If I Were You Class 9 | Chapter 11 | Beehive | English |

If I Were You Class 9 | Chapter 11 | Beehive | English |

Summary of If I Were You

If I Were You Class 9 : When the curtain rises, we see Gerrard talking on the phone to someone. From his talk, it appears that he is leaving the place in a few minutes. But before that, he expects someone to ring him up. He puts down the phone and starts packing a travelling bag. Suddenly a man enters from the right. He is similar in build to Gerrard and has a revolver in his hand. He orders Gerrard to put his hands. Gerrard puts his hands up but remains calm. He talks to the intruder pleasantly. The intruder warns Gerrard to stop being smart , and answer his questions. Gerrard says that he knows all the answers but he wants to change his position because he is not feeling comfortable with his hands lifted. The intruder allows Gerrard to sit in a chair. He seats himself on the divan by the side of Gerrard’s bag. The intruder says that he wants to know a few things about Gerrard. At this, Gerrard starts telling the intruder the story of his life. The intruder at once says, “Keep it to yourself and just answer my questions. Do you live here alone?” He asks Gerrard some other questions, but he already knows  all the answers. Gerrard says to him very cleverly, “Since you know so much about me, won’t you say something about yourself?”

From the intruder’s way of talking, Gerrard at once realizes that he is a foolish, boastful fellow. He feels that it won’t be difficult for him to fool the intruder. He doesn’t take any of his threats seriously. He keeps talking to him in a light-hearted manner. During his conversation, the intruder tells Gerrard that the real purpose of his coming there was to kill Gerrard.

Even now Gerrard shows no sign of fear. He only says, “Why add murder to your other crimes?” At this the intruder says, “I’m wanted for murder already. They can’t hang me twice.” Gerrard asks the intruder what he would gain by murdering him. At this, the intruder explains his whole plan. He says that after killing Gerrard, he would take on his identity and start living like Gerrard. To look exactly like Gerrard, he would only have to wear specs and Gerrard’s clothes. Then he would have no fear of cops. He would be able to eat and sleep peacefully.

At once Gerrard makes up a clever story. He tells the intruder that he too is a criminal like him. He, too, has killed someone and the police is after him. Even if the intruder kills Gerrard, and takes on his identity, he can’t save himself from being hanged. Then he would be hanged as Gerrard, if not as the intruder. He tells the intruder that he can help him in getting away from there in his car. He says that he has posted a man on the road who would ring him up if he saw the police. We know that Gerrard was already waiting for someone’s phone. Now when the phone rings, Gerrard says that it could be the police. The intruder becomes panicky. Gerrard opens a door and asks the intruder to get inside. He says that through this door, they will go straight to the garage. And from there, they can escape in his car. The intruder turns his head to step in. At once, Gerrard pushes him in and snatches the revolver from his hand. Then he slams the door and locks it. It was, in fact, the door of a cupboard, not a door to the garage. The intruder rattles the door. He shouts to let him out. Gerrard moves towards the phone that has been ringing all the time. He picks up the phone receiver. He tells the man at the other end that he couldn’t deliver the props for rehearsal because he was caught up in some amusing trouble. He tells the man to find out the Sergeant, and ask him to come up there at once.

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Textual Questions of If I Were You

Q1. “At last a sympathetic audience.”

(1) Who says this? ·

(it) Why did he say this?

(iii) Is he sarcastic or serious ?

Ans. (1) Gerrard says these words.

(ii)it was said for gaining the confidence of the intruder

(iii) He is sarcastic.

Q2.Why does the intruder choose Gerrard as the man whose identity he wants to take on ?

Ans. The intruder is a criminal. He has killed a cop. The police is after him. He can be hanged if he is caught. He observed  that Gerrard looks similar to him. So he decides to kill him. He thought to live life of Gerrard and never be captured again.

Q3.“I said it with bullets.”

(1) Who says this?

(ii) What does it mean?

(iii) Is it the truth ? Why does the speaker say this ? What is the speaker’s reason for saying this?

Ans.

(1) Gerrard says this.

(ii) It means that someone has been killed by Gerrand.

(iii) No, this is not the truth. He says this just to make fool of the intruder.

