Fear
Fear
- From Pueblo, Mexico
- Armando Gonzalez, who works at a shoe-shop
- Psychological Story
Armando Gonzalez and his wife Eva have collected 50,000 pesos by working hard for 20 years. They have planned to by working hard for 20 years. They have planned to buy a beautiful house to live peacefully. So, Armando withdraws money from the bank in cash. The bank cashier counts money loudly, so all people standing in the bank look towards Armando. They are interested in the hat of Armando, which was mistakenly facing backward.
Armando goes out and takes the bus. But a heavy man, who was there in the bank, also climbs on the bus and starts talking with three young boys. Armando suspects that they are planning to rob his money. So, he climbs down at the first station to save himself. The other three boys also climb down from the bus. Armando thinks that they are going to rob him. So, he runs fast, crosses the road, and yells loudly for help. Armando cries and requests them not to steal his money.
The boys become puzzled and tell him that they were running behind him to help him. In reality, they were going for the football tournament and climbed down from the bus because they had taken the wrong bus. Armando does not believe his own eye. Finally, they walk together, Armando takes out his hands from the pocket and makes his hat straight.
1. What makes Armando Gonzalez believe that someone is going to rob his money?
Armando thinks that somebody is going to rob him. There were so many things that made Armando think so. The first of the reason is that he has got fifty thousand pesos of the money which he has never withdrawn and even seen. Similarly, when Armando was at the bank, the cashier counted the money loudly. Everyone saw him withdrawing money from the bank. He thought that people knew about it and would rob him. The people in the bank lobby looked at him and a heavy man took a double-take.
When he climbed in the bus the boys and the people looked at him and the heavy man from whom he wanted to get rid of also got on the same bus. Another reason is that the three football tournament boys talked with the heavy man on the bus. He thought that three boys were sent by the fat man to rob him. When he wanted to get rid of the fat man by climbing off the bus, he also found that the three boys were also following him. These things thus made Armando think that someone was going to rub him. But on top of all these things, it was his own fear and low confidence. He developed a psychology that people in the bank are the robber and they rob the people who come to withdraw the money.
2. How much money has Armando Gonzalez saved in twenty years of time? How does he want to utilize the money he has saved?
Armando Gonzalez is the main character of the story, “Fear”. He is a shoemaker and lives with a big family of his own in another’s house. For the last twenty years, Armando and his wife have been collecting money. Armando has saved twenty thousand pesos in twenty years of time. He is happy and excited too wit this sum of money. Armando wants to utilize it by buying his own house. Thus goes to withdraw the money from the bank of Mexico. He, however, is not happy right now as he thinks his whole dream of buying the house would be just an imagination if someone took the money away.
Q.2.Why did Armando have the idea that everyone in the bank was watching him? What was the truth?
Ans: Armando had the idea that everyone in the bank was watching him mainly because he was withdrawing a large sum of 50000 pesos from the bank. The bank teller asked him so many questions and she spoke louder each time she did. He thought that everyone in the lobby knew how much money he was going to take out and they were watching him.
But this was not the truth. Being nervous, Armando started playing with his hat. Then, he put it on backwards by mistake. As he looked funny, people were watching him.
Q.3. What were the things which made Armando think that someone was going to rob him?
Ans: There were so many things that made Armando think that somebody was going to rub him out. Which are, as given below:
a) The people of the bank look at him.
b)When Armando was at the bank, the cashier counted the money loudly.
c)The heavy man looked at him twice inside the bank.
d) Co-incidentally, Armando and the heavy man travel the same bus.
e) The act of conversation between the heavy man and the three teenager boys.
f) Three teenagers also want along the road which was taken by Armando.
OR
Many things made Armando believe that someone was going to rob him. He had saved fifty thousand pesos in twenty years’ time. He was taking out the money to buy a house. It was natural for him to think that someone might rob him. Particularly, when the bank teller counted the money loudly, he thought people knew how much money he was going to withdraw. As he was ab go out of the bank, he put his hat on backwards. A heavy looked at him twice. While he was waiting for the bus, he saw the same man there. The man also got on the bus and talked to three boys. When he got off the bus, the three boys too got off the bus. Therefore, he thought he was going to be robbed.
Q.4. If someone had told him that his hat was on backwards when he left the bank, do you think that Armando would have felt better? Explain.
Ans: I think if someone had told him that his hat was on backwards, he might have felt better. Majority of the people looked at him just because he had his hat on backwards, but Armando thought that they would rob him. People would not have looked at him like that if his hat was in a proper position. As a result, he would not have a feeling that they were planning to rob him.
Q.5. Do you think we sometimes make things worse rather than better when we get nervous? Explain.
Ans: Yes, I think so. In fact, I think in most cases we make things worse when we get nervous. A nervous person can not judge a situation properly. When he is nervous, he can not act correctly. He is so much puzzled that his mind stops functioning. If a student becomes nervous in the exam hall, he spoils his exam. Similarly, a nervous person can hardly get through interviews.
Q.6. Why is Armando afraid of the heavy man in the bus?
Ans: Armando is much afraid of the heavy man on the bus because the heavy man was looking at him and standing next to him at the bank. The heavy man also got on the same bus. Armando wanted to be free from fear of a heavy man by getting off from the bus. Those three boys, who were talking with a heavy man, also got off from the bus. Armando thought that these three boys might have been sent by the heavy man. He thought they might be the helper of the heavy man. So he was always afraid of the heavy man.
Q.7. Armando said that the man who was going to help him with the purchase of the house told him to bring the money, and he thought that this meant he had to bring cash. Do you think he was right about that? Explain.
Ans: I don’t think Armando was right about that. The man who was going to help him with the purchase of the house simply meant to tell Armando that the price of the new house had to be paid. And, the payment could be made through cheques, drafts etc. In fact, big payments are always made through cheques. Money does not mean only currency notes but also cheques and drafts. They are as good as cash. It was poor Armando’s ignorance and inexperience in such deals that he mistook money for hard cash only.
Q.8. How do you think Armando felt when he found out that the boys wanted to help him? What do you think he said to them?
Ans: I think Armando, first of all, felt greatly relieved when he found out that the boys wanted to help him. He had been very nervous in the bank and throughout his journey. When he realized that he was absolutely safe and the boy intended no harm, he must have thanked them and laughed at his own foolishness.
He might have told the three boys what misled him to think that the boys were gangsters. He might have told them what made him become fearful that day.
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