The Thief's Story- Short Answers

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The Thief's Story- Short Answer Questions

1.  Give a brief description of the chapter “The Thief Story.”

The story is about a 15-year-old boy Hari. He is a thief who changes his name every month to stay away from the police and his old employers. This time he keeps his name as Hari Singh. The other character in the story is a 25-year-old writer named Anil. The thief Hari meets Anil and asks him if he could work for him. The story reveals how the thief tricks Anil by committing theft but revokes later on.

2. Why didn't Hari Singh catch the train deliberately while he could catch it easily?

Hari Singh did not catch the train deliberately because his inner conscience held him back. He thought that Anil would feel sad not for loss of money but for the loss of trust he had reposed in him. Moreover, he did not want to lose the chance of learning. His inner self was transformed.

3. Why did Anil employ Hari as a cook, although he could not afford to pay?

Anil needed someone to look after his house, thus he agreed to employ Hari as a cook. If he could prepare meals for both of them. Anil felt sorry for him because Hari only wanted to be fed.

4. Why didn’t Anil hand over Hari to the police? What effect would it have on Hari?

Anil had a trust on Hari and when he saw that instead of running away after taking the money, he came back kept the money as it was earlier. The trust increased and Anil gave the chance to improve him.

5. Why was it difficult for Hari Singh to rob Anil?

It was difficult to rob Anil because he was the most trusting person Hari Singh had ever met. According to Hari Singh it is easy to rob a greedy man because he can afford to be robbed but it’s difficult to rob a careless man because he doesn’t even notice that he has been robbed and that takes all the pleasure out of the work.

6. How does the thief think Anil will react to the theft?

The thief thought that on discovering the theft, Anil’s face would show a touch of sadness. The sadness would not be for the loss of money, but for the loss of trust.

7.What does he say about the different reactions of people when they are robbed?

In his short career as a thief, he had made a study of men’s faces when they lost their goods. He said that the greedy men showed fear; the rich men showed anger and the poor men showed acceptance.