One of These Days: Question and Answer Insights

Short Answer Type Questions

1.Who was Aurelio Escovar?

Ans: Aurelio Escovar was a dentist, who did not have a degree.

2. What did Aurelio see in the Mayor’s eyes?

Ans: Aurelio saw many nights of desperation in the Mayor’s eyes.

3. When did Aurelio Escovar open his office?

Ans: Aurelio Escovar opened his office at 6 a.m.

4. What was Aurelio Escovar polishing?

Ans: Aurelio Escovar was polishing a gold tooth.

5. Whom did Aurelio Escovar see through the window? What were they doing?

Ans: Aurelio Escovar saw two pensive buzzards through the window.

They were drying themselves in the sun.

6. Who interrupted Aurelio Escovar while he concentrated on his work?

Ans: Aurelio Escovar had an eleven-year-old son whose shrill voice interrupted him while he concentrated on his work.

7.How old was Aurelio Escovar?

Ans: Aurelio Escovar was eleven years old.

8. What did Aurelio Escovar fail to understand while treating the Mayor?

Ans: While treating the Mayor Aurelio Escovar failed to understand his torture of the five previous nights when the Mayor had been suffering from toothache.

9. Where was a revolver in Aurelio Escovar’s office?

Ans: The revolver was in the lower drawer of the table in Aurelio Escovar’s office.

10. What warning did the Mayor give to the dentist?

Ans: The Mayor gave a warning that if the dentist did not take out his tooth, he would shoot him.

11. What is known as magic realism?

Ans: Magic realism is a technique of writing narrative fiction in which the reality of the real world is depicted with the proper usage of magical elements in writing. In this technique, realistic narrative is also combined with surreal elements of fantasy.

12. What does the Mayor’s infected wisdom tooth symbolize?

Ans: The Mayor’s infected wisdom tooth symbolizes the corruption the Mayor had caused in the town.

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Describe the character of the dentist.

Ans: In ‘One of These Days’, Aurelio Escovar, a poor and uncertified dentist is a dynamic character. He is an honest person who polishes a set of false teeth instead of treating the corrupted Mayor. He is so brave that he does not get afraid of the Mayor’s threat of shooting him. He is also a compassionate person who becomes ready to treat the Mayor after observing his right cheek swollen and in pain. He treats him without anesthesia to give him pain, and indirectly hints at the abuse of power the Mayor does. While treating he threatens the Mayor, “Now you’ll pay for twenty dead men.” Though the dentist revenges against the Mayor, he wants the Mayor to know how his irresponsibility has caused the death of twenty people. At the end of the story, the dentist asks the Mayor where to send the bill for his treatment and understands the level of his corruption. Here the dentist represents the ordinary people who know all the corruption their politicians do, but lead an ordinary life.

2. Describe the character of the Mayor.

Ans: In ‘One of These Days’, the Mayor is a static character who is a corrupted Mayor of a town. He is a selfish person who abuses his power to fulfill his needs. When the dentist refuses to treat him, he threatens him but does not request him. Here the Mayor’s threat reveals how much pride he has as the Mayor. He is so corrupted that he has to come to an uncertified doctor of the town. Again, the dentist reveals that the twenty people have already lost their lives because of him. So his brain is infected with misdeed and corruption as his wisdom tooth is infected with pain. He is so ungrateful man who does not thank the dentist but carelessly asks to pay the bill for his treatment. At the end of the story, his level of corruption is revealed as he says that sending the bill to him or the town is the same. He represents the corrupted politicians who do not use their power for the common people and society, but abuse their power for their own sake.

3.‘It’s the same damn thing’.-Who said to whom? What did the speaker mean to say through this statement?

Ans: ‘It’s the same damn thing’.-The Mayor said to the dentist.

Through this statement, the speaker means to say that sending the bill to him or the town was alike, and he considered the town’s money as his own money. It is also revealed that he would pay for his treatment with the people’s money regardless of whether the bill was sent to the town or the Mayor.

