and the N D Mehra
Memorial Award in 2003 for his contribution to children’s literature.
Ruskin, a versatile writer and a man of colourful personality, is still
active. He now lives in Landour near Mussoorie.
 His profound love for his own birth place and his passion for
literature are the treasure of his life.

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Introduction
 “The Eyes Have It “ is a short story written by the
famous Indian writer of British descent, Ruskin
Bond.
 It was originally published in contemporary Indian
English Stories. • This story is an example of
Situational irony.
 The Story revolves around the conversation
between two people , travelling together, each
unaware of the similarity that they had , which is
being blind.

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Narration of the
story
 The narrator of this story is a blind
man on his way to Mussoorie by
train. He is alone in the train when
a girl boards his compartment.
 The girl’s parents bid her goodbye
at the station, anxious about her
well-being and advising her
regarding where to keep her
belongings, not to lean out of the
windows and to avoid talking to
strangers.

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Narration- The Eyes
Have It
 Once the train leaves the station,
the narrator starts a conversation
asking if she too is going to
Dehradun. The voice startles her as
she thinks herself to be the only
occupant in the compartment.
 She answers in the negative and
tells him that she is en route to
Saharanpur to visit her aunt. He
informs her that he is travelling to
Mussoorie.

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Narration-The Eyes
Have It
 After conversing for quiet some time
now, the narrator appreciates her
daringly saying that she has an
interesting face. She is happy at this
and surprised as it was a welcome
deviation from the often repeated
phrase: "You have a pretty face".

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Narration -The Eyes
Have It
 Soon it’s time for the girl to bid goodbye as
her destination comes into view.
 After her departure, a man enters the
compartment and apologizes, for not being
as attractive a travelling companion as his
predecessor.
 When the narrator asks him if the girl had
her hair long or short, he replies with
interest that he had noticed only her eyes,
which were beautiful but of no use, as she
was completely blind.
 It is only then that the narrator realises that
the girl too, was blind.

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Summary
 The Eyes Have It is a marvellous short story written by
Ruskin Bond who has used first person narrative
technique in the story.
 The story is narrated by the person who himself is
blind. His eyes are sensitive only to light and darkness.
While going to Dehradun by train he comes across a
girl. He starts conversation and gradually becomes
interested in her. He tactfully hides his blindness from
the girl to impress her. But the conversation does not
last long. The girl bids him good-bye as the train arrives
at her destination. After her departure, a new male
passenger comes into the compartment. From that
man the narrator learns that the girl was completely
blind. The revelation shocks the narrator. He feels that
he has deceived himself. This is an ironical twist that
makes the end of the story so appealing

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Learning
from the
Story
 The Story , ‘The Eyes Have It ‘ teaches us a very
valuable lesson.
 God has given a fair share of luck and talent to each
and every individual in this world , so instead of
hiding our short comings , we must appreciate what
we have and not complain about what we do not
have.
 We ultimately learn a very valuable lesson about the
influence of initial assumptions on the ways we
perceive the world and other persons.

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Irony in the
Story
 The short story , “ The Eyes have It “ , is an excellent example
of Situational Irony.
 Ironically the author employs two blind people as his main
characters ,yet neither knows that the other is blind.
 The author does not realise that the girl sitting next to him is
also blind , even after listening to her parent’s advice and
instructions to their daughter, the narrator could not distinguish
any unusual advice or information that led him to believe the
girl had any handicap herself
 Hoping to keep her from realising that he is blind , the author
describes the scenery outside from his memories
 To continue the ruse , he tells the girl that she has an
interesting face.
 The narrator ends up fooling himself. Apparently he also
mislead the girl because he did not realise her fellow traveller
was blind either.

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Character
Sketch in the
Story
 The Narrator
He is the main character in this short story, who is
travelling to Dehra alone. He has been described as being
blind. He was a romantic and tries to strike a conversation with
the pretty girl sitting next to him. He loves to talk and know
more about the people by questioning them about their lives
 The Girl
She is the passenger whotravelswith the narrator in
the train. She has been described as being a Pretty and
/interesting girl. Later in the story we get to know about the
blindness of the girl.
 The Fellow Passenger
He is passenger who helps the author realise that
the girl he was travelling with was blind , just like him.

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CHARACTER
SKETCH
 In this story the narrator’s eyes was sensitive only to
light and darkness. While going to Dehradun by train
he comes across a girl.
 He starts conversation and gradually becomes
interested in her. He tactfully hides his blindness from
the girl to impress her.
 But the conversation does not last long. The girl bids
him good-bye as the train arrives at her destination.
After her departure, a new male passenger comes into
the compartment.
 From that man the narrator learns that the girl was
completely blind.
 The revelation shocks the narrator. He feels that he has
deceived himself.
 This is an ironical twist that makes the end of the story
so appealing.

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Character
sketch
 The narrator was blind and fond of talking, he wished to
hide his blindness from girl.
 While the girl was smart and and focused. The narrator
was a romantic fool who was ready to believe a girl by
her ringing laughter and vibrant voice.
 The narrator represents men in common who love the
company of a woman.
 While, the girl represents women in common who love
the safety in the presence of a man and vanish without
a goodbye because she has reached safely.
 Ruskin Bond kept the pulse of the reader high with the
narrator’s attempts to escape the chances of his being
caught by the girl’s smart questions and remarks.
 At the end, the reader realizes that it was not the girl
that the narrator had been fooling but it was the reader
that the author had just fooled.

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Critical
Analysis
 The author has started the story in a very simple yet
mysterious way.
 The conversation between the two of them was
simply imaginative and said by his past experiences.
It was risky from the author’s side to compliment on
her features as he himself was blind.
 Throughout the story the narrator has achieved to
show general human behavior about making initial
assumptions on the ways we perceive the world and
other people

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