A Face in the Dark Summary by Ruskin Bond
A Face in the Dark by Ruskin Bond is a very popular short story that has been passed on from one generation to another. It falls in the purview of mystery and suspense genre. Through this story the author asserts that even people powerful and non-believers of evil spirits go blank or have their heart attack when confronted by strange and horrible situations. An atmosphere of strangeness, mystery and supematuralism prevails in the story. When one reads the story, one is often lifted from the natural world to a supernatural atmosphere where one experiences things which will make one feel the fear to one’s bones.
The story is set in a pine forest outside Simla on a windy night. It describes the two uncanny experiences of Mr. Oliver, a teacher of a English Public School in Simla. Mr. Oliver an Anglo-Indian teacher, dares to walk through the pine forest on his way back to the school after an evening at Simla Bazaar. He comes across a weeping boy who lifts his face, which is not a face but a flat something without eyes, nose or mouth. Mr. Oliver runs only to bump into a watchman who again had a face like that of the faceless boy. In the story, we are not provided with details of the school, neither details of how Mr. Oliver looks, nor details about what happens to Mr. Oliver after his uncanny experiences. The author just makes us experience the power of the uncanny to unsettle a courageous man like Mr. Oliver.
On one level the story can be read as a paranormal one with the faceless boy and watchman as two ghostly figures haunting the protagonist Mr. Oliver. On a deeper level, it can be read as unraveling the mysteries of human experience. Ruskin Bond believes that no matter how rational a person is, there is always an element of superstition in his mental make up.
A Face in the Dark Summary Introduction
A Face in the Dark is an uncanny story in which the author, Ruskin Bond narrates the experience of Mr. Oliver, the protagonist of the story. Mr. Oliver happened to be an Anglo Indian teacher in a public school in Simla which was often referred to as the ‘Eton of the East’ probably in reference to the St. Paul’s school in Darjeeling, India which is one hundred fifty years old and was established by the British. Today even it is still actually called ‘Eton of the East’ and follows a similiar educational pattern to classic British public schools and probably, also in reference to the Eton College in the UK, which is known as the Elite school.
Mr. Oliver had been teaching in this public school for several years. The school was on the outskirts of the hill-station of Simla. The Simla bazaar, with its cinemas and restaurants was about three miles from Oliver’s school. Mr. Oliver who was a bachelor, usually strolled into the town in the evening and would return after dark and take a short cut through the pine forest.
Once, Mr. Oliver went to the Simla Bazaar and when he was returning to his school, it grew dark. He took the short way through the pine wood. The way through the pine wood seemed to be so frightening and scary that no one liked to go from that way. When there was a strong wind, the pine trees made sad, eerie sounds that kept most people to the main road. But Mr. Oliver was not an imaginative or nervous man. He was carrying a torch with him. The gleam of the torch moved fitfully down the path as the batteries were running down. When the flickering light of the torch fell on the figure of a boy who was sitting alone on a rock, Mr. Oliver stopped. Oliver was surprised to see the boy sitting alone, at that time of the night in the forest. He thought that boys were not supposed to be out after dark.
Stopping to the boy, Oliver moved closer to ]the boy so that he could be able to know the reason of the hoy’s being there. Mr. Oliver asked the boy what he was doing there. Mr. Oliver sensed that something was wrong. The boy seemed to be weeping and sobbing. His head hung down. He held his face in his hands and his body shook convulsively. Mr. Oliver observed that it was a strange, soundless weeping. He clearly felt uncomfortable. Mr. Oliver asked the boy again what wrong had happened with him and why he was crying. The boy neither looked up nor answered his questions.
His body continued to be racked with silent sobbing. Oliver again enquired from him what was troubling him and asked him to look up. Then the boy removed his hands from his face and looked up at his teacher. As the gleam from Oliver’s torch fell on the boy’s face, Oliver was greatly stunned to see that the boy had no face. It had no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a round smooth head with a school cap on top of it.
Mr. Oliver ran towards his school in fear and found the watchman swinging a lantern. When the watchman saw him running like that, he asked him why he was running. Mr. Oliver told him that he saw a boy who had no face, i.e., no eyes, ears, or any other feature on his face. The watchman asked him if the boy’s face looked like it and he raised the lantern up to his face. Mr. Oliver found that the watchman too was without a face. He had also no eyes, no ears and no features. At that moment the wind blew and put the lamp out.
A Face in the Dark Summary Stanzawise Word-Meanings
Outskirts = a part remote from the center. Run on = kept going. Blazer = a jacket that is worn over a shirt and that looks like a suit jacket but is not part of a suit. Strolled = walked slowly in usually a pleasant and relaxed way. Pine = a tree that has long, thin needles instead of leaves that stays green throughout the year. Eerie = strange and mysterious. Imaginative = having or showing an ability to think of new and interesting ideas. Gleam = a small bright light. Running down = declining; ceasing to operate. Fitfully = for a short period. Flickering = burning or glowing in an unsteady way; producing an unsteady light. Miscreant = a person who does something that is illegal or morally wrong.
Approached = moved nearer to something. Sensed = understood; became aware of. Convulsively = causing the entire body to shake. Distinctly = clearly. Sobbing = crying noisily while taking in short, sudden breaths. Trembling = shaking slightly in fear. Scrambled = moved quickly. Blindly = without seeing anything fallen in the way. Swinging = swaying to and fro. Stumbled = bumped into something or somebody accidentally. Gasping = breathing in suddenly and loudly with mouth open because of surprise. Blew out = extinguished by a gust.
A Face in the Dark Summary About the Writer
Ruskin Bond was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh in 1934. He is one of the best known writers of children’s book. He was educated at Shimla, Delhi and in England. This professional writer, who made his living by writing, has written over a hundred short stories, essays, novels and more than 30 books for children.
He was awarded the ‘Rhys Memorial Prize’ in 1957 for his first novel ‘The Room of the Roof written at the age of 17. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for ‘Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra’, British Award for ‘Commonwealth Writers’ in 1971 and he was awarded the ‘Padma Shree’ by the Government of India in 1999.
The first volume of his autobiography, ‘Scenes from a Writer’s Life’, which described his formative years growing up in Anglo-India, was published in early 1998 and the second volume of autobiographical writings ‘The Lamp is Lit’ in 1999.
His collection also include ‘Neighbour’s Wife’ (1996), ‘My First Love’ (1986), “The Maneater of Manjari’ (1972), ‘Tales and Legends from India’ (1982), ‘The Night Train at Deoli’ and other stories (1989).
‘Ganga Descends’ (1992) is a collection of non-fictional essays. Among his novels are ‘The Room on the Roof (1956), ‘An Axe for the Rani’ (1992) ‘Love is a Sad Song5 (1975) and ‘A Flight of Pigeons’ (1980).
Most of his stories are set in the beautiful hill tracks of Garhwal in close proximity with nature. Some of his stories are remarkable for their compassionate portrayal of love, loss, accomplishment, pain and struggle. He has excellent insight into the psychology of children for whom he has written the maximum.
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