4. Justify the title ‘One of These Days’.

Ans: The story ‘One of These Days’ revolves around the incident of one day when the Mayor of the town came to Aurelio Escovar, an uncertified dentist. It was the day when the dentist got the opportunity to take revenge on the Mayor for all the corruption and the abuse he had done. Again, on this day powerful Mayor became powerless, and the dentist felt so powerful that he treated the Mayor’s infected tooth without anesthesia to give him more pain. This day the dentist threatened him, “You will pay for twenty dead men”, but he became powerless after he pulled out the Mayor’s infected tooth. When the Mayor told him that sending the bill to him or the town was alike, it also revealed how corrupt person the Mayor was. Through the conversation of one day between the Mayor and the dentist we can know about their town in which the common people were deprived, and the politicians fulfilled their needs lavishly. Here this ‘One Day’ depicts not only the characters of the dentist and the Mayor but also stories of many days of the town. So the title ‘One of These Days’ is justified.

5. Discuss how ‘One of These Days portrays an interesting power dynamic between the two main characters.

Ans: In the story ‘One of These Days’ when the Mayor came to the dentist for treatment, the dentist, Aurelio Escovar refused to treat him. Later, he showed kindness and compassion by treating his wisdom tooth but abused his power and position by treating his infected wisdom tooth without using anesthesia, and threatened the Mayor that he would pay for twenty dead men. Here, the dentist takes revenge on the Mayor by giving him temporary pain, and power is reversed from the Mayor to the dentist.

On the other hand, the Mayor did not thank the dentist after he had relief from pain, but he ordered him to send the bill for his treatment to him or the town. Here the Mayor claimed that sending the bill to him or the town was alike as he considered the town’s money as his own money.

In the story, the dentist cannot make any impact on the Mayor by his revenge but abuses his power for once. Again, the powerful Mayor became powerless when the dentist operated on his infected wisdom tooth. With the passage of time situation changed for the Mayor or the dentist, and power was transferred from one hand to another in the story between the dentist and the Mayor.

Do as directed (Gerund, Participle, and Infinitive):

1. The dentist spread his feet. He grasped the tooth with the hot forceps. (Join with a participle)

Ans: Spreading his feet the dentist grasped the tooth with the hot forceps.

2. Aurelio Escovar turned his head towards the light. He was inspecting the infected tooth. (Join with an infinitive)

Ans: Aurelio Escovar turned his head towards the light to inspect the infected tooth.

3. He was polishing a gold tooth. He held it at arm’s length. (Join with a gerund)

Ans: After polishing a gold tooth he held it at arm’s length.

4. He closed the door and said through the screen. (Join with a participle)

Ans: Closing the door he said through the screen.

5. After inspecting the infected tooth, he closed the Mayor’s jaw with a cautious pressure of his finger. (Use a participle and rewrite this sentence)

Ans: Inspecting the infected tooth, he closed the Mayor’s jaw with a cautious pressure of his finger.

6. He wore a collarless striped shirt. (Use the phrasal verb for the underlined word)

Ans: He put on a collarless striped shirt.

7. Then he saw it through his tears. (Change the voice)

Ans: Then it was seen through his tears.

8. The dentist spread his feet. He grasped the tooth with the hot forceps. (Join with a participle)

Ans: Spreading his feet the dentist grasped the tooth with the hot forceps.

9.”Dry your tears,” he said.

Ans: He ordered him(The Mayor) to dry his tears.

10. After inspecting the infected tooth, he closed the Mayor’s jaw. (Change the underlined word into the Noun form)

Ans: After inspection of the infected tooth, he closed the Mayor’s jaw.

11. He put on the table a fistful of instruments. He arranged them in size order. (Join with a Relative Clause)

Ans: He put on the table a fistful of instruments, which he arranged in size order.

12. He closed the drawer with his fingertips. (Change to Future Perfect Continuous)

Ans: He will have closed the drawer with his fingertips.

