A Face in the Dark by Ruskin Bond: Summary & Analysis

A face in the dark is a short story by Ruskin Bond.

Short Summary

A Face in the Dark by Ruskin Bond is a story set in Shimla, its about Mr. Oliver, an anglo-indian teacher in a public school in Shimla, and his weird experience one night when he crosses the forest on his way back to the school after an evening at Simla Bazaar.

Oliver comes across a weeping boy but that boy has a face sans eyes, nose or mouth. Scared, he runs away and bumps into a watchman who also had a similar face. That’s how the story ends.

Detailed Review

The story is set in the hilly forests of Shimla, where Oliver, a British born in India is a devoted teacher in a school in Shimla. He is a caring man but is lonely in his personal life as he is unmarried. As a result, he spends most of his time in the school, library or in the market.

Oliver has a daily routine where he goes to the market in the evening and returns to the school at night. He is not afraid of taking the route through the forest that is filled with pine trees and wildlife.

However, one evening, when he is walking through the forest, he comes across a little boy who is all by himself and sobbing. Being a compassionate man, Oliver decides to check up on the little boy’s well being. He tells him that it is not safe for a young child to wander out of the school at that hour. The boy does not respond and continues sobbing.

When Oliver prods again, the boy raises his head. But on seeing the boy’s face, Oliver is filled with horror. The boy’s face doesn’t have eyes, ears, mouth.

A petrified Oliver drops his torch and runs toward the school howling for help. Soon, he approaches the school’s watch guard and he starts narrating his horrifying encounter. Due to his fear, he forgets to find out why the boy is crying or if he needed help.

And while he was describing the incident to the watchman, the light from the watchman’s lantern falls on his face. To Oliver’s shock, even the watchman’s face is like that of the child, without features like eyes, ears, nose etc.

The story ends with the revelation of watchman’s face.

Moral of Story

This story reveals how human beings can get consumed by fear on encountering something different and unfamiliar. The point that the author is trying to drive home is that people need to be more patient and understanding when dealing with people of diverse appearances, behaviours, beliefs etc.

Just because someone has a different colour, is differently-abled, speaks different language, follows different customs, doesn’t mean such people have to be shunned. We need to spend more time with them so that we can understand them better and develop mutual understanding and respect.

The story also highlights the problem of isolation and disconnected living that certain individuals face in the society.

Topic: “Eton of the East”

Topic: Why is the school in “A Face in the Dark” called the “Eton of the East”?

Eton college is a prestigious boarding school for boys (aged 13 to 18) located in Berkshire, England (was founded by King Henry vi in 1440). Several former British prime ministers have studied in this school. It’s basically a school for wealthyfamilies.

In Ruskin Bond’s story “A Face in the Dark”, the school in Shimla has been Himachal Pradesh, has been referred to as the “Eton of the East” as it offers quality education for boys from wealthy families; the boys wear blazers, ties and caps, and speak good English. And because the school is located in India, which happens to be in the eastern part of the world, it is referred to as “The East”.

Topic: Character sketch of Mr. Oliver

Topics:

• Reflect on Character sketch of Mr. Oliver as depicted in Ruskin Bond’s short story “A face in the Dark”
• What are the positive and negative character traits of Mr. Oliver?

Mr. Oliver is an Anglo-Indian teacher in a school in Simla, India. Because the school has been called the ‘Eton of the East’, we can assume that Mr. Oliver is well-qualified and a man of knowledge and skills to have got the job of a teacher in a reputed school.

Mr. Oliver lives alone and spends most of his time in school, library and the bazaar. He usually takes the lonely path through the pine forest while returning to the school from the Simla bazaar even late at night. So he seems to be a courageous man and is not afraid of passing through the forest all by himself at night.

Mr. Oliver also comes across as a caring person because when he hears the lonely boy weeping all by himself, he decides to check on him to see if all is okay. He even advises the boy that he should not be out so late at night.

But then, like most others, even he gets scared when he sees something unusual and runs away because of fear.