Neighbours Class 12 Exercise: Question Answers Notes 

-Tim Winton

Chapter 1 English [Class 12]

Understanding the text

a. Describe how was the young couple’s house looked like.

Ans:  Even though their home was tiny, it had the appearance of a beautiful cottage due to the high ceilings and paned windows that were on the walls. Their house was not that luxurious or of High-standard but was perfectly cosy to live a life as a normal people.

b. How did the young couple recognize their neighbours in the beginning of their arrival?

Ans: The young couple recognized their neighbours as uncivilized and annoying people at the beginning of their arrival from various odd activities that they witnessed. People in their surrounding used to scream, quarrel, make unnecessary noises. They also lack proper sanitation. They used to complain them about their dog. They used to interfere them in their household activities.

All these things, made them have a negative impression about their neighbourhood in the beginning of their arrival.

c. How did the neighbours assist the young couple in the kitchen garden?

Ans: Neighbours helped them both orally and physically in their kitchen garden. Orally, they gave them some advices that were required to have proper benefits from gardening. They approached the work area and offered and advised them the ideas for spacing, hilling and mulching the vegetables they had planted.

They provided them some seeds and plants of vegetables as well. Thus they, assisted the young couple in kitchen garden.

d. Why were the people in the neighbourhood shocked at the role of the young man and his wife in their family?

Ans :The people in the neighbors were shocked by the actions of young couple which was new to them. They were astonished to see that the young guy stayed at home and took care of domestic chores, while his wife worked at a hospital. It was frowned upon in the neighborhood for men to sit at home while women worked outside.

e. How did the neighbours respond when they learn about the woman’s pregnancy?

Ans: The neighbors reacted to the woman’s pregnancy with grace and politeness. They began smiling at the young couple all the time and showing a lot of concern for the young lady. They did all they could to help her in different ways. Her neighbors all reacted in a reasonable manner. They gave her numerous presents, counsel, and attention in connection with her pregnancy.

Neighbours showed their joy and happiness by various activities. Some people started offering them presents, hand-knitted sweaters, gloves, caps, some women started advising them baby names, some started guessing the child whether it will be a boy or a girl.

From all these, we can infer that the people in neighbourhood were very happy to learn about the woman’s pregnancy.

f. Why did the young man begin to cry at the end of the story?

Ans: At the conclusion of the story, the young guy started to cry as he realized his neighbors’ concern, care, and love. He couldn’t hide his emotions when he discovered them gathered in his gate, cheering for his new newborn son. In his nice time, he cried with pleasure to discover his neighbours’ happiness. His perspective on his neighbors shifted. He grasped the idea of human relationships.

The young couple had hated and irritated by the neighbourhood activities and their interference in their personal activities. However, They didn’t realise there was a love and care for them behind all of the activities of the people in their neighbourhood. But, their relation started to get reshaped when the Young Lady gets pregnant and their neighbourhood starts admiring and well wishing them. The young man’s tears at the conclusion of the story represent the gratefulness to the love and care of their neighbours.

g. Why did the author not characterize the persons in the story with proper names?

Ans: The irony of this story is that the characters have not been given a definitive names or identity. It’s possible that the characters will be regarded as role models for everyone since they’re not defined. Author wants the reader to get influenced or inspired from the story by characterizing the persons of the story without finite names.

Since the author intended to portray individuals of diverse groups with different languages and cultures living together in harmony, he didn’t give them appropriate names, in my opinion. He wanted ethnic affiliations to be more important than individualities. To illustrate the idea that individuals from various ethnicities and backgrounds may live peacefully together, despite their differences in language, culture, and way of life, he used this method in the story. Above everything else, the human connection is a very essential element.

Tim may not want his readers to get too involved in the characters, rather feel the way people interact with each other in a diversified community.

Reference to the context

a. The story depicts that linguistic and cultural barriers do not create any obstacle in human relationship. Explain with some examples from this story where the neighbours have transcended such barriers.

