Class 10 English - TAMILNADU
Supplementary: A Question of Trust
Supplementary: A Question of Trust by Victor Canning tells the story of Horace Danby, a meticulous 50-year-old locksmith who commits one robbery a year to finance his expensive hobby of collecting rare and expensive books. Despite being generally respected and seemingly honest, his life takes a dramatic turn when he plans a major heist at Shotover Grange. There, he is outsmarted by a clever young woman posing as the mistress of the house, who tricks him into opening the safe and leaving his fingerprints everywhere. This chapter is important for board exams as it teaches irony and tests reading comprehension and character analysis.
Start Learning FreeKey Concepts
Horace Danby's Character
Horace is fifty, unmarried, lives with a housekeeper, and suffers from hay fever in summer. He is a respectable businessman who secretly steals once a year to buy rare books.
The Motif of Trust
The title is deeply ironic. Horace trusts the young woman believing she is the house owner's wife, while she tricks him by exploiting his fear of being caught by the police.
The Clever Trick
The young woman in red calmly manipulates Horace into opening the safe for her under the guise of forgetting her combination number, while he thinks she is saving him from arrest.
Irony in the Ending
Horace is ultimately arrested because he left his bare fingerprints on the safe, trusting that the woman would keep her word and not report him.
Important Formulas
Board Exam Info
In the Tamil Nadu Samacheer Kalvi Class 10 English Board Examination, supplementary chapters typically contribute to questions testing narrative comprehension, paragraph answers, and character sketches, accounting for around 5 to 8 marks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Horace Danby a typical thief?
No, Horace was not a typical criminal. He was a respectable lock-maker who only stole once a year specifically to buy expensive, rare books.
How did the young woman trick Horace?
She pretended to be the wife of the owner of the house, spoke to him with great confidence, and threatened to call the police unless he opened the safe for her.
Why was Horace eventually arrested?
Horace took off his gloves to remove the noise of his hay fever and open the safe, leaving his bare fingerprints all over the room, which led the police directly to him.
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