A House Is Not A Home Question Answer [Class 9 English Moments Chapter 8]

Name	A House Is Not A Home
Type	Question Answer
Class	9th
Subject	English
Book	Moments
Board	CBSE (NCERT)
Author	Polly Adler

A House Is Not A Home Questions Answers

Q1: What does the author notice one Sunday afternoon? What is his mother’s reaction? What does she do?

Ans: One sunday afternoon, the author while doing his homework smelled something strange, and then he noticed smoke pouring in through the seams of the ceiling. The author and his mother ran outside to save their life. His mother ran out of the house with a small metal box full of important documents. She dropped the case on the lawn and ran back into the house to bring pictures of the author’s dead father, which was the only thing that she had to remember him by.

Q2: Why does he break down in tears after the fire?

Ans: The author’s house was completely burned down. After five hours when the fire was finally out, the author realized that his cat was nowhere to be found. He had to face the loss of old school, his house and cat. In such a state, he cried and broke down in tears. He had suffered big losses.

Q3: Why is the author deeply embarrased the next day in school? Which words show his fear and insecurity?

Ans: The next day in school, the author is embarrassed because the clothes he was wearing looked weird, he had no books or homework, and his backpack was gone. He had the feeling of insecurity. All things appeared strange to him. He was shocked deeply and seems frustated. The words that show his fear and insecurity are “Was I destined to be an outcast and a geek all my life? I didn’t want to grow up, change or have to handle life, if it was to going to be this way. I just wanted to curl up and die”.

Q4: The cat and the author are very fond of each other. How has this been shown in the story? Where was the cat after the fire? Who brings it back and how?

Ans: The author loved his cat very much. He never considered her far from him. She kept sitting beside him when he did his homework and other household work. When the author found his cat back, his happiness was beyond the limits. He grabbed her quickly and felt relieved. This proved that they were very fond of each other. When the house was on fire the cat ran over a mile away as it was so freaked by the fire. A stranger lady brought the cat back. As the phone number was written on the collar of the cat but the phones were destroyed and disconnected.

Q5: What actions of the schoolmates change the author’s understanding of life and people, and comfort him emotionally? How does his loneliness vanish and how does he start participating in life?

Ans: The author’s schoolmates showed genuine concern towards him. On the second day after the fire broke out school people were insisting that hurry up and go to the gym. The author reached the gym. He found a table there with stuff on it. His schoolmates bought up school supplies, notebooks, all kinds of different clothes for the author in order to help him. It was a matter of surprise and too difficult to believe fro him. People who had never spoken, introduced themselves one by one. All things seemed new and created his interest in life. The incident changed the author’s understanding of life and people. That is the day when he made friends at school. That’s how his loneliness vanishes and the started participating in life.

Q6: What is the meaning of “My cat was back and so was I”? Had the author gone anywhere? Why does he say that he is also back?

Ans: The author had not gone anywhere. Here the author wants to point out that life without affection is useless. He was depressed after a great loss in all fields. His old school and teachers, the house got burnt in fire and he lost his cat. In such circumstances he considered himself dead and had no interest in life. Gradually, he made new friends in the new school and saw his house getting rebuilt. When a stranger woman gave him his cat back, he says, “My cat was back and so was I”. He means that now his life was complete again. He recovered from his gloomy state and started enjoying life when he got his cat back.

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