Three Men in a Boat Important Question and Answers

Important Question and Answers from Three Men in A Boat for SA 1 

Important question for Three men in a boat SA 2 are Here

Q1.Three Men in a Boat is a rich source of humour. Whi ch incident do you consider to be the most humourous?

Ans. Three men in a boat is full of great humor. The hum or is woven in the language and the funny incidents that occur to Harris, George an d J. himself, the narrator. The plot is small. Three Victorian men have a boat journey. The random anecdotes and funny situations make it a comedy classic. One after anot her, all the incidents are rib- tickling. Whether it may be packing, making Irish s tew, taking water, punting, visiting the inn having a trout in a glass case, meeting of Tom the cat and Montmorency-all have classical humor that defies description. This humor is a bit ironical also and is a sweet criticism. It is a light satire of its own ki nd. No one can help laughing at the commotion caused by the young lady's fox-terrier or when the punt boy hangs on his pole like a monkey. The novel is, thus, a comedy cl assic of its own times.


Q2.Who was Montmorency? Why didn’t he like the idea of going up the river?
Ans.Montmorency is the name of the pet dog of Jerome in the novel. Montmorency, although a dog, is quite a character. He is a crew member of the boat along the Thames. J, George, and William swear continually th at Montmorency is always fighting and would fight any other dog anywhere. Ir onically, the only thing that can make this dog retreat is a cat! Apart from all this , Montmorency is always the most realistic of the four. Though Montmorency's ambitio n in life was to get in the way and be sworn at. And the author used to say that it is the natural, original sin that is born in him that makes him do things like that. There w ere many incidents which made Montmorency an endearing character. Incidents like his encounter with the kettle, the fight with other dogs, the cat chase, and his other antics provided entertainment to the three men. So the author said that every Englis hman has an element of a dog within him. He didn't like the ideas of going to th e river because the three friends annoyed him very much. They would not appreciate wh en he would kill a rat and they fooled around him when he was asleep and would push Montmorency into the water.

Q3.How do the two friends reach Kingston to start thei r holiday trip on the river Thames?
Ans.) After a bungling morning wherein they overslept, ha d a not so satiating breakfast; the friends finally head out of the house to catch thei r designated train from the Waterloo station. While they stood on the doorstep waiting f or a taxi that could take them, their enormous amount of luggage became a spectre of curi osity and assumptions for the neighbourhood. There were people who sardonically c ommented that the friends at least would not die of hunger on their trip, while others assumed that it was some funeral that they were heading for. Finally having found a taxi, the friends head for Waterloo station while the crowd cheered on behind them. Upon reaching the train station, they could not find their designated train for Kingston, after taking rounds and asking official after official, where they coul d find the train for Kingston, their porter took them to the high platform where they fo und a train waiting. The driver of the train was unsure himself where he was heading, however when the friends bribed him with half a crown to head to Kingston, he accep ted it gladly, and hence they arrived at Kingston. After they arrived there, they were later told, that they had come by the Exeter Mail, and there were people at the Wa terloo station who spent almost an hour looking for the train. They found their des ignated boat waiting by the Kingston bridge and hence began their river trip up on Thames.

Q4.How far was the holiday beneficial in helping the t hree friends unwind and de-stress?
Ans.After the collective diagnosis being overwork, that the three friends come up with, the decision to relax and unwind themselves with a boat ing trip seemed like a fantastic idea. Taking Montmorency with them, the three frien ds journeyed on, to what should have been a trip full of peace and quiet, however i t was far from being so, and was one that was full of unexpected adventures and happenin gs. Right from the onset from trying to find the right train to Kingston at the W aterloo Station to trying to pitch the tent on the shore amidst the rain etc.. The journey is interspersed with hilarious incidents, which exasperate the friends however at the end of the day they managed to overcome the odds, be it when Harris and Montmor ency were attacked by the swans, or their failed attempts at cooking etc. How ever when they decide to abandon their boat at Oxford and spend the rest of the trip in an inn, is when they are actually able to enjoy their trip of rest and away from the chaos that the river affronted to them. Hence though the initial boating trip bit of their vacation was quite from giving them any time to unwind and de-stress, the latter h alf of it, when they were away from the river, did manage to fulfil the dream.

Q5.What happened to Harris in the maze at Hampton Court Palace?

