The Ant And The Grasshopper

Summary:


This story is one of the sixty-five short stories written by W. Somerset Maugham.

Unlike other stories we have heard about the ant and the grasshopper, this one is quite different.

Here, the writer compares the personality of two brothers: George Ramsay, the elder brother, and Tom Ramsay, the younger brother to the ant and the grasshopper, respectively.

As we've heard in the fables, an ant is a very hard-working, and respectable character whereas a grasshopper is a carefree and spendthrift character. An ant works and lives by its own whereas a grasshopper depends completely upon another.

Similar to the above-mentioned characteristics, George Ramsay is an ant, who is a respectable lawyer by profession, and Tom Ramsay is a grasshopper, who is a jobless person. Tom makes his living by depending on the income he generated by borrowing money from relatives and friends, especially George.

It was late when George realized that lending money to Tom was completely useless and he gave up on him. It became difficult for Tom to manage his living, then.

So he (Tom), along with Cronshaw came up with an idea. Cronshaw convicted Tom as a scoundrel and filed a case against him. George showed an interest in this matter. Being a lawyer, he fought the case for his brother to avoid him going into prison. In the end, Tom was set free but was fined a sum of $500.

The sum was not paid by Tom rather it was paid by George. Later on, Tom and Cronshaw were seen enjoying the money together by George.

On seeing this, George worried about his brother and went into a restaurant and thought of it for so long until the writer (narrator) came to meet him.


Exercise

A. Find similar meanings to these words from the passage. (Passage is not mentioned here for copyright issues.)

  1. problem
  2. difficulty
  3. start
  4. tension
  5. optimism
  6. debut
  7. ill-fated
  8. adequate
  9. distance
  10. guessed
  11. abundance
  12. modest
  13. gazing
  14. trusted
  15. surprised
  16. reply
  17. clean
  18. demands

B. Find the opposite meanings to these words from the passage. (Passage is not mentioned here for copyright issues.)

  1. relax
  2. hopeful
  3. partially
  4. gentle
  5. legal
  6. happy
  7. question
  8. dishonour
  9. rudely
  10. facilitate
  11. despair
  12. lack
  13. accept
  14. deplete
  15. end
  16. ensured
  17. mud
  18. close

C. Answer the following questions:

a) Who was a black sheep in Ramsays' family? Why?
Answer: Tom was a black sheep in Ramsays' family because he was not respectable unlike all Ramsays who were perfectly respectable people.

b) What was a respectable profession to Tom?
Answer: Any profession that could make some money, be it a bar tender or a taxi driver, was a respectable profession to Tom.

c) Why was George Ramsay staring into the space?
Answer: George Ramsay was staring into the space because it was the second time his own brother had deceived him for money.

d) Why did Tom leave his work and wife?
Answer: Tom believed that he could no longer live a normal life with a job and a wife, and decided to leave both of them.

e) How did Tom manage his life when he ran out of money at first?
Answer: Tom asked money to his brother George when he ran out of money at first.

f) How did Cronshaw and Tom cheat George?
Answer: Cronshaw and Tom performed an act that deceived George. Tom was convicted of stealing by Cronshaw and George paid the money as fine which was then shared by Cronshaw and Tom, together.

g) What forced George to realize that his brother would never settle down?
Answer: George's poor economic condition brought by his brother forced him to realize that his brother would never settle down.

Additional Questions

1.Why was Tom unhappy with his life when he has got everything.



2.Write in two sentence about two brothers in Ramsays family.
Answer: Two brothers in Ramsays family had contrasting pair of characteristics. The elder brother George was a hardworking, and loyal person while the younger brother Tom was a carefree and sprendthrift person.

3. If you were George what will you do to your brother.
Answer: If I was George, I would have requested my brother to rejoin a job and stay with the family. If he would deny it, I would leave him all on his own.

4. After he left his family what did Tom do?

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