The document summarizes the short story "The Bond of Love" by Kenneth Anderson. It describes how the author's wife developed a strong emotional bond with a sloth bear cub named Bruno that her husband rescued. Bruno became a beloved pet and was playful with the family and other animals. However, as Bruno grew larger he had to be sent to a zoo. Both Bruno and the wife suffered from the separation. Eventually, Bruno was able to return home to be with the wife again due to the deep love they shared.

1. THE BOND OF LOVE
- KENNETH ANDERSON

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kenneth Douglas Stewart Anderson (8 March
1910 – 30 August 1974) was an Indian-born,
British writer and hunter who wrote books
about the adventures in the jungles of South
India. His love for the inhabitants of the Indian
jungle led him to big game hunting and to
writing real-life adventure stories. He often
went into the jungle alone and unarmed to
meditate and enjoy the beauty of untouched
nature.

3. THEME OF THE STORY
 The theme of the story is that even wild animals like sloth bears have
emotions, affection, and deep bonds. The story is developed around the
concept that love is reciprocal. Even animals respond sincerely to the
affection and care shown to them by human beings.

4. MESSAGE
 The story conveys the message of the need of showing kindness
to animals for they too are creatures created by the same God
who created human beings. Animals have a right to dignified and
free life.
 Strong bonds are all about shared visions, and we share those
visions by communicating them with the people who love and
trust the most.

5. AN OVERVIEW OF THE STORY - (CENTRAL IDEA)
 The Bond of Love focuses on the mutual
love between an animal and a human
being. The author wants to say that
animals, too, understand the language of
love. The relationship between the bear
and the author’s wife proves it. Bruno, the
bear, is loved dearly by the author’s wife
and he loves her in equal measure.

6. CHARACTERS IN THE STORY
 BRUNO, the pet
 The author and his wife
 The vet
 The curator
 Author’s friends

7. CONTENT ANALYSIS
 The Bond of Love is about the emotional bond which the author’s
wife and her pet bear share between them. The author rescued
the baby bear in an accident and gifted it to his wife. After that,
they were bonding like he was their child and the author’s wife
loves him a lot. We see that the family nourished him and helped
him grow. As Bruno starts growing up, he bonded with everyone,
from the children to the pet dogs. He had his own bed and would
play around with the little ones all day.
 In the story there are accounts of Bruno's life which shows how he
spend time with the author, with frequent accidents. Bruno gets
attached with the author’s wife and soon they develop a great
bond of love and affection. But a time comes when it becomes
necessary to shift the animal to a zoo. However, he does not live
there for a long time and is brought back.

8. CONCLUSION
To sum up, The Bond of Love summary, we learn that a true bond of love
does not limit to anything, it can be present amongst the most
unexpected places and nothing can hamper it. Human beings being
superior in intelligence and evolution, have a special responsibility
towards animals and birds, pet or wild. Animals also experience the
feelings of love, joy, pain and separation just like human beings.

9. CHARACTER SKETCH
BRUNO
Bruno, the pet sloth bear, is affectionate, emotional, sensitive, and
playful. Through him the author reveals that animals are sensitive
beings with emotions akin to human emotions. Once the bear cub,
Bruno, is brought to the family and presented to the lady of the
house as a pet, he behaves like a member of the family with a
specifically deep bond of love for the author’s wife. He quickly
makes friends with the Alsatian dogs and the children of the
tenants. Bruno’s selfless love is evident when he is sent to the zoo
where he suffers the pain of separation. Bruno is playful and full of
life. He entertains everyone by his tricks. In some instances, he
displays his mischievousness and inquisitiveness too.

10. CHARACTER SKETCH - AUTHOR’S WIFE
 The author’s wife, who is not given any name in the story, is the caretaker of the sloth
bear, whom she names Bruno and later on affectionately calls ‘Baba’. She is an
embodiment of love, care, concern, consideration and kindness. She is selfless and highly
affectionate and takes good care of the pet as if he were her own child. She is kind and
gentle with animals as is evident not only in the love with which she brings up Bruno, but
also the fact that she has two pet Alsatians too.
 She also agrees to have him sent to a zoo when he grows too big and unmanageable.
She is terribly sad at being separated from him. Like a real mother, she carries food for
him when she visits him at the zoo. She is so overwhelmed by seeing Bruno’s sorrow at
being separated from her that she is able to convince the curator and the Superintendent
that he should be sent back home. She is delighted to have him back and makes the pet
sit in her lap although he has grown big. She is sentimental and when Bruno is sent to the
zoo, she preserves the stump and the bamboo stick with which he used to play and
returns them to him when he comes back.

11. ASSET QUESTIONS
 Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given:
 1. To struggle to move is ____________
a. flounder
b. slide
c. glide
d. slip
 2. The synonym of the word fret is______.
a. happy
b. anxious
c. depressed
d. awful

12. ASSET QUESTIONS
 3. The author did not want to shoot the bear wantonly. The meaning of the word wantonly
is_____________.
a. immediately
b. slowly
c. for no good reason
d. incompletely
 4. Give one word for- a person in charge of the zoo
a. Curator
b. zoologist
c. Superintendent.
d. ornithologist

13. ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
 Answer the questions in about 30-40 words:
a) How did the author capture the bear cub?
b) Was Bruno a loving and playful pet? Why, then, did he have to be sent
away?
d) How was the problem of what to do with Bruno finally solved?

14. ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
 Answer the questions in about 40-50 words:
a) On two occasions Bruno ate/drank something that should not be eaten/
drunk. What happened to him on these occasions?
b) What request did the author’s wife make to the curator? Did the curator
grant the request?

15. ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
 Answer the questions in about 100-120 words:
a) The author ends the story “The Bond of Love” with the rhetorical
question: “But who can say now that a sloth bear has no sense of
affection, no memory and no individual characteristics?” Discuss this
statement in the light of Bruno’s character.