Ans: Their neighbours give the young couple advise on the kitchen garden, despite the fact that they don’t speak their language. A Macedonian family teaches them how to scream, even though they don’t even know how to speak Macedonian. An elderly Polish man’s aid in rebuilding their chicken house may be seen as selfless assistance from a person. Their care, love, and respect for the young pregnant lady and their joy at the baby’s birth offer a wonderful example of a human connection. Relationships between people transcend language and cultural differences.

Through the symbolism of pregnancy, Winton is able to examine how a shift may have a variety of impacts for the young couple and the whole neighbourhood. Because of its universality, pregnancy serves as a stimulus for the formation of new bonds and connections across cultural boundaries. A lot of the time in this story, the neighbours manage to get along with each other despite the language and cultural hurdles. Human interactions have shattered these walls.

When the couple finds out they are pregnant, cultural boundaries are broken through, and they are able to pursue a new chapter of their lives because of their transformation. They didn’t speak each other’s languages and shared a similar culture. After a time of adaptation, the couple was able to successfully blend in. Indeed, the story demonstrates that language and cultural boundaries do not pose a barrier to human interactions in the first place.

b. The last sentence of the story says “The twentieth-century novel had not prepared him for this.” In your view, what differences did the young man find between twentieth-century novels and human relations?

The birth is a wonder for the young guy, and Young man discovers at the conclusion of the story that the twentieth-century fiction had not adequately prepared him for it.

The subject of judgment is prominent in this short story; the newlyweds were fast to form a bad opinion of the neighbourhood, which was soon disproved by the events of the narrative; yet, the concept of forgiveness is also prominent. It surprised him to learn that there were significant contrasts between twentieth-century fiction and real relationships. While working on his thesis on a book set in the 20th century, he had an opinion on the way of life of migrants. Sick with all the immigrants he had to deal with in his new neighbourhood, he decided to move away from the city altogether. In the end, it turns out that his conception of twentieth-century novels was incorrect.

He had never anticipated his neighbours to come together in such a way before. The actions of migrants made him cry, and he finally understood the importance of the idea of humanity. It dawned on him how important human connections are. Human relationships are much more realistic than the things that are put down in books, which are more abstract.

There were a lot of surprising things that happened to the young guy in his life. He became a parent, his neighbours expressed their concern for him and his family, they were ecstatic at his pleasure, he wept when he saw such wonderful neighbours, etc. Due to their excellent connection with their neighbours, all of these things were feasible. Because of it he was unprepared for this. As a result of the human connection, he began to understand the importance of living in a community with other people.

This is a symbol that is used throughout the short tale to represent the characters. It has something to do with the subject of judgment. It relates to the views of the general public about migrants, such as those who live in the neighbourhood. A statement from the short story’s conclusion, “The twentieth- century book had not prepared him for this,” indicates that he has come to believe that the twentieth-century viewpoint on immigration was incorrect.

c. A Nepali proverb says “Neighbors are the companions for wedding procession as well as for the funeral procession.” Does this proverb apply in the story? Justify.

Ans: This proverb defines the social harmony and relationship that the people in the Nepali community have with each other.

If someone has a marriage, people go there to help with arrangements, not only to celebrate. We can say it is almost impossible to conduct such ceremonies without the help of neighbours in our society. (Unless they go to some Party Palaces or hotels for arrangement). Similarly, if something unexpected or sad happens in one family, every family in society becomes ready to share the grief. This proverb is also applicable in this story. When they were gardening, neighbours come there to help them with various suggestions, including giving them various materials and seeds for planting different vegetables. Similarly, they also give them an idea of how they can grow more and well. This thing proves that Neighbours helped them when there was a time they required.

On the other hand, They are also assisted by their neighbours when they had a happy and pleasant moment. Having a baby is a good moment, where every of their neighbour come there to celebrate and be the participant of their happiness. This complies with the Nepali proverb of “Neighbours are the companions for wedding procession as well as for the funeral procession”.

d. The author has dealt with an issue of multiculturalism in the story. Why do you think multiculturalism has become a major issue in the present world?