13. The dentist gave him a clean cloth. (Make it a Negative sentence)

Ans: The dentist did not give him a dirty cloth.

14. He wore a collarless striped shirt. (Use phrasal verb for the underlined word)

Ans: He put on a collarless striped shirt.

15. Aurelio Escovar, a dentist without a degree, and a very early riser, opened his office six. (Split into simple sentences)

Aurelio Escovar was a dentist. He had no degree. He was a very early riser. He opened his office at six.

Exercise

A. Descriptive or Analytical Questions:

1. How was the appearance of the Mayor?

2. Discuss how ‘One of These Days portrays an interesting power dynamic between the two main characters.

or,

Bring out the symbolism and trace the reversal of the hierarchy of power in ‘One of These Days’.

3. How did the dentist extract the tooth of the Mayor?

4. Justify the title ‘One of These Days’.

5. How does the writer present the reversal of the power hierarchy in the story?

6.‘It’s the same damn thing’.-Who said to whom? What did the speaker mean to say through this statement?

7. How was the reaction of the Mayor as the dentist pulled out his tooth?

8. What does the Mayor of the town symbolize?

B. Do as directed:

B. Do as directed:

1. The shrill voice of his eleven-year-old son interrupted his concentration. (Change the voice)

2. He still had not changed his expression. (Change into an Interrogative sentence)

3. The dentist moved only his wrist. (Change into a negative sentence)

4. It seemed so foreign to his pain that he failed to understand his torture of the previous nights. (Change into a negative sentence)

5. He closed the drawer with his fingertips. (Replace the underlined word with a phrasal verb)

6. The dentist kept examining his tooth. (Change the voice)

7. “Dry your tears “, he said. (Change the narration)

8. The dentist gave him a clean cloth. (Change the voice)

9. He rolled the chair over opposite the door. He rested his hand on the edge of the drawer. (Change into a simple sentence)

10. The Mayor felt the crunch of bones. (Change the voice)

11. He was polishing a gold tooth. (Change into interrogative)

12. It’s the same damn thing. (Change into interrogative)

13. His breath was icy. (Change into a complex sentence)

14. Aurelio Escovar, a dentist without a degree, and a very early riser opened his office at six. (Change into a simple sentence)

15. He was polishing a gold tooth. His son shouted again from the little waiting room. (Change into a complex sentence)

16. He put a fistful of instruments. He arranged it in size order. (Change into a complex sentence)

17. He closed the drawer with the tip of his fingertips. (Change the verb into future continuous tense)

18. “To you or the town?”, said the dentist. (Change the narration)

19. The Mayor continued with the extraction of the tooth. (Replace the underlined word with a phrasal verb)

20. “Dry your tears”, he said. (Change the narration)

21. It seemed so foreign to his pain that he failed to understand his torture of the five previous nights. (Rewrite using too…to)

22. He closed the drawer with his fingertips.

23. The Mayor continued with the extraction of the troth. (Replace the underlined word with a phrasal verb)

24. “He says if you don’t take out his tooth, he’ll shoot you.” said his son (Change the mode of narration)

25. Aurelio Escovar turned his head to the light. (Fill in the blank with a suitable preposition)

26. He said, “Tell to come and shoot me” (Change the mode of narration)

27. Then he saw it through his tears. (Change the voice)

28. When he had things arranged on the table, he pulled the drill toward the dental chair. (Convert into a simple sentence)

29. He took some false teeth still mounted in their plaster mould, out of the glass case. (Split into two Simple sentences)

30. After I had seen that spectacle, for many days, my brain worked with a dim and undetermined sense. (Split into simple sentences)

31. The dentist said “Now you’ll pay for our twenty dead men.” (Change the mode of narration)

32. He was polishing a gold tooth. His son shouted again from the little waiting room. (Join the sentences)

33. The dentist kept examining his tooth. (Use a Phrasal Verb for ‘examining’)

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