Chapter 2: The Mark on the Wall

Answer. The author says, “In order to fix a date, it is necessary to remember what one saw.” Our minds are more receptive to images than writings, so one has to mark any important dates. But, on the other hand, there are chances that we may still forget about it. So, the visual images that happened on that particular day may help backtrack to the date of the day.

Yes, I, too, got to experience the same situation. I once got to see a bus coming crashing into a building near my house on my birthday. Unfortunately, no one was harmed. This unforgettable incident keeps flashing in my mind on every birthday, reminding me of the day it happened. It provokes me to philosophise life and open my mental process to endless thoughts. Hence, the author rightly said, “In order to fix a date, it is necessary to remember what one saw.”

Answer. Both the authors, J. Krishnamurti and Virginia Woolf, have restructured the concept of freedom in many of their works. Both authors are against the idea of blind adherence to rules without questioning their purpose and intention. They both have talked about how the traditionally set rules have hindered individual freedom and the compromises they have made in their life. Woolf also questioned the importance given to knowledge and learning and the depiction of reality by Shakespeare. She rejects all these traditional set norms and sets up her own thoughts on education and truth with reality.

Answer. The author Woolf assumes nature creates interference to end her thought process with all the obstacles in between. She took this up as a test and did not give in to her appeal to stand up from her chair and solve the mystery behind the mark on the wall in less than a minute. Instead, she used her continuous thinking process to unlock the secrets imprinted on the wall unhurriedly. As a result, she comes out with a lot of countless ideas. Thus, for the narrator, knowledge is related to thinking ability, and nature creates obstacles for us. Therefore, according to the narrator, in the story’s context, the actors do not believe that it is correct to say that people are indeed non-thinking people.