Ans.Harris went into the maze to show a friend the way. As he had studied the map of the maze, he thought it was easy to get out of it. Both of them went in. In the maze, they met some people who were there for three quarters o f an hour and were unable to find the way out. Harris was confident of knowing t he way and therefore asked them to follow him. Everyone started following him. Many more people joined him who had lost their way. There were twenty people now. Harri s continued to turn to the right. However, soon people realised that instead of going out, they kept going around the same place again and again. All of them were very a ngry with Harris as every time they kept coming back to the centre. Later on, they were helped by the old keeper to find their way.
Q6.Jerome was medically ill. Do you agree?
Ans.The writer remembered going to the British Museum o ne day to read up the treatment for some slight ailment which he thought he was afflicted with, a touch of hay fever. As he brought down the book and read all that he had come to read, in an unthinking moment, he idly turned the leaves and be gan to indolently study diseases The writer discovered a whole host of diseases, cat alogued alphabetically ranging from typhoid fever, St. Vitas's Dance, cholera, bri ght disease, diphtheria and so on. There was also a malady called the housemaids knee, which he could not fathom. He reflected that he had presumed to know all kinds of possible maladies in pharmacology but the book revealed otherwise. He be gan to think of the case would be interesting from a medical point of view and he would be an acquisition to the class. However, it also led him to contemplate upon his own fragile mortality. He eventually patted himself all over the front, went a bit round each side and a little way up the back. He could not feel or hear anything, he stuck out his tongue to see how far it would go, shut one eye and examined the other, a nd told himself that he might have scarlet fever. He had walked into the reading room a happy man but now he crawled out of it as a diseased specimen of humanity.
Q7.Write a character sketch of the author known in the book as ‘J’.
Ans. J, or the narrator, is the central character of the novel, Three Men in a Boat. He is a young man with brown hair who loves rivers and his dog. He is a peace- and leisure- loving character. He wants to pass his life in the peaceful environment of the village. Because of this he suggests his friends that they s hould pass their holidays in the natural surroundings of the village. We come to kno w that he has a great liking for nature. However, he has a great aversion to work an d to some extent he is a lazy character. He is a shirker and thinks that hard job s are meant for youngsters only. He tries to avoid work, and for this he makes every re ason for his ailments. He openly declares that he has every disease except a housema id’s knee. However, we find a high degree of friendship in his character. He always tr ies to avoid creating tension for his friends. He brilliantly reads the demands of situat ions and finds a suitable way. He has a penchant for jokes; he laughs at others and even makes fun of himself. He is a dreamer and philosopher. He has a knack for identif ying oddities and idiosyncrasies

Q.Give a character sketch of George.
Ans.George was a heavy and a huge man employed at a ban k-where the only work his friends thought he did was, sleeping. He had some k nowledge of the ways of the world and would give sensible advice and suggestions such as the articles to be taken on the trip-the clothes, food, etc. He was calmer and less aggressive than Harris. He did not appear to have much sense of style, as evident from the loud blazer he had bought for the trip. George was not very intellectual and did not like s pending much thought on trivial matters as he once remarked that, “if anything was broken, it was broken”. He had no enthusiasm for work and was the last one to offer t o do anything that required physical labour. He was an idler and wanted to stay “away from the world with its sins and temptations”. He was not very quick-witted and was dependent on others to lead him. He loved laughing at others but did not enjoy it when the joke was turned on him. However, he was fun-loving and was ready to try any thing new. It was him who suggested the boat trip. During the high-end party, George was keen to play the banjo, but he played quite badly and even turned a cheerfu l song into a mournful tune. He had some knowledge of cooking as he made a healthy Irish Stew.

Q9.Why did the narrator think it was exciting to be towed by girls.
Ans.According to the narrator, it is a sensation that s hould not be missed. Generally, it takes three girls to tow a boat—two to pull and one to run around giggling. They begin by getting themselves tied up in the rope. On ce they undo it from around their ankles and necks, they start off at a run, pulling the boat at a dangerous pace. At the end of a hundred yards, they are breathless and sto p suddenly, causing the boat to drift midstream and turn around. They often have to be reminded to keep the boat moving. They also have to keep coming back to the b oat to comb their hair or get a shawl. When they finally get going again, they are likely to be scared by a cow in their path. Thus, there is never a dull moment.

Q10.Give character sketch of Harris
Ans.Harris appears to be a practical young man, who cou ld not see much romanticism in the world around him. He was fond . of drinking and was not too fond of working hard. He did not seem to have much imagination and was more aggressive than the other two. He was also very fond of eating. He had a strange fascination for cemeteries and tombs and would like to visit graveyards, unlik e the narrator. He did not have much aesthetic sense and dressed in loud colours like orange and yellow, which did not suit him. He was a terrible s inger and could never remember the words to a song. He did think he was a great co mic singer, though, and often sang comic songs, which ended up being not very funny. S imilarly, he thought he could cook well, but as the incident with the eggs showed , he was not a good cook either. In addition, he was a frank and outspoken young man, w hich was evident when he ensured that George did not play his banjo within h is hearing.

Q11. Give Character Sketch of  Uncle Podger ?
Ans.Uncle Podger is a messy and forgetful being. Like Harris, Uncle Podger too takes charge of a task only to delegate it to people around him and later blame its failure on them. Uncle Podger engages everyone present in the house to get him things he required to hang a picture on the wall. He asks them to hold the chair, lift the picture, search for his coat etc. Though everybody runs from one corner to the other and follow his instructions, he still taunts them and shouts at them. Even for nailing a nail in the wall, he would take hours and still mess things up. Thus, his account in the book is highly amusing and one of the most memorable one. The description of commotion that he creates in the house in order to get a trivial task done is really funny.