He intended  to persuade  him that he is also a culprit like him.

Q 4. What is Gerrard’s profession ? Quote the parts of the play that support your answer.

Ans:His profession is related with the theater. We came to know this when he announced on phone to the man who was  on the other side, “I can’t allow you to have the props in time for rehearsal

Q5. “You’ll soon stop being smart.”

(i) Who says this?

 (ii) Why does the speaker say it?

 (iii) What, according to the speaker, will stop Gerrard from being smart?

Ans:

1. The intruder says this.
2. He said so because it seemed that Gerrand had no fear of the intruder.
3. He threatened Gerrand to kill him with his gun. And also make him crawl.

Q.6“They can’t hang me twice”

(i) Who says this?

 (ii) Why does the speaker say it?

Ans.

(i) it was said by the intruder to Gerrard

(ii) A cop was already killed by the intruder. He can be hanged for it. Now he has made up his mind to kill Gerrard also. That is why it was said by him that if he is caught, he can’t be hanged twice.

Q7. “A Mystery propose to explain.”

What is the mystery the speaker proposes to explain?

Ans. He wants to tell the intruder that he, too, has killed a man and the police are after him.

Q8. “This is your big surprise.”

(1) Where has this been said in the play?

(ii) What is the surprise?

Ans.

1. It has been said when the intruder prepares to shoot Gerrard.
2. Gerrard tells the intruder that he himself has killed a man and the police is after him. He said that police can be here at any moment because one of his team members has been caught.

Short Answer Type Questions of If I Were You

Q1.What crime had been committed by the intruder?

Ans: A robbery had been committed by him. The police was about to catch him. He murdered the cop and fled away from there. Now he could be punished if he gets caught.

Q2.Why did Gerrard send for the sergeant?

Ans:  Gerrand came to know all about the intruder. He knew that he had killed a cop and the police was searching for him. Wisely he locked the intruder in his cupboard and to arrest him he sent for sergeant.

Q.3 A person forcefully entered in Gerrard’s house, who was he? Why did he come to Gerrard’s house?

Ans:  The person who forcefully entered in Gerrard’s house was a criminal. Police was chasing him because he had killed a cop. He came to to Gerrard’s house with an intention to kill Gerrard and take over his identity to escape from police.

Q4. Why does the Intruder not kill Gerrard immediately?

Ans: He didn’t kill him immediately because he wanted to get all intimate details about him. Without having all the information his plan would have been failed to take on his identity.

Q.5 Why has the Intruder chosen Gerrard as the man whose identity he wants to take?

Ans: The reason behind choosing Gerrard as the man whose identity he wanted to take was their similar body structure. Gerrard was a type of person who used to live alone. A very few people used to come to meet him. Whatever he required he used to order on the phone. So the intruder thought if he kills Gerrard and take on his identity police will never be able to catch him.

Long Answer Type Questions of If I Were You

Q.1 In the text we saw that Gerrard talked pleasantly with the intruder. Was he really happy to see the criminal?

Ans: Gerrard used to live alone in his home. One fine day a person entered his house forcefully. He had a gun in his hand. He threatened to shoot Gerrard. But Gerrard didn’t lose his cool. He stayed calm and didn’t panic. He knew if he tried to mess with the intruder he might be killed. So he acted smart and started talking pleasantly with the intruder. This helped to delay the plan of killing. Gerrand told him that he is pleased to have him. We know this was not correct. Gerrard was not really delighted to have the intruder at his home. After having a conversation with the intruder Gerrard came to know that the intruder is not clever and it will be easy to trap him and because of great presence of mind and by staying calm in crisis he was able to save his life. He locked the intruder in the cupboard and called the police.

Q.2 What story does Gerrard tell the intruder about himself? Do you think it is a true story?

Ans: Gerrard told the intruder that he is also a culprit like him. He had to use bullets. He was able to escape. But they caught one of his team members. The police found some papers from my team member who was caught by them. From those papers police has got to know about my address. Now police can reach here at any point of time. So he has packed his bags and ready to flee away. It is not a true story. Gerrard has improvised it to trap the intruder and to save his life. This was the story told by Gerrard to the intruder.

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