Ans: Multiculturalism is simply the condition of the existence of multiple cultures. Major problems with it are a language barrier and lack of communication which becomes an obstacle in adaptation in a new environment or to create healthy relations with different cultured people.

Cultural prejudice between individuals of various ethnic groups has become an important concern for me as a result of multiculturalism, and I believe that it will continue to be so in the future. As a result of cultural prejudice, there is a gulf between individuals. When the idea of diversity is introduced into a community, it creates chaos.

Various factors, such as the way people live, their various languages, and many more, keep people apart. Cultural diversity has put an end to concepts such as “humanity” and “human connections”. Violence, conflict, and other bad elements are a consequence of the multiculturalism idea in the modern world today. This idea of diversity has a negative impact on people and leads to discrimination in every field. There have been a lot of terrible things that have come out of this idea in the past. As a consequence of this idea, the planet will undoubtedly suffer in the future. 

To sum up, the following are the major problems with multiculturalism.

• Language Barriers          • Lack of social harmony-

• Civic dis-engagement     • Workplace Issues.

Reference beyond the text

a. Write an essay on Celebration of Childbirth in my Community.

Ans: Childbirth (especially the Nwaran) or the ninth day of the birth of a newborn baby is the ceremony or ritual that is performed to commemorate the birth of a child with pleasure and gladness, which is shared among family and community members.

Around the globe, childbirth day is widely observed. Children’s birth in my culture is a ceremony. The birth of a child is a joyous occasion for the whole family, as well as close friends. The news of a baby’s birth makes everyone in the family joyful. Newlyweds are greeted with jubilation by their family members and friends. They are ecstatic to applaud and greet the mother and her freshly born baby, and they do so with great enthusiasm.

The naming of the baby is also done on the same day. The community plays an essential part in each event or rite. People used to congregate at the place of the delivery to congratulate the parents and other family members. Moreover, they mark this important event by singing, dancing, and consuming delectable delicacies.

The new trend of celebrating the baby shower that is celebrated before the birth of baby is also evolving in our society but I’m against this ritual as it is not our traditional ritual. People in our community has been influenced from the foreign cultures of celebrating this type of thing which is actually against the things that we do in our typical cultures.

Every year, the birth of a child is greeted with pleasure and the bestowing of blessings by an older member or member of the wider community celebration of birthday. People and relatives offer them various presents and well wishes.This has helped to strengthen the relations in a society.

b. Do the people in your community respond with similar reactions upon the pregnancy and childbirth as depicted in the story? Give a couple of examples.

Ans: Yes, they do. People in our society are very responsive and cooperative. Not only do they respond to some neighbour’s happy moments but all are ready to help all people in the community. This has helped people to strengthen the relations.

Pregnancy and childbirth are both well-recognized events in our culture. Every member of the family, as well as the neighbours, take part in this rite to commemorate the event. Females are treated with considerably more respect throughout pregnancy and delivery. She receives the attention and affection she deserves.

Every member of the family wishes a pregnant lady well. In the ceremonies like childbirth, people offer the family and mother various food and clothing items and wish sound health of both mother and infant. That is why I Like my society very much. She receives a lot of health-related advice from her friends and family. Her family members take great care of her. As a result, she receives a number of benefits and presents. She is well taken care of, liked, and respected by everyone around her. Her pregnancy is likewise a cause for celebration, as is the fact that she is expecting.

The news of a baby’s birth is eagerly awaited by the whole family and the entire neighbourhood. When he baby’s first cry is heard, family and friends congratulate the parents. All of them clap for the new- born child as he or she is brought into the world. When a kid is born, it is a big deal. The baby’s mother is warmly embraced by the whole family.

Also Read: Neighbour by Tim Winton Summary