Of a Questionable Conviction by Jayanta Mahapatra

 Of A Questionable Conviction

By Mala Acharya

Q1.Why does the poet think the man who talks of pain invented it himself?

Ans.- The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

The man sacrifices his personal life by being passionate about writing poetry even though he has no monetary gains in writing poetry. Also, he leads a lonely life away from the materialistic hectic life. For all these , the poet thinks the man who talks of pain has invented it himself.

Mala Acharya

Q2. What is the main idea in stanza 1?

Ans.-The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

In stanza 1, the word  ‘pain’ mainly refers to poverty. Thus the poet says the man prefers living in  poverty but he cannot give up his passion for writing poetry. It is his own interest to write poems and makes use of his poetry for a noble cause by depicting the realities of life in his poem.

Mala Acharya

Q3. What ,according to the poem, is "his excuse to live"?

Ans.- The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

According to the poet, “his excuse to live”-  means he remains sleepless night after night to write an impressive line of his poetry. Thus his passion to wait and discover the best ideas becomes an excuse for him to leave a life dedicated to poetry.

Q4. Can the wall be lonely? Why does the poet used this expression?

Ans. - The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra.

 No, the wall cannot be lonely. But the writer has used it as a symbol for poverty. The lonely wall refers to the financial instability of the poet .The poet has no greediness for being rich. He follows his passion for composing good and thoughtful lines to write an impressive poem for his readers.

 Mala Acharya

Q5. "For months together the window has been deceiving him ".What could the poet mean by these lines ?

Ans.- The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

The statement "For months together the window has been deceiving him means the poets spends sleepless nights for months but is not able to compose an impressive line for his poetry.

The word “window” refers to “heart” .His heart is not able to generate good ideas for his poems. So the writer says that the poet’s  heart  is betraying him.

Q6.The poet described in the poem “has been trying to polish the light on his heart.” How?

And.- The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

The line- " has been trying to polish the light on his heart "means the poet is spending long hours to get good ideas , a better impressive idea to write his poem so that his poem will touch the heart and soul of the readers in a realistic way.

Here the word “ light”  means ideas and “polish” means improved ideas , better ideas .

Q7. You can easily see that in the first three stanzas only the present tense forms are used. In the final stanza, however, past tense forms are used. Why is this shift in the concluding stanza?

Ans.- The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

 Yes ,Jayant Mahapatra has used present tense forms in the first three stanzas of the poem but past tense forms in the final stanza.

This shift in the concluding lines very nicely depicts the duration of the poet’s life. In his whole life, he dedicates the valuable hours of his life only to compose impressive and touchy lines for his readers though he has no financial security.

In the first 3 stanzas, he is alive but in the last stanza, he has died -so past tense form is used.

Q8. Would you consider the ending of the poem satisfactory? Explain your point of view. Ans.- The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

Yes, the ending of the poem is satisfactory as the poem depicts the pain and sadness of the poet. The poet spends his whole life writing poetry to touch the feelings of the readers and also died silently without harming the happiness and peace of others' lives.

Q9.What can you say about the tone of the poem?

Ans.-  The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

 The tone of the poem is pessimistic. The life of a poet has been very nicely portrayed in a realistic manner. There is the emotionless and insensitive reaction of the common materialistic man giving a cold gesture on the death of a poet .The careless gesture of the materialistic man is very accurately depicted in the last lines of the poem on the death of a poet.

Q10. What do you mean by - 

i) " The empty window in his lonely wall " (Stanza 2 )

ii) ”His eyes saw the pain in the mirror” (Stanza 4) and

          (iii) “They didn't grudge him that :” (Stanza 4)

Ans.- The question is from the poem “ Of a Questionable Conviction” written by Jayanta Mahapatra. 

i) " The empty window in his lonely wall " (stanza 2 )

And.-  One idea is the windows are without curtains and the walls without any decorative suggests and refers to the poverty of the poet.

Another idea is - Windows refers to his heart and walls his surroundings. His lonely atmosphere is not inspiring him to write any good idea to compose the impressive lines in his poems.

ii) “ His eyes saw the pain in the mirror”-  it means when the poet stands in front of the mirror, he is able to feel in his heart the painful condition of his life which he ignores because of his passion for literary works.

(iii) “They didn't grudge him that” - here they refer to his neighbours who do not have any complaint against the poet. They consider him a novel man who has never disturbed their lives with his sleepless nights .These materialistic people hardly care for the death of the poet.